新西兰英语 43 Money Matters

　　This week, a major finance company, Hanover Finance, announced it is in trouble. They have decided¹ to freeze all investor² funds. This means that people who have invested money in their company cannot take it out again at the moment. The company hopes that their problems will be temporary and in the future they will be able to pay back all investors³’ money. But investors are worried.
This is the second finance company this week to announce it is in trouble. At the beginning of last year, there were 49 finance companies in New Zealand but now 26 of them have collapsed⁴ or frozen their investments. These are not banks. They do not give the same financial protection as banks and many people have lost money. In total, $3 billion has been lost or frozen. Many of these companies offered high interest rates which means there was more risk with the investment. However, Hanover Finance seemed to be a safe company. It has experienced owners and was the third largest finance company in New Zealand with assets at over $1 billion. They have two related companies and 16,000 investors in total, with $554 million invested. Six months ago, they announced a profit of $17 million before tax.
The problems for Hanover Finance have come mostly from problems in the property market. They lent money to developers of expensive resorts in Queenstown, Taupo and an apartment block in Auckland, but these properties are not selling. This means the developers are in trouble and are late in paying back the money they borrowed.
Investors have also lost confidence in finance companies and are choosing to invest their money in other ways, maybe in banks. The global economy is also affecting money markets. Companies have to pay more to borrow money from overseas. High oil prices, high food prices, and problems in property markets in many countries have all contributed to global economic difficulties.
Vocabulary
invest / investors / investments, developers, finance / financial, freeze / frozen, collapsed, risk, assets, resorts, global, lend / lent, borrow, economy / economic

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 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

3 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

4 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。