The British Financial System 3 J" s* s z' c3 c5 T2 g
英国金融制度
* |- u) G( b& W" e A4 c3 ~ Situation 8 & \7 E+ d. u# ^9 N9 q4 B
情景 8
M$ k6 g# p' m Tatsuo Horita ,a banker from Japan ,is visiting with an officer ofthe Bank of England .
9 s. q! C7 I, { ~- z7 k 来自日本的银行家堀田达夫正在与英格兰银行的一位高级职员闲谈, 5 u) E' V: h g. Q
They are talking about the British monetary and financial system .
: F; ]/ N* F8 u 他们正谈论着英国的货币和金融制度。 ; B! ]2 \5 [/ v
Horita:I understand that Bank of England notes have been legal tender in Britain since the earlypart of the 19th century .
- e( q3 ?: B" j9 {1 Z! U4 k: M 堀 田:据我所知,从19世纪初叶,英格兰银行发行的纸币就已经成为英国的法币了。
* [$ E7 ?' I, r Officer:Yes,actually from 1883,long before the Bank of England was the official central bank forBritain. 3 M( Z& h1 ~4 u7 d+ p
职 员:是的,实际上从1833年开始,英格兰银行早已成为英国的官方中央银行了, 6 d" h# `' Z) k$ @: G- I- J
And special restrictions put on note issurance by other banks in 1844 caused most banks todiscontinue issuing notes. G+ D2 U3 P9 T# ~" R2 y' D
而且在1844年,还对其他银行的货币发行实行期一些特别的限制,这就使得大多数的银行不再继续发行纸币。 5 Y/ F! s E5 s& x+ x
H:Weren’t Bank of England notes backed by specie?
% M/ }7 [) n- @" Y; b. M9 U) W 堀 田:英格兰银行发行的纸币不是以金银铸币作为依据吗? * l0 Q1 f5 n. d$ j0 ?, O; x! r+ @
O:Specie or government bonds until 1931.Since then ,of course,the Bank of England like othercentral banks has not held specie reserves equal to our note issue. % l4 T3 f' T0 j8 R! Q! n; r6 B% @
职 员:直到1931年,还是以铸币或政府的债券为依据的。当然,从那以后,象其它的中央银行一样,英格兰银行并不持有与我们发行的纸币等量的金银铸币储备。 * y6 v K, h1 b2 e* q
H:When did the Bank of England become the official central bank of the United Kingdom?
7 G/ R: c, e+ ^( z6 u* b | 堀 田:英格兰银行什么时候成为联合王国的官方中央银行的呢? 7 ]6 f( l9 G4 M# `' h( F! M
O:That’s difficult to say .Actually ,the bank was nationalized by the government in 1946. ; Q$ G7 r U O0 c" E
职员:这很难说,实际上,在1946年政府已将其收归国有。
) [* z+ S6 m- ~: w Before that ,however ,the bank had been the central banking instituion for over a century . ; c# Z- m2 \, C1 u+ k
然而,在这之前,英格兰银行就已经成为中央银行有100多年了。 # g. x7 k+ M$ R g9 g
While we were privately owned ,successive governments felt that we operated in the public interestand gradually enacted laws,
& {( U2 `$ V" ?3 H( ~ 当时,虽然我们是私立银行,但历届政府都认为我们的业务经营活动有利于公众利益,并逐步地有所立法,
( o2 K% C( h% k3 [ which gave us various supervisory functions over other banks . # G- C8 Z+ d( ?. k$ a. ?1 y9 B
这一切赋予了我们对其他银行的各种监督职能。 $ P0 o( @6 y) _% y
H:So the bank now makes fiscal and monetary policies for the country ? ( q" S# _9 c3 _) d/ G' s
堀田:因此,目前该银行就是为国家制定财政和金融政策的。
: E/ r) p: z1 C/ Q( k6 G O:In coperation with the Cabinet we do .Our functions are not as independent as those of theFederal Reserve in the United States. ) L$ _1 ~" |8 A; p+ [) @, ?
职员:我们在与内阁合作中行使我们的职能,但我们的职能不象美国联邦储备那样具有独立性。 |