Financial regulations in Britain have imposed a rather unusual rule on the bosses of big banks. Starting next year, any guaranteed bonus of top executives could be delayed 10 years if their banks are under investigation for wrongdoing. The main purpose of this “clawback” rule is to hold bankers accountable for harmful risk-taking and to restore public trust in financial institution. Yet officials also hope for a much larger benefit: more long term decision-making not only by banks but also bu all corporations, to build a stronger economy for future generations.
“Short-termism” or the desire for quick profits, has worsened in publicly traded companies, says the Bank of England’s top economist. Andrew Haldane. He quotes a giant of classical economies, Alfred Marshall, in describing this financial impatience as acting like “Children who pick the plums out of their pudding to eat them at once” rather than putting them aside to be eaten last.
The average time for holding a stock in both the United States and Britain, he notes, has dropped from seven years to seven months in recent decades. Transient investors, who demand high quarterly profits from companies, can hinder a firm’s efforts to invest in long-term research or to build up customer loyalty. This has been dubbed “quarterly capitalism”.
In addition, new digital technologies have allowed more rapid trading of equities, quicker use of information, and thus shortens attention spans in financial markers. “There seems to be a predominance of short-term thinking at the expense of long-term investing,” said Commissioner Daniel Gallagher of the US Securities and Exchange Commission in speech this week.
In the US, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has pushed most public companies to defer performance bonuses for senior executives by about a year, slightly helping reduce “short-termism.” In its latest survey of CEO pay, The Wall Street Journal finds that “ a substantial part” of executive pay is now tied to performance.
Much more could be done to encourage “long-termism,” such as changes in the tax code and quicker disclosure of stock acquisitions. In France, shareholders who hold onto a company investment for at least two years can sometimes earn more voting rights in a company.
Within companies, the right compensation design can provide incentives for executives to think beyond their own time at the company and on behalf of all stakeholders. Britain’s new rule is a reminder to bankers that society has an interest in their performance, not just for the short term but for the long term.
21. According to Paragraph 1, one motive in imposing the new rule is the_________.
A. enhance banker’s sense of responsibility
B. help corporations achieve larger profits
C. build a new system of financial regulation
D. guarantee the bonuses of top executives
22. Alfred Marshall is quoted to indicate_________.
A. the conditions for generating quick profits
B. governments’ impatience in decision-making
C. the solid structure of publicly traded companies
D. “short-termism” in economics activities
23. It is argued that the influence of transient investment on public companies can be__________.
A. indirect
B. adverse
C. minimal
D. temporary
24. The US and France examples are used to illustrate____________.
A. the obstacles to preventing “short-termism”.
B. the significance of long-term thinking.
C. the approaches to promoting “long-termism”.
D. the prevalence of short-term thinking.
25. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A. Failure of Quarterly Capitalism
B. Patience as a Corporate Virtue
C. Decisiveness Required of Top Executives
D. Frustration of Risk-taking Bankers
答案：ADBCB
译文：
英国的金融监管对大公司的老板强加了一个相当不寻常的规则。银行。从明年开始，高管的任何保证奖金可能会推迟10年，如果他们的银行因不当行为正在接受调查。这个“回扣”规则的主要目的是让银行家对有害的冒险行为负责，并恢复公众对金融业的信任机构。然而，官员们也希望获得更大的好处：更长期的决策不仅是银行，还包括所有公司，为未来建立更强大的经济世代。
“短期主义”或对快速利润的渴望，在公开交易中恶化英格兰银行首席经济学家说。安德鲁·霍尔丹。他引用了一个巨人古典经济体阿尔弗雷德·马歇尔 (Alfred Marshall) 将这种金融急躁描述为“孩子们从布丁里挑出李子来吃”，而不是把把它们放在一边最后吃。他指出，在美国和英国持有一只股票的平均时间为近几十年来，从七年减少到七个月。瞬息万变的投资者要求公司获得高额的季度利润，可能会阻碍公司投资于长期研究或建立客户忠诚度。这被称为“季度资本主义”。
此外，新的数字技术允许更快速的股票交易，更快地使用信息，从而缩短金融标记的注意力跨度。 “那里似乎是以牺牲长期投资为代价的短期思维占主导地位，”美国证券交易委员会委员 Daniel Gallagher 表示本周演讲，在美国，2002 年的萨班斯-奥克斯利法案迫使大多数上市公司推迟高级管理人员的绩效奖金大约一年，略有帮助减少
“短期主义。” 《华尔街日报》在其最新的 CEO 薪酬调查中发现，“
高管薪酬的很大一部分”现在与绩效挂钩。
可以做更多的事情来鼓励“长期主义”，例如税法的变化和更快地披露股票收购。在法国，持有股票的股东公司投资至少两年有时可以获得更多的投票权公司。
在公司内部，正确的薪酬设计可以为高管提供激励超越自己在公司的时间并代表所有利益相关者思考。英国的新规则提醒银行家，社会对他们的表现感兴趣，而不仅仅是为了短期但长期。
21. 根据第 1 段，实施新规则的一个动机是_________。
A.增强银行家的责任感
B. 帮助企业获得更大的利润
C.构建金融监管新体系
D. 保证高管奖金
22. 引用Alfred Marshall表示_________。
A.产生快速利润的条件
B. 政府决策不耐烦
C.上市公司结构稳固
D. 经济活动中的“短期主义”
23. 有人认为，短期投资对上市公司的影响可以是__________。
A. 间接
B.不利
C. 最小
D.临时
24. 美国和法国的例子被用来说明____________。
A. 防止“短期主义”的障碍。
B. 长远思考的意义。
C. 促进“长期主义”的方法。
D. 短期思维的盛行。
25. 下列哪一项最适合作为课文的标题？
A. 季度资本主义的失败
B. 耐心是一种企业美德
C. 高管需要果断
D. 冒险银行家的沮丧
