归来吧！ 汇丰银行总部或迁回香港

 　　With HSBC threatening to move its headquarters out of London, one city comes to mind as its potential new home: Hong Kong, the “H” in its name.

　　就在汇丰银行威胁要将总部搬离伦敦之际，一座城市被人们认为可能会成为它的新家：香港。汇丰银行（HSBC）名字里的H就代表的正是它。

　　Set up in 1865 and headquartered in both then-British colony Hong Kong and China’s financial center Shanghai as the bank that greased the wheels of British trade, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking¹ Corp. moved its headquarters to London in 1993 after it bought one of the U.K.’s top retail² banks in the early 1990s.

　　汇丰银行于1865年成立，总部位于当时的英国殖民地香港和中国的金融中心上海。它促进了英国贸易。90年代初，汇丰银行收购了英国最大的零售银行，并于1993年将总部搬到伦敦。

　　Its acquisition of Midland Bank, which had retail branches in almost every British city at that time, lifted the bank’s U.K earnings³.

　　米特兰银行几乎在英国的每个城市都有分行。收购该银行使得汇丰在英国的收益得到大幅提升。

　　But Hong Kong remains⁴ the source of the biggest chunk⁵ of profits at the bank founded by Thomas Sutherland, a Scot, 150 years ago. Last year it made up 44% of the global bank’s pre-tax profit of US$18.7 billion, while the U.K. recorded a US$56 million pre-tax loss.

　　然而，在这家150年前由苏格兰人托玛斯·萨瑟兰德创建的银行里，最大的一部分收入仍然来自香港。去年，汇丰这一跨国银行的44%税前利润来自香港，数额为187亿美元，而在英国，它的税前亏损为5600万。

　　The bank has a huge retail banking presence in the city, while its investment banking operations in Hong Kong have benefited from a surge in yuan-bond issuance in recent years.

　　汇丰银行在香港开设了大批分行。近年来，汇丰发行的大批人民币债券让它在香港的投资银行业务获益匪浅。

　　A big employer in the city of 7 million, HSBC had 30,000 employees there at the end of last year, accounting⁶ for 11.3% of its total workforce⁷. It is a joint⁸ sponsor of the city’s biggest annual international sporting event, the Hong Kong sevens rugby tournament.

　　汇丰是香港的主要用人单位。去年，在这座700万人的城市里有30000人是汇丰员工，占香港劳动力总额的11.3%。它还是香港最大的年度国际体育赛事，香港国际七人制橄榄球赛的联合赞助商。

　　Its Hong Kong headquarters, housed in a glass-building designed by star architect Norman Foster, also is a reminder⁹ of the bank’s place in the city’s history. The 47-story structure, the world’s most expensive building when it was built for almost $700 million in 1985, occupies a prime spot flanking the city’s legislative¹⁰ building, or parliament, with unobstructed views of the harbor.

　　汇丰香港总部位于一座玻璃大厦内。这座由著名设计师诺曼·福斯特设计的建筑仍提醒着人们汇丰在香港历史中的地位。1985年，这座造价7亿美元的47层大楼是世界上最贵的建筑。它的地理位置极好，侧面是香港立法会大楼，海港一览无遗。

　　This city with laws independent to those of the Chinese mainland also has one of the world’s lowest corporate¹¹ tax rates: at 16.5%, it remains below Britain’s 20%.

　　香港和中国大陆施行不同的法律，它16.5%的公司税是全世界最低的之一，低于英国20%的税率。

　　Speculation¹² over the bank’s plans prompted Hong Kong’s banking watchdog to say it would take a “positive attitude” to any decision by HSBC to relocate its headquarters to the city.

　　关于汇丰银行总部重返香港一事，有猜测称香港银行监管部门将对此持“积极态度”。

　　“HSBC is the largest bank in Hong Kong and has deep historical links with Hong Kong,”  the Hong Kong Monetary¹³ Authority said in a statement on Friday.

　　香港金融管理局在周五的声明中表示：“汇丰是香港最大的银行，与香港有着深厚的历史渊源。”

1 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

2 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

3 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

6 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

7 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

8 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

9 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

10 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

11 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

12 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

13 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。