VOA慢速英语2010年-Economics Report - Basel Plan Aims to

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

The financial crisis of two thousand eight brought attention to a big problem with banks. Many banks did not have enough money in reserve to protect against their losses. Now there is a proposed solution.

On Sunday, banking¹ supervisors² from twenty-six nations and Hong Kong met in Basel, Switzerland. They announced proposals to make banks safer by requiring them to increase their reserves.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision³ has been working on a set of recommendations known as Basel Three. These are based on agreements reached in July by officials from a group of leading industrial nations.

The goal is to stop the cycle of easing rules on banks in good times and tightening⁴ them only after a crisis.

Under the new rules, banks would have to hold reserves equal to seven percent of their risk-weighted assets. Mainly this means loans. Currently banks are required to hold two percent in reserve.

The bigger reserves could be in the form of cash or common stock, also known as common equity⁵. Banks would also have to hold extra reserves as their national economies improve.

The Federal Reserve in Washington is the United States' central bank. International bank supervisors want banks to increase their capital reserves for a rainy day

The new requirements would go into effect starting in January of two thousand thirteen. Banks would have five years to fully⁶ meet them. International banking lawyer Ernie Patrikis, a former vice⁷ president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, explains why.

ERNIE PATRIKIS: "We cannot be telling banks, on the one hand, raise capital right away, and on the other hand lend more."

Economic growth remains⁸ slow in much of the developed world. The worry is that any decrease in lending could hurt a global recovery.

One way for banks to meet the proposed new rules would be to sell more of their stock. That is what Germany’s Deutsche Bank did last week. It announced a sale offer valued at over eleven billion dollars.

Ernie Patrikis thinks chief executive officers of banks have three choices.

ERNIE PATRIKIS: "One is to go out and raise more common equity. Another one is to not pay dividends⁹. And that’s not something most CEO’s want to do because their shareholders¹⁰ aren’t going to be particularly happy. And the third choice is sell assets -- downsize the bank."

Nations on the Basel committee will now seek to pass the new rules into law so their banking supervisors can enforce them.

Banks that fall below the reserve limits could have to stop paying dividends to shareholders or bonuses to top employees. Ending dividends would anger shareholders. And limiting pay could send bankers fleeing to hedge funds, where there are fewer rules.

And that’s the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. For more business news visit us at voaspecialenglish.com. And follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and iTunes at VOA Learning English. I’m Steve Ember
 

1 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

2 supervisors   

n.监督者，管理者( supervisor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句
• Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句

3 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

4 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

5 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 dividends   

红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金

参考例句：

• Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
• Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。

10 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任