VOA慢速英語: 盧森堡著手結束銀行保密法

Luxembourg Set to End Bank Secrecy
盧森堡著手結束銀行保密制度
From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report.
來自VOA英語學習，這里是經濟報道。
European Union finance ministers have reached an agreement that will make it more difficult for tax avoiders to hide their money. The new legislation was approved last week after Luxembourg and Austria agreed to lift their vetoes. Countries known as tax havens had blocked the bank secrecy laws for years.
歐盟的財政部長達成一致協(xié)議：讓逃稅人更難隱藏他們的錢。盧森堡和奧地利解除他們否決票后，上周頒布一項新法規(guī)。許多作為避稅遮掩所的國家，很多年來一直阻止新的銀行保密制度的頒布。
The new law means that depositors will no longer be able to hide their money from governments in EU countries like Luxembourg. So says Algirdas Semeta, the EU Commissioner for Taxation.
“新的法規(guī)意味著存款人將沒辦法在歐盟國家如：盧森堡等，隱藏他們的錢。”歐盟稅務專員吉大斯·梅塔如此講到。
“The revised directive promises full and lasting tax transparency in Europe. Bank secrecy is dead, and automatic exchange of information will be applied in its widest form.”
“修訂后的法令有望全面和持久的增加歐洲稅務透明度。銀行保密制度是死的，但是信息的自動交流將會以最廣泛形式運用。”
Luxembourg agreed to share bank information with member countries starting in 2017. Austria has signaled that it will do the same by 2018.
盧森堡同意從2017年開始，與歐盟成員國分享銀行信息。奧地利表示2018年開始也會這樣做。
Jacob Kirkegaard is a researcher with the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He says the agreement is an important milestone in world wide efforts to stop tax avoidance.
雅各布·柯克加德是彼得森國際經濟研究所的研究員，他說該協(xié)議是世界范圍內阻止逃稅的一個重要里程碑。
“This is a very significant development and it’s really the culmination of what at least in the EU has been a decade-long struggle by some governments – in France, Italy and Germany - to really curb this long standing practice of anonymous, offshore, if you like, bank accounts in other EU countries.”
“這是非常有意義的發(fā)展進程，歐盟一些國家——包括法國、意大利和德國，經過十年之久的斗爭，確實達到高潮，他們遏制這種長期實行的境外匿名方式的銀行賬戶：只要你喜歡，就可以在歐盟其他國家開戶存取款。”
Many years of bank secrecy have helped Luxembourg become one of Europe’s main financial centers. Bank deposits in the country are valued at more than 10 times the size of the nation’s yearly economic production.
很多年來，銀行的保密工作使得盧森堡成為歐洲主要的金融中心。國家一年銀行存款的價值是國家每年經濟生產總的10倍。
Switzerland once was among the world’s biggest tax havens: countries with little bank regulation or with low taxes. But the country ended its bank secrecy policy last year after facing intense legal pressure from Europe and the U.S.
瑞士曾經是世界最大的避稅場所：國家銀行法規(guī)制度較少或者只有很低的稅。但是該國面對歐洲和美國的強大的壓力，去年結束了銀行保密政策。
People seeking to avoid taxes in their home country can still hide their money in less developed countries where bank supervision is weaker. But Jacob Kirkegaard says the choices and advantages of doing so are shrinking.
在本國尋求逃稅的人仍然可以在欠發(fā)達國家繼續(xù)藏他們的錢，因為這些發(fā)展中國家的銀行監(jiān)督機制比較薄弱。但是雅各布·柯克加德說這些選擇和優(yōu)勢也在減少。
“Well, you can go to places like Dubai, some have mentioned Singapore, but Singapore has also recently joined these efforts, so it becomes increasingly difficult to keep your money at a place at which they are readily available.”
“你可以去迪拜，有些人提到新加坡，但是新加坡最近也加入到遏制逃稅的行列中。所以把錢放在一個想要隨時使用的地方越來越困難。”
Some economists estimate that as much as eight percent of the world’s financial wealth may be hidden in tax haven countries. That is more than $7trillion. It is estimated that worldwide tax income would increase by $200 billion if that money were correctly reported to tax officials.
一些經濟學家估計世界8%的金融財富也許藏在那些“避稅天堂”的國家。這一數目大概有7萬億美元。據估計如果這些藏匿的錢能夠正確報告得稅務官員，世界范圍內會增加2萬億美元的稅收收入。
And that’s the Economics Report from VOA Learning English.
這是來自VOA英語學習的經濟報道。
I’m Mario Ritter.
我是馬里恩·李特。
Words in this Story
depositors – n. people placing money in a bank by making a deposit
signal – v. to be a sign of something, to show something
milestone – n. an important goal
tax havens – n. territories or countries were tax laws permit people orcorporations to avoid or limit taxation or bank secrecy laws in their owncountries
advantages – n. benefits or gains