经济学人:一周商业要闻12

 　　Business this week. 一周商业要闻

　　America's big banks reported earnings¹ for the third quarter. 美国各家大型银行报告了第三季度的收入情况。

　　Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo posted solid profits, though the mortgage loan businesses in all three suffered. 尽管美国银行，花旗银行以及富国银行在抵押贷款业务中遭受了损失，但它们仍保持强劲的利润。

　　In contrast, JPMorgan Chase declared a $380m net loss, its first under Jamie Dimon as chief executive, as it set aside $9.2 billion for potential settlement costs in a slew² of legal cases brought by American regulators. 相比之下，摩根大通银行却宣布净亏损3.8亿美元，这是自杰米·戴蒙担任其首席执行官以来出现的首次亏损情况；究其原因是摩根大通留出了约92亿美元的资金，用以支付美国监管机构提出的一系列法律案件中的潜在结算费用。

　　On a trip to China George Osborne, Britain's chancellor³ of the exchequer⁴, outlined proposals to smooth the way for Chinese state owned banks to operate inLondon, such as classifying them as branches rather than subsidiaries, thereby⁵ avoiding rigorous scrutiny⁶. 英国财政大臣乔治·奥斯本到访中国，并概述了旨在为中国国有银行在伦敦开展业务铺平道路的几点建议。建议包括将中方的国有银行归入分行而非子公司，以避免受到严格的监管。

　　International trading in the yuan has tripled over the past three years to $120 billion a day, with London emerging as the global hub. 随着伦敦成为全球中心城市，过去三年里，该地的国际贸易日成交额（以人民币结算）已达到1200亿美元，是过去的三倍。

　　BlackRock's net income in the third quarter rose by 10% to $672m. 美国大型投资公司——黑石集团第三季度净收入6.72亿美元，涨幅达10%。

　　In September assets under management at the giant investment company passed $ 4 trillion for the first time. 今年九月，该公司管理的资产额首次超过了4万亿美元。

　　It emerged that Sir Hector Sants is taking three months off as head of global compliance⁷ at Barclays because of stress. 有消息爆出，巴克莱银行合规负责人、前英国金融服务全球监管局CEO赫克托·桑特爵士由于压力过大，决定将休假三个月。

　　Sir Hector used to headBritain's financial regulatory authority. 桑特是空降到巴克莱银行的，

　　He was parachuted into Barclays with the responsibility of making sure the bank's staff follow the letter of the law in the dozens of countries in which it operates. 他负责确保银行工作人员遵守与巴克莱打交道的国家的法律条文。

　　American authorities are investigating its capital raising activities in theMiddle East. 美国当局正在对巴克莱银行在中东的融资活动展开调查。

　　In a regulatory filing Twitter disclosed that it will list shares in its eagerly awaited IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, a slap in the face for NASDAQ after the technical mishaps⁸ that beset⁹ Facebook's flotation last year. 在一份监管文件中，推特披露将在纽约证交所上市发行股票，它早已翘首以盼这一刻的到来。同时，此举也给纳斯达克一记响亮的耳光，因为去年由于技术失误，脸书在纳斯达克的上市计划一直备受困扰。

　　Twitter also revealed that its revenue in the third quarter had doubled to $169m from the same period a year earlier, but that its net loss had tripled, to $65m's. 推特还透露其第三季度的收益较去年同期翻了一番，达到1.69亿美元，但其净损失也增加了两倍，达到6500万美元。

　　Carlos Slim América Móvil gave up its bid for KPN, a Dutch telecoms company, after the foundation that looks out for the interests of KPN investors¹⁰" and Dutch society more generally" exercised its right to buy 50% of the shares. 卡洛斯·斯利姆旗下的移动运营商墨西哥美洲电信公司放弃对荷兰皇家电信公司的收购。此前，一家基金会为了避免荷兰皇家电信公司投资人，或者从更广义上说整个荷兰社会的利益不受损害，它设法运用自己所拥有的认购期权收购了荷兰皇家电信集团每股不足50%的比例。

　　Apple appointed Angela Ahrendts as head of its retail¹¹ operations. 苹果公司任命安吉拉·阿伦茨担任其零售业务总管。

　　She has been the chief executive of Burberry for seven years and is credited with reviving the British fashion house with designs that eschew¹² its ubiquitous plaid. 过去七年，阿伦茨一直担任巴宝莉公司首席执行官；她凭借故意回避该品牌的经典格子款的创新设计使巴宝莉得以振兴，人们认为她功不可没。

　　Apple's retail strategy could also do with a bit of a makeover; sales at its stores were down earlier this year for the first time since 2009. 苹果的零售策略可能也需要一些美化元素，因为今年，苹果经销商自2009年以来首次在销量上出现了下跌情况。

　　Meanwhile, the Irish government closed a tax loophole that had allowed Apple to register" stateless" subsidiaries in the country, through which it was able to shield $40 billion from the American taxman. 与此同时，爱尔兰政府填补了一个税收管理漏洞，因为苹果公司借助此漏洞在爱尔兰登记注册了一家“无国籍”的子公司，这样便能避免向美国税务机构缴纳400亿美元的赋税。

　　But Apple and others can still set up business inIreland and list a low tax jurisdiction¹³, such asBermuda, as their home country and park income in the lower tax regime. 但是，爱尔兰政府仍允许苹果等公司在此建立企业，并欢迎这些公司将百慕大等低税收区域选为母公司所在地，并根据当地的低税收制度储存公司收益。

　　In the biggest deal yet in mobile gaming's, Japan Softbank acquired a 51% stake in Supercell, which is based inFinland, for $1.5 billion. 日本软银以15亿美元的高价收购位于芬兰的游戏开发商Supercell，这成为了移动游戏里最大规模的交易。

　　Supercell has had success with two bestselling games that are free to download on smartphones and tablets, and then entice¹⁴ users into paying a fee if they want to quicken the pace of play. Supercell公司成功开发了两款最热门的游戏，并且可供智能手机和平板电脑免费下载；但是，随后如果玩家想加快游戏升级的速度，就需要支付一定的费用。

　　Big industry scored two wins when the European Union moved to water down policies on curbing¹⁶ emissions¹⁸ from cars and planes. 欧盟放宽了限制汽车和飞机碳排放量的政策，这算是大工业赢得的两场胜利。

　　The EU agreed to review a German proposal for more flexibility¹⁹ in reducing emissions from new vehicles( German carmakers produce models with lower fuel efficiency than French and Italian ones). 欧盟同意重新考虑德国的提议，在减少碳排放量时采取更为灵活的措施；这些措施是针对德国汽车制造商生产的新型汽车，它们的燃油效率比法国和意大利的要低。

　　And it presented amendments²⁰ that will curb¹⁵ emissions on jets only when they enter EU airspace, after airlines objected to emission¹⁷ curbs²¹ on total flying times. 此外，由于航空公司反对欧盟对其总飞行时间内碳排放量的限制，欧盟还出台了关于喷气机进入欧盟领空碳排量限制的修订案。

　　The Italian government's proposed bail²² out of Alitalia drew criticism. 意大利政府提议给意大利航空公司划拨援救资金，引来了一片骂声。

　　Italy's national airline has not made a profit in a decade and lost €1.6m( $2.1m) a day in the first six months of the year, but the government has proposed a share restructuring that is backed partly by the state owned post office, Poste Italiane. 这家意大利国家航空公司在过去十年没有任何盈利记录，今年上半年日亏损达到160万欧元（约合210万美元）；但是政府却提议进行股票重组，由该国的国有邮局——意大利邮政集团承担部分重组计划。

　　International Airline Group, which owns British Airways²³, fumed²⁴ that the plan was protectionist. 拥有英国航空公司的国际航空集团怒斥此计划具有贸易保护主义色彩。

　　Royal Mail's share price soared after it was floated on the stockmarket in the biggest privatisation inBritain since a sell off boom in the 1980s and early 1990s. 英国皇家邮政挂牌上市，成为该国自上世纪八九十年代出现股票抛售潮以来规模最大的国有资产私有化项目；随后，其股价一路飙升。

　　There were some differences with that time. 但情况每况愈下。

　　Around 690,000 people applied²⁵ for shares, far fewer than the4.5m who sought shares in British Gas in 1986. 约69万股民申购皇家邮政的股票，远远低于1986年申购英国天然气公司股票的450万人。

　　And investors traded their shares on the internet, despite the inevitable²⁶ crashes on overloaded²⁷ websites. 尽管网络由于负载过重，不可避免的出现了系统崩溃现象，但股民们仍选择在网上进行交易。

　　One aspect struck a familiar ring. 祸不单行，

　　Despite being given 10% of the shares in Royal Mail, postal²⁸ workers voted to strike in November. 尽管皇家邮政的员工们获得了10%的企业股票，但是他们仍投票决定在11月举行罢工。

1 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%。

2 slew   

v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多

参考例句：

• He slewed the car against the side of the building.他的车滑到了大楼的一侧，抵住了。
• They dealt with a slew of other issues.他们处理了大量的其他问题。

3 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

4 exchequer   

n.财政部；国库

参考例句：

• In Britain the Chancellor of the Exchequer deals with taxes and government spending.英国的财政大臣负责税务和政府的开支。
• This resulted in a considerable loss to the exchequer.这使国库遭受了重大损失。

5 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

6 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

7 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

8 mishaps   

n.轻微的事故，小的意外( mishap的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a series of mishaps 一连串的倒霉事
• In spite of one or two minor mishaps everything was going swimmingly. 尽管遇到了一两件小小的不幸，一切都进行得很顺利。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 beset   

v.镶嵌；困扰，包围

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• The plan was beset with difficulties from the beginning.这项计划自开始就困难重重。

10 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

11 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。

12 eschew   

v.避开，戒绝

参考例句：

• Eschew fattening foods if you want to lose weight.你如想减肥，就不要吃致肥的食物。
• Good kid should eschew bad company.好孩子应避免交坏朋友。

13 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

14 entice   

v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿

参考例句：

• Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
• I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。

15 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

16 curbing   

n.边石，边石的材料v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Progress has been made in curbing inflation. 在控制通货膨胀方面已取得了进展。
• A range of policies have been introduced aimed at curbing inflation. 为了抑制通货膨胀实施了一系列的政策。

17 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

18 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

19 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

20 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

21 curbs   

v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In executing his functions he is not bound by any legal curbs on his power. 在他履行职务时，他的权力是不受任何法律约束的。 来自辞典例句
• Curbs on air travel were being worked out and would shortly be announced. 限制航空旅行的有关规定正在拟定中，不久即将公布。 来自辞典例句

22 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

23 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

24 fumed   

愤怒( fume的过去式和过去分词 )； 大怒； 发怒； 冒烟

参考例句：

• He fumed with rage because she did not appear. 因为她没出现，所以他大发雷霆。
• He fumed and fretted and did not know what was the matter. 他烦躁，气恼，不知是怎么回事。

25 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

26 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

27 overloaded   

a.超载的，超负荷的

参考例句：

• He's overloaded with responsibilities. 他担负的责任过多。
• She has overloaded her schedule with work, study, and family responsibilities. 她的日程表上排满了工作、学习、家务等，使自己负担过重。

28 postal   

adj.邮政的，邮局的

参考例句：

• A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。