The Gilt of Despots

 

瑞士银行欲洗脱偷税天堂的恶名

For decades, a Swiss bank account was the favored hideaway for assets snaffled by the world's most kleptocratic leaders.

几十年来，瑞士银行账户一直是受到世界各地贪官们青睐的藏匿资产的地方。

The roll of dishonor includes presidents Marcos of the Philippines,Mobutu of Zaire, Abacha of Nigeria,and "Baby Doc" Duvalier of Haiti.

这份令人蒙羞的名单包括菲律宾总统马科斯，扎伊尔总统蒙博托，尼日利亚总统阿巴查及海地的小医生杜瓦利埃。

But these days Switzerland seems eager to clean up its reputation:

但最近，瑞士似乎急于要挽回声誉:

last month authorities rushed to freeze the assets of ousted Tunisian leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and Ivory Coast embattled president Laurent Gbagbo.

上月，当局匆匆冻结了被赶下台的突尼斯领导人扎因·阿比丁·本·阿里·和处于四面楚歌的象牙海岸总统洛朗·巴博的财产。

And just last week a new Swiss law took effect that will make it easier to reclaim cash plundered by Third World tyrants.

而就在上周，瑞士一项新的法律生效了，收回被第三世界独裁者们掠夺的钱财因此将变得更加容易。

The recent show of good behavior is surely tied to Switzerland's deep embarrassment two years ago when the OECD put it on a "gray list" of tax havens that failed to meet international transparency standards.

瑞士近期的良好表现无疑与两年前面临的尴尬局面有关。当时，经济合作与发展组织将其列入了避税天堂的灰名单，因为这些避税场所不符合国际透明度标准。

With financial services accounting for more than 10 percent of the Swiss economy,and with up to a third of all cross-border private investments being handled by Swiss banks,the country has been keen to reassure the globe that its banks are experts in wealth management rather than tax dodging.

金融服务站瑞士经济的10%以上，并且三分之一以上的跨境私人投资都是经瑞士银行办理的，因此该国一直渴望向全球保证它的银行是财富管理专家，而非偷税天堂。

But the new measures are unlikely to silence the skeptics.

但新措施不可能封住怀疑者的口。

Take the new law on returning stolen funds.

就拿关于追回被盗资金的新法律来说，

It will reverse the burden of proof from the victims to the former dictators,who will now have to prove that their frozen assets were earned legally.

它将受害者们的举证责任转到前独裁者们身上。以前受害者往往要花几年时间向法庭证明独裁者的罪行，现在却意味着独裁者们将必须证明他们被冻结的财产的合法性。

But this law will apply only to failed states.

但是，这项法律之适用于失败的国家。

So Haiti qualifies-but not Tunisia.

因此，海地符合但突尼斯不符合。

And most experts agree that dirty money is still reaching Swiss banks despite their diligence.

而大多数专家认为尽管瑞士银行作出许多努力，但还是不断把有黑钱涌入。

Figures are hard to estimate,but Swiss banks may be holding $150 billion in looted assets,more than any other financial center,according to Global Financial Integrity in Washington.

华盛顿全球金融中心指出，虽然数字很难估计，但是瑞士银行可能存有15000亿美元的掠夺资产，这比其他任何金融中心都要多。

Says Daniel Thelesklaf of the Swiss-based International Centre for Asset Recovery:

总部设在瑞士的国际资产回收中心的丹尼尔·特莱斯克拉夫表示:

"Things have improved, but it is only the tip of the iceberg."

事情已经有所好转，但这仅仅是冰山一角。

An iceberg that might still sink a country's reputation.

这块冰山仍能使一个国家声誉扫地。