natgillin/translations-raw huggingface dataset:
Det absolutte tal er dog udtryk for en risikovurdering, der bygger på en relativ vurdering.
Thus, their conduct would be attributed to the GOC in any event.
Risikoen for misligholdelse for en virksomhed med BB-rating er X % mere sandsynlig end misligholdelse for så vidt angår regeringen eller den risikofrie virksomhed.
Entrustment and direction of private financial institutions
Dette er en relativ vurdering, som fremgår af oplysninger indsendt af den kinesiske regering om den historiske udvikling af spread (jf. nedenstående analyse).
The Commission then turned to the ten remaining financial institutions.
Det relative spread tager højde for ændringer i de underliggende markedsvilkår, som ikke er udtrykt ved et absolut spread.
The following eight financial institutions were considered to be privately owned: HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Ping An Bank, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (China) Limited, Shagang Group Finance, DBS Group (China) Limited, Bank of Beijing, Hang Seng Bank.
Vedrørende det andet og tredje punkt var Kommissionen enig i udgangspunktet, at renterne afspejler ikke bare virksomhedens risikoprofil, men også lande- og valutaspecifikke risici.
In addition, Jinfeng Rural Commercial Bank and SPB Bank were considered to be private in the absence of any publicly available information on their ownership structure.
Ofte — som i det foreliggende tilfælde — varierer de lande- og valutaspecifikke risici over tid, og udsvingene er forskellige for de forskellige lande.
The Commission analysed whether these financial institutions had been entrusted or directed by the Government of China to grant subsidies to the steel sector within the meaning of Article 3(1)(a)(iv) of the basic Regulation.
Som følge heraf varierer den risikofrie rente betydeligt over tid og er undertiden lavere i USA, undertiden i Kina.
According to the WTO Appellate Body, ‘entrustment’ occurs where a government gives responsibility to a private body and ‘direction’ refers to situations where the government exercises its authority over a private body [20].
Disse forskelle skyldes faktorer, som f.eks. konstateret og forventet BNP-vækst, økonomiske forventninger og inflationsniveauer.
In both cases, the government uses a private body as proxy to effectuate the financial contribution, and ‘in most cases, one would expect entrustment or direction of a private body to involve some form of threat or inducement’ [21].
Da den risikofrie rentesats varierer over tid, kan det samme nominelle absolutte spread betyde en meget anderledes vurdering af risikoen.
At the same time, paragraph (iv) does not allow Members to impose countervailing measures to products ‘whenever the government is merely exercising its general regulatory powers’ [22] or where government intervention ‘may or may not have a particular result simply based on the given factual circumstances and the exercise of free choice by the actors in that market’ [23].
For eksempel hvis banken vurderer den virksomhedsspecifikke risiko for misligholdelse til at være 10 % højere end den risikofrie sats (relativt skøn), kan det deraf følgende absolutte spread være på mellem 0,1 % (ved en risikofri sats på 1 %) og 1 % (ved en risikofri sats på 10 %).
Rather, entrustment and direction implies ‘a more active role of the government than mere acts of encouragement’ [22] Appellate Body Report, DS 296, para.
Fra et investorsynspunkt er det relative spread således en bedre indikator, da det afspejler omfanget af afkastspread og den måde, hvorpå det påvirkes af det grundliggende renteniveau.
115.
Metoden er landeneutral.
The Commission noted that the normative framework concerning the steel industry mentioned above in recitals (100) to (120) applies to all financial institutions in the PRC, including privately owned financial institutions.
Hvis f.eks. den risikofrie rente i USA er lavere end den risikofrie rente i Kina, vil metoden føre til et højere absolut tillæg.
To illustrate this, the notice ‘Several Opinions on Resolving Overcapacity’ is addressed to all policy banks, large banks, joint-stock banks, postal savings banks, foreign-invested banks, financial asset management companies, and other financial institutions under the management of the CBRC.
På den anden siden hvis den risikofrie rente i Kina er lavere end i USA, vil metoden føre til et lavere absolut tillæg.
Furthermore, the verification visits in the sampled companies revealed that the majority of loan contracts which the Commission had obtained from the sampled companies had similar conditions, and that the lending rates provided by the private financial institutions were similar and partly overlapped with the rates provided by the publicly owned financial institutions.
Efter den finansielle og økonomiske krise forblev det relative spread på et højere niveau, end det var tilfældet før krisen.
The Commission also sent letters to these ten financial institutions with a request for further information on their loan practices and risk assessment Only one replied, indicating that it could not reply without having consulted the regulatory authorities.
Dette højere niveau for det relative spread afspejler tydeligt forværrede makroøkonomiske nøgletal og undertrykte den samlede efterspørgsel, hvilket også bevirkede, at inflationsraten i USA (og andre højtudviklede økonomier) faldt til et meget lavt niveau.
Hence, none of these institutions provided any evidence contradicting the Commission's findings.
Oplysningerne fra den kinesiske regering viser, at det absolutte spread ikke afspejler den forværrede økonomiske grundforhold.
In the absence of any divergent information received from the private financial institutions, the Commission concluded that, in so far as the steel industry is concerned, all financial institutions (including private financial institutions) operating in China under the supervision of the CBRC have been entrusted or directed by the State in the sense of Article 3(1)(a)(iv), first indent of the basic Regulation to pursue governmental policies and provide loans at preferential rates to the steel industry.
Denne ændring i markedsvilkårene er udtrykt i det relative spread, der var på 27 % i 2006 og 46 % i 2017.
Following disclosure, the GOC observed that the Commission needed to clarify whether it applied the ‘entrustment’ or ‘direction’ standard, as both are mutually exclusive.
Endelig erkendte Kommissionen, at metoden med det relative spread i tilfælde af negative renter ville føre til urimelige resultater.
Furthermore, the GOC asserted that the Commission's interpretation of entrustment or direction was too narrow, as it focused on a legal standard implying ‘a more active role of the government than mere acts of encouragement’.
Dette scenario er imidlertid ikke problemet i den foreliggende sag.
The GOC on the other hand maintained that the Panel in US — Export Restraints required a deeper analysis based on the existence of (i) an explicit and affirmative action, be it delegation or command, (ii) addressed to a particular party, and (iii) the object of which action is a particular task or objective.
Kommissionen fandt, at det relative spread i UP tog bedre højde for de underliggende markedsvilkår, der påvirker virksomhedsspecifikke kreditrisici end anvendelsen af et absolut spread.
[24]
Vedrørende det fjerde punkt har Kommissionen fortolket de faktiske omstændigheder fremlagt af den kinesiske regering på en anden måde.
On the first point, the Commission considered that the ‘entrustment’ and ‘direction’ standards were not mutually exclusive, since in both cases, the government uses a private body as proxy to effectuate a financial contribution.
Hvis man anvender de oplysninger, som den kinesiske regering har givet, fremgår det, at det absolutte spread ikke er så stabilt som påstået af den kinesiske regering, men varierer over tid, fra 1 % til 4,5 %.
Concerning the second point, the Commission disagreed with the GOC's interpretation of the legal standard to be applied.
Desuden følger det relative spread nøje den samme tendens som det absolutte spread over de sidste 23 år, dvs. når det relative spread øges, øges også det absolutte spread og omvendt.
As already described in recital (142) above, the Commission based itself on subsequent WTO case law, in which the Appellate Body held that the replacement of the words ‘entrusts’ and ‘directs’ by ‘delegation’ and ‘command’ was too rigid as a standard [25] It follows that the standard of proof established by the Appellate Body in this case was less strict than the original Panel's interpretation in the US — Export Restraints case.
For så vidt angår de påståede udsving i det relative spread, er omfanget af ændringerne tilsvarende — forskellen mellem de højeste og laveste tal er 530 % for det relative spread og 450 % for det absolutte spread.
In any event, the GOC failed to put forward any evidence or argument to rebut the Commission's findings about entrustment or direction in the sense of Article 3(1)(a)(iv) of the basic Regulation in the present investigation.
Endelig fremgår det, når man anvender de oplysninger, som den kinesiske regering har givet, på de historiske PBoC-satser, at den relative metode i nogle år medfører et lavere benchmark end det absolutte spread.
Specificity
Dette gælder også for usædvanlig stærk recessioner, som f.eks. den økonomiske og finansielle krise i 2008-2010.
Moreover there was no evidence submitted by any of the interested parties suggesting that the preferential lending is based on objective criteria or conditions in the sense of Article 4(2)(b) of the basic Regulation.
Vedrørende det femte punkt gav anvendelsen af det relative spread, der blev observeret i løbet af UP, faktisk resultater, der afviger fra det absolutte spread, når det blev anvendt mere præcist på forskellige løbetider i stedet for som et gennemsnit for alle løbetider på lån.
Following disclosure, the GOC indicated that, based on the AB report in US-Aircraft (Second Complaint), the specificity analysis should focus not only on ‘the particular recipients identified in the complaint, but … also on all enterprises or industries eligible to receive that same subsidy’ [26] and that, according to the Panel report in EC — Aircraft [27], in order to be specific, a subsidy must be provided to a sufficiently limited ‘group’ of enterprises or industries.
Disse divergerende resultater skyldtes imidlertid ikke den omstændighed, at det relative spread som sådan var fejlagtigt, men skyldtes den omstændighed, at der er betydelige forskelle i den tidsmæssige risikostruktur mellem rentesatser i USA og Kina.
The GOC also submitted that the Commission failed to specify which part of the documents referred to by the Commission concerns the explicit granting of preferential loans to the steel industry.
I USA var forskellen i rentesatserne mellem et-årige og ti-årige obligationer faktisk meget større (fra 2,5 % til 3,7 %) end forskellen mellem et-årige og over fem-årige rentesatser fra PBoC (forskel på 0,8 %).
In this respect, the Commission referred to the documents that were listed in recital (100) above.
Forskellen skyldtes således udgangspunktet, på hvilket det relative spread var blevet anvendt.
It considered that references to the steel industry are sufficiently clear as this industry is identified either by its name or by a clear reference to the product that it manufactures or the industry group that it belongs to.
Hvis Kina ville have haft en tilsvarende tidsmæssig risikostruktur som udgangspunkt, ville det deraf følgende benchmark have fulgt en logisk udvikling på tværs af alle løbetider for lån.
Moreover, the fact that the GOC supports a limited group of encouraged industries, including the steel industry, makes this subsidy specific.
Som eksempel kan nævnes, at med en forskel på 3 % mellem kort- og langfristede PBoC-rentesatser ville det have resulteret i en referencesats på 15,81 % for langfristede lån, hvilket er højere end benchmarkværdien på 14,22 % for kortfristede lån.
Benefit and calculation of the subsidy amount
Kommissionen erkendte dette problem fra begyndelsen.
The Commission calculated the amount of the countervailable subsidy.
Med henblik på at minimere virkningen af forskelle i den tidsmæssig risikostruktur mellem de to lande besluttede Kommissionen at anvende det gennemsnitlige relative spread, og således bringe det internationale benchmark tættere på kinesiske forhold og undgå en kriminalisering af kinesiske virksomheder med en stor andel af kortfristede lån.
For this calculation it assessed the benefit conferred on the recipients during the IP.
Vedrørende det sjette punkt var Kommissionen uenig i den kinesiske regerings påstande.
According to Article 6(b) of the basic Regulation, the benefit conferred on the recipients is the difference between the amount of interest that the company pays on the government loan and the amount that the company would pay for a comparable commercial loan obtainable on the market.
Påstanden om, at Kommissionen kun anvendte det relative spread for langfristede lån, er faktuelt forkert.
In this regard, the Commission noted a number of specificities on the Chinese steel market.
Metoden med det relative spread blev anvendt for både lang- og kortfristede lån.
As explained in sections 3.4.1 to 3.4.3 above, the loans provided by Chinese financial institutions reflect substantial government intervention and do not reflect rates that would normally be found in a functioning financial market.
Kommissionen var dog uenig i den kinesiske regerings konklusion om, at alle data i stedet burde være taget fra UP.
For those two reasons, each company had a different average interest rate based on its own set of loans received.
I den forbindelse konstaterede Kommissionen, at de specifikke betingelser for hvert lån, som f.eks. rentevariabilitet, bør tages i betragtning, når man fastlægger den korrekte tidsperiode, der skal anvendes på spreadet og på satsen fra PBoC.
The Commission found during the investigation that the Chinese financing practices in the steel market, as shown by the four sampled groups of producers, are characterised by ‘revolving loans’, i.e. loans which allow a company to replace the capital repaid on loans at the maturity date by fresh capital from new loans.
I den foreliggende undersøgelse var disse oplysninger imidlertid ikke stillet til rådighed for Kommissionen for alle lån ydet til virksomhederne i stikprøven.
According to the Chinese guidelines on risk-based loan classification, they should be classified as so called ‘concerned’ loans, indicating that even though a borrower is currently able to repay the principal and interest of the loan, there are some factors which may negatively affect its repayment ability.
Da der ikke forelå oplysninger om de særlige forhold for de lån, der tidligere er ydet, og efter anmodning fra den kinesiske regering besluttede Kommissionen, at den ville anvende det relative spread og satsen fra PBoC i UP for alle lån ydet til virksomhederne i stikprøven i denne undersøgelse.
However, this was not done in practice as explained above in recital (125).
Kommissionen nedjusterede fordelen i forbindelse med præferencelån i overensstemmelse hermed.
The Commission assessed individually the financial situation of each sampled group of exporting producers in order to reflect these particularities.
Endelig anførte Kommissionen, at de kilder, der henvises til i det supplerende dokument med oplysninger, henviste til brugen af det relative spread for afkast, og at ingen af kilderne anførte, at det var nødvendigt, at denne forskel skulle udtrykkes relativt.
The Commission first analysed the general financial situation and the existence of revolving loans at group level.
Kommissionen påpegede, at formålet med det relative spread var at beregne en kreditrisikopræmie, der skal anvendes på den risikofrie rente for at nå frem til en referencerentesats.
This analysis was then further extended to the individual companies in the group operating at the level of the HRF production.
Kreditrisikopræmier afspejler faktisk, hvordan investorerne opfatter værdipapirerne, og hvilket afkast de forventer at få til gengæld for den øgede risiko.
As a result, the Commission calculated the benefit from the preferential lending practices for each sampled group of exporting producers on an individual basis, and allocated such benefit to the product concerned.
Selv om ikke alle kilder var videnskabeligt baseret, var de dog i tråd med henvisninger i andre kilder.
The Jiangsu Shagang Group presented itself in a generally profitable situation during the IP, according to its own financial accounts.
Af alle disse grunde anså Kommissionen stadig alle disse kilder for relevante.
However, the profitability of the group was continuously weak over the period 2012-2015, indicating that minor changes in the internal or external business environment could expose the group to a loss-making situation.
Kommissionen har således fastholdt sin holdning, at metoden med det relative spread i større grad afspejler den risikopræmie, som en finansiel institution ville anvende på de kinesiske eksporterende producenter på et marked uden forvridning, navnlig i betragtning af at basisrentesatsen i Kina og basisrentesatsen i USA har udviklet sig forskelligt over tid.
Its debt to assets ratio is high, but sustainable in a capital intensive industry such as the steel industry.
Desuden gjorde den kinesiske regering og to af virksomhederne i stikprøven indsigelse efter fremlæggelsen af oplysninger over for anvendelsen af en rentesats på mellem 14 % og 16 % for alle lån med en løbetid på 2 år eller derunder over for de produktionsvirksomheder, der gjorde brug af revolverende lån.
This general perception was confirmed on-spot.
Følgende bemærkninger blev modtaget:
The Commission noted that the Jiangsu Shagang Group has been awarded an AAA rating by the Chinese credit rating agency China Lianhe Credit Rating Co., Ltd., for the issuance of bonds in the Chinese market.
Kommissionen klassificerede samtlige lån med en løbetid på to år og derunder som revolverende lån uden tilstrækkelig forklaring eller underbyggende dokumentation.
However, the Commission also noted that a recent study published by the International Monetary Fund [28] showed significant divergences between local Chinese rating grades and international rating grades.
Ikke alle kortfristede lån til virksomhederne i stikprøven var revolverende lån.
For example, over 90 % of Chinese bonds are rated AA to AAA by local rating agencies, whereas less than 2 % of firms enjoy such top-notch ratings in the U.S. market.
Revolverende lån er ikke nødvendigvis et tegn på likviditetsproblemer.
This is further illustrated in the graph below taken from the study:
Revolverende lån er en del af normal virksomhedspraksis i Europa.
Inflated Bond Ratings
De genererer ikke højere rentesatser og er blevet anvendt af EU's stålindustri.
(In percent, share of local rating in onshore bond market by 2015)
Nærmere bestemt påstod Shougang Group, at Kommissionen identificerede revolverende lån hovedsageligt for virksomhederne Qian'an Coal, Xishan Coking og Shougang Corp, som ikke var i finansielle vanskeligheder.
International Rating (S&P)
Det alternative benchmark, som Kommissionen havde benyttet, var ikke i overensstemmelse med artikel 14 aftalen om subsidier og udligningsforanstaltninger (SCM-aftalen).
China Local Rating Sovereign rating
Det lån, der blev anvendt som grundlag for et alternativt benchmark, var et enkelt, ekstraordinært lån, der kun udgjorde 2 % af de samlede lån til Jiangsu Shagang Group, og Kommissionen forelagde ikke en begrundet forklaring på, hvorfor dette kunne sammenlignes med et lån på markedsvilkår.
Source: HSBC.
Hertil kommer, at Kommissionen ikke foretog tilpasninger for at tilnærme dette lån til sammenlignelige lån på markedsvilkår.
Inconsistent Local and International Ratings
Vedrørende det første punkt klassificerede Kommissionen ikke alle lån med en løbetid på to år og derunder som revolverende lån.
On this basis, even if the Jiangsu Shagang group is awarded a good credit rating by a Chinese rating agency, the Commission concluded that this rating is not reliable.
Eksistensen af revolverende lån i en given virksomhed blev blot anset for et tegn på, at virksomheden befandt sig i en dårligere økonomisk situation, end det som årsregnskaberne umiddelbart synes at vise, og at den yderligere risiko var knyttet til kortsigtede likviditetsproblemer.
At the level of the individual companies involved in the production of HRF, losses were recorded in the accounts during the IP, but this was not a recurring situation, and other financial indicators, such as the debt to assets ratio or the interest coverage ratio did not indicate any significant structural problems regarding the companies' debt repayment abilities.
Derfor var det nødvendigt at give alle kortfristede lån en højere risikopræmie, uanset om det var revolverende lån.
However, on-spot, the Commission also found that this company received one revolving loan among the sampled loans.
Vedrørende det andet punkt var Kommissionen uenig i den vurdering, som den kinesiske regering og de eksporterende producenter havde foretaget.
Moreover, in the loan tables, a significant number of short term loans was replaced with new loans for the same amount at expiry.
De kinesiske myndigheder anser selv revolverende lån for at være en yderligere kreditrisikofaktor.
Furthermore, one of the sampled companies in the group received a short term loan from a financial institution specialised in bad loans at a very high interest rate between 14 % and 16 %, which also indicates that it experienced liquidity issues in the IP.
Som anført i CBRC's Guidelines on risk-based loan classification bør revolverende lån indberettes i det mindste som »problematiske« lån [29].
This situation further confirmed the Commission's assessment to disregard the Chinese AAA rating of the Jiangsu Shagang Group as trustworthy.
Et lån, der henhører under denne kategori, medfører, at selv om en låntager kan betale afdrag og renter af lånet nu, er der visse faktorer, der kan have en negativ indvirkning på tilbagebetalingen.
Finally, a commercial paper issued by the Jiangsu Shagang Group had received a Prime-1 rating from Moody's in 2013.
Revolverende kreditfaciliteter findes ganske rigtigt i Europa og er blevet anvendt af Unionens stålindustri, men deres vilkår og betingelser er meget forskellige fra de kinesiske revolverende lån.
However, that rating was based on the rating of the Bank of China, New York Mellon branch, which had provided a guarantee, precisely because Jiangsu Shagang Group did not have a reliable and independent rating on its own.
Revolverende kreditfaciliteter i Unionen er i store træk kreditlinjer med et forud fastsat maksimumsbeløb, der kan tilbagekaldes og tilbagebetales flere gange i en på forhånd fastsat tidsperiode.
The lending financial institutions had not carried out a creditworthiness assessment.
I modsætning til den kinesiske regerings påstande, medfører sådanne kreditfaciliteter en ekstra udgift, det være sig en kontraktlig margen ud over de sædvanlige markedssatser [30] eller et på forhånd fastsat administrationsgebyr.
Hence, in order to establish the benefit, the Commission had to assess whether the interest rates for the loans accorded to the Jiangsu Shagang Group were at market level.
Desuden omfattede eksemplet med BNP Paribas, som den kinesiske regering fremlagde, bl.a. også et gebyr for varigheden af kreditfaciliteten.
The Commission considered that the financial situation of the group corresponds to a BB rating, which is the highest rating that does no longer qualify as ‘investment grade’.
På den anden side havde de revolverende lån, der blev konstateret under kontrolbesøgene hos de kinesiske virksomheder i stikprøven, ikke betingelser, der var forskellige fra andre kortfristede lån.
‘Investment grade’ means that bonds issued by the company are judged by the rating agency as likely enough to meet payment obligations that banks are allowed to invest in them.
De var ikke mærket som en kreditlinje eller en revolverende kreditfacilitet, og der var ingen ekstra gebyrer eller margener knyttet dertil.
Non-investment grade bonds are regarded as having speculative characteristics.