Is the term “systemically important” synonymous with safe or risky? AIG, Prudential Financial and GE Capital were labelled systemically important on Monday as part of US government efforts to spot risks to the financial system from outside the banking world. Some 18 banks with $50bn of assets or more already have the distinction as do some financial market “utilities”, namely clearing houses and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. For the three non-bank systemically important financial institutions, or non-bank SIFIs, named this week officials studied asset size, debt load and mix, leverage and derivatives exposure. Others may be named, while regulators are mulling how asset management behemoths, such as BlackRock, should be treated.
与“系统性重要”这个词同义的是“安全”，还是“风险”？美国国际集团(AIG)、保德信金融集团(Prudential Financial)和通用电气金融集团(GE Capital)在周一被贴上“系统性重要”的标签，这是美国政府全面努力的一部分，目的是发现非银行金融机构对金融体系构成的风险。大约有18家资产达500亿美元或以上的银行已被列为“系统性重要”，还有一些金融市场的“公用事业机构”也被贴上这一标签，如交易结算机构和芝加哥商品交易所(Chicago Mercantile Exchange)。对于本周被点名的这三家非银行系统性重要金融机构（非银行SIFI），官员们研究了其资产规模、债务负担和结构、杠杆率以及衍生品敞口。或许还会有别的SIFI，同时监管机构还在研究该怎么对待像贝莱德(BlackRock)这样的资产管理巨头。