2015考研英语阅读反商业贿赂法

　　Anti-bribery laws反商业贿赂法

　　Palms ungreased揩油

　　A long-delayed anti-bribery law will soon come intoforce

　　姗姗来迟的反贿赂法即将生效

　　THERE is a lingering assumption among Britons thattheir country stands for probity and fair play. Askabout it abroad, though, and you sometimes get adifferent reaction. Anti-corruption campaigners stillbring up Tony Blairs decision in 2006 to abandonan investigation into a ??43 billion weapons deal with Saudi Arabia. Then there is thepeculiar paucity of British sanctions imposed under an international bribery convention: twobetween 1999 and 2009, compared with 88 in America, 26 in Germany and 40 in Italy.

　　英国人一直自矜的认为他们的国家建立在正直和公正的基石上。然而国外的反应却不尽如此。反腐竞选人依旧利用Tony Blair2006年的决定拒绝调查与Saudi Arabia的一项43亿英镑的军火交易。因此国际贿赂协议对英国的约束力就罕见的微弱，在1999年和2009年之间只有2项受到制裁，相较而言美国有 88项，德国26项，意大利40项。

　　Stung by such talk, in 2008 the previous Labour government proposed a new law updating thecountrys antiquated rules on backhanders and bungs, including those dispensed overseas.Both the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, now in government, backed the law inopposition. It reached the statute book in April last year; under it, miscreants risk big finesand up to ten years in prison. It was due to take effect in April this year, after the publication inJanuary of guidelines on how to apply it. But, as the date approached, the Ministry of Justicesaid the implementation of the law had been postponed to allow the guidelines to be tweaked,following intense lobbying from business groups such as the Confederation of British Industry.

　　被如此言论激怒的前工党政府2008年提出了一项新法律，以改革对回扣和红包的过时规定，在海外具有同等约束力。但是政府里的自由民主党和保守党都反对此法案。它涉及去年4月的法令全书，在该全书中，歹徒将被处以巨额罚款和最多10年监禁。在今年1月实施指导条例公布之后，该法预定4月份生效。但是随着日期临近，在一些商业集团如英国工业联合会紧张的游说之后，司法部说该法会延迟施行以便修改指导条例。

　　On March 30th the ministry said the law would finally come into effect on July 1st and issued arevised set of guidelines. These clarify some of the things that were worrying bosses. To therelief of football clubs, swanky nightclubs and Formula 1, taking clients on company-sponsoredjollies seems unlikely to cause any problems. The question of how responsible British firms arefor the misbehaviour of contractors in other countries has been clarified.

　　在3月30日司法部说该法最终将在7月1日生效，并发布了修改后的指导条例。这些阐明了一些正困扰着老板们的麻烦事。为了救济足球俱乐部，骄傲的夜总会和F1方程式赛车，让顾客参加公司赞助的娱乐活动似乎不会引起任何麻烦。英国公司为合约商的失误应付多大责任的问题也得到了解答。

　　On the other hand, facilitation payments, a euphemistic term for the small bungs sometimespaid to foreign officials to expedite a legitimate servicea licence application, for instancearediscouraged. Americas Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, one of the inspirations for the new law,allows them.

　　另一方面，便利费不受鼓励，实际上这只是有时支付给外国官员以加速合法业务如许可证申请的小额回扣。而让英国的该新法受启发的美国外国腐败行为法案却允许此类行为。

　　Lawyers are still pondering precisely how much legal force these guidelines will have. Oneparticularly thorny question is whether foreign firms that are listed on British stockmarkets butconduct little other business in the country will be covered. The government has offered noopinion; the question might one day make for a fascinating court case.

　　律师们仍在深思这些指导条例会有多大的法律效力。一个特别棘手的问题是该法律对那些参与英国股票市场但是几乎没有在英国开展其他业务的外国公司是否有法律效力。政府没有给出选项，或许有一天这会诉诸司法并引起广泛关注。