As a typical capital-intensive industry, the maritime finance industry is closely related to the financial industry. After more than 10 years of development, leasing companies have played an active role in boosting the "going out" of ship equipment and serving the real economy with their special "financing and financing" dual advantages, and have gradually become a new force in the global shipping capital market. , It has been favored in the international ship financing market.
Leasing companies deeply participate in the global shipping market
In 2017, the recovery of the global shipping industry was significant. For example, the bulk carrier and the container ship market continued to develop relatively well. The demand for ship financing also expanded with the recovery of the market.
Relevant data show that the average global increase of about 30 billion US dollars of container and ship financing needs, among them, China's financing agencies provided about 16 billion to 18 billion US dollars of funds. In the ship market, the proportion of financial shipowners has steadily increased in recent years. In particular, Chinese-funded financial institutions have become an important part of the entire shipping market.
With the advancement of the "Belt and Road Initiative," more and more leasing companies have accelerated the pace of "going out" and participated in the global market competition for shipping capital. Fang Xiushi, director of shipping business of Bank of Communications Financial Leasing Co., Ltd., said that Chinese leasing companies, especially financial leasing companies, have made significant progress in internationalization and specialization in recent years.
Leasing companies are playing an important role in helping shipping companies to speed up their capacity optimization and upgrades, revitalize their existing assets, and ease downturns in funding and risk pressures. The industry generally believes that in the future, the core competitiveness of leasing companies will still be reflected in the specialization, and doing business and risk control through specialized means is the core foundation for developing their shipping business.
Yang Jingwei, president of shipping division of Minsheng Financial Leasing Co., Ltd., said that the shipping industry is an industry with a large economic cycle. Grasping opportunities for business development should be judged from an investment perspective, not from the perspective of cash flow and trading technology.
Zhao Kuo, deputy general manager of ICBC Financial Leasing Co., Ltd.’s shipping division, also admitted that the important difference between leasing companies and other financial institutions is that they can perform professional management of ship assets or projects throughout the life cycle, effectively enhancing the response to market fluctuations. Sexual risk ability, guaranteeing stable income, and promoting stable development of the industry.
Actively respond to changes in fiscal and taxation policies for marine leasing
At present, with the profound changes in the shipping market and the leap-forward development of the leasing industry in the past 10 years, China’s maritime finance industry has taken a new historical point of departure. Leasing companies also need to attach great importance to risk management and accelerate the upgrading from capital advantages to professional advantages. .
Taking the path of professional development, the leasing company needs to gradually transition from a simple financing business to a business leasing business. According to Wang Weijun, general manager of the asset management department of Far East International Leasing Co., Ltd., laws, funds, taxes, and accounting are the four pillars of ship financing. Among them, the construction and improvement of laws needs to be further strengthened. This is to realize our country’s shipping from a big country to shipping. The key to a great power leap.
Wang Weijun suggested that the amendments to the Maritime Law could be improved and their own characteristics could be formed on the basis of absorbing the advantages of the Western rules. It is guided by the principle of benefiting social integrity and social fairness and justice, striving for more practical results, accumulating through a single point of case, and promoting continuous improvement of legal construction in exploration.
In recent years, in the marine leasing business, the proportion of operating leases has gradually increased, which has also brought about accounting and taxation problems. Qin Fang, senior tax manager of KPMG Certified Public Accountants, said that for the lessor, the new version of the International Accounting Standards to be formally implemented in 2019 will have the same accounting treatment as the current standards; however, for the lessee, all leasing businesses are The current financial leasing business will be incorporated into the balance sheet. This will have a greater impact on leasing companies that are highly dependent on operating leases, such as ships and offshore leasing.
Strengthen Cooperation and Broaden Diversified Financing Channels
In fact, the shipping market is a highly specialized and highly structured market, with different market segments such as dry bulk transportation, industry bulk transportation, container liners, and other trends becoming apparent. Leasing companies need to deepen their understanding of the industry and deepen their understanding of the industry, strengthen cooperation with financial institutions such as banks and insurance companies, and build a portfolio that is more in line with market demand, while capturing the real market demand and combining their own risk appetite. Expand diversified financing channels.
Xu Wei, deputy general manager of China Merchants Bank Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. Shipping Department, said that leasing companies need to pay more attention to the efficiency of capital use, and provide customers with more flexible means and more diversified products to provide financing, such as with banks, ship owners, and shippers. The combination of the industrial chain and the combination of assets not only share the risks, but also improve the efficiency of capital use.
Sun Jiawen, a director of Standard Chartered Bank (China) Co., Ltd., also stated that, in fact, the cooperation between banks and leasing companies in the shipping sector is greater than competition. For example, banks, through the cooperation with leasing companies, combine their own customers with leasing companies to achieve a more optimal financing structure for their customers and to help leasing companies achieve better asset allocation. At the same time, banks also expand their product portfolio. Coverage of services to achieve capital gains.
In addition, for the agencies participating in the investment and financing of the shipping financial market, it is particularly important to obtain long-term and stable cooperation due to the intricate nature of the shipping market itself. In the entire shipping business, insurance companies can provide leasing companies and export companies with more diversified financing and project solutions to protect the organization.
Zhang Hui, deputy director of the China Export Credit Insurance Corporation’s Business Unit, stated that the most commonly used shipping industry is export buyer's credit insurance, in order to support the defusing of the social risks of financial institutions under the owner's loan agreement. The overseas financial leasing insurance is directly oriented to the leasing company, which provides greater direct support to the leasing company and more flexible design.