杨大勇：英国金融监管体系的演变

——以英格兰银行为重点（1970-2000）

摘要

　　英国金融监管体系的演变经历了不同的历史发展阶段。从18世纪到19世纪，英格兰银行在历次金融危机中逐渐承担起解决金融危机，维护金融稳定的责任，但救助行为一直比较被动。1890年的巴林银行危机中，英格兰银行主动组织担保基金消除危机，标志着英格兰银行真正承担起维护英国金融稳定的责任，虽然这一责任不是法定责任，带有非正式性和灵活性的特点。这一时期到20世纪70年代初，英国虽有银行倒闭，但未出现银行危机，保持了长期的金融稳定，尤其是银行业稳定。《1946年英格兰银行法》将英格兰银行国有化，使其成为政府监管力量的重要组成部分，但英格兰银行不具有真正意义上的法定监管职责。金融监管事务主要由政府负责，英格兰银行发挥非正式监管作用。因此，这一时期英国的金融监管体系是政府力量与市场力量的结合，也是正式监管与非正式监管的结合。

　　20世纪70年代，英国放松了金融管制，很快爆发了次级银行危机，英格兰银行组织“救生艇”行动成功解决，得到人们普遍赞誉。危机结束后，英国颁布的《1979年银行法》使英格兰银行获得了法定银行监管权，此后监管银行成为英格兰银行的法定责任。对证券业和保险业的监管仍由政府直接负责。1984年，约翰逊•马西银行事件爆发，政府重新审视对银行的监管问题，推出《1987年银行法》，意在增强英格兰银行的监管力量。此前推出的《1986年金融服务法》成立了证券与投资委员会以及多家自律监管组织，建立起对证券业的法定监管与自律监管相结合的监管体系，保险业仍由政府负责。这一时期形成了分业金融监管体系，但监管形势并未因此好转，混业经营和跨国银行集团带来的监管挑战才开始。1991年国际商业信贷银行丑闻暴露，英格兰银行随之将其关闭，这一事件令英格兰银行蒙羞。随后的调查虽未追究英格兰银行的监管责任，但其实它难辞其咎。1995年巴林兄弟银行倒闭，英格兰银行的监管失败十分明显，引起外界普遍批评。这两起事件对未来英国金融监管改革产生了重要推动作用。1997年工党上台后开启金融监管大改革，给予英格兰银行制定短期利率的独立权，同时取消英格兰银行的银行监管权，但它仍然负责整体的金融稳定；建立了一个超级金融监管机构-金融服务监管局，负责对所有金融机构的监管。财政部、英格兰银行、金融服务监管局形成金融监管的三方合作机制。金融大改革以《1998年英格兰银行法》和《2000年金融服务与市场法》的出台宣告结束，英国完成从混业经营、分业监管模式到混业经营、混业监管模式的转变。

　　总之，英国金融监管体系经历了从无到有，从非正式到正式的长期历史过程。70年代以来金融监管体系的演变主要是危机推动，也有金融业发展和国际环境变化的推动。英格兰银行在金融监管体系中处于核心地位，发挥关键作用。维护伦敦世界金融中心的地位，进而维护英国的大国地位，是英国实施提升金融监管能力，维护金融稳定的基本目标。

　　关键词：英国金融；英格兰银行；银行监管；金融危机

Abstract

　　The evolution of British Financial Supervision System can be divided into several historical stages. From the 18th century to the 19th century, the Bank of England gradually undertook the responsibility for handling of the financial crises and maintaining the financial stability, yet the financial bailout was still passive. In the Barings Bank Crisis of 1890, the Bank of England actively organized guaranteed fund to defuse crisis, indicating the Bank of England indeed took the responsibility , not statutory , but informal and flexible to maintain British financial stability. Although several banks broke since then till1970s in Britain, no bank crises ever happened. Britian maintained long-term stability in finance, especially in banking industry. The Bank of England Act 1946 provided that the capital stock of Bank of England should be brought into the public ownership to ensure that the Bank was an essential part of governmental supervision powers formally. However, the Bank hasn’t possessed statutory right of supervision yet. It was the government that took the primary responsibility for financial supervision, while the Bank only played an informal role in the whole supervision system. Therefore, British financial supervision system in this period was not just a combination of government and market power, but also a combination of formal and informal supervision.

　　During the 1970s, the British government lessened financial regulation, which was the main cause of the secondary banking crisis. The Bank of England won universal praise in successfully organizing 'Lifeboat' operation to bailout banks involved. The following Banking Act 1979 set up a regime of supervision to be administered by the Bank of England. It became a statutory duty of the Bank of England to supervise bank industry afterward. The supervision on securities industry and insurance industry was still left directly to the government. In 1984, the failure of Johnson Matthey Bankers made the government review the issues in banking supervision and promulgate Banking Act 1987 in which a further statutory regulatory powers given to the Bank of England. Before that, Financial Services Act 1986 has already set up the Securities and Investment Board and several other self-regulating organizations to form a supervision system with both statutory and self-regulating supervision on securities industry. The model of separated supervision formed in this stage, but the situation of supervision didn’t get better. The challenge brought by integrative management and international bank groups just began. The Bank of Credit and Commerce International’s scandal exposed in 1991, which led the Bank of England thereupon closed it down. Although the Bank of England wasn’t prosecuted for its neglect of duty in the following investigation, this event definitely brought disgrace to it. In addition, the Bank of England has been widely criticized for the failure in handling of the crisis brought by the collapse of the Barings Bank crisis in 1995.These two events were the major motivation to a further reform in the financial supervision and regulation. In 1997, the newly elected Labour Government announced a structural reform in the financial supervision and regulation, which granted the Bank of England formal independence in the management of short-term rate of interest, meantime, stripped the Bank of England of its long-standing role as supervisor and regulator of the British banking system，and transferring it to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) as Britain’s sole financial regulator. Responsibility for financial stability in the UK was shared by HM Treasury, the Bank of England, and the Financial Services Authority (FSA), which together constituted the "tripartite authorities". This financial reform ended in promulgating the Bank of England Act,1998 and the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2000. Britain has completed the transformation from the model of “integrative management, separated supervision” to that of “integrative management, Integrative supervision”.

　　Generally speaking, the British financial supervision system developed from “nothing” to “something”, from informal to formal, which evolved a long historical process. From 1970s till now, the evolution of financial system was mainly promoted by crises, but this didn’t rule out the development of financial industry and the change of international situation. The Core Status of Bank of England makes it play a key role in the financial supervision system. The final aim of the government in implementing the financial supervision and maintaining the financial stability is to protect London as the world financial center and to keep U.K. as a great power in the world.

　　KEY WORDS: British Finance; Bank of England; Banking Regulation; Financial Crises