老虎、富途、长桥被查——一个灰色地带的终结

中国证监会发出了一份公告。

China's CSRC issued an announcement.

公告的内容，

The content of the announcement

是对三家公司，

was an "advance notice" of a penalty

作出处罚的"事先告知"。

against three companies.

这三家公司，

These three companies

是很多人都熟悉的名字：

are names many people know well:

老虎、富途、长桥。

Tiger, Futu, Longbridge.

它们都是网络券商，

They are all online brokerages —

也就是用手机软件，

that is, companies that use phone apps

帮人买卖股票的公司。

to help people buy and sell stocks.

证监会的结论是：

The CSRC's conclusion was:

这三家公司，

these three companies,

在中国境内，

within China,

非法经营证券业务。

illegally operated securities business.

监管将没收，

The regulator will confiscate

它们的全部违法所得，

all of their illegal gains

并且严厉处罚。

and impose severe penalties.

消息一出，

As soon as the news broke,

老虎和富途——

Tiger and Futu —

这两家在美国上市的公司——

these two US-listed companies —

股价立刻大跌，

saw their share prices plunge at once,

一度跌幅，

at one point falling

超过百分之四十。

more than forty percent.

今天，

Today,

我们不只讲这个处罚本身。

we won't only discuss the penalty itself.

我们要讲的，

What we'll discuss

是它背后的一整个故事：

is the whole story behind it:

一个"灰色地带"，

how a "grey zone"

是怎么形成的，

formed,

又是怎么结束的。

and how it ended.

先从这些公司说起。

Let's start with these companies.

老虎、富途、长桥，

Tiger, Futu, and Longbridge

都不是传统的老牌券商。

are not traditional, old-line brokerages.

它们是最近十几年，

They are firms that, over the past dozen or so years,

随着智能手机，

grew up together with

一起成长起来的。

the smartphone.

它们做对了一件事：

They got one thing right:

把买股票这件事，

they made buying stocks

变得非常简单。

extremely simple.

过去，

In the past,

一个普通人，

an ordinary person

想买美国的股票，

who wanted to buy American stocks

要经过很复杂的手续。

had to go through complex procedures.

而用这些软件，

But with these apps,

你只要在手机上，

you only need, on your phone,

点几下，

to tap a few times

就可以买到，

to buy

美国、香港的股票。

American and Hong Kong stocks.

对很多中国的年轻人、

For many of China's young people

中产家庭来说，

and middle-class families,

这非常有吸引力。

this is very attractive.

他们希望自己的财富，

They hope their wealth

不只放在一个地方。

is not all kept in one place.

他们想买苹果这样的公司，

They want to buy companies like Apple,

想投向更广阔的市场。

to invest in a broader market.

于是，

And so,

在过去这些年里，

over these past years,

通过这种方式，

the number of mainland residents

在境外开户买股票的内地居民，

opening overseas accounts to buy stocks this way

越来越多。

grew larger and larger.

有统计说，

Some statistics say

这样的账户，

such accounts

可能多达上百万个。

may number in the millions.

这是一个，

This is a

真实存在的、

real,

庞大的需求。

enormous demand.

但是，

But,

需求是一回事，

demand is one thing,

规则是另一回事。

and rules are another.

这里，

Here,

我们必须理解一个，

we must understand an

关于中国的重要事实。

important fact about China.

中国的资本项目，

China's capital account

没有完全开放。

is not fully open.

这句话是什么意思呢？

What does that sentence mean?

意思是，

It means

钱进出中国，

money entering and leaving China

不是完全自由的。

is not fully free.

一个普通的中国居民，

For an ordinary Chinese resident,

每年可以兑换的外汇，

the foreign exchange convertible each year

有一个固定的额度。

has a fixed quota.

而且按照规定，

And according to the rules,

这个额度，

this quota

不能随便用来，

cannot be casually used

购买境外的股票，

to purchase overseas stocks

这一类投资。

and that kind of investment.

这是一个，

This is a

很多国家没有、

system that many countries do not have

但中国一直坚持的制度。

but China has always maintained.

它的目的，

Its purpose

是为了维护，

is to safeguard

国家整体的金融稳定，

the country's overall financial stability,

防止资金，

to prevent capital

大规模、

from flowing out

无管理地流出。

on a large scale and unmanaged.

那么问题就来了。

And so the problem arises.

一边，

On one side

是老百姓真实的投资需求；

is the public's real investment demand;

另一边，

on the other side

是国家对资金，

is the state's management

跨境流动的管理。

of cross-border capital flows.

这两者之间的空隙，

The gap between these two

就是所谓的"灰色地带"。

is the so-called "grey zone."

这些网络券商，

These online brokerages

正是生长在这个空隙里。

grew up precisely in this gap.

它们大多在香港，

Most of them are registered in Hong Kong

或者其他地方注册。

or other places.

从法律上说，

Legally speaking,

它们是境外公司。

they are overseas companies.

但它们用中文界面，

But they use Chinese-language interfaces,

做面向内地用户的推广，

do promotion aimed at mainland users,

帮内地客户处理交易。

and handle trades for mainland clients.

这件事，

This activity

既不能说完全合法，

can neither be called fully legal,

也长期没有，

nor was it, for a long time,

被彻底禁止。

completely banned.

它就停在中间，

It just stayed in the middle,

停在那个模糊的地带。

in that blurry zone.

为什么灰色地带，

Why could the grey zone

能存在这么久？

exist for so long?

一个重要的原因是：

One important reason is:

技术，

technology

往往跑在规则的前面。

often runs ahead of the rules.

智能手机、

Smartphones,

移动支付、

mobile payments,

跨境的网络服务，

cross-border online services

发展得非常快。

develop very fast.

而法律和监管，

But law and regulation

需要时间，

need time

去理解，

to understand

去回应。

and to respond.

当一项新业务出现时，

When a new business appears,

监管常常是滞后的。

regulation is often lagging behind.

这就给灰色地带，

This leaves the grey zone

留出了空间。

its space.

但是，

But,

灰色地带，

a grey zone

通常不会永远存在。

usually does not last forever.

事实上，

In fact,

国家的态度，

the state's attitude

一直在收紧。

has been tightening all along.

早在几年前，

As early as a few years ago,

证监会就公开表示过，

the CSRC had publicly stated

这一类跨境展业，

that this kind of cross-border operation

是违规的。

was a violation.

那之后，

After that,

这些软件，

these apps

陆续从内地的应用商店下架，

were gradually taken down from mainland app stores,

也基本停止了，

and basically stopped

向内地新用户开放。

opening to new mainland users.

不过，

However,

那个阶段的措施，

the measures of that stage

更多是"控制增量"——

were more about "controlling new growth" —

也就是，

that is,

不让新的用户，

not letting new users

再进来。

come in.

而这一次，

But this time,

力度明显不同。

the force is clearly different.

今年五月初，

Early this May,

经国务院同意，

with the State Council's approval,

证监会等八个部门，

the CSRC and eight departments

联合发布了一份方案。

jointly issued a plan.

这份方案提出，

This plan proposes

要用大约两年的时间，

to use about two years

集中整治，

to concentrate on rectifying,

并最终全面取缔，

and ultimately completely outlaw,

境外机构的，

the illegal cross-border

非法跨境经营活动。

operations of overseas institutions.

五月二十二号，

On May 22,

对老虎、富途、长桥的处罚，

the penalty against Tiger, Futu and Longbridge

就是这份方案，

is this plan's

落地的第一个大动作。

first major step in action.

"没收全部违法所得"，

"Confiscate all illegal gains" —

这几个字，

these few words

分量很重。

carry great weight.

它传递的信号是：

The signal they send is:

这一次，

this time,

不只是，

it is not just

"不让你再扩大"，

"don't let you expand further,"

而是要从根本上，

but to fundamentally

结束这件事。

end this matter.

那么，

So,

最被关心的问题来了：

the most-asked question arises:

已经开了户的，

the millions of investors

上百万投资者，

who already have accounts —

怎么办？

what should they do?

这一点，

On this point,

监管说得相当明确。

the regulator spoke quite clearly.

请大家不要恐慌。

Please, everyone, do not panic.

已经存在的账户，

Accounts that already exist

不会被强制注销。

will not be forcibly closed.

账户里的资金、

The funds,

股票、

stocks,

基金等资产，

fund assets and so on in the accounts

都不会被强行清理。

will not be forcibly liquidated.

在两年的整治期里，

During the two-year rectification period,

投资者仍然可以，

investors can still,

通过原来的机构，

through their original institutions,

卖出自己的资产，

sell their own assets

把资金转回境内。

and transfer the funds back into the mainland.

换句话说，

In other words,

门，

the door

不是"砰"的一声关上。

is not slammed shut with a bang.

它是给了一段时间，

It gives a period of time

让里面的人，

for the people inside

有秩序地走出来。

to walk out in an orderly way.

这是一种，

This is a

相对温和的处理方式。

relatively gentle way of handling it.

说到这里，

Speaking of this,

我想跳出这个新闻，

I want to step outside this news

谈一点更普遍的东西。

and discuss something more general.

这件事，

This matter,

本质上，

in essence,

是三种力量的碰撞。

is a collision of three forces.

第一种，

The first

是个人的自由——

is individual freedom —

我的钱，

my money,

我想投到哪里，

wherever I want to invest it,

就投到哪里。

that is where I invest it.

第二种，

The second

是技术的力量——

is the power of technology —

技术让很多，

technology makes many things

过去做不到的事，

that could not be done before

变得轻而易举。

easy and effortless.

第三种，

The third

是国家的管理——

is the state's management —

一个国家，

a country

有它必须守住的，

has a financial order and security

金融秩序和安全。

it must hold the line on.

在很长一段时间里，

For a long stretch of time,

前两种力量，

the first two forces

跑在了第三种的前面。

ran ahead of the third.

而这一次的整治，

And this round of rectification

是第三种力量，

is the third force

重新追了上来。

catching back up.

你可以为这件事，

You can, over this,

感到一点惋惜——

feel a little regret —

因为对很多普通投资者来说，

because for many ordinary investors,

一个方便的工具，

a convenient tool

要慢慢消失了。

is slowly going to disappear.

你也可以理解它——

You can also understand it —

因为对一个国家来说，

because for a country,

资金的大门，

the gate of capital

不能没有人看守。

cannot be left with no one guarding it.

这两种感受，

These two feelings

其实可以同时存在。

can in fact exist at the same time.

这就是成年人，

This is the way an adult

看待世界的方式：

looks at the world:

很多事情，

many things

不是简单的对与错，

are not a simple right versus wrong,

而是不同的价值，

but different values,

不同的考虑，

different considerations,

在互相拉扯。

pulling against each other.

最后，

Finally,

我想留给你两个问题。

I want to leave you two questions.

第一个：

The first:

你认为，

do you believe

一个人的财富，

a person's wealth

应该有权利，

should have the right

自由地投向全世界吗？

to invest freely around the whole world?

第二个：

The second:

当"方便"和"规则"，

when "convenience" and "rules"

发生冲突时，

come into conflict,

你会更看重哪一个？

which one would you value more?

这两个问题，

These two questions

没有标准答案。

have no standard answer.

但它们，

But they

值得你慢慢地想。

are worth thinking about slowly.

好。

Okay.

今天就说到这里。

That's all for today.

我们下个故事见。

See you in the next story.