2020年经济学人 拜拜美国(1)

Retail¹ banks

零售银行

Bye bye America

拜拜美国

The sale of BBVA's American unit to PNC may set off a wave of mergers³

将BBVA的美国分部出售给PNC可能会掀起一股并购浪潮

In May PNC, America's seventh-largest retail bank by assets, sold a stake in BlackRock, an asset manager, for $17bn. Bill Demchak, PNC's boss, said at the time that worries about the economy had prompted it to divest⁴, in order to "bullet-proof" its balance-sheet. On November 16th he broke cover. PNC said it would buy the American arm of BBVA, Spain's second-largest bank, for $11.6bn. The deal could set off a scramble⁵ for scale on both sides of the Atlantic. Indeed, BBVA in turn said on the same day that it was in merger² talks with Sabadell, another Spanish lender.

今年5月，按资产计算为美国第七大零售银行的PNC以170亿美元的价格出售了资产管理公司贝莱德的股份。PNC的老板比尔·德姆查克当时表示，对经济的担忧促使PNC撤资，以“防弹”其资产负债表。11月16日，他站了出来。PNC表示将以116亿美元收购西班牙第二大银行西班牙对外银行(BBVA)的美国业务。这笔交易可能会在大西洋两岸掀起一场规模争夺战。实际上，BBVA在同一天也表示，它正在与另一家西班牙银行萨瓦德尔进行合并谈判。

Scale has become increasingly important for retail banking⁶ in America. It is dominated by four giants—JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup—that have amassed⁷ branches while lavishing⁸ spending on marketing⁹ and technology. The investment in digital banking has paid off during the pandemic, as flashy apps have attracted a growing share of deposits. At the same time, the Federal Reserve's low interest rates are squeezing lending margins¹⁰. That hurts regional banks most: they rely more on interest income from loans than their Wall Street rivals, which also earn fees on trading and investment-banking activities.

对于美国的零售银行业务来说，规模已经变得越来越重要。四大巨头——摩根大通、美国银行、富国银行和花旗集团占据着这个市场的主导地位。这四大巨头在积累分支机构的同时，也在市场营销和技术方面投入巨资。新冠期间，对数字银行的投资收到了回报，花哨的应用吸引了越来越多的存款。与此同时，美联储的低利率正在挤压贷款利润率，这对地区性银行的伤害最大：它们比华尔街的竞争对手更依赖于贷款的利息收入，后者也从交易和投资银行活动中赚取利润。

PNC's acquisition of BBVA USA Bancshares is the largest banking deal in America since BB&T bought SunTrust for $28bn last year. It will create the country's fifthlargest retail bank. The combined entity¹¹ will be a coast-to-coast franchise¹² operating in 29 of the country's 30 largest markets: half of BBVA's branches are in Texas, and the rest span southern states, where PNC's presence is limited. Still, PNC may seek to expand further. It has excess capital to deploy¹³, in part because regulators have capped dividends¹⁴ and banned share buybacks. And America's field of mid-size banks remains¹⁵ crowded. At least 30 lenders have assets of around $50bn-250bn.

PNC对BBVA USA Bancshares的收购，是自BB&T去年以280亿美元收购SunTrust以来，美国最大的银行交易。它将创建该国第五大零售银行。合并后的实体将在全美30个最大的市场里的29个拥有从东海岸到西海岸的特许经营业务：BBVA的半数分支机构在德克萨斯州，其余的分支机构则分布在PNC业务有限的南部各州。不过，PNC可能会寻求进一步扩张。它有多余的资本可以配置，部分原因是监管机构限制了股息并禁止股票回购。美国的中型银行领域仍然拥挤不堪，其中至少有30家银行拥有约500亿至2500亿美元的资产。

1 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。

2 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

3 mergers   

n.（两个公司的）合并( merger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Mergers fall into three categories: horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate. 合并分为以下三种：横向合并，纵向合并和混合合并。 来自辞典例句
• Many recent mergers are concentrated within specific industries, particularly in retailing, airlines and communications. 现代许多合并企业集中进行某些特定业务，在零售业、民航和通讯业中更是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

4 divest   

v.脱去，剥除

参考例句：

• I cannot divest myself of the idea.我无法消除那个念头。
• He attempted to divest himself of all responsibilities for the decision.他力图摆脱掉作出该项决定的一切责任。

5 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

6 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。

7 amassed   

v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He amassed a fortune from silver mining. 他靠开采银矿积累了一笔财富。
• They have amassed a fortune in just a few years. 他们在几年的时间里就聚集了一笔财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 lavishing   

v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• With the private sector sitting on its hands, Western governments are lavishing subsidies on CCS. 只有一些私营部门使用碳截存技术，西方政府在这项技术上挥霍了不少的津贴。 来自互联网
• We were lavishing a little respect on China, which always works well with China. 我们给予中国一点尊重，而这样做对中国来说，通常都很受用。 来自互联网

9 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

10 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

11 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

12 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

13 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

14 dividends   

红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金

参考例句：

• Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
• Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。

15 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。