A Chinese investment bank is under pressure from more than 20 financial institutions to honour a bond financing deal agreed by a rogue employee who allegedly forged the company’s official seal.

一家中国券商面临来自20多家金融机构的压力，要其兑现一份据称由一名流氓员工伪造该公司印章签订的债券融资协议。

The incident spotlights the risks that leveraged bets on rising Chinese bond prices will inflict losses on financial institutions as a market correction runs its course.

这起事件凸显出，在市场调整自然而言地到来之际，杠杆化押注中国债券价格上涨可能会给金融机构造成损失。

Chinese bond prices fell sharply last week after the US Federal Reserve indicated a faster pace of monetary tightening than markets had expected.

上周，当美联储(Fed)暗示收紧货币政策的步伐将快于市场之前的预期后，中国债券价格大幅下跌。

Capital outflows from China are also pushing up interest rates as liquidity drains out of the mainland banking system.

中国的资本外流也在推高利率，因为它抽走了中国内地银行体系中的流动性。

Before the recent correction, borrowed money used to buy bonds had been a key factor driving a bull market in Chinese bonds.

在最近的调整之前，借钱购买债券是驱动中国债券牛市的一个关键因素。

But the People’s Bank of China has allowed short-term borrowing rates to rise in recent weeks,

但中国央行最近几周已让短期借款利率上升。

in what analysts say is an effort to squeeze leverage out of the market.

分析师表示，此举意在把杠杆挤出市场。

Shenzhen-listed Sealand Securities is facing huge losses on a bond financing deal involving Rmb10bn ($1.44bn) in bonds, the Beijing Times has reported.

据《京华时报》(Beijing Times)报道，在深圳上市的国海证券(Sealand Securities)在一笔涉及100亿元人民币（合14.4亿美元）债券的债券融资交易中面临巨大浮亏。

According to the paper, Zhang Yang, a senior executive in Sealand’s bond division, left the country and was unreachable.

该报称，国海证券一债券团队负责人张杨离开了中国，并已失联。

The deal was reportedly a so-called proxy holding arrangement — a popular transaction structure for using leverage to invest in bonds or other securities.

据报道，这笔交易是所谓的代持安排——这是一种流行的、使用杠杆来投资债券或其他证券的交易结构。

Sealand said in a stock exchange filing last week that it had not authorised Mr Zhang and another employee to sign bond financing contracts on its behalf and that the company seal used on the documents was fake.

上周，国海证券在提交深交所的文件中表示，公司未授权张杨和另一名员工签订债券融资协议，相关文件上使用的公司印章是伪造的。

Trading in Sealand’s shares has been halted since Thursday pending an internal investigation into the incident.

国海证券的股票自上周四起停牌，等待该公司对这起事件展开内部调查。

The company said in a separate filing on Monday that it was actively communicating with financial institutions over the case.

周一，国海证券在另一份文件中表示，公司正在积极与事涉金融机构沟通核实情况。

Police are investigating the incident, Sealand said on its website.

国海证券在公司网站上表示，警方正在调查此事。

Detailed notes of meetings between Sealand and 22 counterparties, including commercial banks and securities companies, have circulated online.

国海证券和22个对手方（包括商业银行和证券公司）之间的详细会议纪要已在网上流传。

A Sealand representative is quoted as saying that counterparties should have verified the seal on the contracts against the Sealand’s official seal on record at the public security bureau.

会议纪要援引国海证券一位代表的话说，交易对手方本应拿协议上的印章与国海证券在公安机关备案的印章对照一下。

Counterparties respond that it is irresponsible of Sealand to try to push full blame for the incident on to two individual employees.

对手方回应称，国海证券试图把此事的全部责任推给两名员工是不负责任的。

Sealand ranked as China’s 31st largest securities company by total assets at the end of 2015, according to industry association data.

根据中国证券业协会的数据，截至2015年底，国海证券是以总资产规模计的中国第31大券商。

Fraudulent borrowing used to finance bets on a rising market also occurred during the boom and bust last year in China’s stock market.

利用欺骗性借款对不断上涨的市场押注，也发生在去年中国股市的暴涨暴跌期间。

Agricultural Bank of China and China Citic Bank were among several lenders caught up in alleged fraud by employees using bankers’ acceptances to obtain funds for stock market investment.

中国农业银行(ABC)和中信银行(China Citic Bank)等银行的员工被发现涉嫌欺诈、利用银行承兑汇票获取资金来炒股。

Similar to a repurchase agreement, a typical proxy holding deal involves the lender agreeing to use its own funds to buy and hold bonds on behalf of the borrower for a specific period of time in return for a fee.

与回购协议类似，典型的代持交易是指，贷款方同意用自己的钱代表借款方购买并持有债券一段时间，条件是收取一定费用。

The borrower profits if the bonds rise in price and is responsible for losses if prices fall.

如果债券价格上涨，借款方可收获利润，如果价格下跌，借款方要对亏损负责。

The practice, which is legal,

债券代持是合法的。

also came under scrutiny in 2013 during investigations of profit-skimming by bond traders,

2013年，在对债券交易员利益输送展开调查期间，债券代持也曾受到审查。

which resulted in the arrests of several traders.

那次的调查导致几名交易员被捕。

The local securities regulator in China’s southwest province of Guangxi, where Sealand is based, is investigating, Sealand said in a filing on Tuesday.

国海证券周二在一份申报文件中表示，公司总部所在的广西省的证监局正对其展开调查。

The company did not respond to requests for further comment.

国海证券未回复记者要其进一步置评的请求。

Mr Zhang could not be reached.

记者无法联系上张扬。