VOA双语新闻：美国“华盛顿互惠银行”宣布破产

　　As U.S. lawmakers grappled over a $700 billion dollar bank bailout plan, one of the nation's largest banks - Washington Mutual 1 Incorporated - collapsed 3 under the weight of its enormous bad bets on the U.S. mortgage market. What is seen as the largest bank failure in U.S. history.

正当美国国会仍然就政府提出的七千亿美元拯救金融市场计划争吵不休的时候，美国规模最大的银行之一--华盛顿互惠银行--却由于无法承受其巨大的房贷坏帐而破产。这是美国历史上破产倒闭的规模最大的一家银行。

With financial markets reeling over the recent crisis on Wall Street, the collapse 2 of Seattle-based Washington Mutual could not have come at a worse time.

当金融市场由于华尔街最新的危机而苦苦挣扎之际，总部设在西雅图的华盛顿互惠银行的倒闭，的确是雪上加霜。

Federal regulators moved quickly, seizing the troubled mortgage lender late Thursday and selling the thrift's banking 4 assets to U.S. investment bank J.P. Morgan for nearly $2 billion.

联邦监管人员行动迅速，于星期四傍晚冻结了这家身陷困境的房贷发放机构的资产，然后以将近二十亿美元的价格转售给美国投资银行摩根大通公司。

The Federal Deposit Insurance Company, FDIC, insures Americans' bank deposits of up to $100,000. But it says because of the deal it will not have to use its assets to cover Washington Mutual's deposits.

美国联邦储蓄保险公司为储户十万美元以下的储蓄投了保，但是表示，由于转售交易的达成，联邦储蓄保险公司不必利用自身的资产向华盛顿互惠银行的储户支付赔偿。

The FDIC had already spent billions of dollars in its takeover of IndyMac, which collapsed in July. Some analysts 5 say a Washington Mutual failure could have used up half the money in the government insurance fund.

今年七月抵押贷款公司IndyMac破产的时候，联邦储蓄保险公司已经付出了几十亿美元。一些分析人士表示，假如华盛顿互惠银行破产，联邦储蓄保险公司将不得不动用一半的政府保险资金。

J.P. Morgan Chase said it plans to close less than 10 percent of the two companies' branches. The bank has not yet decided 6 which to close. Kelsey Wesley, a Washington Mutual employee says employees are nervous. But adds the company, commonly known as WaMu, has been good to them in the past.

摩根大通公司表示，将关闭两家公司百分之十以下的分行，但是没有明确说明将关闭哪些分行。华盛顿互惠银行雇员凯尔西·韦斯利说，银行的雇员都感到紧张担心。但是他也表示，公司一向待雇员很好。

"I'm not gonna say that is not gonna happen but no matter what WaMu has a really impressive severance 7 package and I think that's going to be carried on even if there is a merger," he said.

韦斯利说：“我并不是说这种事情不会发生，但是不管怎么说，华盛顿互惠银行向员工提供非常好的解聘待遇。我认为，即使公司被兼并，这些待遇也会得到执行。”

John Graybill, another Washington Mutual employee said he is optimistic.

华盛顿互惠银行另一位名叫约翰·格雷比尔的雇员说，他感到乐观。

"Of course we are going to have some uncertainties 8 and some questioning about what's going on. Have I been nervous? Sure. That's the nature of the whole beast," he said. "When a large company gets bought out you wonder about your job. Are heads gonna roll? You just don't know but we have faith in our bosses and the people upstairs."

他说：“我们当然对眼前发生的一切感到不安，心里也会有很多问题。我是否感到紧张？当然紧张。这正是问题的根源。一家大公司被别人收买购，你自然担心你的饭碗。是否会有人被炒鱿鱼？你心里没底，但是我们对我们的老板和管理层有信心。”

FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair says this will be a seamless transition for the bank's customers. She says there will be no interruption in services and bankers can expect business as usual.

联邦储蓄保险公司主席希拉·布莱尔表示，对于华盛顿互惠银行的顾客来说，过渡将会非常平稳。她还说，服务不会受到影响，一切都照常如故。

Washington Mutual has been saddled with billions of dollars of debt because it heavily invested in selling risky 9 subprime mortgages to customers who later defaulted on them.

华盛顿互惠银行把很多资产投在高风险的次级房贷上，但是由于很多贷款者无法偿还贷款而负债高达几十亿美元。

This is J.P. Morgan's second purchase of a financial institution left vulnerable by the subprime mortgage crisis. It bought Bear Stearns for more than two-billion dollars earlier this year.

这是摩根大通银行第二次出手购买由于次级房贷危机而摇摇欲坠的金融公司。今年早些时候，摩根大通以二十多亿美元的价格收购了贝尔斯登公司。