经济学人下载:金融犯罪—撬开空壳(2)

Shell companies in America, where incorporation is at state level, are among the world's most secretive.
美国的空壳公司是世界上最神秘的公司之一，在美国，公司的注册是在州一级进行的。

A recent study found that in all 50 states more personal information is needed to get a library card than to register a company.
一项近期研究发现，在所有的50个州中，获得一张图书证比注册一家公司所需的个人信息更多。

In some, such as Kentucky, registration can be done without giving contact details.
在一些州，如肯塔基州，可以在不提供联系方式的情况下注册。

A study of international corruption cases in 2012 found that more of the shells involved were from America than from anywhere else.
2012年的一项针对国际腐败案件的研究发现，涉案空壳公司中，美国公司的数量超过了其他任何地方。

In every congressional session since the financial crisis,
在金融危机以来的每一次国会会议上，

a group of federal lawmakers has proposed corporate-transparency legislation, only to see it fail. This time looks different.
一群联邦立法者提议公司透明度立法，却都以失败告终。这次看起来有所不同。

On June 12th a bill was approved by the House Financial Services Committee—the first time such a law had reached that stage.
在6月12日，众议院金融服务委员会通过了一项法案，这是此类法律第一次达到这个阶段。

A similar bill has been introduced in the Senate. Campaigners are hopeful that a merged version will become law by the end of the year.
参议院也提出了类似的法案。活动人士希望一个合并的版本能够在今年年底成为法律。

If it does, America would not get a public register
如果成功，美国将不会进行公共注册，

but its companies would be required to disclose their beneficial owners to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network,
但美国公司将被要求向联邦机构—金融犯罪执法网络披露其受益所有人，

a federal agency, and to keep their ownership information up-to-date.
并更新他们的所有权信息。

There is still opposition, including some from a small-business association that worries about red tape.
但仍有反对声音，包括一些担心繁文缛节的小企业协会的人。

But Delaware, the biggest state for incorporation, is on board, as is America's treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin.
但最大的企业注册州，特拉华州以及美国财政部长史蒂文·努钦都支持立法。

(His boss, Donald Trump, whose businesses have sold many a property to anonymously owned companies over the years, has not made his views known.)
（他的老板，唐纳德·特朗普还未发表意见，这些年来特朗普将许多房产卖给了匿名所有的公司。）

If the bill passes, anti-graft activists would then push America to adopt a public register.
如果法案通过，反贪活动人士将推动美国采用公开登记制度。

But Britain's experience shows that transparency alone is not enough.
但英国的经验表明光有透明度是不够的。

Investigations by campaigners suggest that the information provided to its register is of mixed quality, to put it mildly.
活动人士的调查显示，该组织登记的信息质量好坏参半。

With enforcement lax, ne'er-do-wells are seemingly tempted to lie about who owns a firm and hope to get away with it.
由于执法不严，“从没干好事的人”似乎很容易在谁是公司所有者的问题上撒谎，并希望侥幸逃脱惩罚。

The government has promised an overhaul, with more money to police submissions.
政府已经承诺进行全面检查，并向警方提供了更多资金。

It will be some time before robbers' cars are forced off the world's financial highways.
要迫使强盗的汽车驶离世界金融高速需要一些时间。