2019年经济学人金融犯罪—撬开空壳(1)（打印版）

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 laundering 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, partnerships 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 entities, 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 dubbed 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 investigators 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 offshore territories and America, are also moving in the direction of ditching secrecy

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 Isle 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 joint 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 clout 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 Virgin 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 tinged with caution.

但活动人士的乐观中带有一丝谨慎。

The Crown Dependencies envisage a staged implementation, 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 ruse 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。