Australia’s big banks could face additional capitalrequirements to buffer against potential financial crises and new challenges totheir dominance in mortgage lending from regional lenders， following the firstcomprehensive review of the country’s financial industry in 17 years.

　　澳大利亞17年來第一份關於本國金融行業的全面評估報告指出，澳大利亞大型銀行可能面臨額外的資本要求，以應對潛在的金融危機以及地區性銀行帶來的在住房抵押貸款方面的新挑戰。（《華爾街日報》）

　　A government-backed inquiry has recommended that capitalratios of Australian banks should be in the top quartile of global banks. Itconcluded that Australian banks currently have capital ratios ranging fromabout 10% to 11.6%， compared with a top quartile ratio of 12.2% at the end ofDecember last year.

　　這項由澳大利亞政府支援的調查報告建議，澳大利亞銀行的資本充足率應該名列全球銀行的最高水準。報告指出，當前澳大利亞銀行的資本充足率在10%至11.6%之間，而去年12月底資本充足率最高為12.2%。（《華爾街日報》）

　　In a 320-page report released Sunday by Treasurer JoeHockey， the inquiry’s panel also called for the banks to assign higher“risk-weightings” to mortgages that would force them to set aside more capitalagainst home loans. The move would even the playing field for smaller regionallenders that currently have to set aside more capital than their larger rivals.

　　在這份由澳大利亞財政部長喬·霍基在週日發佈的長達320頁的報告中，調查組還呼籲銀行為住房抵押貸款設置更高的“風險權重”，從而迫使其為住房貸款預留出更多資本。這一行動將為規模較小的地區性銀行創造更公平的競爭環境。（《華爾街日報》）

　　The Financial System Inquiry identified severalvulnerabilities in the banking sector， including its reliance foreign funding，having four big banks with similar business models based on mortgage lending，and capital levels.

　　這項《金融體系調查報告》指出了銀行業體系的幾大隱患，包括過度依賴國外資本，四大銀行採用相似的基於住房抵押貸款的商業模式，以及資本水準不足等。（《金融時報》）

　　“Although Australian authorised deposit-takinginstitutions are generally well capitalised， further strengthening would assistin ensuring capital levels are， and are seen to be， unquestionably strong，”said the review， which was published on Sunday by Joe Hockey， Australia’streasurer.

　　“儘管澳大利亞政府授權的存款金融機構整體而言資本充足，但進一步提高資本充足率將有助於確保資本達到或即將達到不被質疑的高水準”，報告指出。該報告由澳大利亞財政部長喬·霍基在週日發佈。（《金融時報》）

　　The inquiry led by former Commonwealth BankheadDavid Murray saidpolicies must be tuned to reduce the cost of failure by ensuring lenders havesufficient loss-absorbing capacity.

　　負責這項調查的澳大利亞聯邦銀行前行長大衛·莫瑞表示，必須調整政策確保銀行具有足夠的能力承擔虧損，從而減少失敗成本。（彭博社）

　　Buonaccorsi， aSydney-based analyst at CIMB Group Holdings Bhd.， expects a shortfallbetween A$25 billion and A$30 billion. Omkar Joshi， who helps oversee A$1billion as an investment analyst at Watermark Funds Management， estimated aA$15 billion to A$20 billion gap. Their predictions were based on an averagemortgage risk weight of 25 percent to 30 percent and systemically importantbank buffer of 2 percent.

　　馬來西亞國際商業銀行駐雪梨分析師Buonaccorsi預計，澳大利亞銀行資本缺口在250億澳元至300億澳元之間。浮水印基金管理公司投資分析師Omkar Joshi則預計缺口在150億澳元至200億澳元之間。兩者的預測均基於25%至30%的平均抵押貸款風險比例和2%的系統重要性銀行資本緩衝比例。（彭博社）

　　Bank executives have beenbracing for the Financial System Inquiry report for months， arguing that higherlevels of capital are unnecessary and would come at a cost to theeconomy.

　　銀行高管們對這份《金融體系調查報告》已等待數月，他們稱，沒有必要提高資本水準，否則代價將是損害經濟。（路透社）

　　The biglenders—CommonwealthBank of Australia Ltd.，WestpacBanking Corp.，Australia &New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. andNationalAustralia Bank Ltd. —have warned that additional regulatory burdenscould stifle investment and put them at a disadvantage to rivals overseas. Someanalysts have suggested the banks would seek to absorb the cost by passing itto borrowers through higher rates and to shareholders through lower dividends.

　　澳大利亞四大銀行——澳大利亞聯邦銀行、西太平洋銀行、澳新銀行、澳大利亞國民銀行——警告稱，額外的監管負擔將抑制投資，並使其在與國外銀行競爭時處於不利地位。一些分析師認為，這些銀行將通過提高利率和調低分紅的方式把成本分攤給借貸方和股東。（《華爾街日報》）

　　The report，however， said the banks may be reluctant to pass on the cost to consumers andrisk losing market share. It estimated that a one-percentage-point increase in capitalratios， not including any benefits from competition， would increase lendinginterest rates by less than 10 basis points， which would reduce Australia’sgross domestic product by 0.01% to 0.1%.

　　不過該報告指出，這些銀行可能不願把成本轉嫁給消費者，也不願承擔丟失市場份額的風險。報告預計，資本比率每提高一個百分點（不包括競爭所獲利益），將使貸款利率提高近10個基點，這將使澳大利亞的國內生産總值減少0.01%至0.1%。（《華爾街日報》）

　　Australia's"Big Four" lenders hold a combined market share of more than 80percent， raising fears they are "too big to fail". Murray said in hisreport that the major banks would be rendered insolvent in the absence ofcapital raising if they were hit by a shock similar to what overseas bankssuffered during the global financial crisis.

　　澳大利亞四大銀行的市場份額總計佔逾80%，引發“大而不能倒”的擔憂。莫瑞在報告中指出，如果澳大利亞大型銀行遭到衝擊，在缺乏融資的情況下，大型銀行將陷入資不抵債的境地。（路透社）

　　Australia’s government will consult widelywith consumers and industry on the report， which contained 44 recommendationsaimed at bolstering the nation’s financial sector， Hockey said after itsrelease. It will seek bipartisan political support when taking decisions on thereview， which will probably be after the first quarter of 2015， he said.

　　霍基在報告發佈後表示，該報告包含44條旨在支撐澳大利亞金融領域的政策建議，澳大利亞政府將就該報告向消費者和行業廣泛徵求意見，並將在基於報告做政策決定時尋求兩黨的政治支援。（彭博社）

　　（廖冰清 編譯）