财务公司西风东进

财务公司是金融体系中重要的组成部分。它通过提供富有特色的金融服务，起到了其他金融机构无法替代的作用。中国财务公司协会提供的数据显示，经过近30年的发展，到2016年年底，财务公司行业资产规模已达476039332.3万元，净利润6199241.68万元，所有者权益达到67343055.87万元，资本充足率达到21.25%，拨备覆盖率为3303.79%，不良资产率为0.03%。与此同时，随着中国金融市场的日臻完善，财务公司的新业务也在不断涌现，如金融债的发行、跨国公司的资金归集及产业链金融等。目前，随着越来越多的企业走向海外，其作用也日益彰显。财务公司起源于西方，无论从理论还是实践上，国外对财务公司的研究都较为成熟。行业公认，作为企业集团司库平台的财务公司，将会成为未来的发展方向。西门子财务服务有限责任公司（Siemens Financial Services Ltd.下称“西门子财务公司”）正是这一方向的践行者，其将世界领先的流程技术，也引入到了资金管理业务的各项流程中。在过去数年中，其加快了中国司库集中管理的速度，积累了宝贵的实践经验，可供中国的财务公司参考。

Finance companies are an increasingly important part of China's financial system. This is particularly so as China pushes ahead with financial reforms that promote competition in the financial sector and increase the role of the market in setting interest rates and the renminbi exchange rate. According to data provided by the China Association of Finance Companies, after nearly 30 years of expansion, finance companies had combined assets of 4,760.4 billion yuan as of the end of 2016 with owner's equity of 673.4 billion yuan. Non-performing assets were a tiny 0.03%, while the capital adequacy ratio reached 21.25% and provision coverage reached 3303.79%. With the growing maturity of China's financial market, finance companies are moving into new businesses, including the issuance of financial bonds, providing global sweep accounts for multinationals and offering international supply chain financing. As more and more domestic enterprises move into the international market, finance companies are playing an ever greater role in China's financial environment. Finance companies got their start in developed Western economies, and there is a considerable amount of research on the role they have played as the treasury platform for enterprise groups. Much of their experience may be applicable to the China market.

根据《企业集团财务公司管理办法》，我国集团财务公司的功能主要定位于资金集中管理和为集团成员单位提供财务管理服务。与银行不同，财务公司的风险主要集中在集团内部，相对可控，不会演变为系统性风险。但在中国企业“走出去”的过程中，财务公司自身发展模式的缺陷与不足，也使一些潜在风险逐渐显现出来，主要体现在对风险的控制主要集中在业务交易层面，没有形成对公司整体风险的控制。

According to the Enterprise Group Finance Company Management Measures, China's group finance companies mainly focus on centralized management of corporate funds and the provision of financial management services to corporate group members. Unlike banks, finance companies have risks that are concentrated within their group. This means risks are relatively controllable -- assuming the group itself is financially healthy -- and there is less likelihood of systemic risk from finance companies. However, as Chinese companies "go out" into the global market, there are more obvious shortcomings in the operations of the nation's finance companies. Risks are largely concentrated in business transactions, and interest rate risk and exchange rate risk are among the chief areas where risk needs to be scrutinized. 

西门子财务公司副总经理韩玲介绍说，西门子的司库集中管理框架由管理、执行和控制三个方面组成。其中：“管理”即企业明确授予司库有法律效力的代为管理权；“执行”，指司库既负责内部交易又负责外部交易；控制，即法规指引制定出来后，中央司库还要通过相应的内部审计，不断监测这些法规是否得以执行，并将其列为下属公司考核层的考核内容。

Han Ling, deputy general manager at Siemens Financial Services, said that the centralized governance framework at Siemens' treasury operations is comprised of three key segments: governance, implementation and control. She said that for governance, the company clearly confers administrative authority to the treasurer. For implementation, the treasurer can deal with both internal transactions and external payments. For control, the central treasurer needs the corresponding internal auditing to continuously monitor compliance with existing laws and regulations. This is a key measure for performance assessment of the operations of subsidiaries.

企业跨国经营中面临的风险主要有内部风险与外部风险。外部风险主要由企业依存的外部环境产生，如利率风险、汇率风险等。其中，外汇风险是指外汇汇率变动带来的企业在生产经营中以外币计价的资产与负债的价值、收入和支出的增加或减少，可能导致的损失，其结果具有不确定性。外部风险是中国企业“走出去”过程中都会面临的问题，那么财务公司应如何规避外汇风险呢？

One company with a wealth of experience in dealing with these risks as they apply to members of an enterprise group is Siemens Financial Services Ltd. In recent years, Siemens Financial has accelerated the pace of its centralized treasury management operations, and the company's experience could serve as a handy reference for many of China's own enterprise groups.

西门子财务公司执行董事、总经理Matthias Plenio对记者说，西门子在中国各业务领域的金融需求都大同小异：或是资金短缺需要贷款，或是资金盈余在财务公司存款，而所有涉及外币业务的成员单位，都有外汇风险管理的需求。作为集团的“内部银行”，财务公司首先通过发挥集团资金结算、资金归集、资金监控和金融服务四个平台职能，为成员单位提供如办理吸收外币存款、发放外币贷款、外币资金池和结售汇等全方位、一体化的外汇管理和金融服务。其次，财务公司通过运用有效的内外部控制方法，帮助成员单位及时了解外汇市场的动态和金融避险工具，对帮助其防范和化解在生产经营活动中存在的外汇风险；同时，搭建跨境外币资金池和人民币跨境资金池，打通财务公司本外币“资金池”通道，统筹运作资金管理，打造高效、快捷、便利的外汇资金集中管理平台。

Matthias Plenio, executive director and general manager of Siemens Financial Services, told reporters recently that the financial needs of Siemens across its various business areas in China are similar to those of domestic groups. In some cases there is a shortage of funds while in others there is a surplus of deposits. Moreover, all group members with foreign currency business need foreign exchange risk management. As an enterprise group's "internal bank," a group finance company firstly provides settlement as well as capital pooling, capital monitoring and other financial services. The finance company can also offer integrated foreign exchange management and financial services, such as foreign currency deposits, foreign currency loans, and foreign currency pooling as well as settlement and remittances for group members. Making use of effective internal and external control methods, finance companies help group members keep abreast of financial hedging tools of the foreign exchange market to help mitigate foreign exchange risks in production and other business areas. At the same time, these companies need to build cross-border renminbi capital pools, and facilitate the channels of the capital pool for domestic and foreign currencies of the financial companies, while integrating and co-coordinating capital management. This is to create a fast, efficient and convenient centralized management platform for foreign exchange funds.

具体而言，风险识别是外汇风险管理的第一步。西门子集团在全球的公司都会发布比较详尽的外汇管理指导方针。其中对外汇风险敞口进行套期保值的水平、比率及计算风险敞口的方法，集团都有统一的要求。在实际操作中，则由区域司库中心负责。如在中国，西门子财务公司会集中处理所有企业的外汇风险，并借助金融牌照，积极开展即期结售汇业务，尝试集中远期、掉期汇率风险管理，以更有效率地为成员单位服务；同时，积极为成员单位开展外汇业务咨询、定期外汇管理培训，内容包括在签订商务合同时，添加货币条款（Currency Clause）。涉及到具体项目，会在竞标阶段开始，帮助销售经理计算报价汇率，将套期保值成本计算进来。另外，所有成员单位皆设立“货币经理”（Currency Manager）一职， 全权负责识别、报告和监控外汇风险。

In particular, risk identification is the first step of foreign exchange risk management. Siemens Group has issued detailed guidelines for foreign exchange management for its global companies. The group has uniform requirements for hedging, the extent of hedging and the method of calculating foreign exchange exposure risks. In actual practice, the regional treasury center takes responsibility. In China, Siemens Financial Services focuses on the foreign exchange risk of all enterprises, and actively carries out spot settlement and sales business with financial licenses. It monitors long-term and swap foreign exchange rate risk management, to deliver more efficient services for the member units. At the same time, the company provides foreign exchange business consulting and regular foreign exchange management training, including the signing of business contracts. When it comes to specific projects, at the start of the bidding phase, the company helps sales managers calculate the exchange rate to determine the hedging costs. In addition, the company installs a currency manager for all member units, and he or she is responsible for the identification, reporting and monitoring of foreign exchange risk.

合规经营

Compliance Management

Matthias Plenio强调，对于风险管理，西门子属于非常保守的跨国公司，规定不可投机、套利，追求的是业务经营利润，而不是通过衍生品获取投机收益。运用衍生产品，只是为了锁定或降低外汇风险、经营成本，通过套期保值避免意外，减少利润表因汇率风险而产生的波动。而且，西门子公司的外汇风险敞口是很低的，并可随时根据市场情况在外汇交易中心平盘。

Mr. Plenio stressed that Siemens is a very conservative multinational company as far as risk management is concerned, and that it eschews speculative deals. It looks to pursue business operating profit rather than generate profits by taking speculative positions. The use of derivative products is confined to limiting or reducing foreign exchange risks and operating costs. Moreover, hedging is meant to be used to avoid unpleasant surprises and reduce the effects of exchange rate swings on profits. At Siemens, the level of foreign exchange risk is quite low, and the company can always square its positions through the foreign exchange trading center, the executive said.

财务公司作为附属于企业集团的金融机构，业务上主要接受银监会的监督管理，并在同业拆借、外汇结算等具体业务上接受人民银行、外汇局的监督指导。

Regulatory supervision of finance companies is conducted mainly by the China Banking Regulatory Commission but for interbank lending, foreign exchange settlement and other specific businesses, the central bank and the foreign exchange regulator provide supervision and guidance.

当前，国内许多财务公司还处于摸索发展阶段，基本以信用风险管理为重心，对操作风险、合规风险未能给予应有的重视。而在“风险监管”这一新的监管风向下，合规经营日益成为趋势及财务公司内控制度的重中之重。

At present, many domestic finance companies are still in the development stage, with credit risk management as their focus. As such they may overlook operational and compliance risks. With greater attention placed on "risk regulation" - or regulation that is aimed at controlling risk -- compliance management is taking on an increasingly critical role in the operations of these companies.

目前国内财务公司在内控机制的运行中，总体上是事前、事中控制少，事后控制多。具体表现在三个方面：一是未达到控制目标；二是未严格执行规定的控制措施；三是逾越管理权限。

Regulatory supervision of domestic finance companies is focused on monitoring ongoing operations of companies rather than prior approvals. In some cases this has not been up to the task of preventing risk while in other areas authorities have exceeded the regulatory limits on their authority.

合规经营一直是西门子财务公司最为看重的经营战略之一。其结合信息技术，开发了独有的连接西门子成员企业的平台，实现了金融交易、内部结算和账户的自动化管理。韩玲介绍说，内控制度的中心环节之一体现在付款流程，这一流程涉及职责分工是否清晰、交易是否真实、是否存在行贿与欺诈行为等。在西门子，支付过程基本上是一个无人工干预、自动完成的过程。

Compliance has been one of the most important business objectives at Siemens Financial Services Ltd.. With the help of information technology, the company has developed a unique platform that links member companies of the Siemens Group member and achieves coordinated financial transactions, internal settlement and automated account management. Han Ling said that one of the central components of the internal control system is reflected in the payment process, which involves a clear division of responsibilities. This ensures transaction authenticity and eliminates opportunities for fraud or other corrupt practices. At Siemens, the payment process is basically a process of automatic completion without human intervention.

在西门子，如果成员单位下了订单，那么只有在业务实际完成后，即发票、货物及税款匹配成功后，才能转入“支付工厂”等待处理。“支付工厂”在支付前，会进行自动化审核，具体内容包括对欺诈的防范，以及禁运、反洗钱等相关的核查。

At Siemens, if a group member makes a purchase order, official receipts, invoicing and other documentation is required before the order is transferred to what is called the "payment factory" for further processing.  The "payment factory" carries out automated audit before payments are made, including fraud prevention, embargo, anti-money laundering requirements and other related verifications.

《企业集团财务公司风险评价和分类监管指引》的发布，为财务公司的合规经营提供了方向。在合规经营中最忌讳人为因素的干扰。在这方面，西门子财务公司“支付工厂”所设计的自动化过程，对中国财务系统的建设或有所启迪。

The Guidelines for Risk Evaluation and Classification of Financial Companies in Enterprise Group provide direction for finance companies in their compliance management task. In the compliance business, human interference is the biggest concern. In this regard, the automation process designed by the "payment factory" at Siemens Financial Services Ltd. is a useful guide.

业务创新

Business Innovation

按照中国企业集团财务公司披露的最新行业评级，有68家财务公司评级为创新类。目前，银监会批准的财务公司业务范围主要包括：为成员单位办理信用验证和相关咨询；代理业务；财务顾问业务；为成员单位办理委托贷款和办理成员单位之间的投资；各成员单位的票据承兑与贴现；内部转账成员单位之间的结算及规划设计；吸收成员单位存款；从事同业拆借等。

According to the latest industry rating by the Financial Companies of China Enterprise Group, there are 68 finance companies rated as "innovative." At present, the business scope of finance companies, as approved by the China Banking Regulatory Commission, covers credit verification and related consulting for group member companies, agency business, financial advisory services, entrusted loans for member companies and investments within the enterprise group, the cashing and discounting of all bills of member companies, settlements for member companies engaged in internal transfers, the taking of deposits from group  member companies and interbank lending.

随着利率、汇率市场化等金融改革的推进，财务公司业务发展也遭遇瓶颈。面临的主要问题有三：一是资金利用率低，资金没有得到优化配置；二是业务拓展能力低，促进集团业务发展的功能并未得到充分发挥；三是营运资金运用效率低。

Despite continuing reforms of China's financial system, finance companies face a number of hurdles, particularly a relatively low utilization of funds, which results in idle capital and the inefficient use of working capital. At the same time there has been an overall inability to capitalize on reforms at the group level.

业内专家认为，财务公司要突破现有的制约，必须在经营结构和盈利模式上进行转变。正因如此，一些新的业务，如产业链金融、外汇资金集中运营管理等试点业务，已成为许多财务公司转型的抓手。

Experts maintain that finance companies need to transform their operating structure and profit model. New businesses, such as supply chain financing, centralized management of foreign exchange and other pilot business are seen as new potential growth areas that need to be tapped to a greater extent.

韩玲以外汇资金集中运营管理试点为例，介绍了西门子的做法。西门子是北京外汇管理部的第二批试点企业集团，西门子财务公司为主办企业的外汇资金集中运营管理试点项目，成功集中了全国各省50余家营运公司的外汇业务。在业务开展中，首先是通过外汇资金的集中管理，搭建外币资金池，使外汇资金高度集中；其次是通过开展即期结售汇业务，获得市场的优惠价格，从而帮助成员单位降低结售汇成本。在此基础上，进一步优化远期结售汇的交易集中管理流程，让银行充分竞价，以降低远期结售汇成本，提高交易效率。  

Han Ling noted that Siemens Financial Services Ltd. is part of a pilot project of centralized operation and management of foreign exchange funds under a program approved by the Beijing Foreign Exchange Management Department. This has allowed the company to consolidate the foreign exchange operations of more than 50 operating companies around the country. In its business development, the centralized management of foreign exchange funds lets the company build a foreign currency pool that concentrates foreign exchange funds. By undertaking spot settlement and sales in foreign exchange, the group has access to preferential prices, thereby reducing costs to group companies. On this basis, the group can make forward transactions as well and further reduce costs while boosting transaction efficiency.

未来，伴随监管部门授予财务公司新的试点范围，相信财务公司能在传统业务为主的基础上，借鉴国际发展经验，不断开拓出新的业务领域。

In the future, with regulatory authorities permitting finance companies to enter new businesses through pilot projects, finance companies are expected to find new business opportunities.