Cornerstone investors have accounted for almost half of new listings in Hong Kong this year — a record level that bankers fear is distorting prices and undermining the credibility of one of the world’s leading equity capital centres.

基石投资者在香港今年以来的新股发行中占了近一半的分量，银行家们担心，这种创纪录水平的比重正在扭曲股票价格，削弱世界领先股权资本中心之一的信誉。

The investors, who accept six-month lock-ups in return for large allocations, have taken 46 per cent of the $9.7bn equity on offer through initial public offerings so far this year, according to Dealogic.

基石投资者接受六个月的禁售期以换取较大数额的股票分配。Dealogic的数据显示，此类投资者在今年迄今首次公开发行(IPO)的97亿美元筹资总额中占了46%。

That ratio is set to rise above 50 per cent for the first time with the $8bn float next month of Postal Savings Bank of China, the world’s biggest IPO for 2016 to date.

下月中国邮政储蓄银行(Postal Savings Bank of China)赴香港上市拟融资80亿美元，这将是2016年迄今世界最大IPO，届时上述比例势必将首次升至50%以上。

Between 60 per cent and 80 per cent of the offering is expected to be allocated to cornerstones by the time the deal launches.

预计在此次上市启动时，60%至80%将分配给基石投资者。

Hong Kong’s increasing reliance on cornerstones, which began as a way of using marquee name investors to generate interest in new listings, has increasingly morphed into a form of reducing risk that a deal fails, bankers say.

银行家们表示，香港对基石投资者越来越依赖，已使这种方式日益演变成一种降低交易失败风险的形式。当初金字招牌投资者只是被用来激起对新股发行的兴趣。

The practice became more common after the $22bn float in 2010 of Agricultural Bank of China, then the world’s biggest.

这种做法在2010年中国农业银行(Agricultural Bank of China)进行220亿美元上市——那时是史上最大IPO——后变得更为普遍。

The deal, which launched in rocky markets, was buoyed by $5.5bn of cornerstones but the overall amount of equity locked up that year totalled just 15 per cent.

那笔交易在动荡的市场上启动，得到基石投资者55亿美元的提振，但该年禁售的股票仅占总量的15%。

Last year two-fifths of the IPO equity on offer in Hong Kong went to cornerstones.

去年在香港进行的IPO有五分之二股票被分配给基石投资者。

Strip tied-up funds out of this year’s deals to date, and the Hong Kong Exchange drops from first place to fourth in terms of capital raising, behind New York Stock Exchange, Shanghai Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.

若剔除今年迄今在上市交易中被锁定的资本，香港交易所(HKEx)在筹资排行榜上将从第一位降至第四位，落后于纽约证券交易所(New York Stock Exchange)、上海证券交易所(Shanghai Stock Exchange)和纳斯达克(Nasdaq)。

In June, CDB Leasing set a new record for Hong Kong with 78 per cent of its $810m float going to cornerstones, leaving the 13 banks on the deal to find just $182m of investment.

6月份，国银租赁(CDB Leasing)在香港创下新的纪录，其8.10亿美元的IPO有78%被分配给基石投资者，使参与这笔交易的13家银行只需招徕1.82亿美元投资。

Everbright Securities, which listed this month in a $1.1bn deal, is second with 67 per cent.

本月进行了11亿美元上市的光大证券(Everbright Securities)排在第二位，有67%被分配给基石投资者。

We all know that sometimes, especially if it’s an SOE [state-owned enterprise], getting the deal done can be more important than how it gets done, said one equity head for an international bank.

我们都知道，有时，完成交易可能比具体交易方式更重要，特别是对于一家国有企业，某跨国银行的一名股权业务主管表示。

I don’t think that having 70 per cent-plus cornerstone tranches is really healthy for the market.

我不认为70%以上的基石分配比例对市场是真正健康的。

Bankers are not prepared to comment publicly because IPOs are a large part of their business.

银行家们不准备公开评论，因为上市是其很大一块业务。

Chinese deals, particularly the floats of SOEs, have been one of the biggest and steadiest sources of revenue in the region.

中国内地企业，尤其是国有企业的上市，一直是香港股市最大和最稳定的营收来源之一。

While equity capital markets make up about a quarter of the fee pool globally for investment banks, it accounts for two-fifths in Asia where cut-throat competition has reduced fees to a fraction of those generated on US IPOs.

全球而言，股权资本市场占投行业务报酬的大约四分之一，但在亚洲这个比例达到五分之二，与此同时激烈竞争把费用压低至只有美国IPO的一小部分。

One equity trading head described a lot of the recent floats as almost dormant in the secondary market as a result of cornerstone holdings.

一名股票交易主管称，基石投资者的持股造成很多新近上市的股票在二级市场几乎处于休眠状态。

Structurally it is a problem for Hong Kong and it has been that way for a while with these club deals, he added.

结构上，这对香港是一个问题。由于这些俱乐部交易，一段时间以来一直是这种情况，他补充说。

The lack of liquidity created by the large lock-ups has subdued trading in the stocks while also creating an overhang on potential gains, bankers said.

银行家们表示，大量股票禁售所导致的流动性不足，抑制了相关股票的交投，同时也拖累了潜在的涨幅。

None of Hong Kong’s six IPOs this year of more than $500m have registered a first-day gain.

今年在香港进行的融资5亿美元以上的六笔IPO交易中，没有一只新股在首日出现涨幅。

In New York, meanwhile, only two of its seven equivalent deals fell on launch with the smallest gain on the others being 5 per cent.

而在纽约，七笔此类规模IPO中，只有两只新股的股价在首日下降，其余新股的首日涨幅至少为5%。

In 2015, a review by the Hong Kong Exchange’s Listing Committee, which vets all IPOs, concluded that it was not clear that cornerstones narrowed the shareholder base or reduced liquidity.

2015年，负责审查所有IPO的香港交易所上市委员会(Listing Committee)在进行审议后得出结论，不能明确认为基石投资者导致股东基础狭窄或者导致流动性减少。

The committee decided that no additional regulation is warranted at this stage but nonetheless the exchange will continue to monitor developments in this area, the exchange said.

委员会决定，现阶段没有理由出台额外法规，但是本交易所将继续监督这方面的发展，香港交易所表示。