英伦广角 Issue 126 英房贷巨头国有化

It’s a High Street name in need of rescuing, but talks to find a private buyer have run out of time. Santander was interested in some of Bradford & Bingley’s assets, but wouldn’t be rushed into a weekend deal. The government has decided¹, the taxpayer² has to step in.

Bradford&Bingley has been in trouble for some time, just look at how its share price collapsed³ in the last 12 months. On Friday, shares were being bought and sold for just 20 pence.

A crisis of confidence was brewing⁴ but the opposition⁵ insists nationalization is not the answer.

We should have a situation in Britain, where we have the ability for the Bank of England to take over failing bank and to reconstruct it, safeguarding the depositors and then making sure that those bits of the businesses can be sold are sold. And in the end, the bill affectively is picked up…

Not by the tax payers who I want to protect. Thank you for the..., So a bank is sold for…

The government maintains it will act in the best interests of savers and taxpayers⁶.

This is not simply a problem for the United Kingdom, this is a global crisis. We have taken tough decisive action to sort out the situation and I am confident that in due course, there will be a statement from the Treasury⁷ about Bradford&Bingley, I am not going to add to the speculation⁸.

The message for Bradford&Bingley’s 2.5 million savers is your money (is) safe, although you may find yourselve suddenly banking⁹ with someone else, retail¹⁰ deposits are likely to be sold on to the likes of Santander, HSBC and Barclays.

What happens next to Bradford&Bingley’s 3000 staff isn’t clear. 370 redundancies were announced earlier in the week with the branch network also said to be flogged off. More job losses look likely.

For the rest of us, the news is not that encouraging. Bradford&Bingley has written 41 billon pounds of mortgages; those loans are now turning bad at twice the average industry rate. In a falling housing market, no bank is likely to be interested, the really toxic¹¹ stuff is likely to left with the taxpayer.

The result of this breakup is that yet another mortgage provider has disappeared from the market, and less competition could well make mortgages scarcer and more expensive.

Until now, banks and building societies have either been nationalized or taken over when they run into trouble. But some feel the government shouldn’t be bailing¹² out individual banks, it’s the banking system that needs saving.

We have a business models and our banking system that don’t work anymore. You know, unless we do something comprehensive, unless we really look this in the eye that the Americans have done, I really fear for what’s gonna happen in the next kind of two, three, four, five months.

There're reports that the British banks have asked government to arrange a rescue package similar to the one that’s being flushed out in the United States. The suggestion is that Bradford&Bingley isn’t the only British bank in trouble.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

3 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

4 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

7 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

8 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。

9 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。

10 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。

11 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

12 bailing   

（凿井时用吊桶）排水

参考例句：

• Both fountains were going furiously and both pumps bailing with might and main. 两个人的口水只管喷泉似地朝外涌，两个抽水机全力以赴往外抽水。
• The mechanical sand-bailing technology makes sand-washing operation more efficient. 介绍了机械捞砂的结构装置及工作原理，提出了现场操作注意事项。