世界金融中心—伦敦

　　Oct 19th 2006 From The Economist print edition

　　Twenty years ago London embarked on a remarkable transformation to become a global financial centre. It now has to keep its lead.

　　伦敦在20年前进行了一次成功的转型，成为全球的金融中心。如今的它必须保持领导地位

　　ONCE a year the Lord Mayor of London invites top financiers to the “City Banquet” at Mansion House, his official home. It is one of many opulent functions hosted by a Gilbert-and-Sullivan-sounding figure whose grand title harks back to the middle ages, when the Lord Mayor really did run the capital rather than act as an honorific salesman for its financial centre. But although the old City of London still celebrates its ancient traditions—today's Lord Mayor is the 678th—the new City has discovered a modern destiny as a hub of international finance since far-reaching reforms transformed the London stockmarket 20 years ago.

　　伦敦金融城的市长每年都要举行一次“正式的宴会”，招待那些顶尖的金融家们，地点是在他的办公场所Mansion House。这只是伦敦金融城的市长，这个Gilbert和Sullivan戏剧中的时代人物，举办的许多正式宴会中的一个。伦敦金融城市长的勋爵爵位的授予要追溯到遥远的中世纪，在那时，市长拥有实权，而不象现在只是向外界推广介绍自己管辖的城市。虽然伦敦金融城还在举行着悠久历史的传统仪式，（今年的市长已经是第678任了）但使金融城重获新生却缘自于20年前进行一场改革，这场针对其股票交易市场改革意义深远，将伦敦转型为国际的金融中心。

　　That revolution was called “Big Bang” because new ways of trading shares came into effect on one day, October 27th 1986. Just as the universe exploded after Big Bang, so the City has burst from its former boundaries around the old “square mile” of the Lord Mayor's domain and, in the process, redrawn the capital's skyline.

　　那次大变革被称为“大爆炸”（Big Bang）,一些关于股票交易的新法规于1986年10月27日这一天，正式生效。这正如宇宙在大爆炸之后的情形一样，从此金融城从以往的狭小的“一平方英里”市长领地，蜕变成为首都一道新的亮丽风景线。

　　Twenty years ago, Canary Wharf was a wasteland in east London's docklands. Now it sprouts skyscrapers, including Britain's tallest, that provide palatial premises for global banks with giant trading floors. There are now almost as many financial staff working in just this one area as in the whole of Frankfurt, London's main European rival, says George Iacobescu, Canary Wharf Group's chief executive.

　　20年前Canary Wharf只是伦敦东区码头的一块荒地。如今已是充斥着摩天大楼，这其中就包括英国的第一高楼，为全球的银行业提供着巨型的交易场地和宏伟的办公场所。按照Canary Wharf集团的CEO George Iacobescu先生的说法，仅在此地工作的金融界人士的数量就相当于整个在法兰克福金融界工作的人数，法兰克福是伦敦在欧洲金融市场的主要竞争对手。

　　The City has also expanded to the west. Hedge funds have plumped for boutique offices in the choicer parts of the West End, like Mayfair. And a short cab-ride to the north at Marylebone, BNP Paribas employs 3,100 staff—the most in any of its buildings in the world—at a swish office that opened in 1997. The French bank's trading floor, with 850 desks and 2,550 screens, could double as a football pitch.

　　金融城也在向西扩展，对冲基金公司已经在West End（例如Mayfair）建起了他们豪华的办公室。搭乘计程车，只要花很短的时间就能到达Marylebone,法国巴黎银行（BNP Paribas）在这里的员工就达3,100人，时髦的办公室建立于1997年，恐怕也是世界上最大的办公机构。这个法国银行的交易大厅，拥有850个席位和2,550个屏幕，相当于2个足球场那么大。

　　Within the square mile itself, the City's incessant demand for more space has led to a huge wave of new developments. To the east of the great dome of St Paul's Cathedral, built in the late 17th century, a cluster of 21st-century skyscrapers is planned as new towers with names like the “Helter-skelter” join the “Gherkin”, completed three years ago. Within less than a decade, the view from the Thames may look like the illustration above.

　　就在这狭小的“一平方英里”内城里面，由于持续旺盛的需求，金融城也在不停有开发着新的项目，往东挨着17世纪的圣保罗大教堂，一群被命名为“Helter-skelter”的21世纪的摩天大楼正在酝酿之中，加入了3年前已经竣工的“Gherkin”楼群行列。在短短的不到10年内，泰晤士河边的景色已经焕然一新。

　　The property boom reflects the City's expansion since Big Bang. The specialist workforce that carries out international financial business has risen by a half in the past 15 years, according to CEBR, a consultancy that monitors the London economy. These highly paid financiers, traders and professionals are now much more cosmopolitan. At BNP Paribas, for example, 35% of its staff in London are foreign nationals; less than half of these are French.

　　地产业的兴旺折射出金融城大变革后的扩张。根据一家一直关注伦敦经济的咨询公司，CEBR的统计数据，在金融城从事国际金融业务的专业人士数量在过去的15年增加了50%。这些享受着高薪人士包括金融人士，交易商及专业人士，来自于不同背景的国家。例如在法国巴黎银行（BNP Paribas）的伦敦分部，员工有35%是外籍人士，法国国籍的人还不到一半。

　　Few doubt that London's élan owes much to the revolution in its securities markets. “There is just no comparison now between the City's standing today and 20 years ago,” says David Lascelles, co-director of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, a think-tank. “London wouldn't be in this position without Big Bang.” But can the City maintain its role as a global financial centre? Just this week the British government set up a taskforce, partly to signal to the City that it values London's standing. Other cities, not least New York, are keen to steal footloose financial transactions away. Exchanges are joining forces, making trading hubs, such as Chicago, potentially more powerful (see article). For all its historic success, London will be relentlessly tested in the future.

　　毫无质疑，伦敦的新生得益于证券市场的变革。“现在和20年前金融城的定位已是大相径庭了”一家智库，金融创新研究中心（Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation）的联合董事David Lascelles说，“如果没有那次大的变革，伦敦就没有今天的地位。”伦敦金融城能够保持全球金融中心的地位么？就在上周英国政府成立了一个特别小组，其中部分的任务就是评价金融城对伦敦定位的影响力。包括纽约的其他城市，正试图在金融交易的业务中分一杯羹。交易所之间强强联合，形成交易的枢纽，芝加哥就是一个潜在的强势竞争对手。从历史的经验来看，伦敦的中心地位将面临着来自其他城市不断地挑战。