中国政府调查多家顶级券商

Chinese authorities have launched a fresh crackdown on financial market malpractice, putting five of the country’s top brokerages under investigation amid the steepest slide in domestic stock markets in almost two decades.

在中国A股遭遇近20年来最剧烈暴跌之际，中国当局启动了对金融市场营私舞弊行为的新一轮打击，对五家顶级券商开展了调查。

Haitong Securities, GF Securities, Huatai Securities and Founder Securities all issued statements confirming that they being probed by the China Securities Regulatory Commission for “failure to review and verify the identity of clients in accordance with rules”.

海通证券(Haitong Securities)、广发证券(GF Securities)、华泰证券(Huatai Securities)及方正证券(Founder Secuirties)都发布了声明，确认正因“未按规定审查、了解客户身份”接受中国证监会(CSRC)的调查。

Haitong said that it would “fully co-operate” with the regulator, and that its business was continuing to operate normally, in a statement to the Hong Kong bourse.

在一份向香港股市发布的声明中，海通证券表示将“全面配合”监管机构的调查工作，并表示其业务正继续正常运行。

In a separate investigation, eight people connected to Citic Securities, the country’s largest broker, are being probed by Chinese police for “illegal securities trading”, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, along with people linked to the CSRC itself.

而在另一起案件中，根据中国官方新闻机构新华社(Xinhua)的报道，及证监会相关人士的说法，与中国最大券商中信证券(Citic Securities)有关的8人，正因“违法从事证券交易活动”遭到中国警方调查。

Citic said it had “not received any notification” on the investigation. “We are in the process of gathering more information on this matter,” the company added.

中信证券则表示，关于调查“未收到任何通知”。该公司补充说：“相关情况正在了解之中。”

Shares in the four companies listed in Hong Kong rose sharply on Wednesday morning, with Citic gaining 4.1 per cent and GF Securities adding 4.7 per cent. Founder, which is listed only in Shanghai, edged up 0.3 per cent.

周三，四家在港上市的券商各有涨跌，其中中信证券收跌2.3%，广发证券则收涨4.7%。至于仅在沪市上市的方正证券，虽然早盘曾略有上涨，却收跌4.3%。

China’s financial market regulator has been at the forefront of Beijing’s efforts to halt a dramatic slide in domestic share prices. After hitting a seven-year high in mid-June, the Shanghai stock index has dropped more than 40 per cent, erasing all this year’s gains.

中国金融市场监管机构一直处于中国政府救市的最前沿。这轮救市的目的是为了阻止A股股价的急剧下滑。自6月中旬达到7年内最高点之后，沪市股指已经跌去逾40%，抹去了今年全年涨幅。

This week the sell-off has gathered pace, with the Shanghai Composite suffering its steepest two-day drop since 1996, in spite of a raft of measures over the past month aimed at steadying the market.

尽管过去一个月中国政府推出了一系列旨在稳定股市的举措，本周这种抛售行为还是愈演愈烈，上证综指(Shanghai Composite)遭遇了1996年来的最大两日跌幅。

The People’s Bank of China cut interest rates again on Tuesday evening, the second such move in the past two months, and the fifth since November.

周二晚上，中国央行(PBoC)再次降息，这是过去两个月来第二次推出这一举措，也是自去年11月以来的第5次。

The latest regulatory and police probes follow steps in June to tackle “malicious short-selling” and market manipulation linked to the rapid decline in Chinese stock prices.

在监管机构和警方最近这次调查以前，6月份它们还曾采取过措施，打击引发中国股价暴跌的“恶意做空”和市场操纵行为。

One of the most drastic supportive measures is a ban on stake sales by major shareholders and company executives. In the weeks since its introduction, the CSRC has launched investigations into dozens of companies for allegedly skirting the new rules.

其中，力度最大的托市举措之一，是禁止大股东和企业高管减持股票。在作出这一规定以来的几周里，中国证监会已启动了对数十家企业的调查，调查其涉嫌规避这些新规定的行为。

The CSRC has also warned media about spreading false information, and turned its attentions to high frequency traders in recent weeks, part of a broad effort to soothe fears within financial markets over possible price manipulation.

最近几周，中国证监会还曾警告媒体不要扩散虚假信息，并将注意力转向开展高频交易的交易人员，以缓和金融市场内对可能的价格操纵行为的担忧情绪。

Earlier this year, the CSRC barred a number of brokers from opening new margin trading accounts for a period of three months, following a probe into high-risk lending.

今年早些时候，在对高风险的融资活动开展调查之后，证监会还曾令多家券商暂停新开融资融券账户三个月。

Margin finance — the use of borrowed money to trade shares — was a key driving force behind the stock market rally in Chinese over the past year. Many analysts see the government’s attempts to crack down on it as one of the main triggers for the sell-off.

融资业务即借钱炒股业务，是过去一年里推升中国股市上涨的一个关键因素。许多分析师认为，中国政府试图打压融资融券，是这轮股市抛售行为的主要导火索之一。