2019年经济学人 金融犯罪—撬开空壳(1)

 

Financial crimes come in all shapes and sizes,

金融犯罪的形式和规模各不相同，

from politicians siphoning off state wealth and officials taking bungs to terrorists buying arms and gangs laundering¹ drug profits.

从政客们挪用国家财富和官员们贪污腐败到恐怖分子购买武器和团伙洗钱贩毒。

A common element is the use of shell companies, partnerships² or foundations to hide the identities of those moving dirty money.

一个常见的因素是利用空壳公司、合伙企业或基金会来隐藏那些转移非法钱财之人的身份。

Such brass-plate entities³, whose ownership is typically hard if not impossible to trace,

这种黄铜牌实体的所有权即便不是不可追踪，也是很难追查的到，

were at the heart of the theft from 1MDB, a Malaysian state fund, and a $230bn money-rinsing scandal at Danske Bank.

它们是马来西亚国家主权基金1MDB盗窃案以及丹斯克银行2300亿美元洗钱丑闻的核心。

They have been dubbed⁴ the "getaway cars" of financial crime.

它们被称为金融犯罪的“逃跑车”

NGOs such as Global Witness and Transparency International have long highlighted shells' pernicious role,

非政府组织，如全球见证组织和透明国际，长期以来一直在强调空壳公司的有害作用

picking up support from government investigators⁵ sick of trails going cold.

得到了那些厌倦追查不到踪迹的政府调查人员的支持。

Their biggest success was to persuade Britain, in 2016, to become the first G20 country to set up a public register of company owners.

他们最大的成功是在2016年说服英国成为首个建立公司所有人公众登记册的G20国家。

The rest of the European Union is set to follow once a new money-laundering directive takes effect. That leaves plenty of gaps.

一旦新的反洗钱指令生效，欧盟其他国家也将效仿。这留下了很多缺口。

But two of the biggest, Britain's offshore⁶ territories and America, are also moving in the direction of ditching secrecy⁷

但是其中最大的两个，英国的近海领土和美国，也在朝着放弃保密的方向前进。

Earlier this month Britain's three Crown Dependencies—Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle⁸ of Man—

月初，英国的三个皇家属地—泽西岛、根西岛和马恩岛—

issued a surprise joint⁹ statement pledging to table legislation to introduce public registers by 2023.

发布了一份出人意料的联合声明，承诺在2023年之前通过立法引入公众登记册。

They had long insisted that efforts by British MPs to force such a move could trigger a constitutional crisis.

长期以来，他们一直坚持认为，英国国会议员强行实施这一举措的努力可能引发一场宪法危机。

But the growing clout¹⁰ of the transparency movement persuaded them to jump rather than wait to be pushed.

但透明运动的影响力越来越大，这促使他们跃起而不是被动地等待。

Were three of the biggest offshore financial centres to end secrecy,

如果三家最大的离岸金融中心终止保密，

it would make it harder for others—including Britain's Caribbean territories,

这会让其他的金融中心更加难以—包括英国的加勒比地区

such as the British Virgin¹¹ Islands and the Cayman Islands—to keep owners in the shadows.

如英属维尔京群岛以及开曼群岛—掩护所有者们。

But campaigners' optimism is tinged¹² with caution.

但活动人士的乐观中带有一丝谨慎。

The Crown Dependencies envisage¹³ a staged implementation¹⁴, with access first for police,

皇家属地想要分阶段实施，先是警察

then for financial firms doing due diligence, and only later for everyone else. Some fear a ruse¹⁵ to buy time.

然后再是做尽职调查的金融公司，最后是其他人。有些人担心这是一个拖延时间的诡计。

1 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

3 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

4 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

7 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

8 isle   

n.小岛，岛

参考例句：

• He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
• The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。

9 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。

10 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。

11 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

12 tinged   

v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• memories tinged with sadness 略带悲伤的往事
• white petals tinged with blue 略带蓝色的白花瓣

13 envisage   

v.想象，设想，展望，正视

参考例句：

• Nobody can envisage the consequences of total nuclear war.没有人能够想像全面核战争的后果。
• When do you envisage being able to pay me back?你看你什么时候能还我钱？

14 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

15 ruse   

n.诡计，计策；诡计

参考例句：

• The children thought of a clever ruse to get their mother to leave the house so they could get ready for her surprise.孩子们想出一个聪明的办法使妈妈离家，以便他们能准备给她一个惊喜。It is now clear that this was a ruse to divide them.现在已清楚这是一个离间他们的诡计。