经济学人:澳大利亚最大金融机构正在受审 (2)

 　　They also boosted risky¹ mortgage lending, since brokers²' earnings³ were linked to the size of the loans they sold. 他们还宣传存在风险的抵押贷款，因为经理人的收入和他们销售的贷款额度相挂钩。

　　Financial regulators were lax, negotiating minimal⁴ fines for those who broke the rules rather than taking them to court. 金融监管松散，金融监管者会和那些破坏规则的人协商最低罚款，而不是将他们送上法庭。

　　Sanctions were often "immaterial", the report stated. In the decade to June, 该报告称处罚经常是“非实质性的”。截止至6月的10年中，

　　the infringement⁵ notices (a kind of fine) issued to large banks by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the conduct regulator, came to less than A$1.3m. 执行监管部门，澳大利亚证券和投资委员会发给大型银行的违法通知总计不足130万澳元。

　　The institution hit hardest by scandal has been AMP, a wealth manager, which not only charged for non-existent services but then lied to the regulators about it. 受丑闻重创的公司是一家财富管理公司AMP，这家公司不仅对不存在的服务收费，还对监管者撒谎。

　　It has lost its chief executive, chairman and half its board. AMP and the four biggest banks have agreed to repay A$216m charged for services they never provided. 该公司损失了其董事长、主席以及董事会的半数人。AMP和四家最大银行已经同意偿还对未提供服务征收的2.16亿澳元。

　　Financial institutions are now scrambling⁶ to prepare for the inquiry⁷'s final recommendations, due in February. 金融机构现在争先恐后地为调查的最终建议做准备，日期定于2月。

　　They have tightened⁸ home-loan assessments⁹, and some have said they will sell their wealth-management businesses. More than that may be needed. 他们加紧了对住房贷款的评估，一些银行还表示他们将卖掉自己的财务管理交易。需要做的不仅仅只是这些。

　　The commission may call for statutory separation of lending and financial advice, and for an overhaul¹⁰ of bonuses. 委员会或许会要求对借贷和理财建议进行法定分离，并要求对红利进行彻查。

　　It seems likely to demand better enforcement, rather than new laws (there are plenty already). 似乎可能会要求更好的执行而非新的法律（已经有够多的法律规定了）。

　　The conservative coalition¹¹ government, which had at first opposed the inquiry, has allocated¹² more money to the regulators. 起初反对调查的保守联合政府向监管者分配了更多资金。

　　It says a recently appointed counsel will improve the chance that misconduct will be punished in court. Yet the regulators' reputation has been damaged. 其表示近期任命的法律顾问将提高错误行为在法庭上受到处罚的机会。但监管者的口碑已经受损。

　　Allan Fels, the former chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, thinks his old employer should be given greater power to step in. 澳大利亚竞争和消费者委员会前主席艾伦·菲尔斯认为他的老员工应该被赋予更多介入此事件的权利。

　　Others call for an entirely¹³ new regulator. 其他人则要求采用全新的监管者。

　　The commission looks unlikely to be able to wrap everything up before the final report is due. 最终报告达成前，委员会似乎不可能圆满完成任务。

　　Mr Fels suggests that unfinished business could be turned over to other review boards. 菲尔斯建议未完成的交易可以移交给其他审查委员会。

　　Or the inquiry could be extended—an idea favoured by the Labor¹⁴ Party, which is on course to win an election due next year. 或者该调查可以被延期—工党支持该想法，他们正忙于获得明年的选举。

　　Either way, the banks stand exposed to potentially huge regulatory penalties and to consumer lawsuits¹⁵. 不管以上哪一种方法，银行都将暴露于潜在的监管处罚和消费者的诉讼。

　　The days since the interim¹⁶ report was published have seen billions of dollars wiped from their market capitalisation. 自中期报告发布以来的这些天，他们的市场总值已消失数百万美元。

1 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

2 brokers   

n.（股票、外币等）经纪人( broker的名词复数 )；中间人；代理商；（订合同的）中人v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的第三人称单数 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• The firm in question was Alsbery & Co., whiskey brokers. 那家公司叫阿尔斯伯里公司，经销威士忌。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• From time to time a telephone would ring in the brokers' offices. 那两排经纪人房间里不时响着叮令的电话。 来自子夜部分

3 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

4 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

5 infringement   

n.违反；侵权

参考例句：

• Infringement of this regulation would automatically rule you out of the championship.违背这一规则会被自动取消参加锦标赛的资格。
• The committee ruled that the US ban constituted an infringement of free trade.委员会裁定美国的禁令对自由贸易构成了侵犯

6 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

8 tightened   

收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

• The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

9 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

10 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

11 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

12 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

13 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。

14 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

15 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

16 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。