**Times reporter Chen Yukang.
*The Times reporter learned that since 2018, the pledge risk resolution of Shanghai companies has achieved good results, and the pledge risk has been significantly converged. From the perspective of the market as a whole, the number of companies involved in ** pledge decreased from 1,380 to 880. The overall amount to be repaid and the total market value of the pledge have decreased by about 40%, the scale of equity pledge financing has been significantly reduced, and the overall performance guarantee ratio of the market is nearly 206%, and the overall pledge default risk is controllable.
As an important indicator to measure risk, the number of companies with a pledge ratio of more than 80% by controlling shareholders and their concerted actors has also dropped by more than 80% from the peak, accounting for 1 percent of all companies in Shanghai77%。
The equity pledge business of securities companies was started in 2014, and after experiencing rapid development from 2015 to 2017, part of the pledge business was exposed to risks in 2018. Since 2019, securities firms have been prudent in carrying out business, and the stock scale of equity pledge business has gradually declined.
The risk of equity pledge is greatly affected by the fluctuation of equity value, and when the stock price is **, **pledge will face the risk of liquidation. The relevant person in charge of a Shanghai pharmaceutical company told reporters that if the stock price leads to an increase in the pledge ratio, the pledgee has the right to pledge, which may lead to the loss of control of the company by the major shareholder and affect the normal operation of the listed company.
In this context, under the guidance of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the Shanghai Stock Exchange has laid a solid policy foundation for promoting the cooperation of all parties and achieving effective relief by improving the rules and policies related to pledges. With the continuous improvement of the pledge rules and regulations system of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the confidence of all stakeholders in resolving pledge risks has also been continuously enhanced.
Taking the new policy of transfer of the default disposal agreement of the pledge repurchase as an example, the industry generally believes that under this framework, resolving the pledge risk by agreement transfer is a bailout method with the least impact on the listed company. As a result, a number of listed companies have ushered in a turning point in resolving the risk of equity pledge, and Zhongman Petroleum is one of the beneficiaries.
Shi Mingxin, secretary of the board of directors of Zhongman Petroleum, said in an interview with a reporter from the ** Times that the pledge issue of major shareholders of Zhongman Petroleum first originated in 2018. At that time, the company's major shareholders and actual controllers pledged part of their holdings for financing, and the funds obtained were invested in entrepreneurial projects in the upstream and downstream of the company's industrial chain. With the continuous increase in the company's stock price, Zhongman Holdings and the actual controller will continue to supplement the pledge held by them, resulting in a continuous increase in the pledge rate, once approaching 100%. Later, the shareholders of the company obtained the funds through agreement transfer, and all of them were used to repay the pledged financing loans and resolve the pledge risk. With the recovery of the stock price, the company has also successfully reduced the scale of pledge financing to a reasonable range through agreement transfer and other means.