Carl Walter with Jim Grant

Sounding Line: Carl Walter: China Will Never Open Its Capital Markets

“(Baoshang) is scaring everybody because they’re not the only one. They’re the one that couldn’t hold it together in the end, but… I’ve been trying… to figure out how many banks there are in China and supposedly there are 134 of these city commercial banks. 134 of which (Baoshang) is one, and all of these guys use wealth management products or borrowed in the inter-bank market to fund local things. Or, they borrowed in the inter-bank market or borrowed in wealth management products to support local asset management companies to hide other banks’ bad loans. I don’t think (Baoshang) is unique and I think the reason the markets are scared is because everybody knows that the emperor has no clothes. There is a lot more than just the one.”

“…The main point is that the People’s Bank had gotten their way and opened on all these things. They liberalized the interest rates, so you got wealth management products… You saw what happened when the capital account opened up and they closed it again. There is no way in the world things like that are going to happen (again) in China in your lifetime, my lifetime, or anybody’s lifetime as long as the Party’s in control. No way…”