Xu Chunpei Wang Wenjin
Recently, a "major asset restructuring announcement" issued by a provincial company showed that the province's rural credit cooperatives as a whole were transferred to the company, and the company actually managed the provincial cooperatives. The company was established in January this year, and its controlling shareholder and actual controller are the Provincial Department of Finance. After the announcement was released, many financial media reported on it and particularly emphasized the two keywords of "total transfer" and "actual management" , and they mostly held a positive attitude.
The author logged in to "Qichacha " and typed the name of the provincial cooperative agency to check it. He found that the information of the provincial cooperative agency showed that The provincial banking and insurance regulatory bureau, as a "other investors", holds 100% of the provincial cooperative agency. was extremely surprised. The author immediately verified the authenticity of the incident from the banking and insurance regulatory department, the provincial cooperative and the county-level legal person of the rural commercial bank under its jurisdiction, and obtained the following answer: First of all, the incident was only unilaterally announced by a certain company, which was its wishful thinking individual behavior. In fact, the restructuring was neither approved by relevant state departments nor approved by the banking and insurance regulatory department, and the provincial cooperative has not convened a shareholders' meeting to pass the resolution on equity change. At present, the provincial cooperative has not transferred it to the company. As for the information of the equity of the provincial cooperative news agency displayed online, it is a "joke" that is contrary to common sense and impossible.
In other words, the news that "a provincial cooperative is assigned to a provincial group company" that has been very popular in recent days is actually just a so-called "news" that has not been recognized by direct stakeholders.
But "news" speaks of it with a nose and eyes, and I think the news is not groundless. The provincial cooperative, whose reform plan has been revised for more than 100 times, is in love with the "full financial license" and hopes to make a major breakthrough in the reform. It explores the way for the holding company model and negotiates with the provincial government and the company on reform matters. These are all unquestionable and legitimate positive actions. But the reform of the provincial cooperative is by no means as simple as "obtaining a license and leaving it alone".
As a management enterprise positioned to manage, guide, coordinate and serve county-level legal person rural commercial banks (credit cooperatives), the provincial cooperatives formed by the "small legal person" rural commercial banks and rural credit cooperatives are fundamentally different from business enterprises. The reform plan of the provincial cooperatives allows for imagination, but it is not only related to the " provincial cooperatives " itself, but also to the county-level legal person rural commercial banks and rural credit cooperatives positioned as the main force in inclusive finance for agriculture and small businesses. It is related to whether the huge grassroots group financial services "close to the earth" can be better obtained, and also to the realization of the goals of rural revitalization and common prosperity. Therefore, if the reform plan is implemented, it will never be like this. It must be repeated research and demonstration by senior management, and there must be "red lines" and "bottom line" control.
The reform of provincial cooperatives is a super hot topic in the industry. For example, the "news" such as the above-mentioned provincial cooperatives are assigned to a provincial company to directly manage, which will definitely attract a large amount of forwarding and reading. However, it is related to the direction and overall situation of reform. As a conscientious and responsible media, in order to attract attention and attract reading volume, we should not release news at the first time without serious verification, misleading the group's judgment, creating cognitive chaos, and endangering the overall situation of reform.
Provincial cooperatives have played an important role in strengthening the management of rural credit cooperatives as a special arrangement to deepen the reform of rural credit cooperatives. However, it must be admitted that it has special characteristics that are different from general state-owned enterprises in many aspects such as enterprise property rights, management models, goals and tasks. In the aforementioned "news" that caused media carnival, if the provincial government made this major "reform" decision on the provincial cooperative, it obviously ignored the particularity of the provincial cooperative. It simply regarded it as a general state-owned enterprise, and there are some questions about the legitimacy and rationality of the reform.
Make a hypothesis. The above plan is indeed implemented in the "experiment". The author here puts forward the following "three questions" -
First, has it safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of the provincial cooperative cooperative to invest in the bank cooperative?
According to the former China Banking Regulatory Commission's "Interim Provisions on the Management of Rural Credit Cooperatives Provincial (Autonomous Region, Municipality) Unions", the provincial cooperative is composed of voluntary shares of rural credit cooperatives, municipality (local) cooperatives, county (city, district) cooperatives, county (city, district) rural credit cooperatives, and rural cooperative banks in their provinces (autonomous Region, Municipality) where they are located, and they do not absorb shares in other legal persons and natural persons. Therefore, the property owner of the provincial cooperative cooperative is a shareholder of the bank cooperative, not a provincial government. Although according to policy provisions, the state authorizes provincial governments to lead and manage provincial cooperatives, leadership and management rights cannot be equated with ownership, and leadership and management rights should not be used to damage the legitimate rights and interests of the invested cooperatives. To transfer the property rights of the Provincial Federation of Representatives, at least three conditions should be met: First, obtain the consent of the shareholders of the shareholders, and make a resolution at the general meeting of members and shareholders; second, to conduct a clearance of the provincial Federation of Representatives and fairly confirm the value of the property rights; third, to determine a reasonable equity acquisition price, and the enterprise that receives the property rights will invest to acquire the equity of the shareholders.
Second, has it weakened the status and role of the provincial cooperative?
According to the "Notice of the State Council on Issuing the Pilot Plan for Deepening the Reform of Rural Credit Cooperatives", provincial-level cooperatives or other forms of provincial-level management institutions are established, and under the leadership of the provincial people's government, they will specifically undertake the management, guidance, coordination and service functions of credit cooperatives under their jurisdiction. As an important part of the national policy arrangement for deepening the reform of rural credit cooperatives, the provincial cooperative has a legal status and plays a very important role in strengthening the reform and development of rural credit cooperatives, risk prevention and control, supporting agriculture and primary schools, and developing inclusive finance. If a provincial state-owned investment company actually manages the provincial cooperative, rather than directly leading the provincial people's government, it is obviously inconsistent with the policy spirit of the State Council; it is equivalent to downgrading the provincial cooperative to a second-level unit, which will obviously weaken the status and importance of the provincial cooperative and affect the performance of its functions.
As an investment company, it is not a legal government functional department or a financial holding company established with the approval of People's Bank of China. It represents the provincial government to actually manage the provincial cooperatives and lacks the proper legitimacy. Provincial cooperatives themselves are institutions that mainly perform industry management functions, not business enterprises in general. Letting an enterprise manage an industry management organization and then let the industry management organization manage subordinate enterprises artificially lengthen the decision-making chain and distort the management system of rural credit cooperatives.
Third, will it affect the stable operation of Rural Commercial Bank under its jurisdiction ?
As a state-owned investment company, financing the government is an important function and has a great demand for financing. After it manages the provincial cooperative, it also has the conditions to influence rural commercial banks under its jurisdiction through the provincial cooperative. With both demand and conditions, it is quite realistic to use the rural commercial banks under their jurisdiction as an important financing channel. In this way, it is entirely possible to weaken the role of rural commercial banks in supporting agriculture and small businesses, and it is not conducive to the stable operation of rural commercial banks. Since the Provincial Cooperatives have to accept supervision from the banking and insurance regulatory departments, the qualifications of senior executives also have strict requirements, and relatively speaking, they will have stronger professionalism and compliance awareness of their duties; while general investment companies are not subject to supervision from the banking and insurance regulatory departments. When performing the management functions of the Provincial Cooperatives (which must also include rural commercial banks under their jurisdiction), it is easy to deviate from the basic requirements of stable bank operations for short-term goals and departmental interests, endanger the hard-won achievements of the reform and development of rural credit cooperatives, and increase uncertain factors for the prevention and control of financial risks.
It is understood that the aforementioned group company is not a financial holding group at present. Even if it obtains a financial holding group license in the future, according to Article 2 of the People's Bank of China's "Trial Measures for Supervision and Administration of Financial Holdings Company ", the financial holding company itself can only carry out equity investment, cannot directly engage in commercial business activities, and cannot actually manage the provincial cooperative. According to the Commercial Banking Law and regulatory policies, the controlling shareholder can only exercise the functions of an investor and cannot "directly manage" the bank, otherwise it is an act of intervention in business. If the aforementioned group company directly manages the provincial cooperative, then its affiliates need financing, and it will be difficult for the rural commercial bank to refuse.
On March 2 this year, Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, emphasized at a press conference held by the State Information Office that the direction of reform of the provincial cooperative cooperative is to strengthen the management of local party committees and governments, and to establish a modern enterprise system. Obviously, the practice of a certain province delegating the management of provincial cooperatives to investment companies is not to strengthen the management of local party committees and governments; because the property rights relationship is more chaotic and the equity relationship is not straightened out, it is also completely different from the requirements of establishing a modern enterprise system. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the reform of the provincial cooperative, the overall reform of the provincial cooperative will be transferred to this reform involving the management model. Local governments should only implement it with the approval of the regulatory authorities, and there are also flaws in the reform procedures.
It is a good thing for local governments to attach importance to the reform of provincial cooperatives, but it should comply with relevant laws, regulations and policies, and should not be used as a reform and do things that violate the original intention of the reform. Banking regulatory authorities should promptly correct the deviations that local governments have in the reform of provincial cooperatives. Otherwise, the same industry may mistakenly be "model" and "experience" and strive to follow suit, which will undoubtedly be harmful and useless for promoting the reform of provincial cooperatives at a high quality. In order to better standardize and guide the reform of provincial cooperatives, on the basis of summarizing the previous reform experience, regulatory departments should make principled provisions on the reform of provincial cooperatives and draw bottom lines and red lines. While giving the principle of "one province, one policy", the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission should clarify boundaries and taboos.
Provincial cooperative reform and establishing a financial holding company is a path that is more inclined by many parties, and it is also more breakthrough. Therefore, a provincial cooperative is assigned to a company with a "full financial license", which sounds like a nerve-wracking news to many provincial cooperatives, and believes that many problems that plague the provincial cooperatives can be solved from this. During on-site investigations, most provincial cooperatives are fond of and eager to obtain business licenses, so they will have interests and transfer of rights with local governments and relevant parties. However, due to the serious consequences, we should be cautious in making reform decisions. The author thinks, "What will happen after Nora leaves?" Mr. Lu Xun's question back then also applies here.
The core of the reform of the provincial cooperative association should be to provide better services to all member banks and use the most economical and effective means to solve the most urgent difficulties and problems of member banks, rather than going against the trend. The same sentence is still the case, "All victory will eventually be the victory of values" . No matter what plan or model is explored in the reform of the provincial cooperative, it should not deviate from the original intention and direction of serving the county-level "small legal persons" of rural commercial banks to fulfill their responsibilities of supporting agriculture, small enterprises and small enterprises to support the real economy, and should not become a tool for one party or several parties to make profits. Only by firmly adhering to the correct political direction and value orientation, and by being able to better serve the "small legal persons" at the municipal and county levels, serving the overall situation of rural revitalization and common prosperity, can the provincial cooperative be more stable and better after the reform. (Source: China Economic Times Rural Finance Official Account, original title: "A certain provincial cooperative is assigned to a certain company"? Let's wait, let the bullet fly for a while )
