【双语有声阅读】瑞士银行欲洗脱偷税天堂的恶名

The Gilt¹ of Despots

 

瑞士银行欲洗脱偷税天堂的恶名

For decades, a Swiss bank account was the favored hideaway for assets snaffled by the world's most kleptocratic leaders.

几十年来，瑞士银行账户一直是受到世界各地贪官们青睐的藏匿资产的地方。

The roll of dishonor includes presidents Marcos of the Philippines,Mobutu of Zaire, Abacha of Nigeria,and "Baby Doc" Duvalier of Haiti.

这份令人蒙羞的名单包括菲律宾总统马科斯，扎伊尔总统蒙博托，尼日利亚总统阿巴查及海地的小医生杜瓦利埃。

But these days Switzerland seems eager to clean up its reputation:

但最近，瑞士似乎急于要挽回声誉:

last month authorities rushed to freeze the assets of ousted² Tunisian leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and Ivory Coast embattled president Laurent Gbagbo.

上月，当局匆匆冻结了被赶下台的突尼斯领导人扎因·阿比丁·本·阿里·和处于四面楚歌的象牙海岸总统洛朗·巴博的财产。

And just last week a new Swiss law took effect that will make it easier to reclaim³ cash plundered⁴ by Third World tyrants⁵.

而就在上周，瑞士一项新的法律生效了，收回被第三世界独裁者们掠夺的钱财因此将变得更加容易。

The recent show of good behavior is surely tied to Switzerland's deep embarrassment⁶ two years ago when the OECD put it on a "gray list" of tax havens⁷ that failed to meet international transparency standards.

瑞士近期的良好表现无疑与两年前面临的尴尬局面有关。当时，经济合作与发展组织将其列入了避税天堂的灰名单，因为这些避税场所不符合国际透明度标准。

With financial services accounting⁸ for more than 10 percent of the Swiss economy,and with up to a third of all cross-border private investments being handled by Swiss banks,the country has been keen to reassure⁹ the globe that its banks are experts in wealth management rather than tax dodging¹⁰.

金融服务站瑞士经济的10%以上，并且三分之一以上的跨境私人投资都是经瑞士银行办理的，因此该国一直渴望向全球保证它的银行是财富管理专家，而非偷税天堂。

But the new measures are unlikely to silence the skeptics.

但新措施不可能封住怀疑者的口。

Take the new law on returning stolen funds.

就拿关于追回被盗资金的新法律来说，

It will reverse the burden of proof from the victims to the former dictators,who will now have to prove that their frozen assets were earned legally.

它将受害者们的举证责任转到前独裁者们身上。以前受害者往往要花几年时间向法庭证明独裁者的罪行，现在却意味着独裁者们将必须证明他们被冻结的财产的合法性。

But this law will apply only to failed states.

但是，这项法律之适用于失败的国家。

So Haiti qualifies-but not Tunisia.

因此，海地符合但突尼斯不符合。

And most experts agree that dirty money is still reaching Swiss banks despite their diligence.

而大多数专家认为尽管瑞士银行作出许多努力，但还是不断把有黑钱涌入。

Figures are hard to estimate,but Swiss banks may be holding $150 billion in looted assets,more than any other financial center,according to Global Financial Integrity in Washington.

华盛顿全球金融中心指出，虽然数字很难估计，但是瑞士银行可能存有15000亿美元的掠夺资产，这比其他任何金融中心都要多。

Says Daniel Thelesklaf of the Swiss-based International Centre for Asset Recovery:

总部设在瑞士的国际资产回收中心的丹尼尔·特莱斯克拉夫表示:

"Things have improved, but it is only the tip of the iceberg¹¹."

事情已经有所好转，但这仅仅是冰山一角。

An iceberg that might still sink a country's reputation.

这块冰山仍能使一个国家声誉扫地。

1 gilt   

adj.镀金的；n.金边证券

参考例句：

• The plates have a gilt edge.这些盘子的边是镀金的。
• The rest of the money is invested in gilt.其余的钱投资于金边证券。

2 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

3 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

4 plundered   

掠夺，抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Many of our cultural treasures have been plundered by imperialists. 我国许多珍贵文物被帝国主义掠走了。
• The imperialists plundered many valuable works of art. 帝国主义列强掠夺了许多珍贵的艺术品。

5 tyrants   

专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 )； 暴君似的人； （古希腊的）僭主； 严酷的事物

参考例句：

• The country was ruled by a succession of tyrants. 这个国家接连遭受暴君的统治。
• The people suffered under foreign tyrants. 人民在异族暴君的统治下受苦受难。

6 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

7 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

8 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

9 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

10 dodging   

n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He ran across the road, dodging the traffic. 他躲开来往的车辆跑过马路。
• I crossed the highway, dodging the traffic. 我避开车流穿过了公路。 来自辞典例句

11 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。