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閱讀資料一
昨日公佈的一項調查顯示，儘管去年英國初創企業的融資額增長了27%，達到約14億英鎊，但中國仍取代英國，成為世界第二大風險投資目的國。
China overtook the UK as the world's second-biggest destination for venture capital investments last year, in spite of a 27 per cent rise in British early-stage company funding to about ￡1.4bn, a survey revealed yesterday.
總部位於劍橋的創業研究中心Library House表示，如果印度的風險資本投資延續2006年90%的增速，到2009年，印度的排名也將超過英國。
Library House, the Cambridge-based entrepreneurship research centre, said India was also due to overtake the UK by 2009 if Indian venture capital investments continued to grow at the 90 per cent rate seen in 2006.
這項調查是由瑞銀財富管理(UBS Wealth Management)委託進行的。調查預計，英國今年的風險資本投資可能降至10億至12億英鎊，相當於2003年的水平。
The report, commissioned by UBS Wealth Management, forecast that UK venture capital could decline to ￡1bn-￡1.2bn this year, equivalent to 2003 levels.
培育創業文化一直是“新工黨(New Labour)”的巨集偉藍圖之一，但此項調查將引發人們擔憂英國的創業活動不僅落後於美國，還落後於以更快速度增長的亞洲經濟體。
Fostering an entrepreneurial culture has been one of New Labour's main ambitions and the report will raise concerns that the country is falling behind not only the US but also faster growing Asian economies.
調查報告指出，中國和印度的崛起分流了英國初創企業的資金。這與英國風險投資家所謂該領域正在強勁復甦的'說法大相徑庭。
By arguing that funding for British start-up companies is being cannibalised by the rise of China and India, the report clashes with claims from British venture capitalists that their sector is recovering strongly.
英國領先風險投資公司DFJ Esprit的執行長西蒙?庫克(Simon Cook)表示：“風險資本已走向全球。美國資金向印度和中國進行了大量投資，我預計歐洲資金
Simon Cook, chief executive of DFJ Esprit, a leading UK-based venture capitalist, said: "Venture capital has gone global. There has been a lot of capital invested in India and China by US funds and I expect that to come to Europe next year."
近年來，大規模槓桿收購基金的快速興起令風險資本相形見絀。英國風險投資家在網際網路泡沫破裂後遭受嚴重虧損，他們一直未能擺脫人們的這種觀念：他們的回報比大型槓桿收購基金低。
Venture capital has been overshadowed in recent years by the rapid rise of big leveraged buy-out funds. Haunted by losses suffered after the bursting of the dotcom bubble, venture capitalists in Britain have struggled to escape the idea they make lower returns than their bigger LBO cousins.
Library House高階分析師羅傑?弗蘭克林(Roger Franklin)表示，從今年上半年的風險資本投資水平推斷，英國2007年的風險資本投資可能會減少10%至20%。這可能直接源自中國和印度風險投資活動的快速增長。中國去年的風險資本投資增長了50%至60%。
Roger Franklin, senior analyst at Library House, said extrapolations from venture capital investment levels in the first half of 2007 suggested the UK was on track to see a decline of 10 to 20 per cent this year. This could be a direct result of the rapid growth in Chinese and Indian venture capitalist activity. Chinese VC investments rose by 50 to 60 per cent last year.
弗蘭克林表示：“中國和印度的增長水平如此之高，可能會從更成熟的市場吸引部分資金。特別是美國的風險投資，也許已經將資金從歐洲轉向了亞洲。”
閱讀資料二
中國銀行業監管機構昨日表示，隨著各銀行擴大產品種類，2007年最後一個季度中國個人理財產品銷售額大幅飆升。
Sales of individual wealth management products in China shot up in the last quarter of 2007 as banks expanded their product offerings, the banking regulator said yesterday.
截至9月底，60家銀行業金融機構推出了個人理財服務，如共同基金、保險產品和離岸投資產品。
By the end of September there were 60 banking institutions in China offering individual wealth management services such as mutual funds, insurance products and offshore investments.
2007年前三個季度，各銀行此類產品銷售總額為6000億元人民幣(合820億美元)。
Together China’s banks sold Rmb600bn ($82bn) worth of such products in the first three quarters of 2007.
但中國銀監會(CBRC)表示，預計2007年全年銷售總量將達1萬億元人民幣，原因是有更多的理財產品面世，同時客戶將資金從生息的定期存款中轉出。
But the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said it expected that figure had jumped to Rmb1,000bn by the end of the year as more products BECame available and customers shifted money out of interest-bearing time deposits.
2007年11月份，中國通貨膨脹率創下6.9%的11年高點，而一年期存款利率僅為4.14%，中國投資者面臨著實際利率為負的局面，他們一直在尋求銀行存款的替代品。
With inflation hitting an 11-year high of 6.9 per cent in November and the one-year deposit rate at only 4.14 per cent, Chinese investors are faced with negative real interest rates and have been looking for alternatives to bank deposits.
中國國內銀行傳統上依賴存貸款利差，目前政府正鼓勵它們進行多樣化調整。中國存貸款利率由央行制定，以確保國有銀行能夠盈利。
The government is actively encouraging Chinese banks to diversify from their traditional reliance on the spread between deposit and loan interest rates, which are set by the central bank to ensure profitability at the state-owned lenders.
去年6月份，銀監會為大中型國有銀行制定了目標，力爭在未來5年至10年，中間收入在總收入中所佔比重從目前的17 %左右升至40%-50%。
In June last year the CBRC set a target for large and medium-sized state-owned banks to increase their fee-based income from about 17 per cent of their total now to 40-50 per cent within the next five to 10 years.
多數全球規模最大的銀行都在中國設立了業務，而去年，包括渣打銀行(Standard Chartered)、瑞銀(UBS)和匯豐(HSBC)在內的許多銀行，已開始為擁有100萬美元以上的客戶提供私人銀行服務。
Most of the world’s largest banks have set up operations in China and many, including Standard Chartered, UBS and HSBC, began offering private banking services available to clients with $1m or more to invest, last year.
德意志銀行(Deutsche Bank)昨日宣佈，已在北京註冊理財業務，從而可以提供包括人民幣存款和貸款在內的更多服務。
Deutsche Bank yesterday announced it had incorporated locally in Beijing, allowing it to offer more services, including renminbi deposit and lending services.
中國銀監會昨日警告稱，伴隨著理財服務的增長，瞄準無知個人的欺詐案件數量也有所上升，此類案件的社會影響惡劣。
The CBRC warned yesterday that the growth in wealth management services had been accompanied。
閱讀資料三
Owning a cat can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes by more than a third, researchers have found.
Scientists said that having a cat helped to relieve stress and anxiety, which is known to help protect against heart disease by lowering blood pressure and reducing the heart rate.
The 10-year study looked at 4,435 adults aged between 30 and 75, about half of whom owned a cat.
The findings, presented at a stroke conference in America, showed that 3.4 per cent of the cat owners died from a heart attack over 10 years. Among the group who had never owned a cat the rate was 5.8 per cent.
Cat owners still had a much reduced chance of developing strokes or heart attacks when researchers took account of other factors known to trigger heart disease, including high cholesterol levels, smoking and diabetes.
Prof Adnan Qureshi, from the Minnesota University, who carried out the study, said he was surprised by the strength of the effect that owning a cat appeared to have.
"The logical explanation may be that cat ownership relieves stress and anxiety and subsequently reduces the risk of heart disease."
He believes one reason could be that stroking the pet could cut the level of stress-related hormones in the blood. Reducing stress is known to help protect against heart disease by lowering blood pressure and reducing the heart rate.
But Prof Qureshi added that the type of person who owned a cat was usually already fairly stress-free and at low risk of heart disease.
研究人員發現，養貓能使患心臟病和中風的風險降低三分之一以上。
科研人員稱，養貓有助於緩解壓力、減輕焦慮，而減輕壓力可以降低血壓和心律，因此有助於預防心臟病。
研究人員對4435名年齡在30歲至75歲之間的成年人進行了為期十年的調查，其中有一半的人養貓。
研究結果顯示，在這十年中，僅有3.4%的養貓人士死於心臟病，而從未養過貓的人死於心臟病的比例為5.8%。該結果在美國召開的一箇中風研討會上公佈。
研究人員還綜合考慮了高膽固醇、吸菸和糖尿病等可能引發心臟病的其它一些因素，結果發現，養貓人士患中風或心臟病的機率還是要小很多。
開展該研究的明尼蘇達大學教授阿德南?庫勒什說，他很驚訝養貓有這麼大的好處。
“合理的解釋應該是，養貓能夠緩解壓力和焦慮，從而降低患心臟病的風險。”
他認為其中一個原因是，愛撫小貓能夠降低血液中的應激激素水平。而減輕壓力則能夠降低血壓和心率，從而有助於預防心臟病。
但庫勒什教授說，喜歡養貓的人往往自身就沒什麼壓力，患心臟病的機率也較小。
閱讀資料四
貝爾斯登(Bear Stearns)與中國最大券商中信證券(Citic Securities)正在就去年達成的股份互換協議重新展開談判，以更好地反映協議達成後雙方股價的下跌。
Bear Stearns and Citic Securities, China’s largest securities firm, are renegotiating the share swap agreement they reached last year to better reflect a subsequent fall in their stock prices.
一位知情人士稱，兩家公司的高管正在討論一項“對等調整”，這將增加雙方最終持有的對方股份。
Senior executives from both firms are discussing a “reciprocal adjustment” that would increase the amount they eventually hold in each other, according to a person familiar with the matter.
根據去年10月達成的交易條款，中信證券同意支付10億美元購入最終將轉換為貝爾斯登約6%股份的證券，而美國投行貝爾斯登最終將支付同等金額，購得中信證券約2%股份。
Under the terms of the deal struck last October, Citic agreed to pay $1bn for securities that would convert to about 6 per cent of Bear Stearns and the US investment bank would eventually pay the same amount for about 2 per cent of Citic.
這宗交易仍需獲得中國監管機構批准，若交易成功，作為中國國務院控制的中國中信集團(Citic Group)旗下證券交易子公司的中信證券將成為貝爾斯登的最大單一股東。
The deal still needs regulatory approval in China, but if successful, Citic Securities, the brokerage arm of China Citic Group, which is controlled by China’s cabinet, would BECome the biggest single shareholder of the US investment bank.
由外國投資者持有一家美國銀行如此大規模的股份，可能會在美國引發批評。美國某些議員已對亞洲和中東主權財富基金的直接投資感到不安。
Such a large stake by a foreign investor in a US bank could attract criticism in the US, where some lawmakers have been unnerved by direct investments by sovereign wealth funds from Asia and the Middle East.
美國聯合經濟委員會(Joint Economic Committee)主席、參議員查爾斯?舒默(Charles Schumer)本週暗示，可能會推動對此類投資實行更嚴格的監管。
Senator Charles Schumer, chairman of the joint economic committee, this week signalled a possible push for greater regulation of such investments.
根據中國官方新華社的報道，中信證券在貝爾斯登的持股比例可能增至9.9%，而貝爾斯登所持中信證券的股份最終可能增至7.5%。
Citic’s stake is likely to be increased to 9.9 per cent of Bear Stearns. The US investment bank’s stake in Citic could eventually be lifted to as much as 7.5 per cent, according to a report from China’s official Xinhua news agency.
10億美元的投資規模將保持不變，只是仍需得到中國監管機構的批准。
The $1bn investment scale will remain the same, subject to approval from Chinese regulators.
自去年10月達成交易以來，貝爾斯登的股價已從當時的大約120美元跌至約80美元。中信證券的股價已下滑40%，至大約71元人民幣。
Bear’s shares have fallen from about $120 when the deal was signed in October to about $80 now. Citic’s shares have dropped 40 per cent to about Rmb71.
據知情人士介紹，去年11月，在貝爾斯登股價出現驟跌後，中信證券首先提出重新討論它將在這家美國投行持有的股份。
Citic first broached the subject of renegotiating the stake it would take in Bear last November following a precipitous drop in the US bank’s shares, according to people familiar with the matter.
中信一位發言人表示，他不知道有任何談判正在進行。記者無法聯絡上貝爾斯登駐日本的一位發言人置評。
A Citic spokesman said he had no knowledge of any ongoing negotiations and a Bear spokeswoman in Japan could not be reached for comment.
一名瞭解談判情況的人士稱，雙方增持對方股份是“合理的”，反映了雙方股價的下跌。 For the two sides to take larger shares in each other was “reasonable” and reflected their lower share prices, according to one person close to the negotiations.
另一位知情人士則持更為懷疑的態度。他表示：“這些都是猜測，是我們的競爭引起監管機構擔憂造成的。雙方的股價都下跌了，但這並不意味著需要重新談判，除非這麼做符合雙方股東的利益。”
Another source familiar with the matter was more sceptical, saying: “It is all speculation driven by our competition which is causing the regulators to become concerned. The prices on both sides have come down but that doesn’t mean that the deal will be renegotiated unless it is in the interest of shareholders on both sides.”
