How AIG's Credit Loophole Squeezed Europe's Banks
News October 16, 2008
Firms such as Dexia snapped up loads of credit default swaps, often from AIG, in a scheme to leverage their capital for more lending
By David Henry, Matthew Goldstein and Carol Matlack
European banks didn't gorge on subprime assets as much as their U.S. counterparts did. So why do foreign lenders suddenly need a bailout? Their deals with insurer American International Group (AIG) may offer a clue.
Before the financial crisis hit, AIG did a booming business in credit default swaps, complex instruments originally designed to protect lenders if borrowers fail to make debt payments. The biggest buyers were European banks, whose deals last year with AIG totaled a staggering $426 billion. But the banks didn't always buy the swaps as insurance against defaults—they often used them to skirt capital requirements. AIG declined to comment.
Under international regulations known as the Basel Accords, European lenders have to set aside a certain amount of money to cover potential losses. By owning credit default swaps, banks could make it appear as if they had off-loaded most of the risk of a loan to AIG or another firm, thereby reducing their capital needs. The perfectly legal ploy allowed banks across the Continent to free up money to make more loans. It was part of the game taking place across the global financial system. During the boom, firms seemingly created money out of nothing, propelling the markets to unsustainable heights.
Such excessive risk- taking has brought down several European lenders. Consider Dexia, which received an $8.7 billion bailout from regulators in late September. The Brussels bank boasted about its credit default swaps in a press release last year, saying that the deals "freed up regulatory capital." A Dexia spokesman now says the firm made little use of such swaps.
Another busted bank, Fortis, noted in a May 2007 investor presentation that it planned to use "capital relief transactions" to help fund its purchase of ABN AMRO assets. A Fortis spokesman says the bank didn't buy swaps to improve its capital position.
Until late 2007, AIG gave its deals with European banks cursory mention in filings. Then the insurer got smacked by subprime losses on unrelated transactions. After that, investors pressured AIG to come clean about all of its sophisticated deals. AIG officials said in a Dec. 5 conference call that banks using credit default swaps could set aside capital that amounted to only 1.6% of a loan's value, vs. 8% without.
European banks didn't tap only AIG. Bermuda's Primus Guaranty (PRS), a firm that sprang up during the boom, targeted European banks looking to game regulations. Philadelphia bond insurer Radian Group (RDN) marketed "Basel-friendly" swaps. Says Daniel Gros, director of the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels: "Through adjustments, [banks] could convince regulators that there was low or no risk."
AIG's credit default swaps, though, delivered an extra dose of leverage to the financial system. Given its high credit rating, AIG could make deals that required it to put up a meager amount of collateral, or cushion, against losses. The upshot: AIG boosted lending with little money.
But the gambit worked only as long as AIG maintained its credit rating. If the insurer were downgraded, AIG would have to pony up more cash. Otherwise the deals would fail—and banks would have to raise capital or dump assets.
That very scenario started to unfold on Sept. 15 when AIG got downgraded. Within 24 hours, the Federal Reserve stepped in with an $85 billion bailout to save the company. These days, AIG no longer makes such deals. It's just another way credit is contracting as the financial system pays for the excesses of the past.
Henry is a senior writer at BusinessWeek. Goldstein is a senior writer at BusinessWeek. Matlack is BusinessWeek's Paris bureau chief.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Citic
中信泰富令中国改革开放形象大为失色(组图) 综合新闻
在中国大陆进入开放改革三十周年之际，大陆于改革之初在香港成立的窗口公司中信泰富却传来极大的负面消息，令庆祝开放改革政策的气氛大为失色。
中信泰富是北京方面于改革开放初期在港设立的窗口公司之一，另一家是光大，它们肩负着引入外资、为大陆推行资本主义政策开路。
当年中共元老邓小平为了落实开放改革政策，邀请被誉为“红色资本家”的荣毅仁出山，协助当局于一九七九创办中国国际信托投资公司，开创了大陆第一个对外开放的窗口。
荣智健 荣明方
荣毅仁创办中信后，成功引进资本，后来中信在港成立中信泰富，并由荣毅仁的儿子荣智健掌管，先后收购收购航空公司、汽车等企业的股权，迅速崛起。
从上世纪八十年代起经营至今，中信泰富的上市性质也从当初的红筹股（以香港为经营基地的大陆企业）晋身为蓝筹股（总部在港的大型企业）。
去年港股处于高峰时，中信泰富的股价曾超越每股四十五元。不过，这家代表着大陆改革开放三十年成就的“元老级”企业，近日却因为购买外汇投资产品以致焦头烂额。
荣智健连同公司的董事总经理范鸿龄于前天公布，公司早前购买大量澳洲货币等外汇衍生产品，由于澳元大跌，公司方面已经?损，实时损失港币八亿元。至于尚未中止的合约，账面损失约达港币一百五十亿元。
消息传出后，中信泰富的股价于最近两天持续暴跌。到今天中午收盘为止，股价已从事发前的每股14.52元下跌至5.95元，下跌59％。
公司的市值也蒸发一半，从事发前的三百一十八亿元下降至一百二十九亿元。
为了协助中信泰富度过难关，母公司北京中信集团已同意提供十五亿美元供使用。
与此同时，中信泰富准备出售属下企业大昌行。大昌行是本地著名的汽车销售代理商，在香港、大陆及澳门拥有良好的网络，且品牌相当不错。
在中信泰富及其母公司设法挽救公司之际，对中信泰富打击更甚的是：外界质疑公司有隐瞒之嫌。
在荣智健公布公司的损失及两名高层辞职后，市场上有人透露，除了辞职的两名高层外，他的女儿荣明方也参与财务工作，在事件中有一定的角色。
在媒体报导后，范鸿龄才进一步透露，荣明方在事件中也遭到调职处分。但由于中信泰富并非在第一时间公布荣明方一事，因此，外界质疑中信泰富仍有所“隐瞒”。
另外，也有报章指出，中信泰富高层早于九月初即知道有人购买相关外汇投资产品，却延至前日才对外公布损失，公布时间太晚。本地已有政党要求监管当局介入调查，还投资者公道。
事实上，中信泰富股价连日暴跌，令基金及散户投资者都蒙受严重损失，昨天起，大批散户投资者就在网上留言，抨击中信泰富管理不善。
有人认为，外界的质疑不但令中信泰富的情况更加恶劣，而它作为大陆在港经营二、三十年的窗口公司，也连带影响大陆的形象，令近期庆祝改革开放三十周年的气氛蒙上阴影。
信报今天就发表社评说：“……它（中信泰富）没有做好建立中国一流企业的本分，反而不务正业从事炒作活动，最后输清了企业的声誉，不但令投资者损失，也为国家带来一次重大挫折。”
中信泰富炒外汇巨亏百亿 荣智健女儿被降级减薪
荣智健向中信泰富股东道歉
中新网10月21日电 中信泰富因为买了澳元外汇累计期权，或出现一百四十七亿元(港元，下同)重大亏损，中信泰富董事总经理范鸿龄今天表示，中信泰富主席荣智健女儿荣明方会被纪律处分，包括被调离财务部、降级和减薪。
中信泰富发表声明指出，财务董事张立宪及财务总监周志贤因事件而请辞。范鸿龄解释，张立宪的职能是公司的财务董事，周志贤的职能是集团财务总监，调查报告认为两人的责任最重。至于荣明方并非董事局成员，是公司财务部主管，职能上要向张立宪负责。
调查认为她有责任，但并非第一责任。
范鸿龄说昨天没有公布荣明方的处分，是因为考虑到公司员工士气。他认为除了董事局成员外，毋须公开较低级的人员名单。
范鸿龄强调，他们没有刻意拖延公布时间，发现问题时已立即组成专责小组，并召开特别董事会研究，一直亦有谘询法律意见，希望得出解决方法才公布，以免误导市场。期间有部份外汇亦已平仓，以减低损失。
范鸿龄表示，公司基本业务仍然健全，希望今后可一步步重振市场的信心。
中信泰富昨日发出盈警，指出有管理层在未获主席授权下，签订了多份杠杆式外汇合同，导致集团录得已变现亏损八亿元，以及按市值计算约一百四十七亿元的亏损，合共一百五十五亿元。中信泰富预期，集团二零零八年全年业绩将录得亏损，但事件不涉及欺诈，母公司中信集团将会提供十五亿美元备用信贷，料足以应付。
中信泰富主席荣智健说，集团于九月初发现问题后，已召开了特别董事会商议此事，并授权审核委员会对此事件进行独立调查。调查结果显示，事件不涉欺诈或其他不法行为。他表示，集团亦已聘请了罗兵咸永道会计师事务所研究改良内部监控制度，并已接纳和将落实执行有关建议。
中信泰富今天股价沽压沉重，股价下跌五成五，收市报六元五角二仙，是跌幅最大蓝筹股。多家投资银行调低中信泰富的投资评级及目标价。高盛把中信泰富的评级由“中性”降至“沽出”，十二个月目标价由原来的三十一元五角元削减至十二元五角。花旗亦把中信泰富的评级调低至“沽出”，目标价由二十八元降至六元六角六仙。
中信泰富简介：
中信泰富有限公司(“中信泰富”)的业务集中在香港及广大的内地市场，业务重点以基建为主，包括投资物业、基础设施(如桥、路和隧道)、能源项目、环保项目、航空以及电讯业务。另外，透过其全资附属机构大昌贸易行有限公司及慎昌有限公司进行贸易及分销业务。 集团在港拥有多项物业项目，包括大型住宅及优质商用物业。于一九九七年，公司的总部大楼“中信大厦”更于中区海旁落成，为香港海滨的重要标志。特钢、航空、地产 是中信泰富的三大主业。
中信泰富於香港注册成立，现于香港联合交易所上市，并为恒生指数成份股之一。中信泰富之最大股东为中国国际信托投资(香港集团)有限公司，是北京中国国际信托投资公司的全资附属公司。
中信泰富的前身泰富发展有限公司成立于1985年。1986年通过新景丰公司而获得上市地位，同年2月，泰富发行2.7亿股新股予中国国际信托投资(香港集团)有限公司，使中信(香港集团)持有泰富64.7%股权。自此，泰富成为中信子公司。而后，中信(香港集团)通过百富勤把部分泰富股份配售出，使中信(香港集团)对泰富的持股量下降至49%,目前已降至41.92%。1991年泰富正式易名为中信泰富。中信(香港集团)收购泰富发展有限公司，不是通过股权转让来实现的，而是通过泰富发展向中信(香港集团)定向发行2.7亿股新股来实现的。1991年9月，中信泰富与李嘉诚、郭鹤年等合组财团收购恒昌企业(大昌贸易行)，其中中信泰富占恒昌企业36%权益。第二步，1992年1月，中信泰富向其余股东收购剩余的64%恒昌企业股份，实现全面收购。
荣智健简介
连续3年的福布斯中国大陆富豪排行榜，荣智健都始终稳稳地坐在前三甲的位置，从2002年的7.8亿美元，到2003年的8.5亿美元，再到2004年的14.9亿美元，仅隔两年财富几乎翻了一番。和荣氏家族鼎盛时候相比，荣智健的商业规模虽不可同日而语，却打破了富不过三代的神话。
出身名门
少年时代的荣智健生活过得非常优越，才十几岁，就拥有了一辆属于自己的红色英国Singer敞篷跑车。荣智健在天津读大学时，正值大跃进，很多学生连馒头都吃不起，荣智健却能经常请他的同学一起去吃排骨。有许多人都认为如果不是他父亲荣毅仁的影响，他在香港根本不会取得今天这样的成就，“没有中信和他父辈的背景作为依托，荣智健的创业之路肯定要比想象中艰难。”中国人民大学历史系教授马克锋说。
荣智健本人却不这么看，他曾不止一次地在公开场合表示，“我是没有想靠父亲来做些什么，靠别人的名望来做事，长不了，也许一时一事可以，但并不能解决自己的根本问题。”这和大多数世家子弟的论调如出一辙。
独荡香江
1978年，荣智健告别妻儿，持着单程探亲签证，独自南下香港，开创了他新的事业征程。
他的堂兄荣智谦和荣智鑫早于20多年前就已经到香港定居，荣智健到来的时候，他们正准备办一个电子厂。荣智健的第一笔创业资金是父亲为他提供的100多万港币。1982年，这家名叫爱卡的电子厂被美国一家大企业收购时，荣智健得到了720万美元，是当年投资额的56倍。
荣智健并没有见好就收。公司售出后不久，他便拿出其中120万美元在加州合资创办了CADI公司，这是全美第一家专门从事电脑辅助设计软件的公司。由于产品新颖，盈利丰厚，不到一年，就吸引到美国一家硬件厂商收购了28％的股份。
两年后，公司成功上市，股价一路狂飙，翻了40多倍，荣智健赚得盆满钵满，至少获得4800万美元，他的总资产超过了4亿港元。
收购狂人
荣智健敢于冒险，有魄力，他1986年正式加盟中信（香港）之后一系列大胆的收购动作着实让人看到了他雷厉风行的一面。
荣智健上任之初，第一个大手笔就是以23亿港元收购英资企业香港国泰航空公司12.5％的股份。因为当时世界航运业普遍低迷，在收购之前，为了说服董事会成员，荣智健花了6个月做调研，他最后给出的解释是“香港要繁荣，处处得靠运输。”没想到北京总部在听到他的汇报之后，不到5天就批准了，国务院还特地批准给他们8亿人民币的贷款作为运作资金。
在尝到了国泰带来的甜头后，1990年，荣智健又以5亿港元购入香港第二大航空公司港龙46.3％的股权。同年，他以100亿港元收购香港电讯20％的股权，成为这家当时香港股票市场市值最大公司的第二大股东。
房地产、运输、金融、电信、基建，荣智健执掌下的中信泰富所涉足的行业无所不包。历经26年的摸爬滚打，以十几万美元起家，到如今的14.9亿美元，荣智健在实现自己梦想的同时，也在延续祖辈们的商业帝国之梦。
“法兴银行事件”噩梦重演——这次的主角是法国第三大银行法国储蓄银行（Caisse d'Epargne）。
10月17日，法国储蓄银行集团公告称，由于10月6日一周市场出现巨幅震荡，加上股市重挫，公司的投资部门在衍生品市场中犯下巨大错误，造成约6亿欧元（8亿美元）的损失。
此时距离去年底法国兴业银行的交易员违法投机炒作，导致空前巨亏49亿欧元事件，还不足一年时间。
HONG KONG -- A bad currency bet has turned one of corporate China's most prestigious names into its leading contribution to the roster of global financial-crisis losers.
Citic Pacific Ltd., a Hong Kong-listed conglomerate whose impeccable China connections helped give rise to the term "red chip," has seen two-thirds of its market capitalization wiped out in two days of trading. More than half a billion dollars has now disappeared from the portfolio of its 66-year-old, mainland China-born chairman, Larry Yung, whose late father, the country's former vice president, was known as the "red capitalist" for his business smarts.
The selloff follows revelations that the company could lose 15.5 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$2 billion), and possibly more, because of leveraged positions on the Australian dollar.
On Wednesday, Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission and the city's stock exchange both said they were investigating Citic Pacific for possible rule violations. The news made for a sticky situation, because Citic Pacific's managing director, Henry Fan, is a director of the company that owns the stock exchange. As further evidence of Citic Pacific's establishment clout, Mr. Fan also is chairman of a regulatory panel on takeovers and mergers at the SFC.
To avoid possible conflicts of interest, Mr. Fan took leaves of absence Wednesday from both posts. He declined to comment Wednesday, citing the regulatory investigation. Mr. Fan also is an appointed adviser to Hong Kong's chief executive, Donald Tsang.
Over the years, Citic Pacific embodied mainland China's ever-deepening economic presence in Hong Kong through its stakes in the city's flagship airline, cross-harbor tunnels and property projects.
"Citic Pacific has a lot of influence in Hong Kong, and Mr. Yung has come to represent China's first generation of Chinese capitalists," says James Sung, a political scientist at City University of Hong Kong.
Mr. Yung and his company retain deep ties to China's Communist leadership. Citic Pacific's parent, Citic Group, was founded by his father, Rong Yiren, in 1978 at the behest of Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. Mr. Rong led Citic's mainland Chinese business until 1993 and later became the country's vice president.
Mr. Yung was born in Shanghai in 1942 into the wealthy household of his father, an industrialist who ran dozens of flour and cotton mills and who became Shanghai's vice mayor in 1957. He grew up in a courtyard house decorated with porcelains, antiques and ancient art, according to a profile of Mr. Yung last year in the state-run People's Daily, spending money lavishly while cruising around in a red convertible sports car.
When the political winds changed during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, Mr. Yung was sent to the countryside for "labor re-education," forced to dig holes and labor in remote Sichuan province. When free-market reforms began sweeping across China after the death of Mao Zedong, Mr. Yung in 1978 moved to Hong Kong and got into business using money his father had socked away.
In 1986, Mr. Yung joined the Hong Kong operations of Citic Group, and by the next year, he had taken control of Citic Hong Kong during a company restructuring. Later, the company bought a controlling interest in a quiet Hong Kong-listed company, renamed it Citic Pacific, and used it to begin acquiring assets. It took big passive stakes in companies like Cathay Pacific Airways, in which it still holds a 17.5% stake today. Mr. Yung, meanwhile, cultivated close relationships with tycoons like Li Ka-shing.
Over the years, the company took big stakes in infrastructure and property projects, including tunnels, shopping malls and power plants in Hong Kong and mainland China. In the mid-1990s, investors eager to bet on a well-connected player helped drive the stock price higher. At the same time, Mr. Yung accumulated what today amounts to about a 19% stake in the company, in addition to Citic Group's 29% stake, making him one of China's richest men.
But the Citic Pacific currency debacle comes after several other recent controversies involving top officials and business leaders in Hong Kong. Lawmaker Albert Ho on Wednesday described the incident as another reminder of the conflicts of interest built into this city's closely knit political and business establishment and called on Mr. Fan, Citic Pacific's managing director, to step down permanently from his regulatory posts.
The company's recent troubles apparently arose from its growing interests in Australian iron-ore mines, an investment that dovetails with China's increasing appetite for natural resources to feed its economic growth. A capital-intensive business, the mining investment requires the company to buy equipment and supplies in Australian dollars.
It isn't unusual for companies to hedge their foreign-currency exposure. But Citic Pacific did something more: It turned to structured products dubbed "accumulators" that obligated it to buy a specified amount of Australian dollars -- in this case, about nine billion Australian dollars (US$6.1 billion at current exchange rates), at a fixed price.
The Australian dollar's sharp downturn in recent months, a side effect of the global credit crunch, has left Citic badly exposed. Already, the bets have cost the company HK$807.7 million in realized losses and would cost it HK$14.5 billion more if they were marked to market at current values. Because Citic Pacific retains open positions, the losses could deepen if the Australian dollar continues to slide against the U.S. dollar.
Mr. Yung has blamed the debacle on the company's group finance director, Leslie Chang, as well as its group financial controller, Chi Yin Chau. Both were ousted, while Frances Yung, the 36-year-old daughter of Mr. Yung and head of the finance department, would have her duties adjusted and her pay slashed. But increasingly, critics are questioning the role of Citic Pacific's senior management in the affair.
Mr. Ho, the legislator, accused the company of deliberately hiding its financial position. Mr. Yung had said that management knew about the speculative losses six weeks ago but said the company didn't immediately disclose the problem because it wanted to unwind some of the trades first.
The appendix to a Sept. 12 public filing by Citic Pacific made five days after management says it first learned of the losses reads: "The directors are not aware of any material adverse change in the financial or trading position of the group since Dec. 31, 2007."
On Wednesday, both Mr. Yung and parent Citic Group raised their stakes slightly in Citic Pacific. Citic late Wednesday said Mr. Yung had spent HK$7.37 million to buy one million shares and raise his stake to 19.17% from 19.12%, while China's state-run Citic Group spent HK$14.78 million buying Citic Pacific stock to raise its stake to 29.44% from 29.35%.
—Yvonne Lee and Laura Santini contributed to this article.
Write to Jonathan Cheng at jonathan.cheng@wsj.com
在中国大陆进入开放改革三十周年之际，大陆于改革之初在香港成立的窗口公司中信泰富却传来极大的负面消息，令庆祝开放改革政策的气氛大为失色。
中信泰富是北京方面于改革开放初期在港设立的窗口公司之一，另一家是光大，它们肩负着引入外资、为大陆推行资本主义政策开路。
当年中共元老邓小平为了落实开放改革政策，邀请被誉为“红色资本家”的荣毅仁出山，协助当局于一九七九创办中国国际信托投资公司，开创了大陆第一个对外开放的窗口。
荣智健 荣明方
荣毅仁创办中信后，成功引进资本，后来中信在港成立中信泰富，并由荣毅仁的儿子荣智健掌管，先后收购收购航空公司、汽车等企业的股权，迅速崛起。
从上世纪八十年代起经营至今，中信泰富的上市性质也从当初的红筹股（以香港为经营基地的大陆企业）晋身为蓝筹股（总部在港的大型企业）。
去年港股处于高峰时，中信泰富的股价曾超越每股四十五元。不过，这家代表着大陆改革开放三十年成就的“元老级”企业，近日却因为购买外汇投资产品以致焦头烂额。
荣智健连同公司的董事总经理范鸿龄于前天公布，公司早前购买大量澳洲货币等外汇衍生产品，由于澳元大跌，公司方面已经?损，实时损失港币八亿元。至于尚未中止的合约，账面损失约达港币一百五十亿元。
消息传出后，中信泰富的股价于最近两天持续暴跌。到今天中午收盘为止，股价已从事发前的每股14.52元下跌至5.95元，下跌59％。
公司的市值也蒸发一半，从事发前的三百一十八亿元下降至一百二十九亿元。
为了协助中信泰富度过难关，母公司北京中信集团已同意提供十五亿美元供使用。
与此同时，中信泰富准备出售属下企业大昌行。大昌行是本地著名的汽车销售代理商，在香港、大陆及澳门拥有良好的网络，且品牌相当不错。
在中信泰富及其母公司设法挽救公司之际，对中信泰富打击更甚的是：外界质疑公司有隐瞒之嫌。
在荣智健公布公司的损失及两名高层辞职后，市场上有人透露，除了辞职的两名高层外，他的女儿荣明方也参与财务工作，在事件中有一定的角色。
在媒体报导后，范鸿龄才进一步透露，荣明方在事件中也遭到调职处分。但由于中信泰富并非在第一时间公布荣明方一事，因此，外界质疑中信泰富仍有所“隐瞒”。
另外，也有报章指出，中信泰富高层早于九月初即知道有人购买相关外汇投资产品，却延至前日才对外公布损失，公布时间太晚。本地已有政党要求监管当局介入调查，还投资者公道。
事实上，中信泰富股价连日暴跌，令基金及散户投资者都蒙受严重损失，昨天起，大批散户投资者就在网上留言，抨击中信泰富管理不善。
有人认为，外界的质疑不但令中信泰富的情况更加恶劣，而它作为大陆在港经营二、三十年的窗口公司，也连带影响大陆的形象，令近期庆祝改革开放三十周年的气氛蒙上阴影。
信报今天就发表社评说：“……它（中信泰富）没有做好建立中国一流企业的本分，反而不务正业从事炒作活动，最后输清了企业的声誉，不但令投资者损失，也为国家带来一次重大挫折。”
中信泰富炒外汇巨亏百亿 荣智健女儿被降级减薪
荣智健向中信泰富股东道歉
中新网10月21日电 中信泰富因为买了澳元外汇累计期权，或出现一百四十七亿元(港元，下同)重大亏损，中信泰富董事总经理范鸿龄今天表示，中信泰富主席荣智健女儿荣明方会被纪律处分，包括被调离财务部、降级和减薪。
中信泰富发表声明指出，财务董事张立宪及财务总监周志贤因事件而请辞。范鸿龄解释，张立宪的职能是公司的财务董事，周志贤的职能是集团财务总监，调查报告认为两人的责任最重。至于荣明方并非董事局成员，是公司财务部主管，职能上要向张立宪负责。
调查认为她有责任，但并非第一责任。
范鸿龄说昨天没有公布荣明方的处分，是因为考虑到公司员工士气。他认为除了董事局成员外，毋须公开较低级的人员名单。
范鸿龄强调，他们没有刻意拖延公布时间，发现问题时已立即组成专责小组，并召开特别董事会研究，一直亦有谘询法律意见，希望得出解决方法才公布，以免误导市场。期间有部份外汇亦已平仓，以减低损失。
范鸿龄表示，公司基本业务仍然健全，希望今后可一步步重振市场的信心。
中信泰富昨日发出盈警，指出有管理层在未获主席授权下，签订了多份杠杆式外汇合同，导致集团录得已变现亏损八亿元，以及按市值计算约一百四十七亿元的亏损，合共一百五十五亿元。中信泰富预期，集团二零零八年全年业绩将录得亏损，但事件不涉及欺诈，母公司中信集团将会提供十五亿美元备用信贷，料足以应付。
中信泰富主席荣智健说，集团于九月初发现问题后，已召开了特别董事会商议此事，并授权审核委员会对此事件进行独立调查。调查结果显示，事件不涉欺诈或其他不法行为。他表示，集团亦已聘请了罗兵咸永道会计师事务所研究改良内部监控制度，并已接纳和将落实执行有关建议。
中信泰富今天股价沽压沉重，股价下跌五成五，收市报六元五角二仙，是跌幅最大蓝筹股。多家投资银行调低中信泰富的投资评级及目标价。高盛把中信泰富的评级由“中性”降至“沽出”，十二个月目标价由原来的三十一元五角元削减至十二元五角。花旗亦把中信泰富的评级调低至“沽出”，目标价由二十八元降至六元六角六仙。
中信泰富简介：
中信泰富有限公司(“中信泰富”)的业务集中在香港及广大的内地市场，业务重点以基建为主，包括投资物业、基础设施(如桥、路和隧道)、能源项目、环保项目、航空以及电讯业务。另外，透过其全资附属机构大昌贸易行有限公司及慎昌有限公司进行贸易及分销业务。 集团在港拥有多项物业项目，包括大型住宅及优质商用物业。于一九九七年，公司的总部大楼“中信大厦”更于中区海旁落成，为香港海滨的重要标志。特钢、航空、地产 是中信泰富的三大主业。
中信泰富於香港注册成立，现于香港联合交易所上市，并为恒生指数成份股之一。中信泰富之最大股东为中国国际信托投资(香港集团)有限公司，是北京中国国际信托投资公司的全资附属公司。
中信泰富的前身泰富发展有限公司成立于1985年。1986年通过新景丰公司而获得上市地位，同年2月，泰富发行2.7亿股新股予中国国际信托投资(香港集团)有限公司，使中信(香港集团)持有泰富64.7%股权。自此，泰富成为中信子公司。而后，中信(香港集团)通过百富勤把部分泰富股份配售出，使中信(香港集团)对泰富的持股量下降至49%,目前已降至41.92%。1991年泰富正式易名为中信泰富。中信(香港集团)收购泰富发展有限公司，不是通过股权转让来实现的，而是通过泰富发展向中信(香港集团)定向发行2.7亿股新股来实现的。1991年9月，中信泰富与李嘉诚、郭鹤年等合组财团收购恒昌企业(大昌贸易行)，其中中信泰富占恒昌企业36%权益。第二步，1992年1月，中信泰富向其余股东收购剩余的64%恒昌企业股份，实现全面收购。
荣智健简介
连续3年的福布斯中国大陆富豪排行榜，荣智健都始终稳稳地坐在前三甲的位置，从2002年的7.8亿美元，到2003年的8.5亿美元，再到2004年的14.9亿美元，仅隔两年财富几乎翻了一番。和荣氏家族鼎盛时候相比，荣智健的商业规模虽不可同日而语，却打破了富不过三代的神话。
出身名门
少年时代的荣智健生活过得非常优越，才十几岁，就拥有了一辆属于自己的红色英国Singer敞篷跑车。荣智健在天津读大学时，正值大跃进，很多学生连馒头都吃不起，荣智健却能经常请他的同学一起去吃排骨。有许多人都认为如果不是他父亲荣毅仁的影响，他在香港根本不会取得今天这样的成就，“没有中信和他父辈的背景作为依托，荣智健的创业之路肯定要比想象中艰难。”中国人民大学历史系教授马克锋说。
荣智健本人却不这么看，他曾不止一次地在公开场合表示，“我是没有想靠父亲来做些什么，靠别人的名望来做事，长不了，也许一时一事可以，但并不能解决自己的根本问题。”这和大多数世家子弟的论调如出一辙。
独荡香江
1978年，荣智健告别妻儿，持着单程探亲签证，独自南下香港，开创了他新的事业征程。
他的堂兄荣智谦和荣智鑫早于20多年前就已经到香港定居，荣智健到来的时候，他们正准备办一个电子厂。荣智健的第一笔创业资金是父亲为他提供的100多万港币。1982年，这家名叫爱卡的电子厂被美国一家大企业收购时，荣智健得到了720万美元，是当年投资额的56倍。
荣智健并没有见好就收。公司售出后不久，他便拿出其中120万美元在加州合资创办了CADI公司，这是全美第一家专门从事电脑辅助设计软件的公司。由于产品新颖，盈利丰厚，不到一年，就吸引到美国一家硬件厂商收购了28％的股份。
两年后，公司成功上市，股价一路狂飙，翻了40多倍，荣智健赚得盆满钵满，至少获得4800万美元，他的总资产超过了4亿港元。
收购狂人
荣智健敢于冒险，有魄力，他1986年正式加盟中信（香港）之后一系列大胆的收购动作着实让人看到了他雷厉风行的一面。
荣智健上任之初，第一个大手笔就是以23亿港元收购英资企业香港国泰航空公司12.5％的股份。因为当时世界航运业普遍低迷，在收购之前，为了说服董事会成员，荣智健花了6个月做调研，他最后给出的解释是“香港要繁荣，处处得靠运输。”没想到北京总部在听到他的汇报之后，不到5天就批准了，国务院还特地批准给他们8亿人民币的贷款作为运作资金。
在尝到了国泰带来的甜头后，1990年，荣智健又以5亿港元购入香港第二大航空公司港龙46.3％的股权。同年，他以100亿港元收购香港电讯20％的股权，成为这家当时香港股票市场市值最大公司的第二大股东。
房地产、运输、金融、电信、基建，荣智健执掌下的中信泰富所涉足的行业无所不包。历经26年的摸爬滚打，以十几万美元起家，到如今的14.9亿美元，荣智健在实现自己梦想的同时，也在延续祖辈们的商业帝国之梦。
“法兴银行事件”噩梦重演——这次的主角是法国第三大银行法国储蓄银行（Caisse d'Epargne）。
10月17日，法国储蓄银行集团公告称，由于10月6日一周市场出现巨幅震荡，加上股市重挫，公司的投资部门在衍生品市场中犯下巨大错误，造成约6亿欧元（8亿美元）的损失。
此时距离去年底法国兴业银行的交易员违法投机炒作，导致空前巨亏49亿欧元事件，还不足一年时间。
HONG KONG -- A bad currency bet has turned one of corporate China's most prestigious names into its leading contribution to the roster of global financial-crisis losers.
Citic Pacific Ltd., a Hong Kong-listed conglomerate whose impeccable China connections helped give rise to the term "red chip," has seen two-thirds of its market capitalization wiped out in two days of trading. More than half a billion dollars has now disappeared from the portfolio of its 66-year-old, mainland China-born chairman, Larry Yung, whose late father, the country's former vice president, was known as the "red capitalist" for his business smarts.
The selloff follows revelations that the company could lose 15.5 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$2 billion), and possibly more, because of leveraged positions on the Australian dollar.
On Wednesday, Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission and the city's stock exchange both said they were investigating Citic Pacific for possible rule violations. The news made for a sticky situation, because Citic Pacific's managing director, Henry Fan, is a director of the company that owns the stock exchange. As further evidence of Citic Pacific's establishment clout, Mr. Fan also is chairman of a regulatory panel on takeovers and mergers at the SFC.
To avoid possible conflicts of interest, Mr. Fan took leaves of absence Wednesday from both posts. He declined to comment Wednesday, citing the regulatory investigation. Mr. Fan also is an appointed adviser to Hong Kong's chief executive, Donald Tsang.
Over the years, Citic Pacific embodied mainland China's ever-deepening economic presence in Hong Kong through its stakes in the city's flagship airline, cross-harbor tunnels and property projects.
"Citic Pacific has a lot of influence in Hong Kong, and Mr. Yung has come to represent China's first generation of Chinese capitalists," says James Sung, a political scientist at City University of Hong Kong.
Mr. Yung and his company retain deep ties to China's Communist leadership. Citic Pacific's parent, Citic Group, was founded by his father, Rong Yiren, in 1978 at the behest of Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. Mr. Rong led Citic's mainland Chinese business until 1993 and later became the country's vice president.
Mr. Yung was born in Shanghai in 1942 into the wealthy household of his father, an industrialist who ran dozens of flour and cotton mills and who became Shanghai's vice mayor in 1957. He grew up in a courtyard house decorated with porcelains, antiques and ancient art, according to a profile of Mr. Yung last year in the state-run People's Daily, spending money lavishly while cruising around in a red convertible sports car.
When the political winds changed during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, Mr. Yung was sent to the countryside for "labor re-education," forced to dig holes and labor in remote Sichuan province. When free-market reforms began sweeping across China after the death of Mao Zedong, Mr. Yung in 1978 moved to Hong Kong and got into business using money his father had socked away.
In 1986, Mr. Yung joined the Hong Kong operations of Citic Group, and by the next year, he had taken control of Citic Hong Kong during a company restructuring. Later, the company bought a controlling interest in a quiet Hong Kong-listed company, renamed it Citic Pacific, and used it to begin acquiring assets. It took big passive stakes in companies like Cathay Pacific Airways, in which it still holds a 17.5% stake today. Mr. Yung, meanwhile, cultivated close relationships with tycoons like Li Ka-shing.
Over the years, the company took big stakes in infrastructure and property projects, including tunnels, shopping malls and power plants in Hong Kong and mainland China. In the mid-1990s, investors eager to bet on a well-connected player helped drive the stock price higher. At the same time, Mr. Yung accumulated what today amounts to about a 19% stake in the company, in addition to Citic Group's 29% stake, making him one of China's richest men.
But the Citic Pacific currency debacle comes after several other recent controversies involving top officials and business leaders in Hong Kong. Lawmaker Albert Ho on Wednesday described the incident as another reminder of the conflicts of interest built into this city's closely knit political and business establishment and called on Mr. Fan, Citic Pacific's managing director, to step down permanently from his regulatory posts.
The company's recent troubles apparently arose from its growing interests in Australian iron-ore mines, an investment that dovetails with China's increasing appetite for natural resources to feed its economic growth. A capital-intensive business, the mining investment requires the company to buy equipment and supplies in Australian dollars.
It isn't unusual for companies to hedge their foreign-currency exposure. But Citic Pacific did something more: It turned to structured products dubbed "accumulators" that obligated it to buy a specified amount of Australian dollars -- in this case, about nine billion Australian dollars (US$6.1 billion at current exchange rates), at a fixed price.
The Australian dollar's sharp downturn in recent months, a side effect of the global credit crunch, has left Citic badly exposed. Already, the bets have cost the company HK$807.7 million in realized losses and would cost it HK$14.5 billion more if they were marked to market at current values. Because Citic Pacific retains open positions, the losses could deepen if the Australian dollar continues to slide against the U.S. dollar.
Mr. Yung has blamed the debacle on the company's group finance director, Leslie Chang, as well as its group financial controller, Chi Yin Chau. Both were ousted, while Frances Yung, the 36-year-old daughter of Mr. Yung and head of the finance department, would have her duties adjusted and her pay slashed. But increasingly, critics are questioning the role of Citic Pacific's senior management in the affair.
Mr. Ho, the legislator, accused the company of deliberately hiding its financial position. Mr. Yung had said that management knew about the speculative losses six weeks ago but said the company didn't immediately disclose the problem because it wanted to unwind some of the trades first.
The appendix to a Sept. 12 public filing by Citic Pacific made five days after management says it first learned of the losses reads: "The directors are not aware of any material adverse change in the financial or trading position of the group since Dec. 31, 2007."
On Wednesday, both Mr. Yung and parent Citic Group raised their stakes slightly in Citic Pacific. Citic late Wednesday said Mr. Yung had spent HK$7.37 million to buy one million shares and raise his stake to 19.17% from 19.12%, while China's state-run Citic Group spent HK$14.78 million buying Citic Pacific stock to raise its stake to 29.44% from 29.35%.
—Yvonne Lee and Laura Santini contributed to this article.
Write to Jonathan Cheng at jonathan.cheng@wsj.com
中信泰富
中信泰富令中国改革开放形象大为失色(组图) 综合新闻
在中国大陆进入开放改革三十周年之际，大陆于改革之初在香港成立的窗口公司中信泰富却传来极大的负面消息，令庆祝开放改革政策的气氛大为失色。
中信泰富是北京方面于改革开放初期在港设立的窗口公司之一，另一家是光大，它们肩负着引入外资、为大陆推行资本主义政策开路。
当年中共元老邓小平为了落实开放改革政策，邀请被誉为“红色资本家”的荣毅仁出山，协助当局于一九七九创办中国国际信托投资公司，开创了大陆第一个对外开放的窗口。
荣智健 荣明方
荣毅仁创办中信后，成功引进资本，后来中信在港成立中信泰富，并由荣毅仁的儿子荣智健掌管，先后收购收购航空公司、汽车等企业的股权，迅速崛起。
从上世纪八十年代起经营至今，中信泰富的上市性质也从当初的红筹股（以香港为经营基地的大陆企业）晋身为蓝筹股（总部在港的大型企业）。
去年港股处于高峰时，中信泰富的股价曾超越每股四十五元。不过，这家代表着大陆改革开放三十年成就的“元老级”企业，近日却因为购买外汇投资产品以致焦头烂额。
荣智健连同公司的董事总经理范鸿龄于前天公布，公司早前购买大量澳洲货币等外汇衍生产品，由于澳元大跌，公司方面已经?损，实时损失港币八亿元。至于尚未中止的合约，账面损失约达港币一百五十亿元。
消息传出后，中信泰富的股价于最近两天持续暴跌。到今天中午收盘为止，股价已从事发前的每股14.52元下跌至5.95元，下跌59％。
公司的市值也蒸发一半，从事发前的三百一十八亿元下降至一百二十九亿元。
为了协助中信泰富度过难关，母公司北京中信集团已同意提供十五亿美元供使用。
与此同时，中信泰富准备出售属下企业大昌行。大昌行是本地著名的汽车销售代理商，在香港、大陆及澳门拥有良好的网络，且品牌相当不错。
在中信泰富及其母公司设法挽救公司之际，对中信泰富打击更甚的是：外界质疑公司有隐瞒之嫌。
在荣智健公布公司的损失及两名高层辞职后，市场上有人透露，除了辞职的两名高层外，他的女儿荣明方也参与财务工作，在事件中有一定的角色。
在媒体报导后，范鸿龄才进一步透露，荣明方在事件中也遭到调职处分。但由于中信泰富并非在第一时间公布荣明方一事，因此，外界质疑中信泰富仍有所“隐瞒”。
另外，也有报章指出，中信泰富高层早于九月初即知道有人购买相关外汇投资产品，却延至前日才对外公布损失，公布时间太晚。本地已有政党要求监管当局介入调查，还投资者公道。
事实上，中信泰富股价连日暴跌，令基金及散户投资者都蒙受严重损失，昨天起，大批散户投资者就在网上留言，抨击中信泰富管理不善。
有人认为，外界的质疑不但令中信泰富的情况更加恶劣，而它作为大陆在港经营二、三十年的窗口公司，也连带影响大陆的形象，令近期庆祝改革开放三十周年的气氛蒙上阴影。
信报今天就发表社评说：“……它（中信泰富）没有做好建立中国一流企业的本分，反而不务正业从事炒作活动，最后输清了企业的声誉，不但令投资者损失，也为国家带来一次重大挫折。”
中信泰富炒外汇巨亏百亿 荣智健女儿被降级减薪
荣智健向中信泰富股东道歉
中新网10月21日电 中信泰富因为买了澳元外汇累计期权，或出现一百四十七亿元(港元，下同)重大亏损，中信泰富董事总经理范鸿龄今天表示，中信泰富主席荣智健女儿荣明方会被纪律处分，包括被调离财务部、降级和减薪。
中信泰富发表声明指出，财务董事张立宪及财务总监周志贤因事件而请辞。范鸿龄解释，张立宪的职能是公司的财务董事，周志贤的职能是集团财务总监，调查报告认为两人的责任最重。至于荣明方并非董事局成员，是公司财务部主管，职能上要向张立宪负责。
调查认为她有责任，但并非第一责任。
范鸿龄说昨天没有公布荣明方的处分，是因为考虑到公司员工士气。他认为除了董事局成员外，毋须公开较低级的人员名单。
范鸿龄强调，他们没有刻意拖延公布时间，发现问题时已立即组成专责小组，并召开特别董事会研究，一直亦有谘询法律意见，希望得出解决方法才公布，以免误导市场。期间有部份外汇亦已平仓，以减低损失。
范鸿龄表示，公司基本业务仍然健全，希望今后可一步步重振市场的信心。
中信泰富昨日发出盈警，指出有管理层在未获主席授权下，签订了多份杠杆式外汇合同，导致集团录得已变现亏损八亿元，以及按市值计算约一百四十七亿元的亏损，合共一百五十五亿元。中信泰富预期，集团二零零八年全年业绩将录得亏损，但事件不涉及欺诈，母公司中信集团将会提供十五亿美元备用信贷，料足以应付。
中信泰富主席荣智健说，集团于九月初发现问题后，已召开了特别董事会商议此事，并授权审核委员会对此事件进行独立调查。调查结果显示，事件不涉欺诈或其他不法行为。他表示，集团亦已聘请了罗兵咸永道会计师事务所研究改良内部监控制度，并已接纳和将落实执行有关建议。
中信泰富今天股价沽压沉重，股价下跌五成五，收市报六元五角二仙，是跌幅最大蓝筹股。多家投资银行调低中信泰富的投资评级及目标价。高盛把中信泰富的评级由“中性”降至“沽出”，十二个月目标价由原来的三十一元五角元削减至十二元五角。花旗亦把中信泰富的评级调低至“沽出”，目标价由二十八元降至六元六角六仙。
中信泰富简介：
中信泰富有限公司(“中信泰富”)的业务集中在香港及广大的内地市场，业务重点以基建为主，包括投资物业、基础设施(如桥、路和隧道)、能源项目、环保项目、航空以及电讯业务。另外，透过其全资附属机构大昌贸易行有限公司及慎昌有限公司进行贸易及分销业务。 集团在港拥有多项物业项目，包括大型住宅及优质商用物业。于一九九七年，公司的总部大楼“中信大厦”更于中区海旁落成，为香港海滨的重要标志。特钢、航空、地产 是中信泰富的三大主业。
中信泰富於香港注册成立，现于香港联合交易所上市，并为恒生指数成份股之一。中信泰富之最大股东为中国国际信托投资(香港集团)有限公司，是北京中国国际信托投资公司的全资附属公司。
中信泰富的前身泰富发展有限公司成立于1985年。1986年通过新景丰公司而获得上市地位，同年2月，泰富发行2.7亿股新股予中国国际信托投资(香港集团)有限公司，使中信(香港集团)持有泰富64.7%股权。自此，泰富成为中信子公司。而后，中信(香港集团)通过百富勤把部分泰富股份配售出，使中信(香港集团)对泰富的持股量下降至49%,目前已降至41.92%。1991年泰富正式易名为中信泰富。中信(香港集团)收购泰富发展有限公司，不是通过股权转让来实现的，而是通过泰富发展向中信(香港集团)定向发行2.7亿股新股来实现的。1991年9月，中信泰富与李嘉诚、郭鹤年等合组财团收购恒昌企业(大昌贸易行)，其中中信泰富占恒昌企业36%权益。第二步，1992年1月，中信泰富向其余股东收购剩余的64%恒昌企业股份，实现全面收购。
荣智健简介
连续3年的福布斯中国大陆富豪排行榜，荣智健都始终稳稳地坐在前三甲的位置，从2002年的7.8亿美元，到2003年的8.5亿美元，再到2004年的14.9亿美元，仅隔两年财富几乎翻了一番。和荣氏家族鼎盛时候相比，荣智健的商业规模虽不可同日而语，却打破了富不过三代的神话。
出身名门
少年时代的荣智健生活过得非常优越，才十几岁，就拥有了一辆属于自己的红色英国Singer敞篷跑车。荣智健在天津读大学时，正值大跃进，很多学生连馒头都吃不起，荣智健却能经常请他的同学一起去吃排骨。有许多人都认为如果不是他父亲荣毅仁的影响，他在香港根本不会取得今天这样的成就，“没有中信和他父辈的背景作为依托，荣智健的创业之路肯定要比想象中艰难。”中国人民大学历史系教授马克锋说。
荣智健本人却不这么看，他曾不止一次地在公开场合表示，“我是没有想靠父亲来做些什么，靠别人的名望来做事，长不了，也许一时一事可以，但并不能解决自己的根本问题。”这和大多数世家子弟的论调如出一辙。
独荡香江
1978年，荣智健告别妻儿，持着单程探亲签证，独自南下香港，开创了他新的事业征程。
他的堂兄荣智谦和荣智鑫早于20多年前就已经到香港定居，荣智健到来的时候，他们正准备办一个电子厂。荣智健的第一笔创业资金是父亲为他提供的100多万港币。1982年，这家名叫爱卡的电子厂被美国一家大企业收购时，荣智健得到了720万美元，是当年投资额的56倍。
荣智健并没有见好就收。公司售出后不久，他便拿出其中120万美元在加州合资创办了CADI公司，这是全美第一家专门从事电脑辅助设计软件的公司。由于产品新颖，盈利丰厚，不到一年，就吸引到美国一家硬件厂商收购了28％的股份。
两年后，公司成功上市，股价一路狂飙，翻了40多倍，荣智健赚得盆满钵满，至少获得4800万美元，他的总资产超过了4亿港元。
收购狂人
荣智健敢于冒险，有魄力，他1986年正式加盟中信（香港）之后一系列大胆的收购动作着实让人看到了他雷厉风行的一面。
荣智健上任之初，第一个大手笔就是以23亿港元收购英资企业香港国泰航空公司12.5％的股份。因为当时世界航运业普遍低迷，在收购之前，为了说服董事会成员，荣智健花了6个月做调研，他最后给出的解释是“香港要繁荣，处处得靠运输。”没想到北京总部在听到他的汇报之后，不到5天就批准了，国务院还特地批准给他们8亿人民币的贷款作为运作资金。
在尝到了国泰带来的甜头后，1990年，荣智健又以5亿港元购入香港第二大航空公司港龙46.3％的股权。同年，他以100亿港元收购香港电讯20％的股权，成为这家当时香港股票市场市值最大公司的第二大股东。
房地产、运输、金融、电信、基建，荣智健执掌下的中信泰富所涉足的行业无所不包。历经26年的摸爬滚打，以十几万美元起家，到如今的14.9亿美元，荣智健在实现自己梦想的同时，也在延续祖辈们的商业帝国之梦。
在中国大陆进入开放改革三十周年之际，大陆于改革之初在香港成立的窗口公司中信泰富却传来极大的负面消息，令庆祝开放改革政策的气氛大为失色。
中信泰富是北京方面于改革开放初期在港设立的窗口公司之一，另一家是光大，它们肩负着引入外资、为大陆推行资本主义政策开路。
当年中共元老邓小平为了落实开放改革政策，邀请被誉为“红色资本家”的荣毅仁出山，协助当局于一九七九创办中国国际信托投资公司，开创了大陆第一个对外开放的窗口。
荣智健 荣明方
荣毅仁创办中信后，成功引进资本，后来中信在港成立中信泰富，并由荣毅仁的儿子荣智健掌管，先后收购收购航空公司、汽车等企业的股权，迅速崛起。
从上世纪八十年代起经营至今，中信泰富的上市性质也从当初的红筹股（以香港为经营基地的大陆企业）晋身为蓝筹股（总部在港的大型企业）。
去年港股处于高峰时，中信泰富的股价曾超越每股四十五元。不过，这家代表着大陆改革开放三十年成就的“元老级”企业，近日却因为购买外汇投资产品以致焦头烂额。
荣智健连同公司的董事总经理范鸿龄于前天公布，公司早前购买大量澳洲货币等外汇衍生产品，由于澳元大跌，公司方面已经?损，实时损失港币八亿元。至于尚未中止的合约，账面损失约达港币一百五十亿元。
消息传出后，中信泰富的股价于最近两天持续暴跌。到今天中午收盘为止，股价已从事发前的每股14.52元下跌至5.95元，下跌59％。
公司的市值也蒸发一半，从事发前的三百一十八亿元下降至一百二十九亿元。
为了协助中信泰富度过难关，母公司北京中信集团已同意提供十五亿美元供使用。
与此同时，中信泰富准备出售属下企业大昌行。大昌行是本地著名的汽车销售代理商，在香港、大陆及澳门拥有良好的网络，且品牌相当不错。
在中信泰富及其母公司设法挽救公司之际，对中信泰富打击更甚的是：外界质疑公司有隐瞒之嫌。
在荣智健公布公司的损失及两名高层辞职后，市场上有人透露，除了辞职的两名高层外，他的女儿荣明方也参与财务工作，在事件中有一定的角色。
在媒体报导后，范鸿龄才进一步透露，荣明方在事件中也遭到调职处分。但由于中信泰富并非在第一时间公布荣明方一事，因此，外界质疑中信泰富仍有所“隐瞒”。
另外，也有报章指出，中信泰富高层早于九月初即知道有人购买相关外汇投资产品，却延至前日才对外公布损失，公布时间太晚。本地已有政党要求监管当局介入调查，还投资者公道。
事实上，中信泰富股价连日暴跌，令基金及散户投资者都蒙受严重损失，昨天起，大批散户投资者就在网上留言，抨击中信泰富管理不善。
有人认为，外界的质疑不但令中信泰富的情况更加恶劣，而它作为大陆在港经营二、三十年的窗口公司，也连带影响大陆的形象，令近期庆祝改革开放三十周年的气氛蒙上阴影。
信报今天就发表社评说：“……它（中信泰富）没有做好建立中国一流企业的本分，反而不务正业从事炒作活动，最后输清了企业的声誉，不但令投资者损失，也为国家带来一次重大挫折。”
中信泰富炒外汇巨亏百亿 荣智健女儿被降级减薪
荣智健向中信泰富股东道歉
中新网10月21日电 中信泰富因为买了澳元外汇累计期权，或出现一百四十七亿元(港元，下同)重大亏损，中信泰富董事总经理范鸿龄今天表示，中信泰富主席荣智健女儿荣明方会被纪律处分，包括被调离财务部、降级和减薪。
中信泰富发表声明指出，财务董事张立宪及财务总监周志贤因事件而请辞。范鸿龄解释，张立宪的职能是公司的财务董事，周志贤的职能是集团财务总监，调查报告认为两人的责任最重。至于荣明方并非董事局成员，是公司财务部主管，职能上要向张立宪负责。
调查认为她有责任，但并非第一责任。
范鸿龄说昨天没有公布荣明方的处分，是因为考虑到公司员工士气。他认为除了董事局成员外，毋须公开较低级的人员名单。
范鸿龄强调，他们没有刻意拖延公布时间，发现问题时已立即组成专责小组，并召开特别董事会研究，一直亦有谘询法律意见，希望得出解决方法才公布，以免误导市场。期间有部份外汇亦已平仓，以减低损失。
范鸿龄表示，公司基本业务仍然健全，希望今后可一步步重振市场的信心。
中信泰富昨日发出盈警，指出有管理层在未获主席授权下，签订了多份杠杆式外汇合同，导致集团录得已变现亏损八亿元，以及按市值计算约一百四十七亿元的亏损，合共一百五十五亿元。中信泰富预期，集团二零零八年全年业绩将录得亏损，但事件不涉及欺诈，母公司中信集团将会提供十五亿美元备用信贷，料足以应付。
中信泰富主席荣智健说，集团于九月初发现问题后，已召开了特别董事会商议此事，并授权审核委员会对此事件进行独立调查。调查结果显示，事件不涉欺诈或其他不法行为。他表示，集团亦已聘请了罗兵咸永道会计师事务所研究改良内部监控制度，并已接纳和将落实执行有关建议。
中信泰富今天股价沽压沉重，股价下跌五成五，收市报六元五角二仙，是跌幅最大蓝筹股。多家投资银行调低中信泰富的投资评级及目标价。高盛把中信泰富的评级由“中性”降至“沽出”，十二个月目标价由原来的三十一元五角元削减至十二元五角。花旗亦把中信泰富的评级调低至“沽出”，目标价由二十八元降至六元六角六仙。
中信泰富简介：
中信泰富有限公司(“中信泰富”)的业务集中在香港及广大的内地市场，业务重点以基建为主，包括投资物业、基础设施(如桥、路和隧道)、能源项目、环保项目、航空以及电讯业务。另外，透过其全资附属机构大昌贸易行有限公司及慎昌有限公司进行贸易及分销业务。 集团在港拥有多项物业项目，包括大型住宅及优质商用物业。于一九九七年，公司的总部大楼“中信大厦”更于中区海旁落成，为香港海滨的重要标志。特钢、航空、地产 是中信泰富的三大主业。
中信泰富於香港注册成立，现于香港联合交易所上市，并为恒生指数成份股之一。中信泰富之最大股东为中国国际信托投资(香港集团)有限公司，是北京中国国际信托投资公司的全资附属公司。
中信泰富的前身泰富发展有限公司成立于1985年。1986年通过新景丰公司而获得上市地位，同年2月，泰富发行2.7亿股新股予中国国际信托投资(香港集团)有限公司，使中信(香港集团)持有泰富64.7%股权。自此，泰富成为中信子公司。而后，中信(香港集团)通过百富勤把部分泰富股份配售出，使中信(香港集团)对泰富的持股量下降至49%,目前已降至41.92%。1991年泰富正式易名为中信泰富。中信(香港集团)收购泰富发展有限公司，不是通过股权转让来实现的，而是通过泰富发展向中信(香港集团)定向发行2.7亿股新股来实现的。1991年9月，中信泰富与李嘉诚、郭鹤年等合组财团收购恒昌企业(大昌贸易行)，其中中信泰富占恒昌企业36%权益。第二步，1992年1月，中信泰富向其余股东收购剩余的64%恒昌企业股份，实现全面收购。
荣智健简介
连续3年的福布斯中国大陆富豪排行榜，荣智健都始终稳稳地坐在前三甲的位置，从2002年的7.8亿美元，到2003年的8.5亿美元，再到2004年的14.9亿美元，仅隔两年财富几乎翻了一番。和荣氏家族鼎盛时候相比，荣智健的商业规模虽不可同日而语，却打破了富不过三代的神话。
出身名门
少年时代的荣智健生活过得非常优越，才十几岁，就拥有了一辆属于自己的红色英国Singer敞篷跑车。荣智健在天津读大学时，正值大跃进，很多学生连馒头都吃不起，荣智健却能经常请他的同学一起去吃排骨。有许多人都认为如果不是他父亲荣毅仁的影响，他在香港根本不会取得今天这样的成就，“没有中信和他父辈的背景作为依托，荣智健的创业之路肯定要比想象中艰难。”中国人民大学历史系教授马克锋说。
荣智健本人却不这么看，他曾不止一次地在公开场合表示，“我是没有想靠父亲来做些什么，靠别人的名望来做事，长不了，也许一时一事可以，但并不能解决自己的根本问题。”这和大多数世家子弟的论调如出一辙。
独荡香江
1978年，荣智健告别妻儿，持着单程探亲签证，独自南下香港，开创了他新的事业征程。
他的堂兄荣智谦和荣智鑫早于20多年前就已经到香港定居，荣智健到来的时候，他们正准备办一个电子厂。荣智健的第一笔创业资金是父亲为他提供的100多万港币。1982年，这家名叫爱卡的电子厂被美国一家大企业收购时，荣智健得到了720万美元，是当年投资额的56倍。
荣智健并没有见好就收。公司售出后不久，他便拿出其中120万美元在加州合资创办了CADI公司，这是全美第一家专门从事电脑辅助设计软件的公司。由于产品新颖，盈利丰厚，不到一年，就吸引到美国一家硬件厂商收购了28％的股份。
两年后，公司成功上市，股价一路狂飙，翻了40多倍，荣智健赚得盆满钵满，至少获得4800万美元，他的总资产超过了4亿港元。
收购狂人
荣智健敢于冒险，有魄力，他1986年正式加盟中信（香港）之后一系列大胆的收购动作着实让人看到了他雷厉风行的一面。
荣智健上任之初，第一个大手笔就是以23亿港元收购英资企业香港国泰航空公司12.5％的股份。因为当时世界航运业普遍低迷，在收购之前，为了说服董事会成员，荣智健花了6个月做调研，他最后给出的解释是“香港要繁荣，处处得靠运输。”没想到北京总部在听到他的汇报之后，不到5天就批准了，国务院还特地批准给他们8亿人民币的贷款作为运作资金。
在尝到了国泰带来的甜头后，1990年，荣智健又以5亿港元购入香港第二大航空公司港龙46.3％的股权。同年，他以100亿港元收购香港电讯20％的股权，成为这家当时香港股票市场市值最大公司的第二大股东。
房地产、运输、金融、电信、基建，荣智健执掌下的中信泰富所涉足的行业无所不包。历经26年的摸爬滚打，以十几万美元起家，到如今的14.9亿美元，荣智健在实现自己梦想的同时，也在延续祖辈们的商业帝国之梦。
Wells Fargo's Wachovia Bid Sparks Feud With Citigroup
Wells Fargo's Wachovia Bid Sparks Feud With Citigroup (Update2)
By David Mildenberg and Josh Fineman
Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Wells Fargo & Co. offered $15 billion for Wachovia Corp., setting up a contest with Citigroup Inc. for control of the embattled North Carolina lender.
Citigroup demanded Wells Fargo abandon the takeover, claiming it breaches an exclusive deal reached earlier this week in which the New York-based lender agreed to buy Wachovia's banking operations for $2.16 billion with government help.
Well Fargo's surprise offer for Wachovia, run by former U.S. Treasury official Robert Steel, may lead to a face-off with federal regulators and a bidding war with Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit. The bank may take legal action to block the deal, and a person with knowledge of the deliberations who also said Citigroup may increase its offer.
``If Citigroup is serious, they should boost their bid and become a more competitive buyer, rather than whining,'' said Sean Egan, managing director of Egan-Jones Ratings Co. in Haverford, Pennsylvania. ``It should be easy for Wells Fargo to compensate Citigroup if they decide that's the right course.''
Buying Wachovia would give Citigroup the third-biggest U.S. bank network and cement its status as the nation's largest lender by assets. A final decision on whether to raise the bid hasn't been made, according to the person, who declined to be identified because the deliberations are private.
``Any such agreement between Wachovia and Wells Fargo is illegal under an exclusivity agreement Citigroup has with Wachovia,'' Pandit, 51, said in a memo sent to employees today. ``We continue to vigorously pursue Citigroup's interest and rights in completing this transaction.''
Wachovia Value
Wells Fargo's stock swap values Charlotte-based Wachovia at $7 a share and includes the whole company, without any aid from the U.S., the banks said in a statement. Citigroup's bid worked out to about $1 share, left out the securities brokerage and Evergreen mutual-fund units and was tied to help from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
``We think this deal is solid,'' Richard Kovacevich, chairman of Wells Fargo, told investors on a conference call.
Wachovia rose 54 percent to $6.02 in 2:46 p.m. New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Wells Fargo advanced 2.5 percent to $36.05 and Citigroup dropped 18 percent to $18.46.
Citigroup provided a copy of an exclusivity agreement dated Sept. 29 that says Wachovia won't seek or help new bidders. The document is signed by a Wachovia officer, though the name and title weren't included.
`Small Settlement'
``I'm still not convinced that Citigroup can force this sale to happen,'' said Elizabeth Nowicki, a professor at Tulane University Law School in New Orleans and a former M&A lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. ``Citigroup may be facing the chance to get themselves a small settlement, and that's a nice shot in the arm for a company that's struggling.''
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which helped broker Citigroup's purchase when Wachovia's health faltered, ``stands behind its previously announced agreement,'' FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said in a statement today. ``The FDIC will be reviewing all proposals and working with the primary regulators of all three institutions.''
Other bank regulators said they haven't evaluated Wells Fargo's offer.
``We have not yet reviewed the new Wells Fargo proposal and the issues that it raises,'' the Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said today in a statement. ``The regulators will be working with the parties to achieve an outcome that protects all Wachovia creditors, including depositors, insured and uninsured, and promotes market stability.''
New Deal
Wells Fargo, whose biggest shareholder is billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., may have been helped in its bid by the issuance of an IRS notice Tuesday that makes Wachovia's loan losses more valuable as tax deductions.
``The pronouncement, in effect, allows Wells Fargo to deduct, without limitation, the loan losses and bad debt deductions that Wachovia sustains following the acquisition,'' said Robert Willens, a certified public accountant who analyzes how accounting and tax rules affect Wall Street. That's a change from more stringent limits, he said.
``It's possible that the cost of the deal to Wells will be entirely offset with tax savings resulting from the relaxation of this rule.''
Buffett said in an interview with CNBC that tax law changes had made the deal more attractive. ``Wachovia shareholders will get a lot more money,'' Buffett, 78, said.
The bank had no comment on whether the change affected its view toward Wachovia, spokeswoman Julia Tunis Bernard said.
Preserving Value
The Wells Fargo bid ``provides superior value compared to the previous offer to acquire only the banking operations of the company,'' Kovacevich, 64, said in a joint statement from the banks. ``Wachovia shareholders will have a meaningful opportunity to participate in the growth and success of a combined Wachovia- Wells Fargo.''
Steel, 57, Wachovia's CEO, endorsed the Wells Fargo bid during a conference call with investors this morning. In the joint statement, he said the transaction will ``keep Wachovia intact and preserve the value of an integrated company.''
The stock swap gives Wachovia shareholders 0.1991 shares of Wells Fargo common stock for each share they own, allowing them to salvage some value after Wachovia's 90 percent decline this year. The stock traded below $2 on Sept. 29. Citigroup's offer would have left the remnants of Wachovia including the securities brokerage to trade as an independent company.
Share Offering
If the original bid fails, ``Citigroup loses an attractive, accretive deal,'' Fox-Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller analyst David Trone wrote in a note today, adding that the Citi deal is probably dead. ``Citi will be on the sidelines waiting for the call from the Fed for assistance on bailouts, but not aggressively bidding on troubled franchises,'' he said.
The bank may cancel its $10 billion share offering, Trone said. ``One silver lining is that Citi can refocus on its own operational problems.''
Wells Fargo expects merger costs of $10 billion as it cuts about 25 percent of Wachovia's expenses. It also anticipates $74 billion in losses and writedowns from Wachovia's $498 billion loan portfolio, mostly from real estate loans. The company plans to issue as much as $20 billion of new securities, mostly common stock. Wachovia agreed to give Wells Fargo preferred stock that will represent 39.9 percent of Wachovia's voting power.
Wells Fargo said it will acquire all of Wachovia's businesses, preferred equity and banking deposits. Chief Financial Officer Howard Atkins said in the statement that the acquisition will add to earnings per share by the third year after completion and should produce an internal rate of return of at least 15 percent.
Eastern Expansion
``This is a franchise that Wells Fargo wanted and this is one they didn't want to get away,'' said Mark Morgan, senior analyst at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans in Minneapolis. Thrivent held 1.8 million Wells shares as of June 30, according to Bloomberg data. ``This provides an opportunity for Wells Fargo to expand in the eastern U.S., particularly in the Southeast, in markets they've wanted to be in.''
Buying Wachovia detours from the strategy outlined by Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf, 55, who has said he prefers smaller acquisitions with less risk that would fill gaps in the existing branch network. After the combination, the bank would have $1.42 trillion in assets, which may rank third in the U.S. depending on what other bank mergers are completed. All told, the bank would have $787 billion in deposits and 10,761 branches in 39 states.
Option ARMs
``Citi's purchase was too cheap for the assets and operations involved,'' said Jason Pride, research director at Haverford Trust Co. in Haverford, Pennsylvania. ``It's an excellent strategic deal for Wells Fargo given the geography of the branch network.''
The deal also gives Wells Fargo responsibility for about $122 billion of option ARMs sold by Wachovia, the No. 1 provider of such loans. The home mortgages are prone to default because they allow borrowers to defer part of their interest payments and add it to the principal of the loan. Those terms backfired when housing markets weakened, leaving borrowers with loans larger than the price of their homes.
Wachovia issued more than half its option ARMs in California, according to the bank's second-quarter earnings presentation to investors. Wells Fargo is already the biggest bank based in that state. The stock gained 16 percent this year through yesterday.
Credit Issues
``The credit issues are the risk in this,'' Morgan said. ``It gives them a lot of concentration in California and mortgage business in general. But they are paying a pretty low price, so it's not out of line with their acquisition philosophy.''
Wells Fargo was advised on the transaction by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and JPMorgan Chase & Co., the statement said. Wachovia relied on Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Perella Weinberg Partners, the statement said.
``The deal doesn't sit too well with me,'' said Jocelynn Drake, an equity analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati. ``Wells was doing very well, and merging with Wachovia, which has such a bad rap among Wall Street investors, looks questionable to me.''
To contact the reporters on this story: David Mildenberg in Charlotte at dmildenberg@bloomberg.net; Josh Fineman in New York at jfineman@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: October 3, 2008 17:16 EDT
By David Mildenberg and Josh Fineman
Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Wells Fargo & Co. offered $15 billion for Wachovia Corp., setting up a contest with Citigroup Inc. for control of the embattled North Carolina lender.
Citigroup demanded Wells Fargo abandon the takeover, claiming it breaches an exclusive deal reached earlier this week in which the New York-based lender agreed to buy Wachovia's banking operations for $2.16 billion with government help.
Well Fargo's surprise offer for Wachovia, run by former U.S. Treasury official Robert Steel, may lead to a face-off with federal regulators and a bidding war with Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit. The bank may take legal action to block the deal, and a person with knowledge of the deliberations who also said Citigroup may increase its offer.
``If Citigroup is serious, they should boost their bid and become a more competitive buyer, rather than whining,'' said Sean Egan, managing director of Egan-Jones Ratings Co. in Haverford, Pennsylvania. ``It should be easy for Wells Fargo to compensate Citigroup if they decide that's the right course.''
Buying Wachovia would give Citigroup the third-biggest U.S. bank network and cement its status as the nation's largest lender by assets. A final decision on whether to raise the bid hasn't been made, according to the person, who declined to be identified because the deliberations are private.
``Any such agreement between Wachovia and Wells Fargo is illegal under an exclusivity agreement Citigroup has with Wachovia,'' Pandit, 51, said in a memo sent to employees today. ``We continue to vigorously pursue Citigroup's interest and rights in completing this transaction.''
Wachovia Value
Wells Fargo's stock swap values Charlotte-based Wachovia at $7 a share and includes the whole company, without any aid from the U.S., the banks said in a statement. Citigroup's bid worked out to about $1 share, left out the securities brokerage and Evergreen mutual-fund units and was tied to help from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
``We think this deal is solid,'' Richard Kovacevich, chairman of Wells Fargo, told investors on a conference call.
Wachovia rose 54 percent to $6.02 in 2:46 p.m. New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Wells Fargo advanced 2.5 percent to $36.05 and Citigroup dropped 18 percent to $18.46.
Citigroup provided a copy of an exclusivity agreement dated Sept. 29 that says Wachovia won't seek or help new bidders. The document is signed by a Wachovia officer, though the name and title weren't included.
`Small Settlement'
``I'm still not convinced that Citigroup can force this sale to happen,'' said Elizabeth Nowicki, a professor at Tulane University Law School in New Orleans and a former M&A lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. ``Citigroup may be facing the chance to get themselves a small settlement, and that's a nice shot in the arm for a company that's struggling.''
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which helped broker Citigroup's purchase when Wachovia's health faltered, ``stands behind its previously announced agreement,'' FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said in a statement today. ``The FDIC will be reviewing all proposals and working with the primary regulators of all three institutions.''
Other bank regulators said they haven't evaluated Wells Fargo's offer.
``We have not yet reviewed the new Wells Fargo proposal and the issues that it raises,'' the Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said today in a statement. ``The regulators will be working with the parties to achieve an outcome that protects all Wachovia creditors, including depositors, insured and uninsured, and promotes market stability.''
New Deal
Wells Fargo, whose biggest shareholder is billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., may have been helped in its bid by the issuance of an IRS notice Tuesday that makes Wachovia's loan losses more valuable as tax deductions.
``The pronouncement, in effect, allows Wells Fargo to deduct, without limitation, the loan losses and bad debt deductions that Wachovia sustains following the acquisition,'' said Robert Willens, a certified public accountant who analyzes how accounting and tax rules affect Wall Street. That's a change from more stringent limits, he said.
``It's possible that the cost of the deal to Wells will be entirely offset with tax savings resulting from the relaxation of this rule.''
Buffett said in an interview with CNBC that tax law changes had made the deal more attractive. ``Wachovia shareholders will get a lot more money,'' Buffett, 78, said.
The bank had no comment on whether the change affected its view toward Wachovia, spokeswoman Julia Tunis Bernard said.
Preserving Value
The Wells Fargo bid ``provides superior value compared to the previous offer to acquire only the banking operations of the company,'' Kovacevich, 64, said in a joint statement from the banks. ``Wachovia shareholders will have a meaningful opportunity to participate in the growth and success of a combined Wachovia- Wells Fargo.''
Steel, 57, Wachovia's CEO, endorsed the Wells Fargo bid during a conference call with investors this morning. In the joint statement, he said the transaction will ``keep Wachovia intact and preserve the value of an integrated company.''
The stock swap gives Wachovia shareholders 0.1991 shares of Wells Fargo common stock for each share they own, allowing them to salvage some value after Wachovia's 90 percent decline this year. The stock traded below $2 on Sept. 29. Citigroup's offer would have left the remnants of Wachovia including the securities brokerage to trade as an independent company.
Share Offering
If the original bid fails, ``Citigroup loses an attractive, accretive deal,'' Fox-Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller analyst David Trone wrote in a note today, adding that the Citi deal is probably dead. ``Citi will be on the sidelines waiting for the call from the Fed for assistance on bailouts, but not aggressively bidding on troubled franchises,'' he said.
The bank may cancel its $10 billion share offering, Trone said. ``One silver lining is that Citi can refocus on its own operational problems.''
Wells Fargo expects merger costs of $10 billion as it cuts about 25 percent of Wachovia's expenses. It also anticipates $74 billion in losses and writedowns from Wachovia's $498 billion loan portfolio, mostly from real estate loans. The company plans to issue as much as $20 billion of new securities, mostly common stock. Wachovia agreed to give Wells Fargo preferred stock that will represent 39.9 percent of Wachovia's voting power.
Wells Fargo said it will acquire all of Wachovia's businesses, preferred equity and banking deposits. Chief Financial Officer Howard Atkins said in the statement that the acquisition will add to earnings per share by the third year after completion and should produce an internal rate of return of at least 15 percent.
Eastern Expansion
``This is a franchise that Wells Fargo wanted and this is one they didn't want to get away,'' said Mark Morgan, senior analyst at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans in Minneapolis. Thrivent held 1.8 million Wells shares as of June 30, according to Bloomberg data. ``This provides an opportunity for Wells Fargo to expand in the eastern U.S., particularly in the Southeast, in markets they've wanted to be in.''
Buying Wachovia detours from the strategy outlined by Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf, 55, who has said he prefers smaller acquisitions with less risk that would fill gaps in the existing branch network. After the combination, the bank would have $1.42 trillion in assets, which may rank third in the U.S. depending on what other bank mergers are completed. All told, the bank would have $787 billion in deposits and 10,761 branches in 39 states.
Option ARMs
``Citi's purchase was too cheap for the assets and operations involved,'' said Jason Pride, research director at Haverford Trust Co. in Haverford, Pennsylvania. ``It's an excellent strategic deal for Wells Fargo given the geography of the branch network.''
The deal also gives Wells Fargo responsibility for about $122 billion of option ARMs sold by Wachovia, the No. 1 provider of such loans. The home mortgages are prone to default because they allow borrowers to defer part of their interest payments and add it to the principal of the loan. Those terms backfired when housing markets weakened, leaving borrowers with loans larger than the price of their homes.
Wachovia issued more than half its option ARMs in California, according to the bank's second-quarter earnings presentation to investors. Wells Fargo is already the biggest bank based in that state. The stock gained 16 percent this year through yesterday.
Credit Issues
``The credit issues are the risk in this,'' Morgan said. ``It gives them a lot of concentration in California and mortgage business in general. But they are paying a pretty low price, so it's not out of line with their acquisition philosophy.''
Wells Fargo was advised on the transaction by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and JPMorgan Chase & Co., the statement said. Wachovia relied on Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Perella Weinberg Partners, the statement said.
``The deal doesn't sit too well with me,'' said Jocelynn Drake, an equity analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati. ``Wells was doing very well, and merging with Wachovia, which has such a bad rap among Wall Street investors, looks questionable to me.''
To contact the reporters on this story: David Mildenberg in Charlotte at dmildenberg@bloomberg.net; Josh Fineman in New York at jfineman@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: October 3, 2008 17:16 EDT
WF
http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Richard%0AKovacevich&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1
WF Chairman
Wells Fargo Chairman Prefers U.S. Plan to Buy Stakes (Update3)
By Ari Levy
Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Wells Fargo & Co. Chairman Richard Kovacevich said the U.S. Treasury's intention to buy stock in banks provides a better stimulus to escape the financial crisis than an earlier plan to purchase soured mortgage-related assets.
``Direct capital injections versus buying loans is a far more preferable way'' to help companies already facing credit losses, Kovacevich, 64, said yesterday at an event hosted by San Francisco's Commonwealth Club. ``It's an important tool to get the financial system back into the money business again.''
Wells Fargo, which agreed to buy Wachovia Corp. for about $14 billion this month, is one of nine large lenders slated to receive cash infusions as part of the government's plan to spend $700 billion unfreezing credit markets. Wells Fargo, based in San Francisco, will get $25 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are among the others that will receive the cash.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson last week urged banks to ``deploy'' the money in loans. He was forced to change his strategy after the initial plan to buy distressed assets caused banks to hoard cash and failed to halt a slide in the stock market. Kovacevich declined to say if he initially opposed Paulson's plan as the New York Times reported.
Wells Fargo dropped $1.34, or 4.1 percent, to $31.30 at 4:08 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares gained 3.7 percent this year, the biggest advance in the 24- company KBW Bank Index. Wachovia fell 38 cents to $5.71 and has tumbled 85 percent in 2008.
He's Seen Worse
Kovacevich said the current economic crisis isn't the worst he's seen, and the U.S. government's may help end the credit freeze ``reasonably soon.''
``Our customers, except those in residential home lending or autos, are doing quite well,'' he said. ``By far, the worst economic crisis of my career was in the 1980s.''
The Wachovia deal, orchestrated by Kovacevich, marks an eastward expansion and strategic shift for Wells Fargo, which maintained a profit during the financial crisis by avoiding riskier loans. Wachovia's mortgage portfolio includes an estimated $74 billion in future losses.
The Wells Fargo-Wachovia deal will create the biggest U.S. bank network, with 6,675 branches. The Federal Reserve said yesterday that Wells Fargo agreed to reduce its deposit base to comply with U.S. bank-merger law should the combined company control more than 10 percent of deposits nationwide.
Wachovia's Losses
Wachovia reported its third straight quarterly loss today, hurt by crumbling mortgage markets and writedowns on securities backed by real estate. The loss for the three months ended Sept. 30 was $23.9 billion, or $11.18 a share, compared with net income of $1.6 billion, or 85 cents, in the same period a year earlier, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company said in a statement.
The Wachovia deal would be Wells Fargo's biggest acquisition since Norwest Corp. purchased the old Wells Fargo 10 years ago and adopted the name.
Kovacevich was chief operating officer at Minneapolis-based Norwest in the 1980s when current Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf, 55, was running the auto-dealer business and working on commercial loans. Kovacevich was promoted to CEO of Norwest in 1993 and stepped down in June 2007 to make way for the promotion of Stumpf, who has been with the company for 26 years.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ari Levy in San Francisco at alevy5@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: October 22, 2008 16:10 EDT
Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Trademarks
By Ari Levy
Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Wells Fargo & Co. Chairman Richard Kovacevich said the U.S. Treasury's intention to buy stock in banks provides a better stimulus to escape the financial crisis than an earlier plan to purchase soured mortgage-related assets.
``Direct capital injections versus buying loans is a far more preferable way'' to help companies already facing credit losses, Kovacevich, 64, said yesterday at an event hosted by San Francisco's Commonwealth Club. ``It's an important tool to get the financial system back into the money business again.''
Wells Fargo, which agreed to buy Wachovia Corp. for about $14 billion this month, is one of nine large lenders slated to receive cash infusions as part of the government's plan to spend $700 billion unfreezing credit markets. Wells Fargo, based in San Francisco, will get $25 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are among the others that will receive the cash.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson last week urged banks to ``deploy'' the money in loans. He was forced to change his strategy after the initial plan to buy distressed assets caused banks to hoard cash and failed to halt a slide in the stock market. Kovacevich declined to say if he initially opposed Paulson's plan as the New York Times reported.
Wells Fargo dropped $1.34, or 4.1 percent, to $31.30 at 4:08 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares gained 3.7 percent this year, the biggest advance in the 24- company KBW Bank Index. Wachovia fell 38 cents to $5.71 and has tumbled 85 percent in 2008.
He's Seen Worse
Kovacevich said the current economic crisis isn't the worst he's seen, and the U.S. government's may help end the credit freeze ``reasonably soon.''
``Our customers, except those in residential home lending or autos, are doing quite well,'' he said. ``By far, the worst economic crisis of my career was in the 1980s.''
The Wachovia deal, orchestrated by Kovacevich, marks an eastward expansion and strategic shift for Wells Fargo, which maintained a profit during the financial crisis by avoiding riskier loans. Wachovia's mortgage portfolio includes an estimated $74 billion in future losses.
The Wells Fargo-Wachovia deal will create the biggest U.S. bank network, with 6,675 branches. The Federal Reserve said yesterday that Wells Fargo agreed to reduce its deposit base to comply with U.S. bank-merger law should the combined company control more than 10 percent of deposits nationwide.
Wachovia's Losses
Wachovia reported its third straight quarterly loss today, hurt by crumbling mortgage markets and writedowns on securities backed by real estate. The loss for the three months ended Sept. 30 was $23.9 billion, or $11.18 a share, compared with net income of $1.6 billion, or 85 cents, in the same period a year earlier, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company said in a statement.
The Wachovia deal would be Wells Fargo's biggest acquisition since Norwest Corp. purchased the old Wells Fargo 10 years ago and adopted the name.
Kovacevich was chief operating officer at Minneapolis-based Norwest in the 1980s when current Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf, 55, was running the auto-dealer business and working on commercial loans. Kovacevich was promoted to CEO of Norwest in 1993 and stepped down in June 2007 to make way for the promotion of Stumpf, who has been with the company for 26 years.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ari Levy in San Francisco at alevy5@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: October 22, 2008 16:10 EDT
Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Trademarks
WF's Kovacevich, exiting maybe toughest
For Wells Fargo's Kovacevich, Exiting May Be Toughest Job
By DAN FITZPATRICKArticle
WSJ
10/22/2008
When Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson made nine of the nation's top banking executives an offer they couldn't refuse last week, telling them that the federal government wanted to buy stakes in their companies, Wells Fargo & Co. Chairman Richard Kovacevich pounded his fist on the table in frustration, according to people familiar with the situation.
The San Francisco bank didn't need or want government help, he insisted. Mr. Kovacevich relented. But he hasn't been shy about expressing misgivings about the rescue plan. "I admire what they are trying to do," the 64-year-old Mr. Kovacevich said in an interview, declining to discuss the specifics of the meeting. "That is not saying I agree with everything being done."
Bloomberg News/Landov
Under Richard Kovacevich, Wells Fargo morphed into a selling machine.
In the twilight of his career as one of the U.S. banking industry's top executives for more than a generation, Mr. Kovacevich has re-emerged in the past few weeks as a galvanizing and controversial force.
Always blunt, sometimes prickly and widely respected during his 8½-year run as chief executive of Wells Fargo, Mr. Kovacevich turned the government's push to sell ailing Wachovia Corp. into high drama, first by backing out of takeover talks and then blowing up the Charlotte, N.C., bank's agreement to be bought by Citigroup Inc.
Now that Wells Fargo has bagged Wachovia in a deal valued at $14.5 billion and slated to close by year end, Mr. Kovacevich is making plans to stick around. Even though he reaches the company's mandatory retirement age of 65 on Oct. 30, he has been asked "to play some role going forward, which will be determined when everyone has time," Mr. Kovacevich says. Directors might have to change the bank's bylaws to keep him.
Mr. Kovacevich acknowledges that he is the sort of ex-CEO who can't let go. That could come in handy as Wells Fargo wrestles with the bad loans, dispirited employees and sprawl it will get as part of the Wachovia deal. John Stumpf, who took over as CEO in June 2007 and shows no hint of annoyance about being overshadowed by his old boss, has said Mr. Kovacevich will have a key role in combining the operations of Wachovia and Wells Fargo.
Wachovia's third-quarter earnings report Wednesday could shed light on how hard that job will be. The downward spiral since Wachovia acquired mortgage lender Golden West Financial Corp. in 2006 pushed the bank close to failure at least twice in the past month. BB&T Corp., a Winston-Salem, N.C., bank, said last week it gained $1.2 billion in deposits from Wachovia during the third quarter.
Wells Fargo is known as a highly skilled acquirer, though it typically buys institutions that are much smaller than Wachovia. Mr. Kovacevich gets much of the credit for that reputation, purchasing 77 banks while in charge at Norwest Corp., a Minneapolis bank that merged with Wells Fargo in 1998. At the time, the $35 billion deal was the third-largest in U.S. banking history. Mr. Kovacevich became CEO of the combined company.
Under Mr. Kovacevich, Wells Fargo morphed into a selling machine that routinely talks customers into additional products and services. As of Sept. 30, retail customers had an average of 5.7 products, an enviable performance among banks that hype themselves as financial supermarkets but usually fall way short. Wells Fargo's track record will be tested at Wachovia.
Paul Hazen, chief executive officer of Wells Fargo from 1995 to 1998 and chairman until 2001, says he thinks Mr. Kovacevich is using the Wachovia deal "to extend his time."
Mr. Kovacevich grew up in a lumber town called Enumclaw, Wash., where his father worked in a sawmill. He never wanted to be a banker, initially dismissing it as boring. Recruited as a pitcher by the New York Yankees, his prospects disappeared when the 6-foot-3 Mr. Kovacevich tore his rotator cuff.
After getting degrees from Stanford University, Mr. Kovacevich went to work for Minneapolis-based cereal maker General Mills Corp. General Mills director Walter Wriston, then the chief executive of Citicorp, lured Mr. Kovacevich to New York, where he was eventually put in charge of the bank's local branch network.
During 11 years at Citicorp, Mr. Kovacevich pushed the cross-selling of mortgages and credit cards that made him famous in the banking industry. Mr. Kovacevich also displayed his trademark bluntness. When Citicorp CEO John Reed chose someone else as head of consumer banking, Mr. Kovacevich said he disagreed, then quit to take a job at Norwest, which was struggling at the time.
"I tend to talk in English, and I am very clear and said I didn't think it would work," Mr. Kovacevich recalls. Mr. Reed now says passing over Mr. Kovacevich "probably was a big mistake."
The Norwest-Wells Fargo deal put Mr. Kovacevich atop one of the best-known brand names in banking. Wells Fargo was founded in 1852, but analysts worried that a three-year integration schedule laid out as part of the deal was too long and wouldn't successfully blend the cultures of the two banks. Mr. Kovacevich later reminded Wall Street analysts how wrong they turned out to be.
Mr. Kovacevich also crowed about steering clear of especially risky mortgages that came back to haunt other lenders. In a shareholder letter with Mr. Stumpf earlier this year, the two executives wrote that "swift retribution is one of the strengths of capitalism."
In a separate letter, Mr. Kovacevich looked ahead to his retirement, which Wells Fargo initially said would start by the end of 2008. "I just wish I was 10 years younger," he wrote. "Please let me know when I can help you."
Nancy Bush, an analyst at NAB Research LLC in Annandale, N.J., who clashed with Mr. Kovacevich over the Norwest deal, predicts he could make a big difference at Wachovia. "There is no question in my mind [that] Dick is needed there," she says.
—Susanne Craig, David Enrich and Damian Paletta contributed to this article.Write to Dan Fitzpatrick at dan.fitzpatrick@wsj.com
Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
By DAN FITZPATRICKArticle
WSJ
10/22/2008
When Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson made nine of the nation's top banking executives an offer they couldn't refuse last week, telling them that the federal government wanted to buy stakes in their companies, Wells Fargo & Co. Chairman Richard Kovacevich pounded his fist on the table in frustration, according to people familiar with the situation.
The San Francisco bank didn't need or want government help, he insisted. Mr. Kovacevich relented. But he hasn't been shy about expressing misgivings about the rescue plan. "I admire what they are trying to do," the 64-year-old Mr. Kovacevich said in an interview, declining to discuss the specifics of the meeting. "That is not saying I agree with everything being done."
Bloomberg News/Landov
Under Richard Kovacevich, Wells Fargo morphed into a selling machine.
In the twilight of his career as one of the U.S. banking industry's top executives for more than a generation, Mr. Kovacevich has re-emerged in the past few weeks as a galvanizing and controversial force.
Always blunt, sometimes prickly and widely respected during his 8½-year run as chief executive of Wells Fargo, Mr. Kovacevich turned the government's push to sell ailing Wachovia Corp. into high drama, first by backing out of takeover talks and then blowing up the Charlotte, N.C., bank's agreement to be bought by Citigroup Inc.
Now that Wells Fargo has bagged Wachovia in a deal valued at $14.5 billion and slated to close by year end, Mr. Kovacevich is making plans to stick around. Even though he reaches the company's mandatory retirement age of 65 on Oct. 30, he has been asked "to play some role going forward, which will be determined when everyone has time," Mr. Kovacevich says. Directors might have to change the bank's bylaws to keep him.
Mr. Kovacevich acknowledges that he is the sort of ex-CEO who can't let go. That could come in handy as Wells Fargo wrestles with the bad loans, dispirited employees and sprawl it will get as part of the Wachovia deal. John Stumpf, who took over as CEO in June 2007 and shows no hint of annoyance about being overshadowed by his old boss, has said Mr. Kovacevich will have a key role in combining the operations of Wachovia and Wells Fargo.
Wachovia's third-quarter earnings report Wednesday could shed light on how hard that job will be. The downward spiral since Wachovia acquired mortgage lender Golden West Financial Corp. in 2006 pushed the bank close to failure at least twice in the past month. BB&T Corp., a Winston-Salem, N.C., bank, said last week it gained $1.2 billion in deposits from Wachovia during the third quarter.
Wells Fargo is known as a highly skilled acquirer, though it typically buys institutions that are much smaller than Wachovia. Mr. Kovacevich gets much of the credit for that reputation, purchasing 77 banks while in charge at Norwest Corp., a Minneapolis bank that merged with Wells Fargo in 1998. At the time, the $35 billion deal was the third-largest in U.S. banking history. Mr. Kovacevich became CEO of the combined company.
Under Mr. Kovacevich, Wells Fargo morphed into a selling machine that routinely talks customers into additional products and services. As of Sept. 30, retail customers had an average of 5.7 products, an enviable performance among banks that hype themselves as financial supermarkets but usually fall way short. Wells Fargo's track record will be tested at Wachovia.
Paul Hazen, chief executive officer of Wells Fargo from 1995 to 1998 and chairman until 2001, says he thinks Mr. Kovacevich is using the Wachovia deal "to extend his time."
Mr. Kovacevich grew up in a lumber town called Enumclaw, Wash., where his father worked in a sawmill. He never wanted to be a banker, initially dismissing it as boring. Recruited as a pitcher by the New York Yankees, his prospects disappeared when the 6-foot-3 Mr. Kovacevich tore his rotator cuff.
After getting degrees from Stanford University, Mr. Kovacevich went to work for Minneapolis-based cereal maker General Mills Corp. General Mills director Walter Wriston, then the chief executive of Citicorp, lured Mr. Kovacevich to New York, where he was eventually put in charge of the bank's local branch network.
During 11 years at Citicorp, Mr. Kovacevich pushed the cross-selling of mortgages and credit cards that made him famous in the banking industry. Mr. Kovacevich also displayed his trademark bluntness. When Citicorp CEO John Reed chose someone else as head of consumer banking, Mr. Kovacevich said he disagreed, then quit to take a job at Norwest, which was struggling at the time.
"I tend to talk in English, and I am very clear and said I didn't think it would work," Mr. Kovacevich recalls. Mr. Reed now says passing over Mr. Kovacevich "probably was a big mistake."
The Norwest-Wells Fargo deal put Mr. Kovacevich atop one of the best-known brand names in banking. Wells Fargo was founded in 1852, but analysts worried that a three-year integration schedule laid out as part of the deal was too long and wouldn't successfully blend the cultures of the two banks. Mr. Kovacevich later reminded Wall Street analysts how wrong they turned out to be.
Mr. Kovacevich also crowed about steering clear of especially risky mortgages that came back to haunt other lenders. In a shareholder letter with Mr. Stumpf earlier this year, the two executives wrote that "swift retribution is one of the strengths of capitalism."
In a separate letter, Mr. Kovacevich looked ahead to his retirement, which Wells Fargo initially said would start by the end of 2008. "I just wish I was 10 years younger," he wrote. "Please let me know when I can help you."
Nancy Bush, an analyst at NAB Research LLC in Annandale, N.J., who clashed with Mr. Kovacevich over the Norwest deal, predicts he could make a big difference at Wachovia. "There is no question in my mind [that] Dick is needed there," she says.
—Susanne Craig, David Enrich and Damian Paletta contributed to this article.Write to Dan Fitzpatrick at dan.fitzpatrick@wsj.com
Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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