Here in Hong Kong, ratings firms that normally ply their trade in credit markets are causing a stir in stocks.

　　評級公司顯身手的地方通常是信貸市場，而在香港，它們卻在股市上引起騷動。

　　Earlier this month, Moody's Investors Service, a division of Moody's Corp., made news when it warned of governance and accounting 'red flags' at 61 rated Chinese companies. A day after the July 11 report was published, shares in some of the Hong Kong-listed firms Moody's highlighted plunged, with several posting double-digit percentage declines.

　　本月早些時候，穆迪公司(Moody's Corp.)旗下的穆迪投資者服務公司(Moody's Investors Service)對61家受評中資企業(yè)的公司治理和會計問題發(fā)出“紅旗”警示，一時間成了不小的新聞事件。在警示報告于7月11日發(fā)布后的第二天，受穆迪投資者服務公司警告的部分在港上市中資公司的股價大跌，有幾家公司甚至出現了兩位數的跌幅。

　　A week later, rival ratings firm Fitch Ratings, a unit of Fimalac SA, published a report on governance risks at 35 Chinese companies that it rates. Both reports followed a decision several weeks ago by Standard & Poor's, a unit of McGraw-Hill Cos., to withdraw its ratings for debt issued by Hong Kong-listed Nine Dragons Paper, sending the shares of the company down 17% before trading was halted.

　　一周后，法國金融服務集團Fimalac SA旗下子公司惠譽國際評級(Fitch Ratings)對35家受評中資企業(yè)的治理風險發(fā)布報告。在這兩個評級公司發(fā)布報告幾周前，麥格勞-希爾公司(McGraw-Hill Cos.)旗下子公司標準普爾公司(Standard & Poor's)決定撤銷其對香港上市企業(yè)玖龍紙業(yè)(控股)有限公司(Nine Dragons Paper)所發(fā)行公司債的評級，后者的股票因此暴跌17%，隨后停牌。

　　S&P criticized the company's 'aggressive debt-funded growth appetite' and complained of insufficient access to management. Nine Dragons disputed S&P's comments and said it was ready and willing to meet with S&P analysts.

　　標普批評說，玖龍紙業(yè)對于通過債務融資來推動業(yè)務增長有著過分的偏好，并抱怨說無法與該公司管理層有足夠的接觸。玖龍紙業(yè)對標普的評論提出異議，說隨時可以并愿意與標普的分析師見面。

　　The ratings companies are acting amid scrutiny over accounting practices and allegations of fraud at some overseas-listed Chinese businesses. Trade in U.S.-, Toronto- and Hong Kong-listed shares of some Chinese companies has been suspended recently, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has set up a group to investigate problems with a number of Chinese companies that trade on U.S. exchanges.

　　評級公司紛紛發(fā)布這類報告的時候，一些在海外上市的中資公司正面臨對其會計實務的審查以及詐騙指控。一些在美國、多倫多和香港上市的中資公司最近遭停牌。美國證券交易委員會(U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission，簡稱：SEC)已成立了調查組來調查多家在美上市中資公司的問題。

　　Officials from the SEC and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which oversees audit firms in the U.S., have met with China's Finance Ministry and the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Their hope is to negotiate a deal to allow U.S. examiners to inspect auditing firms based in China that audit U.S.-listed companies. So far, they have been unsuccessful.

　　SEC和監(jiān)管美國審計機構的美國上市公司會計監(jiān)管委員會(Public Company Accounting Oversight Board)的官員已和中國財政部及中國證券監(jiān)督管理委員會的相關官員舉行了會談。美國方面希望通過談判達成協議，允許美國審查人員能調查那些為在美上市中資企業(yè)提供審計服務的中國審計機構。到目前為止，他們還沒能取得成功。

　　It isn't unheard of for credit-ratings firms to affect stock prices by highlighting specific problems at the companies whose debt they assess. But the July 11 Moody's report stood out by touching on broad issues affecting scores of companies, while not offering up any specific rating action─something that to many observers looked suspiciously like stock analysis.

　　評級公司影響公司股價的事情并非前所未聞，因為評級公司會對企業(yè)的債務進行評估，它們通過強調這些企業(yè)明確存在的問題就能影響后者的股價。不過穆迪投資者服務公司7月11日的警示報告卻與上述做法不同，它雖然廣泛談及了一系列會影響那61家中資公司債務評級的問題，但卻未采取任何明確的評級行動，在許多觀察人士看來，這種做法有類似于股票分析的之嫌。

　　Some research teams that traditionally cover stocks weren't impressed. In a report titled “Overly moody?,” Australian investment firm Macquarie argued that ratings firms might unfairly tar a company for actions that bondholders find risky but equity investors encourage, such as spending large sums on equipment needed to boost productivity and profit. Also, Moody's framework for assessing risk “appears debatable in many cases,” Macquarie said.

　　一些專門從事股市研究的機構對此不以為然。在一篇題為《過于情緒化了?》(Overly moody?)（譯者注：moody既有情緒化的意思，也與穆迪的英文Moody's諧音）的報告中，澳大利亞投資公司麥格理(Macquarie)說，評級公司可能會因債券持有人認為高風險而股權投資者鼓勵的舉措而不公平地批評一家公司，比如提高生產效率和利潤所需的設備上的巨額支出。此外，麥格理說，穆迪評估風險的系統(tǒng)看來在很多情況下值得商榷。

　　Steve Vickers, chairman of Asia investigations for FTI Consulting Inc., which has done more than 300 investigations into Chinese companies seeking to list overseas, questioned why Moody's hadn't done something sooner. He said the report was “nicely presented but lacking in depth, especially as it related to real-world risk factors.”

　　商業(yè)咨詢公司FTI Consulting Inc.亞洲調查部門董事長維克斯(Steve Vickers)質疑穆迪為何沒有早點采取措施。該公司對擬在海外上市的中國公司已經進行了300多起調查。他說，該報告寫的不錯，不過缺乏深度，特別是有關實際風險因素方面。

　　The impact on stocks from the Moody's report was enough to attract interest from Hong Kong's market watchdog, the Securities and Futures Commission, which said it would “look into the matter,” but declined to comment further.

　　穆迪報告對股市的影響足以吸引香港股市監(jiān)管機構香港證監(jiān)會的關注。香港證監(jiān)會說將調查此事，不過拒絕進一步置評。

　　Moody's declined to comment on any issues related to the report.

　　穆迪拒絕就與本文有關的問題置評。

　　Fitch also declined comment on its actions.

　　惠譽也拒絕就自己的做法置評。

　　An S&P spokesperson said, “I would like to point out that we require a certain level of interaction and information from the companies we rate, and in the case of Nine Dragons we determined that was no longer forthcoming. In line with our policy of full transparency, we therefore decided to withdraw the ratings after a final review, and communicated that to the market.”

　　標準普爾的發(fā)言人說，我想指出的是，我們要求評級對象公司與我們有一定程度的交流，并提供一定的信息，至于玖龍紙業(yè)，我們確定交流和信息不再有。按照我們保持完全透明的政策，我們進而決定在進行最后一次評估后撤銷評級，并向市場公布了這一消息。

　　After the S&P decision on Nine Dragons, Hong Kong-based shareholder activist David Webb called on the SFC to prohibit credit-ratings companies it regulates from releasing price-sensitive announcements about listed companies during trading hours.

　　在標準普爾做出撤銷玖龍紙業(yè)評級的決定后，香港的股東維權人士大衛(wèi)•韋伯(David Webb)呼吁香港證監(jiān)會禁止所監(jiān)管的評級公司在交易時段就上市公司發(fā)布會影響股價的聲明。

　　In the wake of the Moody's report, Mr. Webb joked that perhaps the firm could rename itself “Moody Waters,” referring to the short-seller Muddy Waters, whose research alleging wrongdoing at some Chinese companies led to a major selloff of their shares. “I think this is just a ratings agency trying to be a bit more independent of the companies which pay it for ratings,” he said. Critics have accused ratings firms of being beholden to the companies that pay their fees to rate their debt.

　　在穆迪的報告出爐后，韋伯調侃道，或許穆迪可以更名為“Moody Waters”。此乃暗指賣空者Muddy Waters，這家公司的研究報告聲稱一些中國公司存在違法行為，進而引發(fā)了這些公司的股票遭大規(guī)模拋售。他說，我認為這只是一家評級機構試圖從一定程度上撇清與向其交錢請其評級的公司的關系。批評人士指責評級公司對向其交錢請其對債務進行評級的公司感恩戴德。

　　Several readers of the Moody's report offered praise. An analyst at a hedge fund in the U.S. applauded the company for its efforts, arguing “it is far better to be aware of the issues so that you can make an informed decision than be ignorant of them.”

　　數位閱讀過穆迪報告的人對報告表示贊許。美國一只對沖基金的一位分析師對穆迪此舉大加贊揚，說知曉問題以便根據充分的信息做出決定遠比忽視這些問題要好。