【CNN0103】澳门赌场繁荣助长非法资金

aliciayang

【中文标题】澳门赌场繁荣助长非法资金

【原文标题】Macau casino boom fuelled by illicit cash

【登载媒体】CNN

【来源地址】http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/03/business/macau-gambling-boom/index.html

【译者】aliciayang                                         

【翻译方式】人工

【声明】欢迎转载，请务必注明译者和出处 bbs.m4.cn

【正文】

When Macau unveiled record gambling revenues on Tuesday, the government was silent about the source of much of the cash fuelling the territory's boom: illegal money transfers from mainland China.

(金融时报)——当澳门在周二公布了赌博收益后，澳门政府对于刺激该区域发展的资金来源保持了沉默：来自于大陆的非法资金。

From pawn shops offering money withdrawal services, to underground banks using human mules to transport cash across the border, Macau tolerates the illicit methods that mainland punters use to bring money into the former Portuguese colony, which reverted to Chinese control in 1999.

从典当行提供现金支取业务到地下钱庄利用人力跨境转移现金，内地赌徒通过非法手段将赌金带到这个前葡萄殖民地、于1999年回归中国的地方。

Mainland tourists, who have made Macau the world's largest gambling centre, can legally bring only Rmb20,000 ($3,175) when crossing into the Chinese territory. But many gamblers bring more cash to the casino tables by using their Unionpay debit card to withdraw money -- for a fee.

促成澳门作为世界最大赌彩业中心的大陆游客，可以合法携带20,000人民币（合3,175美元）跨境。但是，许多赌徒通过银联借记卡将更多现金带到赌桌上。

"There is no risk. We pretend to sell the customer an expensive watch or a piece of jewellery, charge the amount in renminbi to the debit card, and then give him the equivalent amount in Macau patacas or Hong Kong dollars as if the customer had decided to return the object for an immediate cash refund," says the manager of a pawnshop up the street from the Grand Lisboa casino, Macau's oldest casino owned by Stanley Ho, the gambling tycoon.

“这是没有风险的。我们假装卖给顾客一块昂贵的手表或者一件珠宝，以人民币计价收费，然后给他们同等数量的澳门币或者港币就好像顾客已经决定退货以取得退款一样”。位于新葡京赌场街边的一位典当行老板说道。新葡京赌场是澳门最古老的赌场，由赌博业大亨何鸿粲持有。

The manager says the cardholder's records will register the transaction as a purchase. Unionpay, which was formed by China's big banks, says it bans such transactions, but the company declined to comment on the fact that the practice remained widespread. The company said it no longer released data on how much cardholders spent in Macau.
这个老板说借记卡持有人的记录会将这次交易记录为购买。由中国大型银行组成的银联说这样的交易是禁止的，但是拒绝对这种已经很普遍的现象做出评论。银联表示不会公布持卡人在澳门的消费记录。

People familiar with the industry say the Macau government cannot afford to shut down the illegal services, which hundreds of pawn shops advertise publicly on neon signs.

赌彩业的知情人指出，澳门政府不会关闭这些非法的服务，即数以百计的典当行公开发布广告。

"The Macau government's hands are tied," says one veteran Macau policeman. "It is not going to initiate a crackdown, because over 75 per cent of its revenue comes from gaming taxes."

“澳门政府的手是被绑着的，”一名退休的澳门警员说。“政府是不会禁止这些行为的，因为超过75%的财政收入是通过对赌彩业征税得来的。”

About 16m mainland Chinese visited Macau in 2011, an increase of more than 20 per cent on the previous year, and 60 per cent more than the 10m who visited in 2006. Analysts estimate that up to 30 per cent of Macau's gaming revenue could be channelled through illegal channels.

在2011年，大约1600万内地游客到澳门旅游，比上一年增加了20%，比2006年增加了至少60%。分析师推算至少30%的赌彩业收入是通过非法途径获得的。

"Banking restrictions make it very difficult to transfer funds to Macau legitimately, but it is easy for people to find ways [around the rules]," says a senior Chinese bank manager who gambles in Macau.

“银行的禁令使得合法向澳门转移资金变得困难，但是人们能轻易地找到其他方法（即规避政策）”，一个在澳门赌博的银行高管说道。

While the debit card cashback service is the most visible source of money for the less well-heeled punters, those with deeper pockets have found different ways to avoid the restrictions.

尽管借记卡现金返还对于不那么有钱的赌徒来说是最显而易见的方法，而更有钱的赌徒还有其他方法来规避限制。

VIP punters -- whom analysts estimate generate 70 per cent of Macau's gaming revenues -- gamble on credit provided by so-called junket operators who seek out wealthy mainland gamblers.

“贵宾赌徒”,据分析师估计给澳门带来70%的赌博收益，是通过有能力的中间人提供赊账来赌博。这些中间人寻找的目标群体就是有钱的大陆赌徒。

The junket operators receive commissions from the casinos or get a share of the profits. They, or their agents, sometimes use underground banks to return the money they have collected as debt on the mainland to Macau. The lenders use criminal gangs from Fujian and Guangdong provinces who in turn pay human mules as little as $5 -- compared with Guangdong's average daily wage of $7 -- to smuggle cash across the border.

中间人从赌场收取佣金或者分享一部分利润。他们或者他们的代理人有时利用地下钱庄来返还那些内陆付给澳门的欠款。贷方利用来自福建和广东的犯罪团伙，每天仅仅付给他们5美元偷运现金跨境，相比较广东日薪都要7美元。

While the underground banks are part of what is known as the shadow banking system in China, providing credit to cash-strapped companies, their Macau-related business is limited to transferring money from other sources.
众所周知，地下钱庄是中国影子银行系统的一部分，它们对资金紧缺的公司提供贷款，其与澳门有关的生意仅限于从其他渠道转移资金。

One former junket operator and a Hong Kong owner of a mainland factory in Guangdong province, just across the border from Macau, described how operators also use Hong Kong business people who own companies on the mainland to transfer money illegally.

以前曾经做过中间人、在广东省拥有一家公司的香港老板，刚从澳门入境，描述了中间人怎样利用港商在大陆拥有的公司来非法转移资金。

He said operators handed over renminbi debts collected on the mainland to the factory owner, who used the money to pay his staff wages. Then, the owner sent the equivalent in Hong Kong dollars from his Hong Kong bank account to the operator's account in Macau. Both sides profited by agreeing a mutually beneficial exchange rate.

他说中间人将收集到的人民币欠款交给工厂老板来支付员工工资。然后，工厂老板通过其香港账户汇入同等数量的港币到中间人在澳门的账户。双方通过达成共识的互惠汇率来获利。

There is no public data available to indicate exactly how much of Macau's gaming revenue comes from illegal channels, and casino operators and government officials refuse to speak about the issue. Macau's Gaming Inspection and Co-ordination Bureau refused to comment.

没有公共数据可以指明澳门的赌博收入来自于非法渠道。赌场负责人和政府官员拒绝谈论相关的话题，澳门的博彩监察协调局也拒绝评论。

"Neither the Macau government nor Beijing wishes to damage the Macau economy. There's good reason to keep the scale of illegal transactions a closely guarded secret so nobody needs to take action," says the police officer.
“澳门政府或者北京政府都不希望破坏澳门经济。小心保守保持非法交易规模这个秘密是有原因的，这样没有人需要采取措施，”警官说道。

While Beijing does not condone gambling on the mainland, it has so far not cracked down on the illegal transfers. Analysts say it is unlikely to take action as the Chinese Communist party does not want to destabilise Macau just 13 years after the city returned to Chinese rule.

尽管北京不允许内地发展博彩业，但迄今也没有打击非法过户。分析师认为对于中国共产党来说，在澳门仅仅回归13年后，是不可能采取措施破坏澳门发展的稳定性的。

"Beijing is unlikely to take measures such as tightening visa restrictions or clamping down on debit card cashback services, as long as Macau is seen as a safe and enjoyable place to visit and casino operators refrain from activities or comments that might portray the city in a bad light," says Grant Govertsen, the Macau-based managing partner at Union Gaming Research, a US research group.

来自一个美国的研究团体——赌彩联合研究会的澳门管理合伙人，格兰特高扶森表示：“只要澳门仍被视为一个安全和快乐的旅游目的地并且赌场负责人避免一些可能会给城市带来不良印象的行为或者评论，北京是不太可能采取维萨禁令或者取缔借记卡现金返还服务的”。

初次发帖，请多多指教！谢谢！{:soso_e121:}

lilyma06

请注意发文格式，感谢翻译

aliciayang

呵呵，好的，下次注意