????據媒體報道，中國人民銀行正在調查中國銀行這家中國、乃至全球最大的商業銀行之一是否存在幫助客戶規避國內資本管制的行為。

????上周，中央電視臺報道稱，中國銀行為客戶提供的服務可以讓后者每年向海外轉移資金的規模超過限制。中國銀行是國內四大銀行之一，也是金融穩定委員會（Financial Stability Board）認定的28家“全球具有系統重要性的金融機構”之一。

????央視報道指出，中國銀行對這項服務一直守口如瓶，因為它知道這是違法行為。路透社則稱，中國銀行已經對此予以否認。

????中國人民銀行負責制定資本出入境限制政策。該行在上周四晚間發布公告稱，它“注意到了與某家商業銀行跨境人民幣業務有關的媒體報道，目前正在核實相關情況。”

????央視對此進行報道的背景是，越來越多的證據顯示，中國的中產階層和企業家不僅把國外視為今后投資的目的地，他們還在考慮是否移民，原因是環境污染和腐敗等因素讓他們覺得自己的生活質量沒有達到預期。

????中國人民銀行2008年發布的報告顯示，20世紀90年代中期以來，已有數萬名政府官員移民海外，帶走的資產超過1300億美元。

????中國正在設法遏制國內居民通過大量投資換取海外居留權或公民身份的趨勢。香港的金融體系不受大陸資本管制政策限制，在那里，對此類服務的營銷很活躍。

????今年5月份，廣州市一位官員因被認定為“裸官”，也就是妻子兒女均已移民海外而被迫提前退休。

????試圖通過這種途徑從中國吸引資金的不光是亞洲和非洲的貧窮國家。舉例來說，只要愿意在英國保持100萬英鎊（170萬美元）投資并且實際投資75萬英鎊，就可以在英國獲得居留權，這里所說的投資甚至可以只是購買政府債券。

????不過，在打擊非法轉移資金行為的同時，中國還在鼓勵國際社會更多地使用人民幣，并且以此作為今后放松資本管制的前提。最近，中國和倫敦、法蘭克福以及盧森堡的銀行機構簽署了人民幣清算協議，為建立人民幣國際資本市場創造了條件。（財富中文網）

????譯者：Charlie

????China’s central bank is investigating one the country’s–and the world’s– largest commercial banks after allegations that it has been helping clients to get round local capital controls, according to media reports.

????The China Central Television network had alleged earlier in the week that Bank of China, the country’s fourth-largest bank and one of 28 institutions considered by the Financial Stability Board to be “Global Systemically Important Financial Institutions”, was offering clients a service allowing them to move more money offshore than allowed by annual caps.

????The report said Bank of China kept the program secret because they knew it was illegal. Reuters said Bank of China has denied the allegations.

????In a statement late Thursday, the People’s Bank of China, which polices the country’s restrictions on moving capital in and out of the country, said it “noticed a media report about a commercial bank’s cross-border renminbi busiess, and are verifying related facts.”

????The allegations come against a background of increasing evidence that China’s middle class and entrepreneurs are looking abroad not just for their future investments, but also with a view to possible emigration owing to the country’s failure to deliver a quality of life that meets their aspirations, due to factors such as pollution or corruption.

????Tens of thousands of Communist Party officials have left China since the mid-1990s, taking over $130 billion with them, according to a 2008 report compiled by the PBoC.

????China is trying to stop a trend in which local citizens gain residency in or citizenship of another country in return for big investments there. Such schemes are actively marketed in Hong Kong, which has an autonomous financial system outside of mainland China’s capital controls.

????In May, a senior Communist Party official in the southern city of Guangzhou was forced to take early retirement after being labeled a “naked official”, that is, one whose wife and children have emigrated.

????It isn’t just poor countries in Asia and Africa that are trying to attract Chinese money that way. The U.K., for instance, offers residency to anyone willing to invest over keep one million pounds ($1.7 million) in the country and invest 750,000 pounds, even if only in the form of government bonds.

????But even while it tries to crack down on illicit capital flight, China is trying to encourage more international use of the renminbi, as a prelude to loosening controls in future. It has recently signed agreements for banks in London, Frankfurt and Luxembourg to clear transactions in renminbi, setting up the makings of an international capital market for its currency.