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中国有句谚语说，“失败是成功之母”。过去20年间，外国投资银行家在中国寻求业务时，已经学会用这句谚语给自己打气。他们绝不是那种轻易接受失败的人。
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According
to the Chinese adage, "failure is the mother of
success". Over the past two decades, investment bankers -
never the type to accept failure lightly - have learned to live by
that maxim when seeking business in China.
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中国一家大型国有企业实现海外上市，可能需要数年时间，并耗费许多周折。而大型国企赴海外上市，是外国投资银行在中国的主要业务。
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The
wheels of Chinese bureaucracy turn so slowly that it can take
years, and a number of setbacks, to get a large state-owned
company to list on an overseas stock market - the mainstay of
investment banking business in China.
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据悉，高盛(Goldman
Sachs)在1996年就第一次与中国政府接洽，商谈中国银行(Bank
of China)国际业务部分的上市事宜，6年后，中国银行才终于在香港首次公开发行。
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Goldman
Sachs is believed to have first approached the Chinese government
over listing the international operations of Bank of China in
1996, six years before the lender eventually launched its initial
public offering in Hong Kong.
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“在中国赢得一宗首次公开发行业务，是我们在全球所有地方开展的业务中，最为劳动密集型的工作，”一位驻香港的资深投资银行家说。
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"Winning
an IPO in China is the most labour-intensive work we do anywhere
in the world," says one senior Hong Kong-based banker.
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投资银行必须先花费数年时间，与政府官员和公司管理曾建立关系，然后才能赢得一笔令人瞩目的大买卖，以及数百万美元的顾问费。
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Investment
banks have to spend years cultivating government officials and
company executives before they can claim a high-profile scalp and
a multi-million dollar fee.
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未来几周内，中国建设银行(CCB)可能会指定摩根士丹利(Morgan
Stanley)担任其主要上市顾问。建行将是中国四大国有银行中第一家上市的银行，预计它在纽约和香港的首次公开发行价值将达50多亿美元。
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In
the next few weeks, China Construction Bank, the first of the big
four state-owned lenders to list, is likely to appoint Morgan
Stanley as the main adviser on its bn-plus IPO in New York and
Hong Kong.
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摩根士丹利之所以有望赢得这宗里程碑式的交易，主要原因是它在过去9年中在其与建行合资的投资银行中投入了大量人力和财力。“摩根士丹利能赢得建行的交易，并不是因为(上个月)的陈述会做得好，而是由于此前已经花了十年的努力，”摩根士丹利的一家竞争对手的管理人员说。
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The
main reason why the US bank is likely to win that landmark deal is
that for the past nine years it has contributed significant
amounts of people and money to an investment banking joint venture
with CCB. "Morgan Stanley did not win CCB in [this month's]
presentations, but during the preceding decade," says an
executive at a rival investment bank.
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高盛(Goldman
Sachs)、瑞士信贷第一波士顿(CSFB)和瑞士银行(UBS)等摩根士丹利的竞争对手，甚至连参与建行上市投标的邀请都没有接到。它们正在努力与其它几家预计将上市的大型银行接洽。
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Competitors
including Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse First Boston and UBS have
worked hard to get close to the other large banks expected to be
listed (see graphic) and were not even invited to bid for the CCB
mandate.
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虽然这些华尔街投资银行的老板心里很急切，股东也充满期待，因为不断施加压力，但首次公开发行的大部分前期工作都是免费提供的，其中包括宴请、贵重礼品，以及专业建议。
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And
despite pressure from impatient Wall Street bosses and expectant
shareholders, most of the pre-IPO work - which includes wining and
dining, expensive gifts and professional advice - is done for
free.
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据研究机构Dealogic估算，投资银行去年在中国大陆企业首次公开发行业务中拿到的佣金达2亿美元左右，但这几乎还不够它们在人员和招待上的支出。
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Last
year, investment banks shared some m in fees for IPOs of
China-based companies, according to estimates by the research firm
Dealogic - not nearly enough to compensate them for their
expenditure on people and entertainment.
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“任何一宗交易都很难盈利，”一位香港投资银行家说，“但为了在中国赢得声望、建立信誉，并能进一步得到后续业务，我们还是会做这种生意。”
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"It's
very difficult for any single deal to be profitable," says a
Hong Kong-based banker. "But we do it for the prestige, to
build our credentials in China and for the follow-up
business."
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上月，当中国银行决定出售其香港上市子公司10%的股权时，它选择了高盛和瑞银作为承销商，并付给它们一笔佣金，估计占18.8亿美元股权出售收入的1%至2%。高盛和瑞银曾是该子公司2002年上市时的顾问。
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When
Bank of China decided to sell a 10 per cent stake in its Hong
Kong-listed subsidiary last month, it chose Goldman Sachs and UBS
- the two advisers for the 2002 listing - as underwriters and paid
them a fee estimated at between 1 and 2 per cent of the .88bn
sale.
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要深入到中国的资本市场体系，需要长期的前期努力，对于已经失去、或从未得到中国政府重视的投资银行来说，这是个难题。一些这样的投资银行正在竭力弥补，其中包括JP摩根(JP
Morgan)、德意志银行(Deutsche Bank)和花旗集团(Citigroup)。
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The
long lead times needed to enter the inner sanctum of Chinese
capitalism pose problems for those investment banks that have
lost, or have never had, the ear of Beijing's power brokers. Some,
such as JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup, are fighting hard
to catch up.
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据悉，JP摩根已邀请曾任尼克松政府国务卿的亨利•基辛格(Henry
Kissinger)出面，就参与建行上市一事游说中国政府。另有报道说，德意志银行已求得德国总理格哈特•施罗德(Gerhard
Schr鰀er)的援手。花旗集团则搬出美国前财长罗伯特•鲁宾(Robert
Rubin)，力图与摩根士丹利共同担任建行的上市顾问。据悉，德意志银行和花旗集团均曾向建行表示，若被选为上市顾问，它们将在建行首次公开发行时购买部分股份。1999年，花旗集团帮助中国海洋石油公司(CNOOC)赴海外上市失败，因此被迫退出了这个业务市场。
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JP
Morgan is believed to have asked Henry Kissinger, US secretary of
state in the Nixon administration, to lobby the Chinese government
over CCB. Deutsche Bank is reported to have enlisted the help of
Gerhard Schr鰀er, the German chancellor. Both Deutsche and
Citigroup, which was sidelined after failing to list the oil giant
CNOOC in 1999, are believed to have told CCB that they would buy a
portion of the IPO if selected as an adviser. The US bank has
wheeled out Robert Rubin, the former US treasury secretary, to try
to win a place alongside Morgan Stanley on the CCB team.
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上述策略也许能够奏效。据悉，瑞银能意外入选中国银行上市顾问团队，前欧盟贸易专员列昂•布列坦爵士(Sir
Leon Brittan)就在其中起到了关键作用。
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These
tactics can work. Sir Leon Brittan, the former European Union
trade chief, is believed to have played a leading role in UBS's
surprise inclusion on the advisory team for the Bank of China
listing.
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与动力十足的外国投资银行相比，外国商业银行显得比较低调。
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Compared
with the high-powered investment banking world, foreign commercial
banks have a low profile.
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对于外国商业银行来说，它们唯一的选择就是与中国本土合作伙伴建立合资银行，才能从中国人手上1.3万亿美元的储蓄中获益。
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Their
only option is to enter joint ventures with local partners to tap
sintosthe ,300bn of savings held by the Chinese population.
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汇丰(HSBC)与花旗等一些银行已取得成功。上月，它们的中方合作伙伴获准发行中外合作联名信用卡。其他一些外国金融机构，如与深圳发展银行(SDB)建立合作关系的美国私人股本基金新桥(Newbridge)，则没能取得成功。
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Some,
such as HSBC and Citigroup whose Chinese partners were awarded the
right to launch a co-branded credit card last month, have
succeeded. Others, such as the US private equity fund Newbridge
with Shenzhen Development Bank, have not.
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还有一些外国银行，如渣打银行(Standard
Chartered)，仍在中国寻求合适的当地合作伙伴。它们时刻牢记着：“失败是成功之母。”
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Yet
more, like Standard Chartered, are still looking for a suitable
partner, remembering that "failure is the mother of
success".
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译者/李功文
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