2019年经济学人 澳大利亚银行:利与损 (1)

 

If a healthy banking¹ system is dull, then Australia's must be sick to the core.

如果一个健康的银行体系是乏味沉闷的话，那么澳大利亚的银行体系一定是病入膏肓的。

A royal commission with a broad remit² to investigate abuses by the country's financial institutions has found many troubling practices.

一皇家专门调查委员会（该委员会有调查胡作非为的国家金融机构的广泛职能）已经发现了很多令人不安的行为。

Hearings revealed that for years banks had hidden fees, charged money for non-existent services and docked charges from the dead.

听证会透露，多年来，银行都在收取隐性费用、对不存在的服务进行收费并从逝者身上扣除费用。

Financial advisers³ earned bonuses for channelling clients' cash towards underperforming funds.

财务顾问通过将客户的现金投入表现不佳的基金中赚取奖金。

Insurance companies flogged junk schemes to the poor or mentally disabled.

保险公司把垃圾方案卖给穷人或低能人士。

Australia's four biggest lenders saw their market capitalisation fall by an average of 16.3% while the commission was sitting,

当委员会介入并将他们的总价值降低660亿澳元（471亿美元）时，

knocking A$66bn ($47.1bn) off their combined value. 

澳大利亚的四大贷款方眼看着他们的市场总值平均下降了16.3%。

In April the country's biggest asset manager, AMP,

四月，该国最大的资产经理AMP

sacked its chief executive and chairman after the inquiry⁴ heard that it had not only charged customers for advice that was never provided,

解雇了其董事长和主席，此前据调查其不仅对不存在的建议服务向客户收费

but had lied to the regulators about it.

还向监管者撒谎。

On February 4th Kenneth Hayne, the judge who led the inquiry, handed his final report to the government.

2月4日，主持该调查的法官肯尼斯·海恩将他的最终报告交给了政府。

Heads have rolled: the chairman and chief executive of National Australia Bank, which Mr Hayne singled out for particular criticism, have resigned.

已经有人受到了惩罚：澳大利亚国家银行的主席和CEO（海恩将该银行挑出来着重批评）已经辞职了。

The commissioner⁵ has asked regulators to investigate 24 possible breaches⁶ of civil or criminal law.

委员已经要求监管者调查24项可能违反民事或刑法的问题。

Mr Hayne expressed particular disgust at those who gouged⁷ fees without providing services.

海恩对那些不提供服务却收取费用的人特别反感。

Almost A$1bn has already been paid in compensation to the victims.

受害者已经得到了近10亿澳元的赔偿。

Offenders⁸ may have broken a law against "dishonest conduct in relation to a financial product or financial service".

犯罪者可能违法了法律，“在金融产品或金融服务中存在不诚实行为”。

The report said the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the corporate⁹ regulator,

报告称企业监管机构，澳大利亚证券和投资委员会（ASIC）

should consider the maximum penalties: large fines, or up to ten years in prison for individuals.

应该考虑最高处分：巨额罚款或是高到十年的有期徒刑。

Thus Australia, a country widely regarded as having had a "good" financial crisis, with a stable, profitable banking system,

澳大利亚银行体系稳定有利，被普遍认为是一个曾拥有“优良”金融危机的国家，

may become one of the few places where bankers are jailed for institutional wrongdoing.

而现在澳大利亚可能成为了几个银行家因机构不当行为而被判入狱的国家之一。

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 remit   

v.汇款，汇寄；豁免（债务），免除（处罚等）

参考例句：

• I hope you'll remit me the money in time.我希望你能及时把钱汇寄给我。
• Many immigrants regularly remit money to their families.许多移民定期给他们的家人汇款。

3 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

4 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

5 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

6 breaches   

破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背

参考例句：

• He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
• This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来，婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。

7 gouged   

v.凿( gouge的过去式和过去分词 )；乱要价；（在…中）抠出…；挖出…

参考例句：

• The lion's claws had gouged a wound in the horse's side. 狮爪在马身一侧抓了一道深口。
• The lovers gouged out their names on the tree. 情人们把他们的名字刻在树上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 offenders   

n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物）

参考例句：

• Long prison sentences can be a very effective deterrent for offenders. 判处长期徒刑可对违法者起到强有力的威慑作用。
• Purposeful work is an important part of the regime for young offenders. 使从事有意义的劳动是管理少年犯的重要方法。

9 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。