excess cash flow, account control provisions, restrictions on asset disposal, etc.).
As for general risk management, a lender must comply with the following requirements:
the total amount of its M&A loans must not exceed 50% of its net core capital; ? the outstanding amount of M&A loans extended to a single company may not exceed 5% of its net core capital;
? it must have in place a loan concentration control system at the single borrower, borrower group, and industry category levels; and
? it must have a special team for due diligence and risk assessment, and the relevant responsible person must have at least 3 years of experience in acquisition transactions.
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As for due diligence, the lender is required to undergo a stringent risk analysis for each M&A loan transaction; the analysis must include examination of strategic risk, legal and compliance risk, integration risk, operation and finance risk, and government approval risk. The Guidelines highlight points of analysis for each such type of risk. In addition, the CBRC has said that where the M&A loans concern cross border transactions, the lender must evaluate country risk, foreign exchange risk, and transit-of-capital risk OUTLOOK
Why issue the Guidelines now?
The Chinese government has been encouraging consolidation in certain key industries such as steel, energy, real estate, nonferrous metals, and cements, because of inefficiencies and excess capacity.
? The Guidelines provide a new financing option, important in the current economic environment.
? The Chinese government has identified outbound acquisition by domestic companies as an important goal. So far, Chinese banks have not played a key role in outbound acquisition deals; the majority of such deals have used offshore financing via an offshore investment holding structure. The
Guidelines are an attempt to \companies to borrow from qualifying banks for outbound acquisitions. ? Even if demand for M&A loans remains low at first, the new Guidelines will likely help Chinese banks develop more sophisticated M&A lending
operations (especially with respect to pricing and risk evaluation), making them more competitive with foreign banks in the long run.
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Who will benefit?
Domestic companies, Chinese entrepreneurs, Sino-foreign joint ventures, and, potentially, wholly foreign-owned enterprises.
? Domestic companies seeking to fund outbound acquisitions.
? Domestic commercial banks, such as the Big Four, that meet the quantitative requirements of the Guidelines (foreign investors can only benefit from the Guidelines through established FIEs or participation in Sino-foreign joint ventures, or possibly through cross-border derivative structures).
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Market potential
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Although the Guidelines do not restrict the type of industries for which M&A loans can be provided, the Chinese government's current M&A focus is on long-cycle industries such as steel, energy, real estate, etc.
The demand for M&A loans will grow as industry consolidation in China and outbound M&A activity increases. The Chinese government's current focus is on domestic consolidation.
The growth of the M&A loan market will depend on government policies and development of laws and regulations to support M&A lending. A number of the provisions of the Guidelines are subject to further interpretation, such as the strategic relevance requirement.
The strategic relevance requirement will serve China's larger goal of
facilitating the development of large-scale enterprises with global reach. It is unclear how the Guidelines will work with respect to M&A loans to
investment holding companies or private equity funds with diverse portfolios. Presumably, the strategic correlation requirement would be satisfied if the investor and the target company have some synergistic potential.
Chinese banks will need time to develop M&A lending programs, including hiring experts in risk evaluation and management. This, together with a slowing economy and falling asset prices, will slow the growth of M&A
lending. According to officials in one of the Big Four stateowned commercial banks, banks for now are more willing to grant loans to some government policy-driven projects in industries such as steel, electricity, transportation, and some other key industries relating to national security and domestic
economy. A vibrant commercial market for M&A loans is still not practical in the near future.
The due diligence and risk assessment requirements will require lending banks to mobilize significant resources, and the negotiation of the financing and M&A documents will require more intense involvement by the bank. Larger banks are naturally better suited to meet these requirements.
The requirement remains that all other applicable regulations be followed and approvals be obtained before the M&A loan can be extended. Foreign
dealmakers may have concerns that bureaucratic obstacles will favor domestic Chinese banks.
The quantitative restrictions on lenders (such as per-borrower and aggregate percentage of net core capital requirements) may lead banks to syndicate large M&A transactions.
? Where M&A loans succeed, they will be evidenced by more sophisticated financing documents that respond to specific requirements of the Guidelines.
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CONCLUSION
The Guidelines represent a significant step away from the prohibition of acquisition finance in China that was previously embodied in the General Rules. Clearly, Chinese policy has moved in favor of strengthening support for M&A lending by commercial banks, including outbound investment. The Guidelines emphasize extensive risk assessment and dictate certain loan terms, but ultimately increase financing options—a welcome development amidst the current economic downturn. The CBRC has stated that it will closely track the M&A lending business and continually improve the supervisory rules and procedures in order to promote the healthy development of M&A lending.
The Guidelines are not expected to create an immediate boom in M&A lending, but they have generated much market interest by providing a regulatory framework for M&A lending. Banks and investors will continue to watch developments in this area with keen interest.
译 文：
在新的银监会指引下的第一个并购贷款活动：未来会
怎样？
一、新指引发出后的并购贷款活动
据报道，中国的两家银行已经利用了新的指导方针的优势，另外两家正在商谈也这样做。
最近，1月20日，中国开发银行跟中信国安集团签署了16.3亿元人民币（2.4亿美元）的收购贷款的合同。国家媒体报道，这是颁布指引以来的第一次收购贷款。中信国安，中信集团的子公司，是在中国西北部在信息产业自然资源开发做房地产开发投资的公司，将用贷款来增加其在白银集团，非铁金属加工公司股权的股份。
中国工商银行（“工商银行”）一直积极签署协议，建立合作的合同和信贷额度并购贷款的条款。2009年1月22日，工行广东分行与中国的南方联合产权交易所签署了（“CSUAEE”）战略合作协议，工商银行将据此为今后的并购交易由当地公司提供200亿元的信贷款额。工行称，这是中国有史以来最大的企业并购贷款额度。该贷款将扩展至以基础设施建设，环保和高科技为重点的企业。 2009年1月16日，工行的深圳分行与中国高新技术产权交易所和深圳产权交易所签署了的战略合作协议。该协议将提供100亿元的信贷，以支持并购的深圳本地企业的交易。 2009年1月6日，工商银行与北京投资有限公司签署了并购贷款合作框架协议，它是一家在上海证券交易所上市的中国公司，从事基础设施投资和经营管理，特别是关于城市供水和（污水处理），以及中国北京产权交易所。2008年12月25日，工行在与上海银行和上海联合产权交易所的合作关系中还为企业并购交易授予了100亿元授信额度。根据这项安排后，上海联合产权交易所将为向工行推荐表现良好的非房地产项目所负责，而上海银行将成为收购贷款的责任主体。
中国建设银行（“建行”），如中国的“四大”国有商业银行之一的工行，据说在与中国最大的钢铁企业宝钢集团股份有限公司（“宝钢”）谈判关于提供适用
于宝钢的收购贷款。交通银行的谈判据说也与钢铁制造，造船企业的收购贷款有关。
二、新指引的实质
1.有哪些新准则？
该准则基本上是风险管理指引，允许商业银行进行此类贷款的并购贷款，扭转了先前禁止此类贷款的政策，并设置参数。正如下文所述做出明确规定，本准则制定明确原则，即在中国商业银行的并购贷款管理必须严格于其他贷款。 一般来说，之前1996年由人民的中国银行发出的指引，并购贷款在贷款的一般规则（“一般规则”）中被禁止。例外情况仅限于特别批准政策性目的扩大到国有企业的并购贷款，如由工商银行提供的中石油的并购贷款和经国务院特别批准给大型国有企业的贷款。虽然各种方法已被用于企业从银行获得贷款，以促进他们的合并交易，但并购的直接贷款始终被视为非法。
事情开始变化于2008年12月国务院表示打算通过十项措施及九项金融措施（以下简称“九项措施”）如声明中的措施以刺激国内经济。这十项措施的目标是为了增加在中国的投资，如改善基础设施和加强金融对经济增长的支持。九项措施的目标之一是增加新的融资渠道，包括兼并和收购，房地产投资信托基金，私募基金，贷款和私人贷款。该指引，九项措施在实行一周后，是有关兼并收购政策有效地解除对并购贷款的禁令的体现。
2.谁可以提供？
该指引只适用于在中国（包括本地注册的外资银行的附属公司，而不是外国银行中分支机构）注册成立的商业银行。
符合资格的银行必须满足特殊风险管理要求资本充足率持续的基础上，以扩大并购贷款。关键的要求和试验包括有强大的风险管理体系和有效的内部控制制度，贷款损失准备金不低于100％，不低于10％的资本充足率，不低于1％的一般准备金余额充足率在同一期间贷款余额，并建立并购贷款风险评估和尽职调查团队。
后果。“四大”国有银行（中国银行，工商银行，建设银行，农业银行和中国）将在指引的结果下成为并购贷款的主要参与者。另外三个银行被报告满足了10％的资本充足率要求（据2008年第三季度财务报表）：中国招商银行，中信银