Global Financial Crisis Hits Banks in London, Other World Markets

金融危机击倒英国大银行威胁世界

　

As the financial crisis claimed more victims this week on Wall Street, the rest of the world's markets and banks have been in turmoil. In Britain, 45,000 banking jobs are now in jeopardy.

　

这个星期，随着华尔街 一家又一家的金融机构在当前的金融危机中败北，世界其他地区的金融市场和银行也同时陷入混乱。在英国，四万多个银行职位现在都显得岌岌可危。

Another financial titan has fallen in Britain. This time, it is the ailing mortgage giant HBOS which owns Halifax Bank and the Bank of Scotland. Lloyds Bank has agreed to take over HBOS but, reports say, that has put 40,000 jobs on the line.

　

英国又有一家金融巨头轰然倒下。这一次是英国最大的抵押贷款银行哈利法克斯苏格兰银行(HBOS)。这家银行业巨头拥有哈利法克斯银行和苏格兰银行。英国的劳埃德银行(Lloyds TSB)已经同意以122亿英镑收购哈利法克斯苏格兰银行，但是并购之后势必大量裁员，受影响的四万多银行职员都感到前途未卜。

The buyout comes as fears of a global financial collapse following the heavy losses among some of the world's biggest financial institutions. Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers went into bankruptcy this week, and other large investment houses have been sold off or propped up by the U.S. government.

　

最近世界最大的一些金融机构接连垮台，人们担心一场全球性金融风暴正在来临。华尔街大投行雷曼兄弟公司这个星期宣布破产，其他机构有的被对手并购，有的被政府挽救。

Central banks from the U.S., Japan and the European Union have pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into the banking system to stave off a collapse. Stock markets have suffered sharp losses.

　

为了防止银行系统垮台，美国、日本、欧盟、加拿大等国的中央银行通过大笔注资来联手救市。股票市场几天来出现罕见的大起大落。

In Russia, trading on the country's main stock exchanges was halted two days this week because of the turmoil. When regulators suspended trading at mid-day Wednesday, Russia's RTS Index of leading stocks had fallen nearly 6.5 percent, adding to its 50 percent drop since June 1.

　

在俄罗斯，主要的股票市场在混乱当中被停盘两天。在市场监管人员星期三宣布股市停止交易的时候，俄罗斯交易系统指数下跌了6.5%。从6月1日到现在，俄罗斯股市已经下滑了50%。

But Roland Nash, head of research, Renaissance Capital, says Russia should not worry. "It shouldn't have a longer term impact on the Russian economy," he said. "Russian economy is being driven by a lot of factors which is still very very much in place. In that sense Russia has one of the most healthy macro-economies in the world today."

　

但是复兴资本公司研究部主任罗兰德·纳什说，俄罗斯不必过分担忧。“这不会对俄罗斯经济造成长期影响。俄罗斯经济受到很多因素的推动，而这些因素现在大多一如既往。从某种意义上讲，俄罗斯在全世界都是最健康的经济体之一。”

The outlook is less rosy for Britain after new figures show unemployment on the rise. The collapse of Lehman Brothers cost 5,000 jobs in London at its European headquarters.

　

可是英国的前景却并不那么好，尤其是最新的经济数据显示，英国的失业率正在上升。单单是雷曼兄弟公司破产就导致其设在伦敦的欧洲总部的五千多人失去工作。

Taine Randell works in London as a broker. He trades in oil and says while his job is safe, financial positions for others will be scarce.

　

泰恩·兰德尔是伦敦的一位石油期货经纪人。他庆幸自己还有一份工作，但是他说，金融领域的职位现在是越来越少了。

"The repercussions, I think, with the financial sector is going to be huge," said Randell. "There's not going to be as much money floating around and as a result there's not going to be as many people employed to get it."

　

“金融领域受到的影响将是巨大的。由于资金的流动不像以前那么多了，结果受雇的人也不会像以前那么多了。”

But there are those who say that this is just another cycle. Business analyst Robbie Clayton says after the boom, now it is time for the bust, and the world economy will recover.

　

不过，也有人说，这只不过是一次周期性变化。商业分析师罗比·克雷顿说，在高潮过去之后，现在又到了低潮的时候了，世界经济总是会复苏的。

"You know, for the last 10 years it's been a pretty good ride," he said. "Now things have obviously got to where they are, but it is a cycle and there will be new developments and the show will go on."

　

“你知道，在过去的十年中，经济一直都是相当好的。现在又到了走衰的时候了，这是一个周期。今后还会有新的发展，事情都会循环往复下去。”

But with so much volatility, experts say the final curtain is unlikely to drop on the global credit crunch any time soon.

　

然而目前的局面是如此的反复无常，专家们说，全球信贷危机看来在短期内并不会尘埃落定。

Vanessa Rossi is an international economic expert and says the Asian economies are under threat.

　

瓦尼萨·罗斯是一位国际经济学家。他指出，亚洲经济也受到威胁。

"I think it is important to see this as a rather big rock that could drop in a pool in Asia and could cause massive ripples all across these economies so I think China will be working very hard so its own reasons to prevent such a slump but it will also be critical for many of these other economies," she said.

　

“我认为，重要的是我们要看到这块巨石有可能落到亚洲的某个池子里，有可能引起巨大的波澜，波及各个经济体。所以我认为，中国出于自己的原因将会非常努力地防止经济滑坡，对于其他经济体来说目前也是非常关键的时候。”

On the streets of London's financial sector, many say they have been left in shock and are simply waiting to see what will happen next.

　

在伦敦金融区的大街上，很多人都说，他们对这场金融危机感到吃惊不小，然而他们也只能耐心等待，看看接下来会发生什么。