Oct 19th 2006 From The Economist print edition
Twenty years ago London embarked on a remarkable transformation to become a global financial centre. It now has to keep its lead.
倫敦在20年前進行了一次成功的轉型， 成為全球的金融中心。 如今的它必須保持領導地位
ONCE a year the Lord Mayor of London invites top financiers to the “City Banquet” at Mansion House, his official home. It is one of many opulent functions hosted by a Gilbert-and-Sullivan-sounding figure whose grand title harks back to the middle ages, when the Lord Mayor really did run the capital rather than act as an honorific salesman for its financial centre. But although the old City of London still celebrates its ancient traditions—todays Lord Mayor is the 678th—the new City has discovered a modern destiny as a hub of international finance since far-reaching reforms transformed the London stockmarket 20 years ago.
倫敦金融城的市長每年都要舉行一次“正式的宴會”，
That revolution was called “Big Bang” because new ways of trading shares came into effect on one day, October 27th 1986. Just as the universe exploded after Big Bang, so the City has burst from its former boundaries around the old “square mile” of the Lord Mayors domain and, in the process, redrawn the capitals skyline.
那次大變革被稱為“大爆炸”（Big Bang）,一些關於股票交易的新法規於1986年10月27日這一天， 正式生效。 這正如宇宙在大爆炸之後的情形一樣，
Twenty years ago, Canary Wharf was a wasteland in east Londons docklands. Now it sprouts skyscrapers, including Britains tallest, that provide palatial premises for global banks with giant trading floors. There are now almost as many financial staff working in just this one area as in the whole of Frankfurt, Londons main European rival, says George Iacobescu, Canary Wharf Groups chief executive.
20年前Canary Wharf只是倫敦東區碼頭的一塊荒地。 如今已是充斥著摩天大樓， 這其中就包括英國的第一高樓， 為全球的銀行業提供著巨型的交易場地和宏偉的辦公場所。 按照Canary Wharf集團的CEO George Iacobescu先生的說法， 僅在此地工作的金融界人士的數量就相當於整個在法蘭克福金融界工作的人數， 法蘭克福是倫敦在歐洲金融市場的主要競爭對手。
The City has also expanded to the west. Hedge funds have plumped for boutique offices in the choicer parts of the West End, like Mayfair. And a short cab-ride to the north at Marylebone, BNP Paribas employs 3,100 staff—the most in any of its buildings in the world—at a swish office that opened in 1997. The French banks trading floor, with 850 desks and 2,550 screens, could double as a football pitch.
金融城也在向西擴展， 對沖基金公司已經在West End（例如Mayfair）建起了他們豪華的辦公室。 搭乘計程車， 只要花很短的時間就能到達Marylebone,法國巴黎銀行（BNP Paribas）在這裡的員工就達3,100人， 時髦的辦公室建立於1997年， 恐怕也是世界上最大的辦公機構。
Within the square mile itself, the Citys incessant demand for more space has led to a huge wave of new developments. To the east of the great dome of St Pauls Cathedral, built in the late 17th century, a cluster of 21st-century skyscrapers is planned as new towers with names like the “Helter-skelter” join the “Gherkin”, completed three years ago. Within less than a decade, the view from the Thames may look like the illustration above.
就在這狹小的“一平方英里”內城裡面， 由於持續旺盛的需求， 金融城也在不停有開發著新的專案， 往東挨著17世紀的聖保羅大教堂， 一群被命名為“Helter-skelter”的21世紀的摩天大樓正在醞釀之中， 加入了3年前已經竣工的“Gherkin”樓群行列。 在短短的不到10年內， 泰晤士河邊的景色已經煥然一新。
The property boom reflects the Citys expansion since Big Bang. The specialist workforce that carries out international financial business has risen by a half in the past 15 years, according to CEBR, a consultancy that monitors the London economy. These highly paid financiers, traders and professionals are now much more cosmopolitan. At BNP Paribas, for example, 35% of its staff in London are foreign nationals less than half of these are French.
地產業的興旺折射出金融城大變革後的擴張。 根據一家一直關注倫敦經濟的諮詢公司， CEBR的統計資料， 在金融城從事國際金融業務的專業人士數量在過去的15年增加了50%;。 這些享受著高薪人士包括金融人士， 交易商及專業人士， 來自于不同背景的國家。 例如在法國巴黎銀行（BNP Paribas）的倫敦分部，
Few doubt that Londons élan owes much to the revolution in its securities markets. “There is just no comparison now between the Citys standing today and 20 years ago,” says David Lascelles, co-director of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, a think-tank. “London wouldnt be in this position without Big Bang.” But can the City maintain its role as a global financial centre? Just this week the British government set up a taskforce, partly to signal to the City that it values Londons standing. Other cities, not least New York, are keen to steal footloose financial transactions away. Exchanges are joining forces, making trading hubs, such as Chicago, potentially more powerful (see article). For all its historic success, London will be relentlessly tested in the future.
毫無質疑， 倫敦的新生得益于證券市場的變革。 “現在和20年前金融城的定位已是大相徑庭了”一家智庫， 金融創新研究中心（Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation）的聯合董事David Lascelles說， “如果沒有那次大的變革， 倫敦就沒有今天的地位。 ”倫敦金融城能夠保持全球金融中心的地位麼？就在上周英國政府成立了一個特別小組， 其中部分的任務就是評價金融城對倫敦定位的影響力。 包括紐約的其他城市， 正試圖在金融交易的業務中分一杯羹。 交易所之間強強聯合， 形成交易的樞紐， 芝加哥就是一個潛在的強勢競爭對手。 從歷史的經驗來看， 倫敦的中心地位將面臨著來自其他城市不斷地挑戰。
Club rules 會所規則
Even before the revolution at the stock exchange, the City had defied historical odds by re-establishing itself in the 1960s and 1970s as the top international financial centre. Just as London had gained that position at the height of British economic supremacy in the 19th century, so New York might have been expected to take on the role after the second world war, when the dollar was pre-eminent. Instead heavy-handed regulations (such as interest-rate ceilings that made it unattractive to leave short-term deposits in America) drove international finance out of Wall Street. It found a ready home in London where the Bank of England monitored foreign banks with a feather-light touch.
即使在證券交易市場的大變革之前， 金融城在上個世紀的60及70年代一直在為維護自己的國際金融中心的地位不歇地努力。 正如倫敦受益於19世紀英國經濟霸主的地位， 在第二次世界大戰之後， 隨著美元的強勢， 紐約本應在金融上獲得領先的地位。 但美國鐵腕的監管政策使得紐約漸漸失去了金融中心的地位（對利率的最高限額也不利於在美國的短期存款）， 而英格蘭銀行較為寬鬆的管理吸引了外國銀行到倫敦來安家落戶。
By the early 1980s, the City had become an international banking bazaar. Walk down any of its narrow streets and you could enter banks from around the world Moorgate was nicknamed “the Avenue of the Americas”. London played host to far more foreign banks than any other financial centre and had the biggest slice of the foreign-exchange market.
直到上個世紀的80年代， 倫敦金融城成為國際銀行業的大市場。 走在狹長的街道上， 你幾乎可以看到世界上所有的銀行。 Moorgate的綽號是“美洲的林蔭道”。 倫敦有比其他金融中心都要多的外國銀行， 還是最大的外匯交易市場。
Business had gravitated to the City because its role was based no longer on sterling but on offshore currencies, predominantly dollars, held outside America. Yet there was a missing dimension. Although the City had opened up to the world in international banking, it had kept; the shutters firmly closed in its stockmarket.
由於英鎊不再作為結算的單位，取而代之的是以美元為主其他離岸貨幣，金融城漸漸失去了往日的地位。雖然金融城有著開放的國際銀行業，但其股票市場卻是相對的封閉。這使問題更加嚴重。
The London stock exchange was a closed shop, marked by an antiquated division between brokers who brought the business and jobbers who made markets in shares. Brokers were paid a fixed minimum commission on shares and gilts, which ripped off big clients, and jobbers lacked the capital to deal in big amounts. Trading in top British shares was starting to move to New York, where investment banks were able to offer keener prices because they could combine broking and market-making as well as underwriting new issues. The stock exchange was unable to reform because its rulebook was due to come under legal attack in a court case brought by the Office of Fair Trading. In July 1983 the exchange reached a historic deal with the Conservative government. The case was dropped. In return the exchange agreed to get rid of minimum commissions by the end of 1986.
倫敦證券交易市場過去是一個封閉的市場，令人垢病的是其過時的分類：進行交易的股票經紀人和負責做市的股票做市商。股票經紀人的手續費是固定的，這使得大客戶深為不滿，而做市商缺乏資本經營大宗業務。原本在倫敦的業務漸漸地流向了紐約，在那裡股票經紀人可以同時是做市商或是新股承銷商，使得交易的價格更加靈活。倫敦的股市本身受到法律條文的約束，修改規則將受到英國公平交易部的法庭訴訟，使得其想要開展的改革無法進行。1983年7月，倫敦證券交易所和當時的保守黨政府達成了具有歷史性的協定：1986年底之前交易所取消最低手續費，以換取公平交易部放棄對它的訴訟請求。
Well before then, a bidding war had started for the stock exchanges Victorian-sounding member firms. In a giddy rush of deals, banks both domestic and international took stakes in virtually every broker and jobber worth having. Two British ventures raised especially high hopes. S.G. Warburg, a merchant bank that had pioneered Londons eurobond market based on offshore dollars in the early 1960s, plunged into the fray. And Barclays, a high-street bank, created BZW, an investment bank, from its acquisitions.
在此之前，為了爭奪交易所維多利亞式的成員席位，很多公司參加了競爭的行列。在一連串眼花繚亂的交易中，國內外銀行都在爭奪著每一個股票經紀人或做市商的資格。其中的兩家英國銀行，華寶銀行（S.G Warburg）和巴克萊銀行（Barclays）願望頗為強烈，華寶銀行是一家商業銀行，領導著在倫敦以離岸美元為結算單位的歐洲債券市場。位於繁華市區的巴克萊銀行通過並購創立了BZW投資銀行。
Big Bang was a turning point in the Citys postwar history, securing its position as a centre for trading international equities. The City signalled its welcome to foreign financial firms by sweeping away cosy club rules that protected domestic incumbents. American commercial banks, at that time unable to carry out securities business in the United States, were able to treat London as a laboratory.
大變革（Big Bang）是金融城二戰後的一個歷史轉捩點，由此確保其國際證券交易中心的地位。它廢除了保護國內同行的繁瑣規則，為國外金融機構打開了一扇新的大門。在當時，美國的商業銀行在美國不被允許從事證券業務，於是倫敦的股票市場就成為了他們新的投資實驗場。
By October 1986, the City already felt quite different. American investment bankers brought a brash new style to its financial markets, including breathtaking bonuses and early starts. The City, long notorious as a stuffy place where the old school tie mattered more than talent, became more meritocratic. The boisterous colour-jacketed traders in financial futures at LIFFE, a market founded in 1982, typified the new unbuttoned style of business.
到了1986年10月，金融城已經面貌一新。美國投資銀行家們帶來了一整套金融市場新的管理方式，包括那令人咋舌的獎金和先進的管理思想。金融城長期以來以裙帶關係而備受指責，現在這個讓人覺得沉悶的地方轉變成為重視人才的場所，吸引了更多精英人士的加入。1982年成立的倫敦國際金融期貨交易所（LIFFE），活躍在其中的交易人員身著亮眼的彩色夾克衫，這顯示了金融城更加開放的管理風格。
Trading places 交易場所
But after thriving for most of the 1980s, the City looked fragile ten years after Big Bang. The early 1990s brought recession to Britain and cuts in the number of City jobs. Then the two main British contenders as investment banks fell by the wayside. In 1995 S.G. Warburg was bought by the Swiss and two years later, Barclays pulled the plug on BZW. As if this was not enough, Nick Leesons rogue trading brought down Barings, a centuries-old merchant bank once called the sixth great power of Europe.
經過1980年代大多數時間的繁榮之後，金融城在大變革之後進入了一個十年調整時期。在90年代初期，英國經濟進入蕭條，金融城的工作職位也少起來。英國兩家主要的投資銀行也遭受挫敗，1995年，華寶銀行（S.G.Warburg）被瑞士的一家公司收購。巴克萊銀行（Barclays）也終止了BZW的業務。事情更糟糕的是，尼克·利森（Nick Leeson）的冒險交易導致了巴林銀行（Barings）的倒閉，巴林銀行是一家有著100多年歷史的商業銀行，在歐洲曾經排名第6。
Ahead loomed the euro. The risk was that footloose financial firms might forsake the City and cluster instead in Frankfurt, home of the new European Central Bank. The fears proved groundless. Far from undermining London, the euro strengthened the Citys grip in European finance, says Douglas McWilliams, chief executive of CEBR. With the fading of the small centres that had specialised in bilateral trading between the former currencies, London dominated euro trading.
歐元的到來使人對金融城的前景不樂觀，人們推測靈活的金融機構因此將背離倫敦而轉向法蘭克福，這個歐洲中央銀行總部的所在地。事實證明推測並不正確。英國經濟和商業研究中心（CEBR）CEO Douglas McWilliams認為，歐元不僅沒有削弱倫敦金融城的地位，反而加強了它對歐洲金融的掌控。原因在於隨著歐洲國家之間貨幣的消失，針對於此的小型貨幣兌換中心也隨之關門，倫敦因此主導了歐元的交易。
Over the same period, London surfed the next big breaking wave of products. Although Euronext took over LIFFE in 2002, 98% of the value of the Paris-based exchanges trading in derivatives was done in London last year. More important, the City secured a commanding stake in “over-the-counter” derivatives, which are traded off exchanges primarily with banks. The value of these commitments is now four-to-five times greater than those on exchanges owing to investors ravenous appetite for financial products that parcel up and repackage risk. Londons share of this booming market has risen from 27% of daily turnover in 1995 to 43% in 2004.
與此同時，金融城迎來了新一輪的產品創新。雖然Euronext2002年並購了倫敦國際金融期貨交易所（LIFFE），去年就有98%的有關巴黎交易所的金融衍生產品在倫敦交易。更為重要的事，倫敦主導了場外衍生工具，這種主要是銀行相互間在場外進行交易。由於投資者對利潤的追逐冒險的胃口越來越大，對這種資產重組打包之類的金融產品更感興趣，此類交易比在場內的交易量還要大4到5倍。在倫敦股市上，這種全新的交易產品所占的日交易量份額從1995年的27%增長到2004年的43%。
Some of the biggest customers for derivatives are hedge funds, which offer sophisticated investors opportunities to gain from trading strategies (for example, making money in falling stockmarkets) as well as through asset allocation. Here again, London has elbowed its way into a high-growth financial industry. The global value of assets in hedge funds has doubled since the end of 2002 to reach $1.2 trillion. Although the industry is dominated by the east coast of America, investments managed out of London are worth a fifth of the world total, up from a tenth in 2002, and almost four-fifths of those in Europe.
對金融衍生產品而言，對沖基金是其中最大的客戶。他們為一些有老練的投資者提供更多的賺錢機會，包括判斷大勢走向（例如，賣空）和通過資產的配置組合等。對沖基金管理的全球資產在2002年底就翻了一倍達到1.2萬億美元。雖然此種業務主要還是由美國主導，倫敦的交易量在全球的份額從2002年的10%;增加到現在的20%;，占歐洲市場的80%;。
The Citys record over the past two decades has not been an unqualified success. International insurance has been a weak spot, in part because of the travails of Lloyds of London, a market founded in a coffee house in the 17th century that was hit by 20th-century scandals and huge losses from asbestosis claims. Londons share of net premium income in marine insurance, a traditional mainstay of Lloyds, has shrunk from around 30%; in the mid-1980s to 20%; in 2005.
金融城在過去的20年也有過不成功的教訓。國際保險業顯然是它的一個敗筆。部分原因歸結于倫敦的勞合社在20世紀的商業醜聞及石棉訴訟中的巨額賠償所遭受的損失。勞合社創建於17世紀的一個咖啡館，隨後發展成為最大的保險公司。它的傳統支柱業務，海上保險的保費利潤從80年代中期占全球份額的30%;下滑到2005年的20%;。
Set against that, other less salient parts of the City have been thriving. Shipping services have made a recent comeback overseas earnings rose by a quarter between 2002 and 2004. Londons 400 shipbroking firms match ships and cargoes in 50%; of tanker chartering. And there has been a spectacular growth in legal services, which are vital in backing the work of a global financial centre. Over 200 foreign law firms have offices in London, which is also headquarters for three of the four largest firms in the world. Exports from Britain generated by international law firms are now three times higher than they were in 1995.
於此相反的是，過去一些不太引人注意的業務卻得到了一些發展。貨運服務近期有所反彈，02年至04年間海外的收入增加了25%。倫敦400家船運仲介公司所安排的貨運業務占全球份額的50%;。法律相關的服務也有長足的增長，這對維持全球金融中心的地位提供了良好的保證。200多家的法律公司在倫敦有自己的辦公室，其中3/4的全球最大法律公司有在此設立總部。這些公司在倫敦對國外提供的法律服務也比1995年增加了2倍。
Centre court “中心效應”
London is a textbook example of an economic cluster, in which businesses locate close to one another because they gain from proximity. “The big warehouse of markets is in London,” says Pascal Boris, chief executive of BNP Paribass British operation. The distinctive feature of the City cluster is the pre-eminence of foreign financial firms. In this sense, London has become to finance what Wimbledon is to tennis: a place where the best international players come to compete.
倫敦是規模經濟效應的一個範例，從事相同業務的公司由於彼此相鄰而受益。“倫敦就象一個巨大的商業大賣場”法國巴黎銀行（BNP Panbas）英國地區的CEO Pascal Boris這麼說。金融城的優勢在於擁有眾多著名的國外銀行。從這點來說，倫敦與金融的關係，就象溫布林頓與網球的關係，為各國好手提供了一個同場競技的舞臺。
Yet modern communications and information technology allow people and businesses to operate from virtually anywhere nowadays. And there are obvious disadvantages in locating at the heart of a metropolis. Property costs are extremely high in London by international standards. Public transport is overcrowded and often unreliable.
如今，現代的通訊手段和先進的高科技允許人們在實際上的任何地方做交易。這樣來說，在繁華大都市的中心設立公司就有明顯的不利因素。倫敦的房價昂貴。公共交通系統擁堵且不準時。
The Citys vibrancy shows that it offers compelling advantages that outweigh these drawbacks. Financial firms cluster in London because they derive external economies of scale. By thronging together, they create large, liquid markets that drive down trading costs and reduce risks by allowing large deals to be handled.
金融城的活力為在此設立的公司提供了無法比擬的優勢。在倫敦的金融機構受益於彼此產生的規模效應。通過鄰近的辦公地點，創造了巨大的流動市場，從而降低了交易成本，減少了大宗交易的風險。
There are further benefits from locating in the cluster. Firms, large and small, can call upon all the external services needed to put together a complex financial deal, such as advice from lawyers and accountants, or the use of specialist markets. This in turn creates a fertile environment for innovation to flourish—a vital attraction for a global financial centre.
公司的聚集還有其他優勢。駐紮此地的大小公司當需要進行較為複雜的金融交易時，可以方便地找到相關的人才，例如律師和會計師，或是其他專業人士。人才的聚集為創新提供了良好的外部環境——這也是全球金融中心的優勢所在。
Underpinning the hub is access to talent. Firms locating in London can tap into a huge specialist financial workforce drawn from both domestic and foreign sources. “It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy,” says Mr Boris. “If you want to be hired you go to where people will hire you: London is this magnet in Europe.”
支撐金融中心的基礎來自于它的人才資源。在倫敦的公司可以很容易地找到規模龐大的國內外專業金融人士群體。“這裡可以實現自我的抱負”Boris先生說“如果你想要到合適的地方工作的話，在歐洲，倫敦就是首選之地。”
A continuing tradition of “light-touch” regulation has proved to be another essential ingredient. In 1997 the new Labour government announced reforms to replace what had become an untidy muddle of statutory and self-regulatory bodies with one regulator. This offered the advantage of a single port of call for the Citys big financial conglomerates, but held the risk that they might get unduly caught up in rules to protect the individual consumer. In 2004 the Financial Services Authority responded by introducing a separate division for wholesale and institutional markets, headed by Hector Sants, previously an investment banker. “We recognise,” says Mr Sants, “that good regulation is a key component of a successful marketplace.” The FSA is now highlighting the need for regulation to be based on principles rather than detailed prescript;ions.
有著傳統的“寬鬆”的監管規則也是它的另一個秘訣。1997年，工黨政府對混亂的法規及各種的行業自律組織進行了改革，合併為統一的監管機構。這有利於對金融城的大型金融機構的監管，但也容易引發對個人消費者的過度保護。2004年，英國金融服務監管局（FSA），組成了一個單獨的部門，任命了前投資銀行家Hector Sants作為負責人，專門處理批發及機構投資者的市場。“我們認為”，Sants先生說，“良好的監管是市場成功的一個重要因素。”金融服務監管局(FSA)強調監管的目的在於對基本規則的把握，而不是設置繁瑣的條款。
But if the FSA has seen the light, European directives that pay insufficient heed to the Citys unique position increasingly tie the regulators hands. These absorb 85% of the FSAs policy time, says Mr Sants, who sounds a cool note about the worth of the latest directive—on markets in financial instruments—for the City. Against this background, Mr Lascelles gives the FSA grudging praise: “Its not so much that it has been good but that it has been less bad than elsewhere.”
如果英國金融監管局（FSA）找到了一些監管的竅門的話，他們的歐洲同行還沒有理解到金融城地位的獨特地位，監管過於嚴厲。Sants先生說“我們花了85%的時間來研究制訂相關的政策”，看來他對最近出臺的政策（針對金融工具）相當重視。在這種情況下，Lascelles先生給了英國金融監管局（FSA）頗為勉強的讚揚：“雖然他們做的不算好，但也不比其他地方來的差。”
Americas ability to score regulatory own goals continues to help the City. The Sarbanes-Oxley legislation, passed after the collapse of Enron in order to stiffen up corporate governance, has put off foreign companies from listing there. The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has been the big beneficiary. Foreign firms have flocked to list on its main market and AIM, a less regulated market that it established in 1995.
美國對本國市場嚴格的監管有利於倫敦金融城的發展，安然公司的倒閉事件促使美國通過薩班尼斯-奧克斯萊法案，以加強對公司的監管，這也嚇跑了一些想在美國上市的外國企業。倫敦股市因此而受益。外國公司蜂擁而至，在其主機板市場或AIM上市。AIM建立於1995年，是一個監管相對較寬鬆的證券市場。
In an ironic coda to Big Bang, which saw the stock-exchanges member firms gobbled up by foreign owners, the LSE—since 2001 a listed company itself—is under siege from NASDAQ, an American exchange, which already owns 25% of its shares. Tellingly, the governments only worry about the deal is that it could lead to a back-door introduction of heavy-handed American-style regulation—a threat it will block through a change in the law. That apart, it is unfazed by the prospect of this citadel of British capitalism falling to a foreign predator.
倫敦證券市場正面臨著“大變革”之後一個戲劇性的結局：由於倫敦股票交易所在2001年自身已經上市，美國的股市那斯達克（NASDAQ）正虎視眈眈地盯著它，並已經獲得了它的25%股份。顯然地，政府擔心的是如果交易成功，將會導致引進美國式的嚴厲監管方式——英國政府可能會修改法律來阻止此項交易。此外，這個英國資本主義的堡壘落入外國人的囊中倒不是件讓人擔憂的事。
Londons success as the Wimbledon of international finance is now such that New York is trying to fight back. Michael Bloomberg, its mayor, has called in McKinsey, a management consultancy, for advice. But Mr Bloomberg will find it difficult to alter Americas regulatory approach. Lawmakers in Washington, DC, are generally swayed by domestic rather than international concerns.
紐約，作為後起之秀，想要趕超倫敦的金融中心地位。紐約市長Michael Bloomberg已經請來管理諮詢公司麥肯錫做為其戰略諮詢的顧問，但他也無法改變美國的監管法規。在華盛頓的國會議員們制訂法律考慮到更多的是國內勢力，而不怎麼關心國際上的反響。
Some recent talk about London has smacked of hubris, confusing its success as a financial centre with the favourable cyclical conditions that investors and traders have been enjoying. That froth will be skimmed away by tighter money and a slowing world economy.
近來倫敦彌漫著一種驕傲的情緒，夾雜在良好聲譽之中，不過隨著放緩的世界經濟增長及央行的緊縮性貨幣政策，自滿的資本將會慢慢消失。
However, the City will be hard to dislodge as a financial hub. Sir David Walker, who worked behind the scenes in the early 1980s to reform the stock exchange and is now a senior adviser to Morgan Stanley, an American bank, gives warning against complacency but says: “Over time a virtuous circle, supported by sensible regulation, has developed to such an extent that London is more than a network: its become a knot and its very difficult to disentangle a knot.”
不管這樣，倫敦很難失去作為金融中心的地位。曾任1980年代“大變革”的策劃人，現是摩根斯坦利的高級顧問，David Walker對倫敦的自滿提出了警告,但他還是說：“經過長時間的歷史沉澱，加上明智的監管規則，才造就如今倫敦的地位，倫敦不僅僅是一個金融的網路，更象一個’結’,要解開這樣的一個結是相當困難的。”
還是最大的外匯交易市場。Business had gravitated to the City because its role was based no longer on sterling but on offshore currencies, predominantly dollars, held outside America. Yet there was a missing dimension. Although the City had opened up to the world in international banking, it had kept; the shutters firmly closed in its stockmarket.
由於英鎊不再作為結算的單位，取而代之的是以美元為主其他離岸貨幣，金融城漸漸失去了往日的地位。雖然金融城有著開放的國際銀行業，但其股票市場卻是相對的封閉。這使問題更加嚴重。
The London stock exchange was a closed shop, marked by an antiquated division between brokers who brought the business and jobbers who made markets in shares. Brokers were paid a fixed minimum commission on shares and gilts, which ripped off big clients, and jobbers lacked the capital to deal in big amounts. Trading in top British shares was starting to move to New York, where investment banks were able to offer keener prices because they could combine broking and market-making as well as underwriting new issues. The stock exchange was unable to reform because its rulebook was due to come under legal attack in a court case brought by the Office of Fair Trading. In July 1983 the exchange reached a historic deal with the Conservative government. The case was dropped. In return the exchange agreed to get rid of minimum commissions by the end of 1986.
倫敦證券交易市場過去是一個封閉的市場，令人垢病的是其過時的分類：進行交易的股票經紀人和負責做市的股票做市商。股票經紀人的手續費是固定的，這使得大客戶深為不滿，而做市商缺乏資本經營大宗業務。原本在倫敦的業務漸漸地流向了紐約，在那裡股票經紀人可以同時是做市商或是新股承銷商，使得交易的價格更加靈活。倫敦的股市本身受到法律條文的約束，修改規則將受到英國公平交易部的法庭訴訟，使得其想要開展的改革無法進行。1983年7月，倫敦證券交易所和當時的保守黨政府達成了具有歷史性的協定：1986年底之前交易所取消最低手續費，以換取公平交易部放棄對它的訴訟請求。
Well before then, a bidding war had started for the stock exchanges Victorian-sounding member firms. In a giddy rush of deals, banks both domestic and international took stakes in virtually every broker and jobber worth having. Two British ventures raised especially high hopes. S.G. Warburg, a merchant bank that had pioneered Londons eurobond market based on offshore dollars in the early 1960s, plunged into the fray. And Barclays, a high-street bank, created BZW, an investment bank, from its acquisitions.
在此之前，為了爭奪交易所維多利亞式的成員席位，很多公司參加了競爭的行列。在一連串眼花繚亂的交易中，國內外銀行都在爭奪著每一個股票經紀人或做市商的資格。其中的兩家英國銀行，華寶銀行（S.G Warburg）和巴克萊銀行（Barclays）願望頗為強烈，華寶銀行是一家商業銀行，領導著在倫敦以離岸美元為結算單位的歐洲債券市場。位於繁華市區的巴克萊銀行通過並購創立了BZW投資銀行。
Big Bang was a turning point in the Citys postwar history, securing its position as a centre for trading international equities. The City signalled its welcome to foreign financial firms by sweeping away cosy club rules that protected domestic incumbents. American commercial banks, at that time unable to carry out securities business in the United States, were able to treat London as a laboratory.
大變革（Big Bang）是金融城二戰後的一個歷史轉捩點，由此確保其國際證券交易中心的地位。它廢除了保護國內同行的繁瑣規則，為國外金融機構打開了一扇新的大門。在當時，美國的商業銀行在美國不被允許從事證券業務，於是倫敦的股票市場就成為了他們新的投資實驗場。
By October 1986, the City already felt quite different. American investment bankers brought a brash new style to its financial markets, including breathtaking bonuses and early starts. The City, long notorious as a stuffy place where the old school tie mattered more than talent, became more meritocratic. The boisterous colour-jacketed traders in financial futures at LIFFE, a market founded in 1982, typified the new unbuttoned style of business.
到了1986年10月，金融城已經面貌一新。美國投資銀行家們帶來了一整套金融市場新的管理方式，包括那令人咋舌的獎金和先進的管理思想。金融城長期以來以裙帶關係而備受指責，現在這個讓人覺得沉悶的地方轉變成為重視人才的場所，吸引了更多精英人士的加入。1982年成立的倫敦國際金融期貨交易所（LIFFE），活躍在其中的交易人員身著亮眼的彩色夾克衫，這顯示了金融城更加開放的管理風格。
Trading places 交易場所
But after thriving for most of the 1980s, the City looked fragile ten years after Big Bang. The early 1990s brought recession to Britain and cuts in the number of City jobs. Then the two main British contenders as investment banks fell by the wayside. In 1995 S.G. Warburg was bought by the Swiss and two years later, Barclays pulled the plug on BZW. As if this was not enough, Nick Leesons rogue trading brought down Barings, a centuries-old merchant bank once called the sixth great power of Europe.
經過1980年代大多數時間的繁榮之後，金融城在大變革之後進入了一個十年調整時期。在90年代初期，英國經濟進入蕭條，金融城的工作職位也少起來。英國兩家主要的投資銀行也遭受挫敗，1995年，華寶銀行（S.G.Warburg）被瑞士的一家公司收購。巴克萊銀行（Barclays）也終止了BZW的業務。事情更糟糕的是，尼克·利森（Nick Leeson）的冒險交易導致了巴林銀行（Barings）的倒閉，巴林銀行是一家有著100多年歷史的商業銀行，在歐洲曾經排名第6。
Ahead loomed the euro. The risk was that footloose financial firms might forsake the City and cluster instead in Frankfurt, home of the new European Central Bank. The fears proved groundless. Far from undermining London, the euro strengthened the Citys grip in European finance, says Douglas McWilliams, chief executive of CEBR. With the fading of the small centres that had specialised in bilateral trading between the former currencies, London dominated euro trading.
歐元的到來使人對金融城的前景不樂觀，人們推測靈活的金融機構因此將背離倫敦而轉向法蘭克福，這個歐洲中央銀行總部的所在地。事實證明推測並不正確。英國經濟和商業研究中心（CEBR）CEO Douglas McWilliams認為，歐元不僅沒有削弱倫敦金融城的地位，反而加強了它對歐洲金融的掌控。原因在於隨著歐洲國家之間貨幣的消失，針對於此的小型貨幣兌換中心也隨之關門，倫敦因此主導了歐元的交易。
Over the same period, London surfed the next big breaking wave of products. Although Euronext took over LIFFE in 2002, 98% of the value of the Paris-based exchanges trading in derivatives was done in London last year. More important, the City secured a commanding stake in “over-the-counter” derivatives, which are traded off exchanges primarily with banks. The value of these commitments is now four-to-five times greater than those on exchanges owing to investors ravenous appetite for financial products that parcel up and repackage risk. Londons share of this booming market has risen from 27% of daily turnover in 1995 to 43% in 2004.
與此同時，金融城迎來了新一輪的產品創新。雖然Euronext2002年並購了倫敦國際金融期貨交易所（LIFFE），去年就有98%的有關巴黎交易所的金融衍生產品在倫敦交易。更為重要的事，倫敦主導了場外衍生工具，這種主要是銀行相互間在場外進行交易。由於投資者對利潤的追逐冒險的胃口越來越大，對這種資產重組打包之類的金融產品更感興趣，此類交易比在場內的交易量還要大4到5倍。在倫敦股市上，這種全新的交易產品所占的日交易量份額從1995年的27%增長到2004年的43%。
Some of the biggest customers for derivatives are hedge funds, which offer sophisticated investors opportunities to gain from trading strategies (for example, making money in falling stockmarkets) as well as through asset allocation. Here again, London has elbowed its way into a high-growth financial industry. The global value of assets in hedge funds has doubled since the end of 2002 to reach $1.2 trillion. Although the industry is dominated by the east coast of America, investments managed out of London are worth a fifth of the world total, up from a tenth in 2002, and almost four-fifths of those in Europe.
對金融衍生產品而言，對沖基金是其中最大的客戶。他們為一些有老練的投資者提供更多的賺錢機會，包括判斷大勢走向（例如，賣空）和通過資產的配置組合等。對沖基金管理的全球資產在2002年底就翻了一倍達到1.2萬億美元。雖然此種業務主要還是由美國主導，倫敦的交易量在全球的份額從2002年的10%;增加到現在的20%;，占歐洲市場的80%;。
The Citys record over the past two decades has not been an unqualified success. International insurance has been a weak spot, in part because of the travails of Lloyds of London, a market founded in a coffee house in the 17th century that was hit by 20th-century scandals and huge losses from asbestosis claims. Londons share of net premium income in marine insurance, a traditional mainstay of Lloyds, has shrunk from around 30%; in the mid-1980s to 20%; in 2005.
金融城在過去的20年也有過不成功的教訓。國際保險業顯然是它的一個敗筆。部分原因歸結于倫敦的勞合社在20世紀的商業醜聞及石棉訴訟中的巨額賠償所遭受的損失。勞合社創建於17世紀的一個咖啡館，隨後發展成為最大的保險公司。它的傳統支柱業務，海上保險的保費利潤從80年代中期占全球份額的30%;下滑到2005年的20%;。
Set against that, other less salient parts of the City have been thriving. Shipping services have made a recent comeback overseas earnings rose by a quarter between 2002 and 2004. Londons 400 shipbroking firms match ships and cargoes in 50%; of tanker chartering. And there has been a spectacular growth in legal services, which are vital in backing the work of a global financial centre. Over 200 foreign law firms have offices in London, which is also headquarters for three of the four largest firms in the world. Exports from Britain generated by international law firms are now three times higher than they were in 1995.
於此相反的是，過去一些不太引人注意的業務卻得到了一些發展。貨運服務近期有所反彈，02年至04年間海外的收入增加了25%。倫敦400家船運仲介公司所安排的貨運業務占全球份額的50%;。法律相關的服務也有長足的增長，這對維持全球金融中心的地位提供了良好的保證。200多家的法律公司在倫敦有自己的辦公室，其中3/4的全球最大法律公司有在此設立總部。這些公司在倫敦對國外提供的法律服務也比1995年增加了2倍。
Centre court “中心效應”
London is a textbook example of an economic cluster, in which businesses locate close to one another because they gain from proximity. “The big warehouse of markets is in London,” says Pascal Boris, chief executive of BNP Paribass British operation. The distinctive feature of the City cluster is the pre-eminence of foreign financial firms. In this sense, London has become to finance what Wimbledon is to tennis: a place where the best international players come to compete.
倫敦是規模經濟效應的一個範例，從事相同業務的公司由於彼此相鄰而受益。“倫敦就象一個巨大的商業大賣場”法國巴黎銀行（BNP Panbas）英國地區的CEO Pascal Boris這麼說。金融城的優勢在於擁有眾多著名的國外銀行。從這點來說，倫敦與金融的關係，就象溫布林頓與網球的關係，為各國好手提供了一個同場競技的舞臺。
Yet modern communications and information technology allow people and businesses to operate from virtually anywhere nowadays. And there are obvious disadvantages in locating at the heart of a metropolis. Property costs are extremely high in London by international standards. Public transport is overcrowded and often unreliable.
如今，現代的通訊手段和先進的高科技允許人們在實際上的任何地方做交易。這樣來說，在繁華大都市的中心設立公司就有明顯的不利因素。倫敦的房價昂貴。公共交通系統擁堵且不準時。
The Citys vibrancy shows that it offers compelling advantages that outweigh these drawbacks. Financial firms cluster in London because they derive external economies of scale. By thronging together, they create large, liquid markets that drive down trading costs and reduce risks by allowing large deals to be handled.
金融城的活力為在此設立的公司提供了無法比擬的優勢。在倫敦的金融機構受益於彼此產生的規模效應。通過鄰近的辦公地點，創造了巨大的流動市場，從而降低了交易成本，減少了大宗交易的風險。
There are further benefits from locating in the cluster. Firms, large and small, can call upon all the external services needed to put together a complex financial deal, such as advice from lawyers and accountants, or the use of specialist markets. This in turn creates a fertile environment for innovation to flourish—a vital attraction for a global financial centre.
公司的聚集還有其他優勢。駐紮此地的大小公司當需要進行較為複雜的金融交易時，可以方便地找到相關的人才，例如律師和會計師，或是其他專業人士。人才的聚集為創新提供了良好的外部環境——這也是全球金融中心的優勢所在。
Underpinning the hub is access to talent. Firms locating in London can tap into a huge specialist financial workforce drawn from both domestic and foreign sources. “It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy,” says Mr Boris. “If you want to be hired you go to where people will hire you: London is this magnet in Europe.”
支撐金融中心的基礎來自于它的人才資源。在倫敦的公司可以很容易地找到規模龐大的國內外專業金融人士群體。“這裡可以實現自我的抱負”Boris先生說“如果你想要到合適的地方工作的話，在歐洲，倫敦就是首選之地。”
A continuing tradition of “light-touch” regulation has proved to be another essential ingredient. In 1997 the new Labour government announced reforms to replace what had become an untidy muddle of statutory and self-regulatory bodies with one regulator. This offered the advantage of a single port of call for the Citys big financial conglomerates, but held the risk that they might get unduly caught up in rules to protect the individual consumer. In 2004 the Financial Services Authority responded by introducing a separate division for wholesale and institutional markets, headed by Hector Sants, previously an investment banker. “We recognise,” says Mr Sants, “that good regulation is a key component of a successful marketplace.” The FSA is now highlighting the need for regulation to be based on principles rather than detailed prescript;ions.
有著傳統的“寬鬆”的監管規則也是它的另一個秘訣。1997年，工黨政府對混亂的法規及各種的行業自律組織進行了改革，合併為統一的監管機構。這有利於對金融城的大型金融機構的監管，但也容易引發對個人消費者的過度保護。2004年，英國金融服務監管局（FSA），組成了一個單獨的部門，任命了前投資銀行家Hector Sants作為負責人，專門處理批發及機構投資者的市場。“我們認為”，Sants先生說，“良好的監管是市場成功的一個重要因素。”金融服務監管局(FSA)強調監管的目的在於對基本規則的把握，而不是設置繁瑣的條款。
But if the FSA has seen the light, European directives that pay insufficient heed to the Citys unique position increasingly tie the regulators hands. These absorb 85% of the FSAs policy time, says Mr Sants, who sounds a cool note about the worth of the latest directive—on markets in financial instruments—for the City. Against this background, Mr Lascelles gives the FSA grudging praise: “Its not so much that it has been good but that it has been less bad than elsewhere.”
如果英國金融監管局（FSA）找到了一些監管的竅門的話，他們的歐洲同行還沒有理解到金融城地位的獨特地位，監管過於嚴厲。Sants先生說“我們花了85%的時間來研究制訂相關的政策”，看來他對最近出臺的政策（針對金融工具）相當重視。在這種情況下，Lascelles先生給了英國金融監管局（FSA）頗為勉強的讚揚：“雖然他們做的不算好，但也不比其他地方來的差。”
Americas ability to score regulatory own goals continues to help the City. The Sarbanes-Oxley legislation, passed after the collapse of Enron in order to stiffen up corporate governance, has put off foreign companies from listing there. The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has been the big beneficiary. Foreign firms have flocked to list on its main market and AIM, a less regulated market that it established in 1995.
美國對本國市場嚴格的監管有利於倫敦金融城的發展，安然公司的倒閉事件促使美國通過薩班尼斯-奧克斯萊法案，以加強對公司的監管，這也嚇跑了一些想在美國上市的外國企業。倫敦股市因此而受益。外國公司蜂擁而至，在其主機板市場或AIM上市。AIM建立於1995年，是一個監管相對較寬鬆的證券市場。
In an ironic coda to Big Bang, which saw the stock-exchanges member firms gobbled up by foreign owners, the LSE—since 2001 a listed company itself—is under siege from NASDAQ, an American exchange, which already owns 25% of its shares. Tellingly, the governments only worry about the deal is that it could lead to a back-door introduction of heavy-handed American-style regulation—a threat it will block through a change in the law. That apart, it is unfazed by the prospect of this citadel of British capitalism falling to a foreign predator.
倫敦證券市場正面臨著“大變革”之後一個戲劇性的結局：由於倫敦股票交易所在2001年自身已經上市，美國的股市那斯達克（NASDAQ）正虎視眈眈地盯著它，並已經獲得了它的25%股份。顯然地，政府擔心的是如果交易成功，將會導致引進美國式的嚴厲監管方式——英國政府可能會修改法律來阻止此項交易。此外，這個英國資本主義的堡壘落入外國人的囊中倒不是件讓人擔憂的事。
Londons success as the Wimbledon of international finance is now such that New York is trying to fight back. Michael Bloomberg, its mayor, has called in McKinsey, a management consultancy, for advice. But Mr Bloomberg will find it difficult to alter Americas regulatory approach. Lawmakers in Washington, DC, are generally swayed by domestic rather than international concerns.
紐約，作為後起之秀，想要趕超倫敦的金融中心地位。紐約市長Michael Bloomberg已經請來管理諮詢公司麥肯錫做為其戰略諮詢的顧問，但他也無法改變美國的監管法規。在華盛頓的國會議員們制訂法律考慮到更多的是國內勢力，而不怎麼關心國際上的反響。
Some recent talk about London has smacked of hubris, confusing its success as a financial centre with the favourable cyclical conditions that investors and traders have been enjoying. That froth will be skimmed away by tighter money and a slowing world economy.
近來倫敦彌漫著一種驕傲的情緒，夾雜在良好聲譽之中，不過隨著放緩的世界經濟增長及央行的緊縮性貨幣政策，自滿的資本將會慢慢消失。
However, the City will be hard to dislodge as a financial hub. Sir David Walker, who worked behind the scenes in the early 1980s to reform the stock exchange and is now a senior adviser to Morgan Stanley, an American bank, gives warning against complacency but says: “Over time a virtuous circle, supported by sensible regulation, has developed to such an extent that London is more than a network: its become a knot and its very difficult to disentangle a knot.”
不管這樣，倫敦很難失去作為金融中心的地位。曾任1980年代“大變革”的策劃人，現是摩根斯坦利的高級顧問，David Walker對倫敦的自滿提出了警告,但他還是說：“經過長時間的歷史沉澱，加上明智的監管規則，才造就如今倫敦的地位，倫敦不僅僅是一個金融的網路，更象一個’結’,要解開這樣的一個結是相當困難的。”
