香港交易及结算所有限公司（HKEx，简称港交所）为了争取伦敦金属交易所(LME)的会员批准它对LME发起的14亿英镑现金收购，不遗余力地对后者做了说服工作。港交所力求使这些会员相信，它并不听命于北京方面。
与此同时，港交所称，它能够说服中国政府作出重大让步，比如批准LME在华设立仓库和允许更多中国企业在LME交易。
港交所与北京方面的关系可谓既"远"又"近"，该所行政总裁李小加(Charles Li)努力为这种双重关系进行了辩护，尽管这种关系中可能存在着自相抵触。
据这项交易的知情人士透露，李小加竭尽全力地说服LME董事会相信港交所不受中共的干预。一位接近LME的人士表示："他们无数次地向我们保证，这是一家香港实体，不是中国内地实体。"
但部分LME会员仍对港交所会将LME纳入囊中的前景感到不安。LME拥有135年历史，是全球金属市场的核心所在。
在港交所的13名董事中，有6名由香港政府委任。香港政府也是港交所的最大股东。
不过，在经过数周会商以后，LME董事会上周还是决定向会员推荐港交所发出的收购要约，而不是美国竞争对手洲际交易所(ICE)发出的要约。这等于是对港交所的治理投下了信任票。
知情人士表示，英国政府也暗示不会反对这项交易。
香港虽是中国的一部分，却拥有独立的司法，而且除了国防和外交事务以外，在其他各方面拥有自治权。
这项交易完成后，LME仍会留在伦敦，由英国金融服务管理局(FSA)监管。
港交所市场发展科主管罗力(Romnesh Lamba)表示："港府任命的董事均未曾利用自己的地位来影响我们的战略或业务，均未曾说过'这么做有利于港府'、更不要说有利于北京了。有人担心中国政府控制了我们或鼓励我们收购，这种担心完全没有根据。"
不过，港交所的股东并不担心北京方面可能以某种方式利用LME来影响价格。
相反，他们担心港交所作为一家独立的香港集团，缺乏必要的政治影响力来说服北京方面允许它进入内地市场。周一，由于投资者认定港交所在收购LME上出价过高，港交所的股价下跌了4.5%。港交所之所以报出这么高的价格，在一定程度上是因为它过于相信自己有能力打入内地市场。
投资者担心，香港不受北京方面干预意味着，港交所不一定能从中国内地获得想要的资源。
多年来，LME一直试图说服北京方面允许它向中国内地仓库交割金属（这是工业界客户的一项重要要求），但未取得任何进展。
即便是港交所的对手、有中国国企持股的香港商品交易所(HKMEx)，也未能在中国内地建立起燃油储存设施——尽管它有那么一层关系。
曾在港交所担任5年董事、直到2008年才离任的公司治理活动家戴维•韦伯(David Webb)认为，港交所"不一定能在中国有意向所有人敞开大门之前先行打开中国的门户。"
如果允许中国企业在LME直接交易，那将标志着中国大幅放松资本管制。中共决不会轻率地采取这一做法。
不过，李小加上周五向英国《金融时报》表示："付出这样的价格、同时又没搞掂一个基本的问题（即说服北京方面允许其在内地市场扩张），这当然不是每个人都乐意做的事情。"
港交所的发展方向，会与上海期货交易所(SHFE)发生冲突。上期所的交易品种包括可在中国内地市场交割的贱金属合约，该所目前正在拓展国际业务。
中国内地的期货交易所——分别位于大连、上海和郑州——相互竞争，都想让中国证监会(CSRC)批准其上马新的大宗商品合约。一位接近上期所的人士表示，该所与证监会关系密切，不会不经抵抗就任由其香港竞争对手在自己的地盘上攻城拔寨。
知情人士透露，感觉到风险的港交所已聘请包括江西铜业(Jiangxi Copper)和五矿集团(Minmetals)在内的中国国有交易商，代表其游说证监会。记者联系不上江西铜业请其置评。五矿则拒绝置评。
罗力表示，港交所必须谨慎行事，避免激怒上期所。"如果我们闯了进来、试图吞掉他们的地盘，那我们最终将一无所获。他们有能力吃掉我们，让我们的战略落空。"
杰里米•格兰特(Jeremy Grant)新加坡补充报道
译者/倪卫国
http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001045132
In its campaign to win the approval of members of the London Metal Exchangefor its £1.4bn cash offer, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearingwent to great lengths to convince them it was not a stooge for Beijing.
At the same time, the exchange argued that it could convince the Chinese government to make big concessions, such as approving LME warehouses in China and allowing more Chinese companies to trade on the bourse.
Charles Li, HKEx chief executive, has tried to defend these two positions – being distant from Beijing and close to it at the same time – in spite of the potential contradiction.
According to people familiar with the process, Mr Li made a huge effort to persuade the LME board it was free from interference by the Chinese Communist party. "We have been issued with numerous assurances that this is a Hong Kong entity, not a Chinese entity," a person close to the LME says.
Some LME members remain nervous about the prospect of HKEx taking control of the 135-year-old venue at the heart of the global metals market.
Six of HKEx's 13 board members are appointed by the Hong Kong government, also the bourse's largest shareholder.
After weeks of meetings, however, the LME board last week recommended its bid over an offer from ICE, a US rival in a vote of confidence in the governance of the Hong Kong group.
The UK government has also indicated it has no objections to the deal, according to people familiar with its thinking.
While part of China, Hong Kong has an independent judiciary and is autonomous in all areas except defence and foreign affairs.
The deal will see the LME remain in London, regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
"Not one of the government-appointed directors has ever tried to use their position to influence our strategy or business by saying, 'This is good for the Hong Kong government' – let alone Beijing," says Romnesh Lamba, HKEx head of market development. "The concern that China controls us or is encouraging us to buy is completely unfounded."
HKEx shareholders, however, are unconcerned that Beijing could somehow use the LME to influence prices.
Rather, they worry that as an independent Hong Kong group, HKEx lacks the political clout needed to convince Beijing to give it access to mainland China. HKEx shares fell 4.5 per cent yesterday as investors judged the exchange to have overpaid for LME, partly because of overconfidence in its ability to break into the China market.
Hong Kong's independence from Beijing, they fear, means the bourse is by no means guaranteed to get what it wants from China.
The LME has for years vainly tried to convince Beijing to let it deliver metals to mainland warehouses, an important requirement for industrial customers.
Even the Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange, a rival backed by Chinese state enterprises, failed to set up mainland storage facilities for fuel oil despite its links.
David Webb, a corporate governance activist who sat on the HKEx board for five years until 2008, doubts it can "open doors into China any faster than China is willing to open doors to everybody".
Allowing Chinese groups to trade directly on the LME will represent a significant relaxation of the country's capital controls, a move that the Communist party will not take lightly.
Nonetheless, Mr Li told the Financial Times on Friday: "Paying this price and not having that fundamental box checked [approval from Beijing to expand in China] is not something that anybody would do."
The HKEx is on a collision course with the Shanghai Futures Exchange, which hosts base metals contracts deliverable in the domestic Chinese market and is pushing to internationalise its business.
China's domestic futures exchanges – in Dalian, Shanghai and Zhengzhou – vie with one another for new commodities contracts approvals from the China Securities Regulatory Commission. The Shanghai Futures Exchange – an entity with strong relationships with the CSRC – will not let its Hong Kong rival muscle on to its turf without a fight, a person close to the exchange says.
HKEx, sensing the risks, has recruited state-owned traders, including Jiangxi Copper and Minmetals, to lobby the CSRC on its behalf, people close to the matter say. Jiangxi Copper could not be reached for comment, and Minmetals declined to comment.
Mr Lamba at HKEx says it must tread carefully to avoid antagonising the SHFE: "If we walk in there and try to eat their shirts, we'll never get anywhere. They have the power to eat us and kill our strategy."
Additional reporting by Jeremy Grant in Singapore
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