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In a highly unusual move, one of the presidents of the Federal Reserve’s 12 regional banks resigned abruptly following an investigation into information that was leaked to a financial analyst five years ago. Jeffrey Lacker had headed the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond since 2004, a role that gave him a place on the Fed’s monetary policymaking committee.
美联储12位区域银行总裁之一突然宣布辞职。这一非比寻常的举动，发生在针对五年前向金融分析师泄露信息事件的调查展开之后。2004年以来，杰弗里·莱克（Jeffrey Lacker）一直领导着列治文联邦储备银行。这一职位令他在美联储货币政策制定委员会占有一席之地。
A warning was issued by the Bank of England about the expansion of consumer credit in Britain, notably the growth of unsecured loans and zero interest offers. The central bank cautioned that although consumer credit makes up only 10% of bank lending, whereas mortgages account for 70%, the losses for banks in a downturn from consumer credit would be significantly greater. Last year’s stress tests found that banks were exposed to £18.5bn($23.1bn) of risky consumer credit compared with £11.8bn for mortgages.
英国央行对英国消费信贷扩张发出警告，尤其针对无担保贷款和零利率报价的增长。央行警告说，虽然消费信贷仅占银行贷款的10％（其中70％为抵押贷款），但消费信贷衰退期内银行的亏损将大大增加。去年的压力测试发现，银行面临着185亿英镑（约合231亿美元）的消费信贷风险敞口，而抵押贷款敞口则为118亿英镑。
Scotland’s economy shrank by 0.2% in the last quarter of 2016, a blow to the nation’s independence-minded government given that the United Kingdom as a whole grew by 0.7%. Scottish GDP rose by just 0.4% for the whole year; the UK recorded a 1.8% increase. Scotland’s finance minister blamed last June’s UK-wide referendum on leaving the European Union.
苏格兰经济在2016年第四季度下滑了0.2％，英国整体则增长了0.7％。这对追求独立的苏格兰政府是一次打击。苏格兰去年国内生产总值仅上升了0.4%;英国则录得1.8％的升幅。苏格兰财政部长将此归咎于去年六月份举行的英国脱欧全民公投。
The euro zone’s unemployment rate dropped to 9.5% in February, the lowest since May 2009. The Czech Republic and Germany had the lowest rates at 3.4% and 3.9%. Greece and Spain recorded the highest rates, at 23.1% and 18%.
欧元区2月份的失业率下降至9.5％。这是2009年5月以来的最低水平。捷克共和国和德国的失业率最低，分别为3.4％和3.9％。希腊和西班牙失业率最高，分别为23.1％和18％。
The $43bn takeover of Syngenta by ChemChina was cleared by the EU’s antitrust regulator, which said it was satisfied that the pair’s promise to sell some assets allayed concerns that the deal could reduce competition in the agribusiness industry. America’s Federal Trade Commission also approved the acquisition,the largest foreign takeover by a Chinese firm to date.
欧盟反垄断监管机构批准了中国化学对先正达公司价值430亿美元的收购计划。该机构对两家公司共同承诺出售某些资产表示满意。这样可以减轻对于该交易降低农业产业间竞争的担心。美国联邦贸易委员会也批准了此项收购计划。这是迄今为止中国企业最大的海外并购。
Fox News came under more pressure after it was reported that one of its top stars, Bill O’ Reilly, and the network paid $13m to five women to settle allegations of harassment. Some big advertisers, including BMW and Mitsubishi, pulled their business from his show. Last year the station’s CEO, Roger Ailes, resigned over similar complaints. Fox also faces lawsuits over claims of racial discrimination.
继其顶级明星之一比尔‧欧莱力（Bill O'Reilly）和该公司向五名妇女支付了1300万美元以解决性骚扰指控之后，福克斯新闻承受了更大的压力。一些广告大客户，包括宝马和三菱，中断了与他脱口秀节目的合作。去年，该电视台的首席执行官罗杰·艾尔斯（Roger Ailes）因类似的投诉辞职。福克斯还面临着种族歧视的诉讼。
Britain introduced a mandatory rule requiring private companies with more than 250 employees to report on their gender pay gap. Firms are now required to collect and disclose data on differences between the median and mean salaries of men and women. The gaps in each quartile of the pay scale are also to be reported. Some say the measure will do little to tackle the issue. Iceland has taken a tougher approach, unveiling a bill that would force firms to demonstrate that they provide equal pay to men and women, the first such stipulation in the world.
英国出台了一项强制规定，要求员工人数超过250名的私营企业汇报其男女收入差距。现在要求公司收集和披露男女收入中位数和平均值之间的差异数据。每个四分位薪资标准差异也要报告。有人认为这个措施不解决问题。冰岛采取了更强硬的做法。他们颁布了一项法案，强制企业证明男女同工同酬。这样的规定是全球首次。
India’s Supreme Court banned the sale of alcohol within 500 metres of motorways,a shock to the country’s hospitality industry. The court wants to clamp down on drink-driving, but its decision has affected tens of thousands of businesses, including restaurants and five-star resorts.
印度最高法院宣布禁止在公路500米范围内销售酒精，此举震动了该国酒店业。法院意图打击酒后驾驶，但此举影响了成千上万商家，包括餐厅和五星级度假村。
JAB Holding added to its American food-and-drink brand assets by agreeing to buy Panera Bread, a fast-growing bakery and coffee chain, for $7.5bn. JAB already owns Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and Peet’s Coffee & Tea in America as well as the Senseo and Douwe Egberts coffee brands in Europe, but Panera is the icing on the cake for its expansion plans.
JAB控股公司同意以75亿美元收购帕尼拉面包（Panera Bread）以增强其美国饮食品牌资产。帕尼罗是一家成长快速的面包和咖啡连锁企业。JAB已经在美国拥有卡卡圈坊和皮特的咖啡和茶等品牌。在欧洲则拥有Senseo和Douwe Egberts咖啡品牌。收购帕尼拉将为JAB的扩张计划锦上添花。
The share price of Ulker Biskuvi, a Turkish producer of biscuits and chocolate, fell sharply after it ran an April Fool’s advert that got entangled in Turkey’s febrile politics.The ad featured bizarre pranks,ending with the announcement that “now is the day of reckoning”, which government supporters, many of whom are suspicious of Ulker’s boss, interpreted as an attempt to stir tensions that have been simmering since last July’s coup attempt.
土耳其饼干和巧克力生产商Ulker Biskuvi的股价在其愚人节广告播出后大幅下滑。该广告与土耳其紧张的政治气氛纠缠在一起。广告里有着奇怪的打扮，并以“现在是结算的日子”作为结尾。政府的支持者中有不少人怀疑Ulker老板意图不轨。他们将这则广告理解为试图引发去年七月份未遂政变以来一直酝酿的紧张局势。
Tesla’s share price soared after it published bumper first quarter sales figures for its electric cars. The company’s market capitalisation overtook that of 114-year-old Ford for the first time. Last year Tesla delivered 76,000 cars and Ford sold 6.7m vehicles, but it is Tesla that is racing ahead of Detroit in developing the cars of the future.
在公布其一季度优异的电动汽车销售数字之后，特斯拉股价飙升。该公司的市值首次超过了有着114年历史的福特汽车公司。去年特斯拉交付了76,000辆汽车，而福特卖出了670万辆。但正是特斯拉公司在开发未来汽车领域跑在了底特律的前面。
