经济学人:商业模式:企业管理层的更替

 　　The World This Week - Business 本周 - 商业

　　AkzoNobel, a Dutch maker¹ of paints and coatings, rejected a third informal takeover offer, worth 26.9bn euros ($28.8bn), from PPG, an American rival. 荷兰油漆涂料公司AkzoNobel拒绝了美国对手PPG价值两百六十九亿欧元（约合两百八十八亿美元）的第三次非正式收购要约。

　　That prompted Elliott Advisors², a hedge fund with a 3% stake in Akzo,  这促使在该企业拥有3%股权的对冲基金Elliott Advisors启动法定程序，

　　to start legal proceedings³ to force the company to call an extraordinary meeting of shareholders⁴, at which Elliott will try to oust⁵ Akzo's chairman. 迫使公司召开特别股东大会，Elliott将试图在会上罢免Akzo董事会主席。

　　Elliott wants Akzo at least to talk to PPG, arguing that its decision not to is a “flagrant breach” of its fiduciary⁶ duties. Elliot希望Akzo至少与PPG开展对话，并称不这么做是“严重违背”信托义务的行为。

　　But Akzo is governed by a foundation that makes it almost impossible for shareholders to turf out the board. 但是Akzo是由一家基金会管理的，这使得股东们几乎不能够抛弃董事会。

　　Whole Foods replaced its chairman and chief financial officer,  零售公司Whole Foods 更换了董事会主席和首席财务官，

　　a month after an activist⁷ hedge-fund revealed that it had accumulated a 9% stake in the retailer⁸ and called for a shake-up in management. 一家活跃型对冲基金在一个月之前宣布在该公司股份累积到9%，并要求对管理层做出重大调整。

　　The company named several new people to the board, including the founder⁹ of Panera Breads, a rising bakery chain. 公司向董事会提名了新人选，其中包括成长中的烘焙连锁公司Panera Breads 的创始人。

　　Jes Staley, the chief executive of Barclays, was confronted by angry shareholders at the British bank’s annual general meeting over his attempt to unmask an internal whistleblower. 巴克莱首席执行官杰斯·斯特利(Jes Staley)在英国银行年度股东大会上试图揭露一名内部告密者时遭到愤怒的股东对抗。

　　Mr Staley has been reprimanded by the board over his lapse¹⁰ of judgment¹¹, but the chairman, John McFarlane, gave him his full support at the AGM, promising¹² that Mr Staley has learned his lesson. Staley由于他的判断失误而饱受董事会指责，但是主席John McFarlane 在年度大会上给予他全力的支持，并保证Staley已经接受教训了。

　　Commerzbank reported net income of 217m euros ($231m) for the first quarter.  德国商业银行报告第一季度净收入两亿一千七百万欧元（约合两亿三千一百万美元）。

　　That was better than the profit it made in the equivalent period last year, mostly because of an improvement in the division that handles unwanted assets.  这优于去年同期的盈利水平，很大程度上是因为改进后的下属部门处理了多余的资产。

　　Germany’s second-biggest lender described Europe’s negative interest rates as a “burden” that hampers¹³ its fortunes. 这家德国第二大贷款人把欧洲的负利率描述为阻碍收入增长的“负担”。

1 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

2 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

3 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

4 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

5 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

6 fiduciary   

adj.受托的，信托的

参考例句：

• A company director owes a fiduciary duty to the company.公司董事应对公司负责受托人责任。
• He was acting in a fiduciary capacity.他以受托人身份行为。

7 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

8 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

9 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

10 lapse   

n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。

11 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

12 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

13 hampers   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Prejudice sometimes hampers a person from doing the right thing. 有时候，偏见会妨碍人正确行事。
• This behavior is the opposite of modeless feedback, and it hampers flow. 这个行为有悖于非模态的反馈，它阻碍了流。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓