2020年经济学人 贸易金融(2)

Still, because trade finance is short-term— usually 30 to 90 days—and backed by collateral¹, lenders have some recourse.

因为贸易金融是短期的——通常为30到90天——并有保证金的支持，银行有一些追索权。

Natalie Blyth of HSBC, a bank, reckons that the performance gap between trade-finance assets and corporate² loans will widen.

汇丰银行（HSBC）的Natalie Blyth认为，贸易金融资产和公司贷款之间的表现差距将会扩大。

The third problem is a possible crunch³ in new financing.

第三个问题是可能出现的新融资紧缩。

To assess clients, banks and insurers rely on credit ratings. These have plummeted⁴ as firms' cash flows have dwindled⁵.

为了评估客户，银行和保险公司依赖信用评级。信用等级会随着公司现金流的减少而骤降。

The resulting squeeze may linger, says Ebru Pakcan of Citigroup, a bank; firms are downgraded quickly, but upgraded slowly.

花旗银行的Ebru Pakcan表示，由此产生的紧缩可能会持续下去；公司降级很快，但升级很慢。

Some lenders may focus on large clients or exit some markets entirely⁶.

一些银行可能专注于大客户或完全退出某些市场。

Insurers have cut their exposure to the industry by 8-9%, about half as much as in 2008-09.

保险公司已经将他们在该行业的曝光度减少了8-9%，约为2008年到09年的一半。

In emerging economies, sovereign downgrades have also pulled down corporate ratings, says Marc Auboin of the World Trade Organisation⁷ (WTO).

世界贸易组织（WTO）的Marc Auboin说到，在新兴经济体中，主权评级的下调也拉低了企业评级。

On July 1st the WTO and six multilateral banks promised to alleviate⁸ trade-finance shortages.

7月1日，WTO和六家多边银行承诺缓解贸易融资短缺。

Still, the damage could have been worse. Thankfully, banks have sturdier equity⁹ buffers¹⁰ than in the last recession.

但损失本可以更严重。值得庆幸的是，与上次衰退相比，银行拥有更牢固的股本缓冲。

Since 2016 Coface has raised its solvency¹¹ ratios—insurers' equivalent of banks' capital-adequacy buffers—from 150% to 190%, says Xavier Durand, its boss.

自2016年，科法斯集团上调了其偿债能力比率——相当于银行的资本充足率缓冲——从150%增至190%，公司执行总裁Xavier Durand说到。

Central-bank action has shored up lenders' finances.

央行行动支撑着银行的的财务状况。

Governments in Europe have let export-credit agencies cover short-term trade, and have offered insurers backstops.

欧洲政府已经允许出口信贷机构为短期贸易提供担保，并向保险公司提供担保。

The question is how long the support lasts. Banks and insurers will see their capital eaten up as loans sour.

问题是这种支持能维持多久。银行和保险公司将看到他们的资本被不良贷款蚕食。

Government aid could be withdrawn¹² too soon, worries Alexis Garatti of Euler Hermes, a trade-credit insurer.

贸易信贷保险公司Euler Hermes的Alexis Garatti担心，政府可能会过早取消援助。

Support could be taken away just as the demand for finance returns.

支持可能会随着金融需求的回归而被取消。

As new orders work their way through supply chains, exports appear to be bouncing back faster than manufacturing.

随着新订单进入供应链，出口的反弹速度似乎快于制造业。

Still, the pandemic could lead to lasting¹³ gains by forcing the industry to digitise.

不过，通过迫使该行业进行数字化，疫情可能会带来持久的收益。

Alexander Goulandris of Essdocs, which promotes paperless trade,

提倡无纸化贸易的Essdocs的Alexander Goulandris表示，

says 60 chambers¹⁴ of commerce have opted¹⁵ for its electronic certificates of origin in recent months, compared with the usual rate of ten a year.

近几个月来，60家商会选择了电子原产地证书，而通常每年只有10个。

Some countries have also adopted laws recognising the validity of e-documents.

一些国家还通过了承认电子文件有效性的法律。

Digital standards could make it easier to bundle trade-finance loans into securities that can be sold on to institutional investors¹⁶, providing more oxygen to commerce.

数字标准使得将贸易金融捆绑抵押物变得更容易，这些抵押物可以被出售给机构投资者，为贸易提供更多氧气。

Trade finance has long followed outmoded practices. Now might be its chance to blow everyone's socks off.

贸易金融长期以来一直遵循着过时的做法。现在或许是它让人刮目相看的机会。

1 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

2 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

3 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

4 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 dwindled   

v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Support for the party has dwindled away to nothing. 支持这个党派的人渐渐化为乌有。
• His wealth dwindled to nothingness. 他的钱财化为乌有。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 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。

8 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

9 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

10 buffers   

起缓冲作用的人（或物）( buffer的名词复数 )； 缓冲器； 减震器； 愚蠢老头

参考例句：

• To allocate and schedule the use of buffers. 分配和计划缓冲器的使用。
• Number of times the stream has paused due to insufficient stream buffers. 由于流缓冲区不足导致流程暂停的次数。

11 solvency   

n.偿付能力，溶解力

参考例句：

• Fears about the solvency of the banks precipitated the great economic crash.对银行偿付能力出现恐慌更加速了经济的崩溃。
• Their targets,including profitability ratios,solvency ratios,asset management ratios.其指标包括盈利比率、偿债能力比率、资产管理比率。

12 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

13 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

14 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

15 opted   

v.选择，挑选( opt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was co-opted onto the board. 她获增选为董事会成员。
• After graduating she opted for a career in music. 毕业后她选择了从事音乐工作。

16 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