Unfortunately, this is the topic of my thesis. It's a pity that I gave the electronic version to the school, but the materials in this regard are still
Fortunately, I found an innovation-the main theme of the development of modern commercial banks.
-Suggestions on innovation of off-balance-sheet business and intermediary business of banks.
Gu Liwen of Huanghe Securities Research Institute
Facing the approaching WTO, how can banks be invincible in the increasingly fierce competition in the same industry? This requires the banking industry to keep up with the pace of the times, make a fuss about the word "new", work hard on the word "innovation", constantly carry out financial innovation with a brand-new mental outlook, constantly expand the financial field, develop new financial products, find new profit growth points, and truly turn the bank into a modern bank with diversified financial services and comprehensive business.
I. Background of off-balance sheet business innovation
Off-balance sheet business refers to business activities that will not cause changes in the balance sheet, but can bring business income or reduce risks for commercial banks. It is a business that commercial banks record in off-balance-sheet accounts or attach to off-balance-sheet accounts to form contingent assets and contingent liabilities. From the business content, off-balance sheet business mainly refers to some non-capital services provided by banks as intermediaries. Through these banking services, some transactions can be guaranteed to be successfully completed, and banks also receive certain handling fees. Off-balance-sheet business is not equal to intermediary business, it is only a part of intermediary business, that is, the intermediary business related to credit business. It can not only create the income of intermediary service business for banks, but also directly improve the quality of assets and liabilities business on bank balance sheets and reduce the risks in bank operations, thus becoming an important means and method for commercial banks to improve their management level and prevent various risks.
(1) Off-balance-sheet business innovation is an inevitable choice for the traditional banking industry to enter the era of low profit.
Before the reform and opening up, China's social economy was dominated by indirect credit. It is enough for banks to collect funds (deposits), distribute funds (loans) and realize the circulation of funds (remittances), that is, debt management, asset management and settlement. However, after more than ten years of reform and opening up, China has entered the market economy era from the planned economy era. In the era of commodity economy, our economic aggregate and quality have reached a new stage of development, and the capital market is increasingly active. Direct financing has gradually occupied a dominant position, putting forward more requirements for economic tools, especially financial commodities, and the traditional functions of "deposit, loan and remittance" are far from meeting the rapid economic demand. Banking has not only become an industry full of risks, opportunities and competition, but also the traditional banking industry has entered the era of low profit. Bank deposit and loan market has changed from seller's market to buyer's market. Bank deposit and loan spreads have narrowed, operating costs have increased, and profit margins are very narrow. With the advancement of financial reform and the gradual relaxation of interest rate control, the profitability of traditional banking business will further decline. Moreover, because most of the existing state-owned enterprises are meager profits, some even lose money, their own capital is insufficient, financing channels are single, and most of their production and operation rely on bank loans, commercial banks have been facing greater credit risks in the future, which greatly limits the increase of credit assets. In addition, on a global scale, due to the development of scientific and technological means, the trading system, clearing system and service network of banking industry are changing with each passing day. Any bank must keep up with this rapid change and development, and obtain the qualification of survival in the competition of the same industry. This requires the banking industry to carry out financial innovation, adjust its operation mode, constantly explore new economic growth points, expand its service scope through the development of intermediary business, and carry out services such as collection and payment, insurance agency, stock agency, bond issuance, securities trading, and valet agency. In order to seek ways to avoid risks and gain new profit space, off-balance sheet business innovation came into being.
(B) Off-balance-sheet business innovation is the embodiment of modern commercial banks' business philosophy, which is oriented to the needs of customers and the market.
The diversification of customer needs determines that banks must create reports that meet customer needs. With the intensification of competition between banks and the enhancement of financial awareness of customers (including corporate customers and individual customers), the relationship between banks and customers is changing from customer chasing banks to bank chasing customers, and customers' financial needs are increasingly diversified. According to the classification of customers and the characteristics of different customers, banks must develop products suitable for different customer groups in a "tailor-made" way to better meet customer needs. Due to the development of the capital market, customers' financing options have increased. They can raise funds indirectly from commercial banks or directly from the capital market, and the intermediary function of banks is weakening. In addition, the restrictions on cross-business between commercial banks and investment banks are gradually relaxed, which enables commercial banks to engage in some investment banking businesses that are not explicitly restricted by the commercial banking law in order to meet the needs of customers. At present, the reform of state-owned enterprises in China has entered a critical stage. Large-scale, trans-regional, cross-industry and even international capital flow, asset reorganization and re-adjustment and allocation of resources are the key steps of state-owned enterprise system reform, and its success will directly determine the success or failure of state-owned enterprise reform. Market-oriented enterprise reform, from joint-stock reform, merger, acquisition and even group development, depends on investment banks to provide financial support and services for enterprises in all aspects. Because there is no real investment bank in China, and modern commercial banks have the advantages of talents and information, there are many links that banks can fully participate in in the specific operation process, such as the preliminary investigation of the target enterprise in asset restructuring, the confirmation of assets and liabilities, the financing arrangement of M&A project evaluation, financial consultants and investment consulting, corporate wealth management, etc., which can become off-balance sheet businesses with high returns and low risks. Due to the diversification of customer demand, bank products are constantly innovating around customer demand.
(C) Off-balance-sheet business innovation is a requirement for commercial banks to implement modern management strategies.
Facing the reality that competition leads to rising costs, declining asset quality and increasing risks, the business strategies of commercial banks have also undergone fundamental changes. That is, from the traditional strategy of relying on expanding liabilities and asset scale to the business strategy of attaching importance to asset quality, reducing risks and improving asset returns, a large number of newly developed off-balance sheet businesses have just adapted to the requirements of the new business strategy of commercial banks because of their unique functions of preventing risks, improving asset quality and increasing income, so they have achieved rapid development in a short time, coupled with the development trend of global financial market integration and the rapid development of modern electronics, communications and other technologies. The rise of online banking has also created the necessary market and technical conditions for banks to engage in a large number of off-balance-sheet businesses.
Two, the basic types of off-balance sheet business at home and abroad and the situation in China.
According to the general classification method of international financial markets, the off-balance-sheet business of commercial banks includes traditional financial products and newly innovative financial products in recent years. Traditional financial products include three parts: first, traditional intermediary business, including credit business, leasing business and agency business; The second is external guarantee business, including customer loan repayment, bill acceptance, letter of credit use guarantee, etc. Third, loan and insurance commitments, including revocable and irrevocable. New and innovative financial products include financial futures, forward interest rate agreements and swaps. But at present, there are the following off-balance-sheet businesses available for operation:
(1) Product innovation in leasing business. It refers to the business that a bank purchases certain property and equipment in the form of capital contribution or loan, directly or indirectly lends the equipment to the borrower for use within the agreed period in the name of the lessor, and recovers the investment and gains income through rent. Off-balance-sheet business types mainly include financial leasing and service leasing. Financial leasing includes direct leasing, transfer leasing, leaseback leasing and leveraged leasing. The leasing business is characterized by the separation of ownership and management rights, the combination of financing and financing, and the repayment of principal and interest in the form of rent. It is a financial industry and marginal business, and its functions in the economic and financial fields are: financing, investment, sales and management. ICBC has not yet started this business.
(2) Product innovation of external guarantee business. External guarantee of commercial banks refers to the behavior of performing debts, taking responsibility and charging a certain fee for debtors with their own reputation. It mainly includes: 1, insurance authentication business-supervising payment, ensuring payment, paying deposit, insurance authentication, etc. 2. Confidentiality business-confidentiality of bidding business, performance, prepayment, payment, deferred payment, leasing, compensation trade, processing with supplied materials and loans; 3. Standby letter of credit is a popular bank external guarantee business that replaces enterprises to issue deposits or confidential texts. 4. Loan commitment is a kind of business that banks provide guarantees to customers, including standby loan commitment and revolving loan commitment. This business is partly carried out in banks such as ICBC, especially in international business.
(3) Agency business product innovation. It mainly includes acting as an agent for customers to receive and pay, acting as an agent for financing funds, acting as an agent for customers to issue and buy and sell securities, acting as an agent for custody business, acting as an agent for setting up new companies, and acting as an agent for customers' accounting affairs. Including collecting and paying labor fees, management fees, environmental protection fees, utilities, rent, telephone charges, traffic fines, etc. Its custody business is mainly sealed custody business, including the custody of securities and enterprises such as stocks, bonds and certificates of deposit, as well as gold, silver, jewelry, precious cultural relics and contract documents. This is a kind of marginal financial business that uses the bank's own security facilities to charge customers custody fees. This kind of agency business is the most common intermediary business carried out by domestic banks at present.
(4) Product innovation of trust business. The trust industry of commercial banks can be divided into property trust, financing trust, investment trust, employee welfare trust, public welfare trust and transaction agent. The off-balance-sheet trust business of commercial banks is mostly securities investment trust, property trust, trust deposit and trust investment fund. They play the role of investment and financing, rational suggestion and social security in the market economy. A few years ago, due to the credit incidents of Guangxin and Zhongnong, especially the 1994 Law on Commercial Banks clearly stipulated that commercial banks should not engage in trust and investment business. Now all major commercial banks are decoupled from their own trust companies and no longer operate fund trust business. Within the scope permitted by the state, some property trust businesses and other trust businesses can be carried out.
(V) Financial futures market innovation. Financial futures have the following basic functions: 1, hedging and hedging. Using this function, by establishing positions with opposite trading positions in the spot market and the futures market respectively, the profits and losses of the two markets can be roughly offset, and the huge losses caused by changes in exchange rates, interest rates, stock prices and other factors can be avoided, and the asset value can be stabilized. 2. It is nothing more than leveraged investment, that is, "to be small and broad". This function is mainly relative to speculators in the market. In the futures market, speculators can trade ten times or even dozens of times with a small amount of margin, and the yield of futures investment is much higher than that of the spot market, thus providing speculators with a risky and profitable investment market. 3. Price barometer. The price of financial futures is determined by the total price of buyers and sellers in the exchange. This price reflects the expectations of market participants on the future trend of interest rates, exchange rates, stock prices and other factors. Spot prices and futures prices are convergent. At present, due to the imperfect development of China's futures market, especially financial futures, many innovations in financial derivatives can not be carried out, especially due to the restriction of separate operation, Chinese commercial banks can not engage in financial futures market transactions, but with the further deepening of financial system reform, reopening the financial futures market will be the general trend.
(VI) Innovation in securitization of financing methods. Internationally, the traditional way of raising gold and iron through commercial banks began to give way to the way of issuing securities through financial markets, especially the stock market, bond market and capital market. 1. Vigorously develop the capital market and the securities market. Pay attention to the balanced and coordinated development of stock market and bond market, especially the development of long-term bond market and corporate bond market. 2. Vigorously develop investment funds and institutional investors, and change individual retail investment into institutional investment in the capital market. Thus, "collective investment, expert management, risk dispersion, benefit sharing". The establishment of investment fund accounts can be realized at any time because investment funds invest in highly liquid financial assets. Open-end investment funds can enter and exit at any time without the limitation of time and amount, and can obtain higher returns. The establishment of investment fund accounts can not only meet the safety requirements of customers, but also take into account the profitability requirements of customers.
Third, the problems and countermeasures of bank off-balance sheet business innovation
With the development of China's banking industry gradually entering the stage of business innovation, the ability to explore and develop new business will increasingly become the key to the development of commercial banks. The focus of competition among commercial banks is increasingly shifting to new business areas. Whether the innovation of banking business, especially the innovation of off-balance-sheet business with high intelligence, can seize the commanding heights of new business development, promote and extend it, occupy and expand its due market share has a decisive impact on the development of commercial banks.
(1) Problems in innovation of off-balance-sheet business of banks;
1. The off-balance-sheet business products of banks are few in variety, low in quality, small in scope and low in income, and lack of fist products and pillar products.
Judging from the development history of commercial banks in western developed countries, off-balance sheet business innovation income accounts for an increasing proportion of total bank income. At the end of 1990s, the off-balance-sheet business income of five major banking groups, such as Citigroup and the United States, which are in the forefront of American banking, accounted for more than 50%, while the off-balance-sheet business income of several major German banks accounted for 60%-70% of the total business income, while the off-balance-sheet business and intermediary business income of major commercial banks in China accounted for less than 65,438+. Moreover, due to the separate business model in China, the development of many off-balance-sheet businesses has been limited. At present, there are few off-balance-sheet businesses of banks, which are mainly limited to external guarantee business in international business, such as guarantee authentication business, standby letter of credit, confidentiality business and some low-grade agency business, such as collecting and paying various management fees, utilities, telephone charges, traffic fines, custody business, etc. In order to seize market share, banks provide free services to many agency businesses, and some even "reverse". Coupled with the traditional pricing method, the investment and income of some off-balance-sheet businesses and intermediary businesses are very low. Some banks say that there are 40 or 50 intermediary businesses in several categories, but many of them are limited to the stage of pulling deposits, far from transforming into efficiency-enhancing means. Coupled with the limitation of local economic development, there is a lack of high-yield pillar products, such as some high-yield and intelligent investment banking business, enterprise merger and acquisition design, supporting financing arrangements, securities agents and so on.
2. Off-balance-sheet business innovation lacks incentive mechanism, and the innovation motivation is vague. There are two motives for financial institutions in western developed countries to set up financial organ newspapers. One is to maximize profits, and the other is to evade supervision. Based on this, every financial innovation launched by western commercial banks will go through systematic planning and research, fully considering its costs and benefits, required technical conditions, market demand procedures and promoted economic scale. However, due to the dislocation of innovation subjects in China, the motivation of micro-innovation driven by administration is vague. In addition, the way of thinking of the whole social group is different from that of the west, and the concept that "service should also be a paid behavior" has not been fully established. In view of the traditional pricing method, many financial innovations have emerged, regardless of cost or even negative returns.
3. Lack of innovative talents. Financial innovation needs a large number of high-quality talents. Especially the compound talents who know both computer and bank management, money market business and capital market business, and can develop and design new financial products and understand marketing.
(2) Suggestions on the development of off-balance-sheet business and intermediary business of banks:
1. Improve the understanding of the necessity of developing off-balance sheet business and intermediate business, and establish a new operating mechanism with "efficiency as the center". Modern commercial banks are special enterprises dealing in financial products. They should become independent, self-financing, self-risk, self-dedication, self-seeking balance and self-development enterprise legal persons, with the pursuit of profit maximization as the main goal. We should take the development of off-balance-sheet business and other intermediary business as a major event related to the survival and development of banks, pay attention to the development of business varieties with "market demand, self-ability and guaranteed income", pay attention to cost accounting when starting new business, and establish a "advance and retreat mechanism" for new business varieties on the premise of combining scientific forecasting with market testing, so as to reduce market transaction costs, improve financial efficiency and bring economy.
2. "Borrow brains" and adhere to the innovative road of combining introduction, transformation and research and development. The development of commercial banks in western developed countries has a history of hundreds of years, and has formed a set of effective management systems and innovative mechanisms. Innovation itself is not only a kind of creation and invention of new things, but also a recombination of traditional elements. "Integration is innovation". We don't have many financial products of commercial banks in western developed countries. For them, it is a traditional product, but for us, it is innovation. Therefore, we should fully learn from and absorb the innovation achievements of western developed countries, make full use of the latest scientific and technological achievements, save costs and avoid detours, thus greatly shortening the process of new business development.
3. Adhere to the new product development strategy of "market-oriented and customer-centered" to meet the diversified needs of customers. Through the continuous expansion of the customer market, according to the characteristics of different customer groups, we should make full use of the internal resources of banks, play an intermediary role, develop some new business varieties with high intelligence and high income, establish a new business development cooperation and coordination mechanism and incentive mechanism, and introduce a group of high-quality compound talents, so as to bravely stand at the forefront of financial reform and be invincible in the competition of the same industry.
Author's resume:
Gu, 1994 worked in Zhengzhou Branch of China Industrial and Commercial Bank after graduating from master's degree. He has served as branch secretary, senior account manager of credit and director of account management department, and now works in Huanghe Securities Research Institute. In recent years, * * * has published nearly 100 articles in Financial Times, china securities journal, Securities Daily, China City Finance, Financial Theory and Practice, Modern Commercial Bank and other newspapers, and co-published the book Credit Management of Modern Commercial Bank. In recent years, the papers and topics written have won national awards 1, five provincial awards, and three awards from the head office of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Henan Province.