日本银行东山再起 - 金融英语速读训练

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每天一篇《金融时报》

在全球化日益激烈的金融行业中，能迅速地阅读英文的专业文献，把握全球金融趋势，和海外的金融业者交流，已经成为每个金融业者必备的技能。如果你能坚持每天阅读一篇《金融时报》精选的文章，并不断提高阅读速读和理解准确率，你的专业水平和英文水平，必将令人刮目相看。

准备好了吗？开始吧。

为什么要每天阅读《金融时报》？
- 对于全球的金融业从业人员来说，阅读《金融时报》是每天必须进行的修炼。要想把握金融业的趋势，提高自己的“金融智慧”，和全球的金融业者站在同一高度，《金融时报》是你的首选。
为什么要训练阅读速度？
- 在信息爆炸的今天，能够迅速地阅读和理解大量资料，已成为金融业者必不可少的技能。著名的投资家股神巴菲特曾表示，他每天都会阅读大量报刊和年报，这也是他多年来始终能做出正确的投资决策的基础。
训练阅读速度的小工具
- 自动滚屏助你提高速度。点击该按钮后，屏幕就开始滚动，迫使你改掉向回看的习惯，加快速度。默认为每分钟140字（朗读速度）。随着你的技能提升，你可以挑战更高的速度，直到达到1000。

速度：+ -

阅读以下文章

<b>Second blossom</b>

By Michiyo Nakamoto and David Pilling

Published: October 22 2008 20:35 | Last updated: October 22 2008 20:35

<img src=http://media.ft.com/cms/91e144b8-a060-11dd-80a0-000077b07658.gif border=0 style="float:left;margin-right:5px;">Not so long ago, when Japan was mired in a deep and protracted banking crisis, it was swashbuckling US bankers and private equity firms that saw gold in the debris. Many picked up bargains, bringing fresh ideas and capital to a system on its knees.

Now, as the credit crisis drives western banks up against the wall, the roles have been reversed. Japanese financial groups have moved swiftly to snap up prized assets in the US and Europe, sending a strong message that they are back on the international stage. With western rivals shell-shocked, Japanese banks have sniffed a once-in-a-generation opportunity to grab market share and remould the international financial landscape to their advantage.

Takumi Shibata, the internationally minded chief operating officer of Nomura, the Japanese broker that scooped up the Asian and European operations of the failed Lehman Brothers for a knockdown $227m (￡139m, €177m) last month, can hardly hide his glee. “It would have taken about 10 years for us to build these platforms which became available overnight,” he says. It would have been foolish for us not to jump on it.”

<img src=http://media.ft.com/cms/24db91d2-a058-11dd-80a0-000077b07658.jpg border=0 style="float:left;margin-right:5px;">Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) evidently felt the same. This month Japan’s biggest bank delivered a $9bn cheque to Morgan Stanley as payment for a 21 per cent stake in the venerable US investment bank. Despite a reputation for being conservative even by Japanese standards, it took MUFG just two days to stump up a sum approaching 11 per cent of its shareholders’ equity.

That is not all. Earlier in the year Mizuho, Japan’s second largest bank, spent $1.2bn on a stake in Merrill Lynch, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group invested about $1bn in the UK’s Barclays. “It’s proof that Japanese financial institutions have returned to health,” says Tom Ito, co-head of investment banking at UBS in Tokyo. They “are now going to aggressively expand overseas”.

Their re-emergence brings back memories of the 1980s – seemingly golden years when Japanese financial powerhouses, backed by the country’s massive savings, seemed set to conquer the world. Equally, it marks a striking change from just a few years ago, when many of the banks were weighed down by non-performing loans and the government was forced to inject funds to save the financial system from collapse. As recently as 2003, without the government’s preference shares and the generous use of deferred tax assets to boost their capital, the main banks were in effect bankrupt.

In the so-called “lost decade” that followed the bursting in 1990 of Japan’s asset bubble, its banks had retreated from overseas markets and hunkered down at home to rebuild their capital bases. But with the domestic crisis finally behind them, Japanese financial groups have started eyeing international markets again as a solution to their remaining problems. Not least among those is the shrinking domestic market banks face.

Despite a mild economic recovery, lending has failed to recover, as companies have turned more to the capital markets for funding. Last year, lending by the top three banks fell 2.5 per cent, says Naoko Nemoto, analyst at Standard & Poor’s in Tokyo. “There is overbanking in Japan and profitability is low,” she says.

The story is the same throughout Japan’s financial sector, from stockbrokers to insurance companies. Nomura, for example, found its dominance at home increasingly threatened by foreign investment banks and the securities subsidiaries of Japan’s megabanks. Until its demise, Lehman Brothers rather than Nomura was the top broker on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in terms of trading volume. That, says Mr Shibata, is one reason “why we were not that happy with the status quo”.

Japan’s non-life insurers meanwhile face a decline in premium income this year and next, largely because of a fall in car sales and hence in the need for automotive insurance. That helps to explain why Tokio, the industry leader, this year splashed out $4.7bn to acquire Philadelphia, a specialised insurance group in the US, and ￡442m ($726m, €564m) to acquire Kiln, the Lloyd’s of London agent.

A second reason Japanese financial institutions need to expand overseas is because their main clients, Japanese corporations, are becoming increasingly global. In the wake of exporters such as Toyota and Panasonic, more domestically focused companies including Japan Tobacco and Asahi Glass are being driven to overseas markets by Japan’s declining population.

But to compete in overseas markets, even those involving Japanese clients, Japan’s banks and brokers need to match their western rivals’ expertise, no matter some elements of that are now tarnished. Lehman overtook Nomura on the TSE three years ago because of its ability to provide high-frequency trading for clients such as hedge funds.

The discipline imposed on the banks during their time of seclusion has given them the wherewithal again to pursue global ambitions. “Their assets are more transparent and their reserve policy is much stricter, so there is considerable confidence in their financial health,” says Mr Nozaki. The retreat also helped them to avoid the worst of the excesses that landed their western counterparts in such dire straits.

Until the credit crisis struck, few foreign banks were available to buy. Those that were up for grabs were prohibitively expensive. “Lehman one year ago was a $20bn market cap company and, since Asia-Pacific comprises 40 per cent, it would have cost [Nomura] $8bn,” estimates one Japanese investment banker – more than 30 times what it actually paid.

Consequently, when the opportunities arose, even the most cautious Japanese bankers were tempted, notwithstanding the uncertainty still clouding the outlook for international investment banks. MUFG even cut short its due diligence on Morgan Stanley from an initially forecast one month to just a week, partly to stop its target’s shares from falling further.

But having made these uncharacteristically bold moves, Japan’s banks face two big questions. First, should they be buying into investment banks at a time when the sector’s business model is being scrutinised and when profitability is shot to pieces?

Analysts say profitable proprietary investments and primary brokerage operations are likely to shrink, forcing investment banks to go back to their roots as more stable – but less lucrative – fee-based businesses. Yet from the Japanese perspective, even the regular fees western investment banks earn from mergers and acquisitions advice, securities underwriting and trading look attractive. These would help diversify profits and cushion the impact of a dwindling home market.

“The landscape has changed quite dramatically. The profitability, longer term, is likely to be less than it was until this year. But while the returns may not be as good, there will still be a need for expertise to raise money,” says Brian Waterhouse at Japaninvest, an equity research company.

Second, will Japanese financial institutions be able to manage their investments and transform themselves from predominantly domestic institutions to serious global players? “You can acquire expertise but can you manage expertise? That is the crucial question,” says Mr Waterhouse.

Nomura’s success hinges on whether it is able to retain talented Lehman bankers and ensure that the positive aspects of the Lehman culture, which underpinned the US bank’s successful divisions, survive in the new environment. To that end, Nomura has moved quickly to boost morale among Lehman staff through bonus guarantees. It has also appointed three non-Japanese directors to the Nomura board to infuse international thinking into its top management team.

Some warn that the bureaucratic, inward-looking culture typical of Japan’s financial institutions is an obstacle to a close partnership with aggressive western bankers. “They are not the potential saviours of western capitalism,” Mr Waterhouse adds. “They don’t have the fire in the belly that other financial institutions have.”

In MUFG’s case, even before it faces any cultural issues, it must agree strategic ventures with Morgan Stanley that provide new revenue streams. “There has to be a real deal that comes out of this,” says Mr Nozaki. One fillip has been that, as soon as the investment was sealed, MUFG received US financial holding company status – a licence to underwrite bonds and conduct other investment banking services, which had been denied the Japanese bank for years.

But in order to take full advantage of its new powers, MUFG will want to tap Morgan Stanley’s expertise in deal- structuring and complex services and become the provider of funds to back deals. MUFG will also want to gain access through its new partner to US customers. It and Morgan Stanley are giving themselves until next June to come up with strategic initiatives.

As Katsuhito Sasajima, banking analyst at JPMorgan in Tokyo, says: “The plan that is unveiled in June will show whether Japanese banks have really changed from being lenders of last resort to being able to make strategic alliances.” Given the speed of change in financial markets and the potential for western financial groups to reinvent themselves, they will have a limited time to make their mark.

选择正确答案

Which of the following most accurately descripts the purpose of the article?

That's obvious.

To praise the Japanese banks' courage and wisdom to buy into western banks in times of crisis.
To analyze why the Japanese banks are buying western banks and warn about future difficulties.
To explain why the roles of Japanese and western banks have been reversed.
To analyze the impact of the rise of Janpanese banking.

选择正确答案

According to the author, which is NOT a reason why Japanese bank need to expand overseas?

Check out: "There is overbanking in Japan and profitability is low...A second reason Japanese financial institutions need to expand overseas is because their main clients, Japanese corporations, are becoming increasingly global...Until the credit crisis struck, few foreign banks were available to buy."

Domestic banking market is overcrowded.
Their clients are becoming more international.
The valuation of western banks is attractive.
Japanese banks have always wanted to regain their glory in the 1980s.

选择正确答案

Which of the following is the biggest potential difficulty of Japanese banks buying into investment banks, according to the author?

Check out the last few paragraph. The authors raised two big questions. But the question of profitability is not a problem for Japanese banks.

Management issues and cultural clashes.
Western bankers are unwilling to work for Japanese.
Shrinking profitability.
Weak domestic market.

选择正确答案

According to the author, what's NOT true about Japanese banks?

Check this out: "Second, will Japanese financial institutions be able to manage their investments and transform themselves from predominantly domestic institutions to serious global players?" This means the author doesn't think the Japanese banks are superior to western banks in terms of expertice and management.

They are more bureaucratic and inward-looking than western bank.
Their expertice and management is superior to that of western banks.
They are more healthy than western banks now.
They rely heavily on lending business.

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您的正确率太低，在目前这个阶段，对你来说最重要的是提高英文水平和金融专业水平，而不是速度。请您点击后退仔细查看您答错的题目，并和原文对照。对原文中所有不懂的句子和知识点，也请一一查明。建议您：
1. 在进行下一次训练的时候，将滚屏速度保持在100以下。
2. 您可以找一些有声读物，如《经济学人》的audio edition，帮助你提高英文水平。

看得出你是非常认真来进行这次训练的，如果你坚持的话，你会获得非常大的提高。目前你的阅读速度偏低，可能是因为英文不是你的母语。不过，请不要放慢阅读速度。研究表明，阅读速度越快的人，其理解的正确率反而越高。因此，您可以同时提高您的阅读速度和理解能力。给你一点建议：
1. 一定要改掉默念的习惯
2. 不要一个词一个词的看，要学会把一个语义群当作一个整体来看。比如“an emergency $180bn injection of dollar”这个语义群，你要学会把他当作一个整体来看。
3. 看DVD的时候，切换到英文字幕。

用正常语速来朗读一篇文章，平均速度是每分钟140词。这说明你的阅读速度比朗读还要慢。建议您：1. 每一段的第一句话往往是最重要的。
2. “速读”最忌讳的就是“读”，不要一边看一边默念。
3. 在下一个训练中将滚屏速度设为140，迫使自己不能回头去看已经读过的部分。

您的阅读速度已经超过了正常语速，说明你已经开始有些速读的感觉了。美国大学生的最低阅读速度为每分钟250词，加把劲你就可以赶上了。建议您：
1. 养成习惯，读过的部分不要回头去看，这样会影响速读。
2. 加强“扫描”的训练，让自己的眼睛能“一目一行”。

您的阅读速度已经达到了美国大学生的水平，可喜可贺。不过作为金融从业人员，每天需要阅读数不清的中英文研究报告、公司年报、报刊杂志等，您还需要向每分钟350字进军。建议您：
1. 加强“扫描”的训练，让自己的眼睛能“一目两行”。
2. 对中英文的数字，尤其是大数字(million, billion)的转换进行总结和练习。

厉害，您的阅读速度已经超过了美国大学生的水平。不过，要成为巴菲特那样的金融专家，您需要锻炼出“一目十行”的火眼金睛。建议您在每次的训练中注意三个要点：
1. 您已经学会了将文章分成语义群，而非词来阅读，现在，你需要扩大每一个语义群中的词数。
2. 加快阅读每个语义群的速度。
3. 看过的内容尽量不要回看。

这就是传说中的“一目十行”吗？难以置信！

世界纪录才每分钟416,250字，居然被你破了！无语...