富國銀行欺詐案未受懲戒 或引發效仿
IF THERE is a single example of how dramatically the regulatory environment has changed for American banks in the past 18 months, it may be the trickle of information that has recently emerged about an inquiry into their sales practices. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), a banking watchdog, began it in 2016 after widespread malpractice was uncovered at Wells Fargo, one of the country』s biggest banks. It ended the inquiry quietly by writing to several banks on June 4th; it sent the letters to Congress on June 11th. The public learned of the probe only because of diligent reporting by American Banker, a trade publication which appears to have gleaned its information mainly from banking consultants.
如果要用例子說明在此前18個月里美國銀行監管環境發生了多大的變化，有可能的就是最近一系列有關銀行銷售活動的調查了。在發現美國最大的銀行富國銀行（Wells Fargo）存在大量的瀆職行為之後，美國貨幣監理署（OCC）於2016年開始調查各家銀行的銷售活動。美國貨幣監理署於6月4日寫信給幾家銀行，並悄無聲息地結束了這項調查，然後在將同樣的信件在6月11日遞交給國會。僅是由於銀行業媒體《美國銀行家》(American Banker)堅持不懈地報道此事，公眾才得以了解。《美國銀行家》的報道主要是從銀行諮詢師搜集信息。
The OCC responded to American Banker』s report by releasing enough information to suggest that some banks were guilty of at least minor jiggery-pokery. It confirmed as much in testy exchanges between the comptroller, Joseph Otting, and members of the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee on June 13th. The inquiry encompassed more than 40 large and medium-sized banks and covered three years of activity. The banks had opened 10,000 accounts without customers』 permission, the same offence (though on a much smaller scale) as at the heart of the Wells Fargo affair.
美國貨幣監理署在回應《美國銀行家》的報道時發公了很多信息，表示一些銀行至少犯有輕微欺騙罪。6月13日，監察官員約瑟夫?奧廷(Joseph Otting)和眾議院金融服務委員會(House of Representatives Financial Services Committee)成員之間的激烈交鋒也證實了這一點。此次調查涉及40多家大中型銀行，涵蓋了銀行三年間的業務。這些銀行在未經客戶許可的情況下開設了1萬個賬戶，與富國銀行(Wells Fargo)違法行為的核心相同(儘管規模要小得多)。
The OCC blamed 「short-term sales promotions」 with poor controls, 「deficient account opening and closing procedures」, 「employee misconduct」 and bad technology. Remedies included refunding fees, closing unwanted accounts and correcting information misreported to credit bureaus. Banks changed procedures. Over 250 such fixes were required. But beyond this aggregate information, the OCC has published nothing—naming no banks, not saying whether any were penalised financially, nor whether malpractice was concentrated among a few or was widespread.
美國貨幣監理署將這種情況歸咎於「短期促銷」，原因有管理不善、「開戶和結賬程序缺失」、「員工行為不端」以及技術落後等。補救措施有退還費用、關閉空閑賬戶以及糾正匯給信貸局的錯誤信息。各家銀行還改革了流程，這一類的補救措施超過250多個。除了上述信息，美國貨幣監理署沒有公布任何其他消息——沒有公布具體的銀行，沒有表示是否有銀行受到財政處罰，也沒有表示不法行為是集中在少數銀行里，還是普遍存在。
Banks had much to grumble about under Barack Obama. Their sins were broadcast and they paid heavy fines, yet because they settled with regulators out of court, allegations went unproven. Under Mr Otting, Donald Trump』s appointee, the OCC seems to be trying a very different approach. Unless they had fees refunded or ghost accounts closed, not even customers were told of the dodgy practices.
在巴拉克?奧巴馬(Barack Obama)的任期里，銀行一直抱怨不斷。雖然他們的罪行被公開且支付了巨額罰款，然而，由於他們與監管機構達成庭外和解，指控並未得到證實。在唐納德.特朗普(Donald Trump)任命的奧廷領導下，美國貨幣監理署似乎正在嘗試一種截然不同的方法。除非銀行退還費用或關閉假賬戶，否則連客戶都不會被告知這些欺詐行為。
One Democratic congresswoman, Carolyn Maloney of New York, asked why the OCC had not broadened its inquiry to other banks and called its failure to take public action 「deeply disturbing」. Stephen Lynch, also a Democrat, from Massachusetts, said that by failing to provide public accountability and thus lumping the good with the bad, the review created moral hazard. After The Economist went to press, Mr Otting was due at a similar hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, where he could expect more acute discomfort. State attorneys-general and class-action attorneys are doubtless pondering lawsuits.
紐約的民主黨議員卡羅琳?馬洛尼(Carolyn Maloney)質問美國貨幣監理署為何沒有將調查範圍擴大到其它銀行，並認為其未能採取公訴的行為「令人深感不安」（deeply disturbing）。同樣，馬薩諸塞州民主黨人斯蒂芬?林奇(Stephen Lynch)表示，由於未能提供公共問責制，並因此將好壞混為一談。這項審查工作造成了一定的道德風險。在《經濟學人》刊出後，奧廷將在參議院銀行委員會出席類似的聽證會，預料到會面臨更嚴重的麻煩。州總檢察長和集體訴訟律師無疑正在考慮發起訴訟。
For many years, Wells Fargo was considered to be a model bank—thanks largely to its prowess in persuading customers to open new accounts. The ghost-account scandal put paid to that. It would be no surprise if others had chosen to emulate its virtues—and adopted its vices, too.
多年來，富國銀行一直被認為是家模範銀行，這在很大程度上要歸功於它有能力說服客戶開立新賬戶。「虛假賬戶」醜聞使這一切付諸東流。如果其它銀行也選擇學習它的優點，同時效仿其惡行，那也就不足為奇了。
編譯：賈毅榮
編輯：翻吧君
來源：經濟學人（2018.06.14）
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