至少有十多家中国银行计划终止零售杠杆贵金属交易——这种交易模式允许普通投资者通过缴纳保证金，在不持有实物金属的情况下对黄金和银期货合约进行投机。
At least a dozen Chinese banks intend to wind down retail leveraged precious-metals trading – a practice in which everyday investors post margin deposits to speculate on gold and silver contracts without owning the physical metal.
此次收缩正值国际金价剧烈波动之际。两家银行的消息人士（其中包括全球资产规模最大的银行——中国工商银行）表示，本轮业务收盘是由中国主要的实物贵金属交易平台——上海黄金交易所下令进行的。
The retreat comes amid sharp swings in international gold prices. Sources at two banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China – the world’s largest lender by assets – said that this round of withdrawals was mandated by the Shanghai Gold Exchange, China’s main platform for physical precious-metals trading.
最新举措于周五出台，总部位于北京的中国光大银行宣布，将在10月19日之后的某一个待定日期起，逐步停止黄金和白银的零售杠杆贵金属交易。本月早些时候，上海浦东发展银行也发布了类似的通知。
The latest move came on Friday, when Beijing-based China Everbright Bank said it would phase out retail leveraged precious-metals trading for gold and silver on a to-be-determined date after October 19. Earlier this month, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank put out a comparable notice.
包括工商银行、中国银行和中国建设银行在内，总计已有12家中国大型银行宣布了退出该业务的计划。
In total, 12 major Chinese lenders have announced plans to exit the business, including ICBC, Bank of China (BOC) and China Construction Bank.
上海东证期货的分析师徐颖表示：“这代表了一种不可避免的转变，我预计所有贷款机构最终都将退出该业务。”
“This represents an inevitable shift, and I anticipate that all the lenders will eventually exit the business,” said Xu Ying, an analyst at Shanghai-based Orient Futures.
中国内地银行开展杠杆贵金属交易已有近二十年历史，其保证金要求通常与上海黄金交易所的标准保持一致，允许散户投资者使用五倍至六倍以上的杠杆。
Mainland lenders have offered leveraged precious-metals trading for nearly two decades, typically aligning their margin requirement levels with those set by the Shanghai Gold Exchange, and allowing leverage of between five-fold and more than six-fold for retail investors.
徐表示，杠杆交易对投资者在头寸规模管理和市场判断能力方面提出了很高的要求；因此，这种交易方式显然不适合国内散户投资者——他们的交易经验有限，且普遍倾向于规避风险。自去年以来，随着黄金价格上涨以及市场波动性增加，银行逐步提高了对散户投资者的交易保证金要求。到今年第一季度末，国有银行的保证金要求已提高至100%，实际上已经完全禁止了杠杆交易。此后，银行们一直在逐步退出杠杆交易业务。
Xu said that leveraged trading placed high demands on investors, in terms of position-size management and market judgment. “That naturally makes it a poor fit for domestic retail clients, most of whom have limited trading know-how and tend to be risk-averse.” Since last year, as gold prices have climbed alongside greater volatility, banks have progressively raised retail-margin requirements. By the end of the first quarter of this year, state-owned banks had raised these requirements to 100 per cent, effectively eliminating leverage. And since then, banks have been moving towards a complete exit from the business.
不过，推动银行退出杠杆交易业务的因素并不仅仅是散户投资者的风险偏好。
But retail-investor risk profiles are not the only factor driving the pullback.
据中国银行上海分行的某位内部人士透露，这种转变其实是“意料之中的”。该人士因未被授权公开发言而要求匿名。
A source at BOC’s Shanghai branch, who had been involved in handling the fallout from the 2020 “fiasco” involving the lender’s retail crude-oil investment product, known as Yuanyoubao, said the shift was “expected”. The person declined to be named, having not been authorised to speak publicly.
这一事件发生在2020年4月：当时美国原油价格暴跌，导致许多散户投资者的投资损失殆尽，数千人因此欠下了银行的债务。
The incident occurred in April 2020, when a historic collapse in US crude oil prices resulted in many retail investors seeing their investments wiped out, leaving thousands owing money to the bank.
这位人士解释说：“在‘元油宝’（Yuanyoubao）事件之后，金融监管机构开始考虑逐步淘汰国内银行提供的所有与大宗商品挂钩的零售交易产品。该事件的影响极其严重，引发了监管机构对杠杆交易工具的全面警惕。”2020年晚些时候，中国银行业监管机构因中国银行在风险管理、产品设计以及‘元油宝’事件相关的头寸调整机制方面存在严重缺陷，对其处以总计5050万元的罚款。
“Following the high-profile Yuanyoubao incident, financial regulators began mulling a broader phase-out of retail commodity-linked trading products offered by domestic banks,” the source explained. “The fiasco itself was so disruptive that it prompted sweeping regulatory caution towards retail leverage instruments.” Later in 2020, China’s banking regulator fined BOC a total of 50.5 million yuan over widespread risk-management lapses, improper product design and a faulty position-rolling mechanism linked to the Yuanyoubao incident.
“当时，几乎所有放贷机构都在监管部门的要求下暂停了为零售客户开设贵金属杠杆交易新账户，”该知情人士补充道。“实际上，从那时起，该业务就停止了进一步扩张。”展望未来，这意味着内地放贷机构预计将仅为零售投资目的提供实物黄金和非杠杆黄金积存计划——即让投资者无需借贷资金、分期少量定期购买黄金的产品——据该知情人士透露。
“Back then, almost all the lenders suspended opening new accounts for retail leveraged precious-metals trading at regulators’ behest,” the source added. “Actually, from that point forward, the business ceased further expansion.” Going forward, that means mainland lenders are expected to offer only physical gold and non-leveraged gold-accumulation plans – products that let investors buy small, regular amounts of gold over time without borrowed funds – for retail investment purposes, according to the source.
周四，现货金价一度升破每盎司4200美元，此前曾于8月下旬飙升至近每盎司4700美元。
Spot gold swung above US$4,200 an ounce on Thursday, after surging to almost US$4,700 an ounce in late August.
东方财富期货的徐某表示：“下半年剩余时间里，顽固的高通胀预计将限制美联储的政策空间。”
Xu at Orient Futures said that, “for the remainder of the second half, sticky-high inflation is expected to constrain the Federal Reserve’s policy room”.
徐某补充道：“市场对加息的预期将持续波动，但降息至少在短期内似乎不太可能。这使得黄金缺乏持续上涨动力，预计黄金将主要在区间内震荡。”文/马爱玛
“Market expectations for interest-rate hikes will keep fluctuating, yet rate cuts appear unlikely, at the very least,” Xu added. “This leaves gold without sustained upwards momentum, and the metal is projected to trade mostly in a range.” By Emma Ma