With HSBC threatening to move its headquarters out of London, one city comes to mind as its potential new home: Hong Kong, the “H” in its name.
就在匯豐銀行威脅要將總部搬離倫敦之際，一座城市被人們認(rèn)為可能會成為它的新家：香港。匯豐銀行（HSBC）名字里的H就代表的正是它。

Set up in 1865 and headquartered in both then-British colony Hong Kong and China’s financial center Shanghai as the bank that?greased the wheels?of British trade, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. moved its headquarters to London in 1993 after it bought one of the U.K.’s top retail banks in the early 1990s.
匯豐銀行于1865年成立，總部位于當(dāng)時(shí)的英國殖民地香港和中國的金融中心上海。它促進(jìn)了英國貿(mào)易。90年代初，匯豐銀行收購了英國最大的零售銀行，并于1993年將總部搬到倫敦。

易詞解詞（BY 丁朝陽）

grease the wheels 使順利進(jìn)行?
近義短語：go off without a hitch 順利進(jìn)行（hitch 掛鉤>故障）
?* You need effective marketing and administration to grease the wheels of your company. ?你需要實(shí)行有效的市場營銷及管理策略促進(jìn)公司的發(fā)展。

Its?acquisition?of Midland Bank, which had retail branches in almost every British city at that time, lifted the bank’s U.K earnings.
米特蘭銀行幾乎在英國的每個(gè)城市都有分行。收購該銀行使得匯豐在英國的收益得到大幅提升。

易詞解詞（BY 丁朝陽）
acquisition ?n. 獲得物，獲得
?{ac- < ad-, to 向，就 + -quis-, seek 尋求 + -ition = -ation 名詞后綴}
又如：exquisite 精致的；disquisition探討；inquisitor審問者

But Hong Kong remains the source of the biggest?chunk?of profits at the bank founded by Thomas Sutherland, a Scot, 150 years ago. Last year it made up 44% of the global bank’s pre-tax profit of US$18.7 billion, while the U.K. recorded a US$56 million pre-tax loss.
然而，在這家150年前由蘇格蘭人托瑪斯·薩瑟蘭德創(chuàng)建的銀行里，最大的一部分收入仍然來自香港。去年，匯豐這一跨國銀行的44%稅前利潤來自香港，數(shù)額為187億美元，而在英國，它的稅前虧損為5600萬。

The bank has a huge retail banking presence in the city, while its investment banking operations in Hong Kong have benefited from a?surge?in yuan-bond issuance in recent years.
匯豐銀行在香港開設(shè)了大批分行。近年來，匯豐發(fā)行的大批人民幣債券讓它在香港的投資銀行業(yè)務(wù)獲益匪淺。

A big employer in the city of 7 million, HSBC had 30,000 employees there at the end of last year, accounting for 11.3% of its total workforce. It is a joint sponsor of the city’s biggest annual international sporting event, the Hong Kong sevens rugby tournament.
匯豐是香港的主要用人單位。去年，在這座700萬人的城市里有30000人是匯豐員工，占香港勞動力總額的11.3%。它還是香港最大的年度國際體育賽事，香港國際七人制橄欖球賽的聯(lián)合贊助商。

Its Hong Kong headquarters, housed in a glass-building designed by star architect Norman Foster, also is a reminder of the bank’s place in the city’s history. The 47-story structure, the world’s most expensive building when it was built for almost $700 million in 1985, occupies a prime spot?flanking?the city’s?legislative?building, or parliament, with unobstructed views of the harbor.
匯豐香港總部位于一座玻璃大廈內(nèi)。這座由著名設(shè)計(jì)師諾曼·福斯特設(shè)計(jì)的建筑仍提醒著人們匯豐在香港歷史中的地位。1985年，這座造價(jià)7億美元的47層大樓是世界上最貴的建筑。它的地理位置極好，側(cè)面是香港立法會大樓，海港一覽無遺。

易詞解詞（BY 丁朝陽）

flank ?n. 側(cè)面 ?vt. 位于…的側(cè)面
?* The army was attacked on the left flank. ?部隊(duì)的左翼受到攻擊。 (n.)
?* The hall was flanked by two towers. ?大廳的兩側(cè)各有一座高樓。 (vt.)

This city with laws independent to those of the Chinese mainland also has one of the world’s lowest corporate tax rates: at 16.5%, it remains below Britain’s 20%.
香港和中國大陸施行不同的法律，它16.5%的公司稅是全世界最低的之一，低于英國20%的稅率。

Speculation over the bank’s plans prompted Hong Kong’s banking?watchdog?to say it would take a “positive attitude” to any decision by HSBC to relocate its headquarters to the city.
關(guān)于匯豐銀行總部重返香港一事，有猜測稱香港銀行監(jiān)管部門將對此持“積極態(tài)度”。

“HSBC is the largest bank in Hong Kong and has deep historical links with Hong Kong,”? the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said in a statement on Friday.
香港金融管理局在周五的聲明中表示：“匯豐是香港最大的銀行，與香港有著深厚的歷史淵源。”