经济学人352:操控货币市场

　　Finance and economics
财经商业
Rigging currency markets
操控货币市场
Bank, fix thyself
银行，作茧自缚
The Bank of England faces questions over its role in rigged forex deals.
英格兰面临银行非法操控外币市场的指控。
银行.jpg
ABOUT two dozen staff have so far been fired or suspended by banks for allegedly tampering¹ with foreign-exchange markets.
目前为止，总共约有24名员工因操纵外汇市场而被银行解雇或停职。
The latest twist in the saga² came from an unexpected quarter:
给这一漫长风波带来新波折的，是令人意想不到的一方：
on March 5th the Bank of England announced that it too had suspended an official following an internal investigation³.
3月5日，英格兰银行经过内部调查后宣布将一名职员停职。
Awkwardly, Britain's central bank has gone from inquisitor to a possible protagonist⁴ in the latest episode of financial-market chicanery⁵.
尴尬的是，这次金融市场诈骗案的最新发展却使英国中央银行从审问官变为了犯罪嫌疑人。
Regulators globally have spent months investigating whether forex traders at big banks rigged global currency markets,
全球监管部门已花费数月来调查大型银行的外汇交易员们是否操纵了全球货币市场，
the world's largest, where turnover⁶ is over $5 trillion a day.
这个世界最大的市场中的日流通额度达到了5万亿美元。
They suspect that bankers used their knowledge of what currencies their clients wanted to buy and sell to nudge market prices against them.
它们怀疑银行员工利用其客户想要买卖的现金种类的消息来推动市场上的汇率下跌。
If so, it would be the latest in a long list of financial benchmarks that have been rigged in ways that have bolstered⁷ bankers' bonuses.
如果情况属实，这将成为那一长串被银行操纵以获取大量红利的基准数字中的新成员。
Fines are still pouring in over LIBOR, an interest rate used to peg⁸ contracts worth trillions, which traders fiddled⁹.
因操纵LIBOR一个涉及到数万亿合同的利率数字，而受到巨额罚款的银行仍在不断增加。
A plausible¹⁰ defence from the bankers in the latest probe might be that they had told the Bank of England exactly what they were doing.
在最新一次调查中，银行员工辩称曾告知英格兰银行他们的具体行为。
Minutes from regular meetings between the central bank and traders showed widespread concern about the structure of the currency markets as early as 2006.
中央银行和交易员日常会议的记录文件显示，早在2006年货币市场的结构就引起了广泛关注。
All sides agreed that it was open to abuse because many clients,
各有关方面都认为这极易受到利用，因为众多顾客，
from multinational¹¹ companies to mutual¹² funds with foreign holdings,
从跨国公司到有外国资本的共同基金都以一个当日参考汇率来买卖货币，
tended to buy and sell currencies from their banks at a single daily reference rate, the London fix, which is calculated using trades executed in 60 seconds of trading at 4pm in London.
而伦敦定价是基于下午四点开始60秒钟内发生在伦敦的所有交易来计算的。
That means rigging the market for just a minute could reap rich rewards.
这意味着操纵市场一分钟就能带来丰厚的回报。
A bank that had agreed to sell lots of Canadian dollars, say,
比方说，一家银行在定价时为客户公司卖出大量加元，
for a corporate¹³ customer could, in effect, depress that currency's price at the fix and so buy them for itself at a slightly lower price.
这就会压低货币的价格，从而使银行能以低一些的价格买入加元。
Bankers allegedly shared trading positions ahead of the fix, in internet messaging groups, among them The Cartel and The Bandit's Club.
据称，银行员工在在定价之前会在网络上共享交易头寸，比如在卡特尔和强盗俱乐部交易员从不以谨慎著称。
Regulators think this is tantamount to fraud; banks have argued they were injecting order in an otherwise unworkable marketplace.
监管部门认为这等同于诈骗；而银行辩解称，他们是在维护市场秩序，以保证市场的正常运行。
Notes taken by a trader at a meeting organised by the Bank of England in April 2012 suggest the traders had told the bank that they regularly shared information on forex positions.
一位交易员在2012年4月英格兰银行会议上的笔记显示，交易员已经告知银行他们定期共享外汇头寸的信息。
According to Bloomberg, the central bank at least tacitly endorsed¹⁴ their attempts to match buyers and sellers,
根据彭博社消息，英国中央银行至少是默许了交易员匹配买家和卖家的行为，
purportedly¹⁵ to limit the volatility¹⁶ of everyone trading at the fix.
据称这是为了限制定价时各类交易的不稳定性。
Discomfitingly, the bank explicitly¹⁷ said notes should not be taken at the meeting. Its own minutes reportedly shed no light on the matter.
尴尬的是，银行曾明确表示开会时是不允许记笔记。银行方面的会议记录中并未涉及相关事件。
The Bank of England denies it endorsed any wrongdoing.
英格兰银行否认自己曾允许违规操作。
After reviewing 15,000 e-mails, 21,000 chat messages and 40 hours of phone-call recordings¹⁸, it said it had found no evidence its staff were privy¹⁹ to any collusion.
该银行表示，在其调查的15,000封邮件、21,000聊天信息和40小时的电话记录中，没有证据显示员工私下勾结。
But one person at Threadneedle Street had breached²⁰ rigorous internal control processes,
但是针线街的一名员工确实违反了严格的内部控制流程，
and others have been reminded of the importance of keeping accurate records and telling higher-ups when they hear something noteworthy.
而其他人则被提醒了保管好准确的记录以及在得到重要消息时告知上级的重要性。
A fuller investigation has been launched.
进一步的调查正在进行中。
It is not the first time the central bank is painted as a conspirator²¹ in financial fiddling—or at least a tolerator of it.
这已经不是英国中央银行第一次被描述为金融舞弊的谋划者或者至少是默许者。
In 2012 the then-deputy governor, Paul Tucker, had to flatly deny he had sanctioned duff LIBOR submissions²² by Barclays at the height of the financial crisis.
在2012年，时任副行长的保罗塔克坚决否认自己在金融危机高潮时支持了巴克莱银行提交的经过粉饰的LIBOR意见书。
Chummy exchanges with Bob Diamond, at the time the boss at Barclays, made for awkward reading.
而他与时任巴克莱银行行长的鲍勃戴蒙德之间的暧昧谈话，又像是在自打耳光。
One potential problem for banks is that, unlike the people affected²³ by LIBOR, it is easy for those who were fleeced by their forex bankers to figure it out.
对银行而言，一个潜在的问题是这些被外汇交易员痛宰的客户不同于受到LIBOR影响的那些，他们更容易发现事实。
Perhaps the most curious thing is the timing²⁴: much of the currency-market skulduggery happened after the banks had already come under investigation for LIBOR.
最值得玩味的事情也许是，大量货币市场舞弊发生在银行已经因为LIOBR受到调查之后。
That suggests banks were slow to clean up the rotten culture on their trading floors,
这表明银行在清除交易市场上的陈腐文化时非常缓慢，
or that they genuinely thought their colluding ways had been officially endorsed.
或者他们是真的认为串通行为被官方允许。

1 tampering   

v.窜改( tamper的现在分词 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄

参考例句：

• Two policemen were accused of tampering with the evidence. 有两名警察被控篡改证据。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As Harry London had forecast, Brookside's D-day caught many meter-tampering offenders. 正如哈里·伦敦预见到的那样，布鲁克赛德的D日行动抓住了不少非法改装仪表的人。 来自辞典例句

2 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 protagonist   

n.(思想观念的)倡导者；主角，主人公

参考例句：

• The protagonist reforms in the end and avoids his proper punishment.戏剧主角最后改过自新并避免了他应受的惩罚。
• He is the model for the protagonist in the play.剧本中的主人公就是以他为模特儿创作的！

5 chicanery   

n.欺诈，欺骗

参考例句：

• We will continue to see such chicanery in the future.在往后的日子我们仍将看到这样的骗局持续上演。
• Why do you give me so much chicanery as a explanation?你为什么给我那么多狡辩的解释？

6 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

7 bolstered   

v.支持( bolster的过去式和过去分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• He bolstered his plea with new evidence. 他举出新的证据来支持他的抗辩。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The data must be bolstered by inferences and indirect estimates of varying degrees of reliability. 这些资料必须借助于推理及可靠程度不同的间接估计。 来自辞典例句

8 peg   

n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定

参考例句：

• Hang your overcoat on the peg in the hall.把你的大衣挂在门厅的挂衣钩上。
• He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet.他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。

9 fiddled   

v.伪造( fiddle的过去式和过去分词 )；篡改；骗取；修理或稍作改动

参考例句：

• He fiddled the company's accounts. 他篡改了公司的账目。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He began with Palestrina, and fiddled all the way through Bartok. 他从帕勒斯春纳的作品一直演奏到巴塔克的作品。 来自辞典例句

10 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

11 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

12 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

13 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。

14 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 purportedly   

adv.据称

参考例句：

• This is purportedly the oldest tree in the world. 据称这是世界上最古老的一棵树。 来自互联网
• Mayor Oh Se-Hoon launched the campaign last year, purportedly to improve efficiency. 据悉，首尔市市长吴世勋于去年提出了这项旨在提高工作效率的计划。 来自互联网

16 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

17 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

18 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

19 privy   

adj.私用的；隐密的

参考例句：

• Only three people,including a policeman,will be privy to the facts.只会允许3个人，其中包括一名警察，了解这些内情。
• Very few of them were privy to the details of the conspiracy.他们中很少有人知道这一阴谋的详情。

20 breached   

攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。
• Our tanks have breached the enemy defences. 我方坦克车突破了敌人的防线。

21 conspirator   

n.阴谋者，谋叛者

参考例句：

• We started abusing him,one conspirator after another adding his bitter words.我们这几个预谋者一个接一个地咒骂他，恶狠狠地骂个不停。
• A conspirator is not of the stuff to bear surprises.谋反者是经不起惊吓的。

22 submissions   

n.提交( submission的名词复数 )；屈从；归顺；向法官或陪审团提出的意见或论据

参考例句：

• The deadline for submissions to the competition will be Easter 1994. 递交参赛申请的截止时间为1994年的复活节。 来自辞典例句
• Section 556(d) allows the agency to substitute written submissions for oral direct testimony in rulemaking. 第五百五十六条第（四）款准允行政机关在规则制定中用书面提交材料替代口头的直接证言。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

23 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

24 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。