经济学人:英国曼岛的保险业 (1)

 The seaside promenade¹ in Douglas, on the Isle² of Man, a self-governing British Crown dependency, boasts grand Victorian buildings and a horse-drawn tram. 曼岛是一个英国王权的自治属地，其首府道格拉斯的海滨大道上坐落着宏伟的维多利亚时期建筑以及一辆马拉电轨车。

Once they helped it to compete with the likes of Llandudno and Blackpool for the tourist masses of England's north-west. 它们曾帮助该地与兰迪德诺以及黑潭争夺来自英国西北部的游客群。

When cheap air travel meant these holiday towns were abandoned, most fell into disrepair. But Douglas reinvented itself as an off-shore financial centre. 当廉价的航空旅行使这些假日城市被遗弃时，大部分城市都陷入绝望。但是道格拉斯将自己重新打造成了一座离岸金融中心。

Today finance provides over a third of the island's GDP, of which around half is from insurance. Now new transparency rules put that at risk. 如今金融业为这座小岛贡献了超过三分之一的GDP，其中约有一半来自保险业。现在新的透明政策该行业其岌岌可危。

From January 1st the island's insurers will have to be more open with clients, in particular on the subject of brokers³' commissions. 自1月1日期，岛上的保险公司将要对客户更加开放，尤其是在经纪人佣金方面。

Britain has had similar rules since 2013. International organisations such as the OECD, a club of rich countries, 英国自2013年起实施了类似的政策。国际组织，比如富国俱乐部—经济合作与发展组织（OECD）

and the Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental anti-money-laundering organisation⁴, increasingly require such standards for their seal of approval. 以及非政府反洗钱组织—金融行动专责委员会，愈发要求在他们按下批准印章时实施此标准。

The island's main insurance business is not at risk. The "offshore⁵ bonds" it started offering in the 1970s allow British residents to pay a lump sum, 该岛的主要保险业务并未面临风险。它自20世纪70年代开始出售的“离岸债券”让英国居民一次性支付一笔金额，

usually at least 50,000 pounds ($63,000), to be returned on an agreed date. 通常至少为五万英镑（6.3万美元），然后在双方约定之日返还。

These count as life insurance, though the insurance payout is typically just 1-5% of the lump sum, and can be as little as 1 pound. 这些算是一种人寿保险，虽然保险理赔金额通常只有投保总额的1-5%，可能只有1英镑。

The appeal is tax-efficiency: deferring⁶ incometax liabilities or avoiding inheritance tax. 该保险吸引人的地方在于其税收效益：递延所得税负债或是避开遗产税。

Britain's tax authority could kill these off, but it has tolerated them for decades and shows no sign of a change of heart. 英国税务机关能够将这些扼杀掉，但它已经忍了几十年并且毫无变心的迹象。

Rather, it is the island's growing business of life insurance for expatriates and the global rich that is under threat. 当然，正是该岛海外移民和全球富豪人寿保险的增长业务受到了威胁。

The other big offshore insurance centre, Bermuda, specialises in property-and-casualty insurance and reinsurance, mainly for hurricane risk in America. 另一个大型的离岸保险中心百慕大群岛专门从事财产保险以及再保险业务，主要是为美洲的飓风风险提供再保险。

For the Isle of Man, by contrast, life insurance accounts for over 90% of its insurers' assets under management: 69bn pounds out of 75bn pounds. 相比之下，对曼岛而言，人寿保险占其保险公司管理资产额的90%多，即690亿英镑：750亿英镑。

And within life insurance, it specialises in asset protection and asset management rather than death benefits or annuities⁷. 在人寿保险业务中，它专注于资产保护以及资产管理，而非死亡抚恤金或养老金。

 

1 promenade   

n./v.散步

参考例句：

• People came out in smarter clothes to promenade along the front.人们穿上更加时髦漂亮的衣服，沿着海滨散步。
• We took a promenade along the canal after Sunday dinner.星期天晚饭后我们沿着运河散步。

2 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。

3 brokers   

n.（股票、外币等）经纪人( broker的名词复数 )；中间人；代理商；（订合同的）中人v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的第三人称单数 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• The firm in question was Alsbery & Co., whiskey brokers. 那家公司叫阿尔斯伯里公司，经销威士忌。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• From time to time a telephone would ring in the brokers' offices. 那两排经纪人房间里不时响着叮令的电话。 来自子夜部分

4 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

5 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。

6 deferring   

v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的现在分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• Recently, the Supreme Court has focused on an additional reason for deferring to administrative agencies. 最近，最高法院强调了尊重行政机构的另一种理由。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Think of it as deferring part of the compiler's job to runtime. 可以认为这是将编译器的部分工作延迟到了运行时。 来自互联网

7 annuities   

n.养老金；年金( annuity的名词复数 )；（每年的）养老金；年金保险；年金保险投资

参考例句：

• Many companies in this country grant their old employees annuities after they retire. 这个国家的许多公司在老年雇员退休后发给他们养老年金。 来自辞典例句
• Can I interest you in one of our Easter Annuities or IRA accounts? 您对我们的复活节年金保险或者个人退休金帐户有兴趣吗？ 来自电影对白