US Banking System Faces Shakeup

雷曼兄弟银行宣布破产金融业重组

　

Financial lenders are facing a major industry reorganization Monday that promises to change the face of banking in the United States.

　

美国金融投资系统星期一面临重大行业重组，这一行动预示将改变美国银行的面貌。

Early Monday, the U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers announced that it will file for bankruptcy.

　

星期一一大早，美国雷曼兄弟投资银行就宣布即将申请破产。

In a statement, Lehman said its filing for Chapter 11 in U.S. bankruptcy court will not affect its broker-dealer subsidiaries or other units.

　

雷曼兄弟银行在一份声明中说，他们根据破产法第11章向美国破产法庭申报破产，并不会影响到公司旗下各个经纪自营商子公司和任何子公司。

Sunday, talks aimed at stabilizing the 158-year-old investment bank ended after Bank of America and Britain's Barclays Plc decided against buying it.

　

星期天，在美洲银行和英国巴克莱银行决定拒绝收购雷曼以后，希望稳定这家有158年历史的投资银行的谈论嘎然而止。

Lehman was once the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States. But market analyst Hugh Johnson says bad investments in real estate and other areas brought a drastic fall in the value of Lehman shares.

　

雷曼兄弟银行是美国第4大投资银行。市场分析人士休.约翰逊说，房地产市场和其他领域的不良投资导致了雷曼股票急剧贬值。

"Lehman, like so many other investment banks and banks, really got, quite frankly, caught up in the housing bubble, but, like every bubble, the bubble ended and now we're seeing the downside of that bubble," Johnson said.

　

“很坦率地说，雷曼就像其他很多投资银行一样，都在房屋市场泡沫中被套牢了，但是就像任何泡沫都会破灭一样，房屋市场泡沫也破灭了，我们正看着这些泡沫在消退。”

On Sunday, Merrill Lynch agreed to be bought out by Bank of America for some $50 billion. Analysts say the move will result in the nation's prime lender (BA) becoming even bigger.

　

星期天，美林证券同意被美洲银行以500亿美元的价格收购。分析人士说，这个行动将导致美国主要借贷机构美洲银行更加庞大。

In a separate move late Sunday, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced several initiatives to make it easier for financial institutions to get emergency loans from the U.S. central bank.

　

星期天晚些时候，涉及金融行业的另一个新的发展是，美联储宣布了几项措施，以方便金融机构能从美国中央银行得到紧急贷款。

Officials from 10 global banks and securities firms also announced a $70 billion loan program that the companies could use to help ease a potential credit shortage.

　

另外，10家全球性银行和证券公司的官员也宣布了一项700亿美元的贷款项目，让这些公司使用，以便帮助缓解潜在的信用短缺。

Government and banking officials are concerned that the failure of a large institution, like Lehman Brothers, could shake confidence in the financial system and hurt the value of other firms.

　

政府和银行官员都对类似雷曼兄弟银行这样庞大的金融机构的失败感到关切， 因为它会动摇人们对金融系统的信心，并伤害其他公司的价值。