巴克莱的危机公关

    巴克莱已经把公司最显赫的两个人撤掉了。

    虽然最高领导层的改变是重大的行动，从银行付出的代价来看却是相对微小的。真正的风险是进一步的民事诉讼、股东及投资者的愤怒和客户的觉醒。

    风险并不在于银行已经同意支付给英国金融服务管理局的4.5亿美元罚金。为了全面看待这个问题，我们只需了解，巴克莱的运营现金流在过去12个月超过600亿美元。危机管理公司Lexicon Communications Corp的总裁兼首席执行官斯蒂芬•芬克说：“4.5亿美元的罚单对巴克莱不过是九牛一毛罢了。”实际上，对任何主要银行来说这都是九牛一毛。监管者如此轻微的罚款根本不能阻止违法行为。

    更重大的问题是，价格操纵的潜在利益高于被逮住的风险。芬克认为，在进一步的民事诉讼中赔钱以及失去良好商誉的威胁才是严重的问题。至于解雇几名高管，“那只是走走过场。如果问题是系统性的，解雇一两个人并不能解决问题。当然我没有说一定会是这样。”

    因为监管者在未来的严密注视，银行需要避免这类利率操纵。但除非有某种更广泛的、文化上或者财务上的激励，能使得银行逆潮流而行，遵守规则，否则，它们还是会甘冒风险，事后选择象征性的补救措施，而不是真正地解决问题

    Barclays has taken away its faces.

    And while the change of leadership in the top is certainly a major move, it's a relatively small price for the bank to pay. The real risks are further civil lawsuits, shareholder and investor anger, and disillusioned customers.

    The risk, however, is not the $450 million in fines the bank has already agreed to pay the UK's Financial Services Authority. To put that in perspective, the bank's operating cash flow, trailing 12 months, is well over $60 billion. "A $450 million fine, that's a drop in the bucket for Barclays," says Steven Fink, president and CEO of crisis management firm Lexicon Communications Corp. It would be a drop in the bucket for any major bank, actually. Such a small financial penalty from regulators won't prevent unlawful behavior.

    The larger problem, then, is that the potential profits from price-fixing probably outweigh the risk of getting caught. The threat of losing money from further civil litigation and losing the good will of the public are serious issues for these banks, Fink says. But, as for firing a couple of executives, "That's only window dressing. If the problem is systemic, and I'm not saying it is, but just getting rid of one or two people doesn't solve the problem."

    Banks will also have to avoid this kind of rate fixing, if only because in the future, regulators will be watching for it. But until there is some larger, cultural, or monetary incentive for a bank to go against the grain and play by the rules, they may all take the risk and opt for more symbolic fixes than real ones.