韩国交易所运营商本月早些时候公布了首份名单，列出了100多家估值持续偏低的公司。这是解决该国股票长期低估问题的受欢迎举措，但这还不够。
Korea’s stock exchange operator unveiled an inaugural list earlier this month of more than 100 companies with persistently low valuations. It’s a welcome step to address the chronic underpricing of the nation’s stocks. But it won’t be enough.
点名批评是总统李在明发起的为期一年的运动的必要补充，该运动已得到越来越多散户投资者的支持，旨在对抗所谓的“韩国折价”。然而，要克服几十年来根深蒂固的企业惯例，需要一整套措施，包括立法行动、培养下一代独立董事，以及改变根深蒂固的企业态度。
Naming and shaming is a necessary addition to a year-long campaign by President Lee Jae Myung and embraced by the growing ranks of individual investors against what’s become known as the Korea discount. Overcoming decades of entrenched corporate practices, however, requires a whole arsenal of measures, including legislative action, nurturing the next generation of independent board directors, and changing entrenched corporate attitudes.
从表面上看，似乎不需要额外的策略。韩国拥有仅次于台湾的亚洲表现最佳股票指数。科斯皮指数在1月突破5000点，就在左倾总统李在明上任几个月后。他的立法盟友迅速通过了多项商法修改，加强了少数股东权利，并使董事会对投资者更加负责。
On paper, it looks like additional strategies may not be needed. South Korea has Asia’s top-performing stock index after Taiwan. The Kospi crossed the 5,000 level in January, just months after the left-leaning Lee took office. His allies in the legislature moved quickly to pass a number of legal changes to the commercial code that strengthened minority shareholder rights and made boards more accountable to investors.
这些改进助推了股市上涨，随后人工智能交易进一步推高了涨势。大部分涨幅只惠及特定行业和仅有的两家公司：三星电子公司和SK海力士公司。这两家公司目前占科斯皮指数市值的约一半，受人工智能热潮推动。剔除这两家公司后，该基准指数剩余的800多家成分股今年已集体放弃了所有涨幅。
The improvements helped fuel the rally before the AI trade turbocharged it. Most of the gains have accrued to select industries and to only two companies: memory chipmakers Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. The duo now account for about half of the Kospi’s market capitalization, propelled by the artificial intelligence boom. Strip them out and the remaining 800-plus constituents of the benchmark have collectively surrendered all of their gains for the year.
科斯皮指数约四分之三的股票交易价格低于账面价值，后者是衡量企业净资产的指标。事实上，据彭博社汇编的数据，过去一年估值低于净资产的上市公司数量反而增加了。股市的头条表现掩盖了在提升韩国企业整体估值方面几乎没有取得进展的事实。
About three-quarters of Kospi shares are trading below book value, a measure of the net worth of a business. In fact, the number of listed companies valued at less than their net assets has grown in the past year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The stock market's headline performance conceals how little progress has been made in lifting valuations across corporate Korea.
折价有着深层的制度根源。不愿分配利润，以及将最具前景的子公司单独上市的做法，压低了估值。对证券监管执行不力，削弱了投资者信心。而且，据估计，科斯皮指数前200大公司中有93%由个人或家族控制，公司治理传统上偏向大股东。从涉及三星电子到LG能源解决方案有限公司的交易来看，已有少数投资者感到自己吃亏的案例。
The discount has deep institutional roots. A reluctance to distribute profits and the practice of listing the most promising subsidiaries depresses valuations. Weak enforcement of securities regulations undermines investor confidence. And with an estimated 93% of the Kospi’s largest 200 companies controlled by an individual or family, corporate governance has traditionally favored major shareholders. From deals involving Samsung Electronics to LG Energy Solution Ltd., there have been cases of minority investors feeling like they got the short end of the stick.
历届政府在过去十多年里一直在解决折价问题，但收效甚微。不过，迹象表明，最新的改革推动开始改变企业行为。SK海力士上个月在投资者和监管机构反对后，放弃将其Solidigm部门在美国上市的计划，这表明曾经被视为理所当然的做法现在正受到挑战。少数股东曾担心，单独上市会稀释他们对一家生产闪存的公司的敞口，而闪存在数据中心需求旺盛。“我们对他们穷追猛打，”总部位于首尔的韩国公司治理论坛主席南赫·李（Namuh Rhee）告诉我。
The government, under various presidents, had been tackling the discount for more than a decade with little to show for it. But there are signs that the latest reform drive is beginning to change corporate behavior. SK Hynix's decision to abandon plans to list its Solidigm unit in the US last month after investor and regulatory opposition suggests that practices once taken for granted are now being challenged. Minority shareholders had feared that a separate listing would dilute their exposure to a company that makes flash memory, which is in high demand at data centers. “We were all over them,” Namuh Rhee, chairman of the Seoul-based Korean Corporate Governance Forum, told me.
李政府应乘势而上，加大立法攻势力度。值得推进的仍在考虑中的措施包括修改现有规则，要求董事会披露并解释其对吸引人的收购要约的回应。根据现有规则，管理层可以对未经请求的接近保持沉默。目标是鼓励敌意收购，并对估值持续低迷的公司施加压力，迫使它们可能放弃管理权。
Lee’s administration should capitalize on the momentum by doubling down on its legislative onslaught. Measures still under consideration worth pushing through include amending existing rules to require boards to disclose and explain their responses to attractive takeover offers. Under existing rules, management can remain silent about unsolicited approaches. The goal is to encourage hostile takeovers and put pressure on companies with persistently depressed valuations to potentially give up management control.
另一项正在考虑的变更是，将股东大会通知期延长至不少于四周，这将给投资者更多时间审查管理层提案。
Another change being considered, extending the notice period for shareholder meetings to no less than four weeks, would give investors more time to scrutinize management proposals.
此外，还需要为独立董事提供更严格的培训计划，使其具备挑战管理层决策的技能和信心。日本——该国也曾有过自己的“点名羞辱”名单——提供了一个值得借鉴的范例。日本将公司治理改革作为前首相安倍晋三经济复兴计划的一部分加以推行。这些努力已取得成效，带来了股市重估，并使并购活动达到创纪录水平。
There’s also a need for more rigorous training programs for independent directors to give them the skills and confidence to challenge management decisions. Japan — which had its own name-and-shame list — offers a worthwhile example. It undertook corporate governance reforms as part of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic revival plan. The efforts have been successful, resulting in a stock market rerating and record levels of mergers and acquisitions.
并非日本的所有经验都能直接套用到韩国，但韩国正走上一条相似的道路。法律改革可通过让公司治理问题持续处于聚光灯下，来解决根深蒂固的陋习。“羞辱墙”名单增加了这种公众压力。为消除“韩国折价”，首尔应当继续倾尽全力解决这一问题。
Not all of Japan’s lessons will translate directly to South Korea, but the country is treading a similar path. Legal reforms can tackle entrenched practices by keeping corporate governance issues in the spotlight. Wall-of-shame lists add to that public pressure. To beat the Korea discount, Seoul should keep throwing the kitchen sink at the problem.