经济学人149:公司犯罪 揭发

 　　Business Corporate¹ crime Give a little whistle

　　商业 公司犯罪 揭发

　　The SEC offers a huge carrot to encourage whistle-blowers

　　美国证券交易委员会高额悬赏鼓励举报人

　　"TOO many people remain silent in the face of fraud," says Mary Schapiro, the chairman of America's Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). On May 25th she announced new rules to encourage corporate whistle-blowing. Inducements will include cash: 10-30% of fines of over $1m that result from tip-offs. The US Chamber² of Commerce, a business lobby, calls it a "bounty³ programme" that will reward "amateur sleuths in search of a big payday". It is threatening legal action to block it.

　　"太多人在面对欺诈行为时选择了沉默。"美国证券交易委员会（SEC）主席Mary Schapiro感叹道。5月25日，她公布了鼓励举报公司犯罪的新规定。举报的奖励将会包含现金：如果举报产生了100万美元以上的罚款，那么举报人可获得罚款金额的10-30%。企业游说组织美国商会将其称作"赏金计划"，奖励那些盼着一夜暴富的业余侦探。其威胁性会导致有人采取法律行动来阻止这一计划。

　　The new rules were required by the Dodd-Frank act, Congress's response to the financial crisis, which was passed last year. They follow an earlier effort to encourage employees to speak up. After Enron, an energy firm, collapsed⁴ in a flurry of fraud, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley act in 2002 which, among other things, protected whistle-blowers from retaliation⁵.

　　国会为应对金融危机在去年通过了多德佛兰克金融改革法案（Dodd-Frank act），这些新规定是应该法案的要求制定的。同时也延续了早就开始的鼓励公司员工站出来举报的做法。在能源公司安然（Enron）在连串的欺诈案件中轰然倒下之后，国会采取的善后措施中就包括通过了萨班-奥克利法案（Sarbanes-Oxley act）保护举报人免遭报复。

　　Employees have never found it easy to squeal⁶ on employers. Perhaps the most celebrated⁷ of corporate whistle-blowers, Sherron Watkins, a former executive at Enron, never went public with her prediction that the company might be brought down by fraud. She reported her concerns internally, and was ignored.

　　员工举报老板从来就不是件容易事。最著名的举报人，安然公司前高官Sherron Watkins，可能从没有将她对于公司会因诈骗倒闭的预测公布于众。她只是在公司内部提出了她的担忧，但是没有人理睬。

　　When the SEC released draft rules in November, businesses fretted⁸ that the financial rewards would prompt insiders to go straight to the commission, bypassing their firms' internal procedures—especially since that would reduce the risk of being victimised by the boss or branded a "disgruntled employee". The new rules try to correct this, for example by allowing a reward to be paid in some circumstances to whistle-blowers who only grumble⁹ internally.

　　当证券交易委员会在去年11月公布规定的草案时，公司担心金钱奖励会促使内部知情人越过内部程序直接向委员会举报，因为这样会降低被老板陷害或者被贴上"不满员工"标签的风险。新出台的规定试图改变这一状况，比如规定在一些情况下可以奖励只在内部举报没有外传的员工。

　　The chance of making a fortune may encourage speculative¹⁰ whistle-blowing in the hope of winning the lottery¹¹. Ms Schapiro's new Office of the Whistleblower may be deluged¹² with useless tips. But even that might be better than the status quo.

　　靠举报发财的机会也许会刺激一心想发财的投机式举报。Schapiro女士的新举报官可能会被无效的线索淹没。但是即使是这样也好过现状。

1 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

2 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

3 bounty   

n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与

参考例句：

• He is famous for his bounty to the poor.他因对穷人慷慨相助而出名。
• We received a bounty from the government.我们收到政府给予的一笔补助金。

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。

5 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 squeal   

v.发出长而尖的声音；n.长而尖的声音

参考例句：

• The children gave a squeal of fright.孩子们发出惊吓的尖叫声。
• There was a squeal of brakes as the car suddenly stopped.小汽车突然停下来时，车闸发出尖叫声。

7 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

8 fretted   

焦躁的，附有弦马的，腐蚀的

参考例句：

• The wind whistled through the twigs and fretted the occasional, dirty-looking crocuses. 寒风穿过枯枝，有时把发脏的藏红花吹刮跑了。 来自英汉文学
• The lady's fame for hitting the mark fretted him. 这位太太看问题深刻的名声在折磨着他。

9 grumble   

vi.抱怨；咕哝；n.抱怨，牢骚；咕哝，隆隆声

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another grumble from you.我不愿再听到你的抱怨。
• He could do nothing but grumble over the situation.他除了埋怨局势之外别无他法。

10 speculative   

adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的

参考例句：

• Much of our information is speculative.我们的许多信息是带推测性的。
• The report is highly speculative and should be ignored.那个报道推测的成分很大，不应理会。

11 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

12 deluged   

v.使淹没( deluge的过去式和过去分词 )；淹没；被洪水般涌来的事物所淹没；穷于应付

参考例句：

• The minister was deluged with questions. 部长穷于应付像洪水般涌来的问题。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They deluged me with questions. 他们向我连珠发问。 来自《简明英汉词典》