澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-07-17

Goldman Sachs will pay a $600 million fine to settle a fraud case. The US financial regulator imposed the penalty on the bank for misleading investors¹ about a hedge fund that was destined² to fail. The Securities and Exchange Commission says the penalty is the biggest they've handed out. It comes as the US Senate passes new laws to overhaul³ the country's financial sector⁴. The reform's the biggest since the Great Depression and aimed to prevent a repeat of the subprime mortgage crisis.

National Australia Bank's prolonged bid to take over AXA Asia Pacific is set to drag on even longer. The period of exclusive talks between NAB, AXA Asia Pacific and its parent company AXA SA has expired, but NAB is trying to extend negotiations⁵ on the $13.3 billion bid.

To the markets now, and a mixed bag of US economic data overnight contributed to a fall on Wall Street that’s left Australian shares in the red. The All Ords and the ASX 200 are down about 0.5 percent at close. The mining sector led the losses. AXA also lost almost 2 percent. Elsewhere in the region, Japan's Nikkei has shed almost 3 percent.

And checking the currency markets, the local dollar is fairly flat. It's buying 87.6 US cents.

That's ABC Business News.

1 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

2 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。

3 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。

4 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

5 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。