Research on Shenzhen Offshore Financial Market
□ Li Zhenguang
Two. Overview and development suggestions of offshore financial business in Shenzhen
Shenzhen is the first (and so far the only) pilot city in China to operate offshore financial services. As early as June, 65438+July, 0989, China Merchants Bank became the first bank in China to be allowed to offer offshore financial services. Later, China Industrial and Commercial Bank Shenzhen Branch, China Agricultural Bank Shenzhen Branch, Shenzhen Development Bank and Guangdong Development Bank Shenzhen Branch were successively allowed to start offshore financial business.
There are three types of offshore financial institutions in Shenzhen: Sino-foreign joint venture banks, branches of foreign banks in China and domestic commercial banks. This paper mainly studies the offshore financial business of domestic commercial banks.
(A) the role of offshore financial services in Shenzhen
1. Offshore financial business is the pillar of overseas enterprises' domestic development.
Because overseas institutions and enterprises don't know much about domestic policies, regulations and investment environment, it is difficult to track and supervise projects, and there are many concerns about domestic investment, and the opening of offshore business just makes up for this deficiency. In recent years, offshore banks have used various channels to support and guide overseas funds to invest in large-scale domestic projects, which has achieved good economic and social benefits and directly supported China's economic construction.
2. Offshore financial business is the backing of overseas Chinese enterprises' expansion.
Many overseas Chinese-funded enterprises with certain strength have affected their ability to raise funds abroad due to various conditions. Domestic offshore business makes full use of its own advantages, raises overseas funds, supports the production and sales of overseas Chinese-funded enterprises, and greatly enhances its competitiveness in the international market.
3. Offshore financial business is an effective way to increase non-trade foreign exchange income and establish new advantages in financial business development.
The development of offshore financial business can realize the non-localization of banking business, improve the internationalization of the financial industry, and play a role in seizing the commanding heights of the financial industry. In addition, the continuous expansion of offshore financial business can make the location gradually become a gathering place for international funds, giving the regional financial center real connotation.
4. Offshore financial business is an important channel for indirect utilization of foreign capital in the new development period.
The general way to indirectly utilize foreign capital through offshore financial business is that overseas enterprises (mostly Chinese-funded enterprises) introduce overseas consortia or fund companies to deposit in the offshore department to solve the source of funds, and then overseas enterprises apply for loans from the offshore department with their domestic property as collateral, and then introduce the loans to China for investment. At present, there are a large number of key projects under construction or to be built in Shenzhen, and the demand for funds is large, so it is necessary to broaden the channels for utilizing foreign capital. The development of offshore financial business will contribute to this.
5. Offshore financial business is a bridge for Chinese banks to realize commercialization and internationalization.
Offshore business can be operated directly in the international market in accordance with international accounting, auditing and legal standards, or in an international environment in accordance with international practices, so as to make beneficial exploration and accumulate some experience, and gradually explore the way for Chinese banks to realize commercialization and internationalization. At the same time, cultivate and bring up a group of high-quality international financial professionals.
(B) Shenzhen offshore financial business model and characteristics
1. In the business model, the function is separated.
In accordance with the requirements of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the internal and external separation is implemented, that is, the handling bank that conducts offshore business establishes an offshore business department to specialize in offshore financial business; The offshore department implements the management mode of separate account setting, separate account accounting and intra-bank consolidation; Offshore account is strictly distinguished from onshore accounts, and offshore financial business accounts, deposits, loans and other business objects are non-residents.
2. In terms of business scope, traditional business is the main business.
According to the actual situation of the bank and the requirements of offshore business, it enters the market by traditional retail business methods such as deposit, loan, remittance and settlement. In the initial stage of offshore financial business, because banks are unfamiliar with overseas markets and overseas customers are unfamiliar with offshore financial business of domestic banks, banks can only provide traditional services such as deposit, loan and settlement with foreign shareholders of Chinese-funded enterprises in Hong Kong and domestic foreign-invested enterprises as the main service targets. At present, the main source of offshore funds is to absorb deposits, and the main uses of funds are commercial loans and trade financing.
3. In terms of market expansion, Hong Kong and Macao are the main markets.
In terms of customer development strategy, offshore business departments adopt the strategy of "easy first, then difficult, near first, then far away, first win over overseas Chinese-funded enterprises, then win over Hong Kong and Macao customers, and finally win over overseas customers". Develop in stages, from point to area, and gradually form the basic customer base of offshore business. Taking Hong Kong as the main contact market, targeting Chinese-funded institutions in Hong Kong and Macao, and based on local enterprises and foreign-funded enterprises in Hong Kong and Macao, it will gradually develop into Southeast Asia, forming a fan-shaped development trend. At present, customers and funds in the Hong Kong market account for more than 90% of all offshore customers and funds. In offshore deposits, Chinese-funded enterprises and foreign-funded enterprises account for 56.7% and 39% respectively, and in offshore loans, Chinese-funded enterprises and foreign-funded enterprises account for 57% and 42% respectively.
There are three main sources and forms of funds.
① Direct absorption of customer deposits, including deposits from overseas financial institutions, intermittent funds and idle funds of companies with bank accounts; (2) Raising short-term funds through overseas interbank borrowing; (3) Issuing certificates of deposit to attract savings funds and funds used in international financial markets.
In the control of interest rates and taxes, we should follow the principle of "going with the market, favorable competition, appropriate preferential treatment and stressing efficiency"; In terms of customer service, the implementation of document delivery, secret charge preparation, verification and other methods not only provides convenience for customers, but also effectively controls business risks.
(C) Problems in Shenzhen's offshore financial business
1. The management system needs to be improved.
(1) The relationship between the offshore business department and the grass-roots handling unit has not been straightened out. Although offshore banks have set up an independent offshore business department, with the offshore business department as the accounting unit, and the responsibilities, rights and interests are all in the offshore department, most offshore businesses are handled by grassroots units, so there is a disconnect between responsibilities, rights and interests, which is not conducive to mobilizing the enthusiasm and initiative of all parties.
(2) The legal status of offshore business departments is unclear. According to the regulations of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, offshore funds and business are completely separated, and the liabilities of offshore business do not belong to the national foreign debt, so offshore business departments need to bear the debts independently. On the other hand, the offshore business department does not have the qualification of an independent legal person and can only appear as a department of the head office when raising funds. Once there is a payment problem, its head office or country will bear the repayment responsibility. This contradictory legal status leads to the ambiguity of the debt subject of offshore business, which affects its financing behavior and ability in the international market.
2. The policy is unclear and not in place.
(1) Preferential policies. The preferential policies are not clear, so it is difficult to compete with neighboring countries and regions. At present, no matter what mode of offshore financial business in the world, one thing is the same: adopting preferential tax policies to develop offshore financial business. However, China has not formally formulated special preferential policies for offshore financial services. With the expansion of offshore finance, more and more banks operate offshore business, especially the problem of lagging behind neighboring countries is becoming more and more prominent, which leads to the randomness of tax accounting practice. In addition, the tax policies such as tax rate setting, pre-tax deduction and how to cooperate with preventing and resolving financial risks are not clear, which leads to the failure to give full play to the regulatory function of taxation in offshore financial business. Therefore, the development of offshore financial business in Shenzhen needs the support of many preferential policies from the government, taxation and financial departments.
(2) Regulatory policies. Offshore business started at 1989, 1997 and 10, and the state officially promulgated the Measures for the Administration of Offshore Banks, and on June 55438+0999, the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Measures for the Administration of Offshore Banks. Other laws and regulations related to offshore business include the Measures for the Administration of Internal and External Guarantees promulgated by 1996, and before these laws and regulations were promulgated, offshore business operators basically expanded their business with reference to some measures for the administration of onshore foreign exchange, leaving some policy and regulatory problems; After the promulgation of relevant laws and regulations, some of them are extensive and not operational enough. On the one hand, it is more difficult for the regulatory authorities to implement macro-management and it is difficult to really manage it. On the other hand, when banks encounter practical problems in offshore business, it is difficult to grasp the policy provisions.
(3) National foreign exchange control policies. One of the characteristics of offshore business is that it is not bound by the domestic financial policies and regulations of the host country. Because the main customer groups of offshore business in Shenzhen are mostly Chinese-funded enterprises in Hong Kong, domestic government departments or companies of Chinese-funded institutions in Hong Kong, the particularity of these customer groups is that their main business and property are mostly in China, which makes offshore business inextricably linked with domestic economic environment, policies and regulations. Its operation is bound by the national foreign exchange control policy, and some difficulties are handled according to international practice. For example, policies such as the Measures for the Administration of External Guarantees of Domestic Institutions have a great negative impact on the existing offshore business.
(4) Debt policy. Many restrictions imposed by the state on the active liabilities of offshore banks, such as borrowing from abroad and issuing bonds, have also affected their financing channels and methods, resulting in a series of problems such as poor stability of offshore liabilities, high liquidity risk, high financing cost and unreasonable debt structure. The main body of offshore business is in China, while the main body of customers is abroad or overseas. The distance between the business subject and the service object in time and space limits its financing mode, loses its ability to compete with overseas retail banks, and determines its debt structure based only on wholesale interbank deposits.
3. Laws and regulations need to be improved.
(1) Legal convergence between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Although banks have the right to choose to apply domestic laws or domestic jurisdictions in their operations, Hong Kong laws will inevitably be involved when dealing with overseas collateral or pledge, or when judging the existence of enterprises and the legality of their actions. The legal provisions in Hong Kong are detailed and complicated, and they are not in the same legal system as those in the Mainland, so there is a big gap. It will take some time and a process to link up the legal systems of Shenzhen and Hong Kong. The offshore financial industry in Shenzhen lacks compound talents who are proficient in overseas laws and have professional knowledge.
(2) The relevant domestic legal system is not perfect. ① The laws and regulations of the real estate market are not sound enough. The particularity of offshore customer groups makes offshore collateral mostly in China, while the laws and regulations of real estate mortgage in domestic cities and regions are complex and diverse, which makes offshore loans more risky; (2) The behavior of intermediaries lacks legal constraints. Accounting statements and evaluation reports are an important basis for banks to issue loans. Due to the lack of legal constraints on the consequences of intermediary institutions' actions, false accounting statements and evaluation values are seriously inaccurate from time to time, which leads to misleading judgments of banks on the operating conditions of enterprises and causes mistakes and losses.
(3) The lack of special secrecy laws and regulations makes the secrecy of offshore account suspicious. The confidentiality of accounts and the safety of funds are often the basic issues that most customers consider. As there is no special provision on the confidentiality of offshore financial accounts in China, some overseas customers always show various concerns when opening accounts in our institution in offshore account, or even if they open accounts, they are unwilling to make large deposits for fear of being queried or frozen at any time.
4. Management needs to be strengthened.
(1) management level. In terms of management, banks lack experience; In operation, learning the operation technology of overseas banks and ignoring the supporting measures and management ideas contained in their operation technology often get twice the result with half the effort; In terms of personnel, the quality of employees is uneven, and there is a big gap compared with overseas counterparts in terms of service awareness, business experience and language ability.
(2) Business type and transaction means. At present, offshore financial business is basically a traditional international business, and the types of business provided are basically the same as the existing onshore foreign exchange business, but the service targets are different. Trading means and hardware equipment are also relatively backward.
(3) Capital account problem. (1) offshore account and onshore account funds are mutually infiltrated. The offshore department is only a functional department within the bank and is not qualified to open an account independently abroad. Foreign loans can only be made in the name of the head office or branches. When there are surplus positions in offshore departments, they will be deposited in the head office or branches, which will easily lead to mutual infiltration of funds between offshore account and onshore accounts; ② Using offshore account to avoid foreign exchange arbitrage. The management of offshore account is regarded as the management of overseas accounts, and the funds in its accounts are regarded as overseas funds, which can be freely allocated and are not subject to foreign exchange control. Therefore, remittance from a domestic account to an overseas account is regarded as remittance of overseas funds, and the remittance bank must examine the relevant documents in strict accordance with the regulations. However, in actual business handling, only banks that provide offshore business are required to handle it according to regulations. Most mainland banks don't know about offshore business in Shenzhen, and they don't control the funds remitted from offshore business strictly or don't know that the account is offshore account at all, which is easy to form an escape route or be used by criminals to escape.