The Rich Are Different from You and Me
other than that they have more money, of course, as the critic Mary Colum retorted. They’ve got much better ways of hiding their income from the prying eyes of Uncle Sam:
One afternoon in April, six dozen wealthy Americans were entertained at a luncheon party in Midtown Manhattan, along with a special guest from Paris: Henri Loyrette, the director of the Louvre.
The host of the exclusive gathering was the Swiss bank UBS, whose elite private bankers built a lucrative business in recent years by discreetly tending the fortunes of American millionaires and billionaires. As the wine flowed and Mr. Loyrette spoke of the glories of France, UBS bankers courted their affluent guests.
But now, as the federal authorities intensify an investigation into offshore bank accounts, the secrets of this rarefied world are being dragged into the open — and UBS’s privileged clients are running scared.
Under pressure from the authorities, UBS is considering whether to divulge the names of up to 20,000 of its well-heeled American clients, according to people close to the inquiry, a step that would have once been unthinkable to Swiss bankers, whose traditions of secrecy date to the Middle Ages.
Federal investigators believe some of the clients may have used offshore accounts at UBS to hide as much as $20 billion in assets from the Internal Revenue Service. Doing so may have enabled these people to dodge at least $300 million in federal taxes on income from those assets, according to a government official connected with the investigation.
$300 million is a lot in practically everybody’s book.
Another difference is that if you stole $300 million and were caught doing it, in all likelihood you’d go to prison. These cats will pay a fine and that will probably be that. After all it would be pretty darned embarrassing if 20,000 of America’s richest ended up doing time.
富人與你我的不同
譯：正如評(píng)論家瑪麗`科倫姆所反駁的：當(dāng)然，除去富人比我們有更多的錢(qián)，他們擁有更多的方法將自己的財(cái)富藏好，不讓像山姆叔叔那樣愛(ài)打聽(tīng)的人知道。
四月的一個(gè)下午， 七十幾個(gè)美國(guó)有錢(qián)人受邀來(lái)到曼哈頓商業(yè)區(qū)參加午宴，其中，有一位從巴黎來(lái)的貴賓，亨瑞·羅瑞特，影片羅浮宮的導(dǎo)演。
這個(gè)高級(jí)聚會(huì)的主辦方是瑞士銀行-UBS:瑞士聯(lián)合銀行，該銀行的私人精英銀行業(yè)者在近幾年通過(guò)細(xì)心幫助美國(guó)的百萬(wàn)、千萬(wàn)富翁打理財(cái)產(chǎn)而大賺了一筆。羅瑞特一邊搖動(dòng)著酒杯，一邊娓娓到來(lái)法國(guó)的光榮史，瑞銀的銀行家們奉承著他們多金的客人們。
但是， 現(xiàn)在由于聯(lián)邦*已經(jīng)加大了對(duì)于境外銀行賬戶的調(diào)查，這個(gè)鮮為人知的世界正慢慢被人所了解，以致瑞銀的特權(quán)客戶人數(shù)在減少。
在*的這種壓力下， 瑞銀正在考慮是否要向此次調(diào)查的相關(guān)人士泄露多達(dá)20,000的美國(guó)貴賓名單，這個(gè)做法對(duì)瑞士銀行家們而言，是從未考慮過(guò)要做的。因?yàn)椋麄冞@種對(duì)賬戶采取保密的傳統(tǒng)源自中世紀(jì)。
聯(lián)邦調(diào)查員們認(rèn)為，有些人利用在瑞銀的國(guó)外賬戶來(lái)掩藏國(guó)內(nèi)稅收局高達(dá)2千億美元的財(cái)產(chǎn)。據(jù)這次調(diào)查的相關(guān)政府官員說(shuō)，這樣做，可以使他們能夠避免上繳因該筆財(cái)產(chǎn)所產(chǎn)生的至少3億美元稅款。
在實(shí)際生活中，3億美元對(duì)每個(gè)人的賬戶而言都不是一筆小數(shù)目。
還有一個(gè)區(qū)別就是，如果你偷了3億美元而且被當(dāng)場(chǎng)抓住，很有可能你要去監(jiān)獄了。而這些有錢(qián)的惡人只會(huì)收到一張罰單，而且可能僅次而已了。要知道，如果美國(guó)富人中的2萬(wàn)人在這樣做的話，這會(huì)是非常令人尷尬又厭惡的
other than that they have more money, of course, as the critic Mary Colum retorted. They’ve got much better ways of hiding their income from the prying eyes of Uncle Sam:
One afternoon in April, six dozen wealthy Americans were entertained at a luncheon party in Midtown Manhattan, along with a special guest from Paris: Henri Loyrette, the director of the Louvre.
The host of the exclusive gathering was the Swiss bank UBS, whose elite private bankers built a lucrative business in recent years by discreetly tending the fortunes of American millionaires and billionaires. As the wine flowed and Mr. Loyrette spoke of the glories of France, UBS bankers courted their affluent guests.
But now, as the federal authorities intensify an investigation into offshore bank accounts, the secrets of this rarefied world are being dragged into the open — and UBS’s privileged clients are running scared.
Under pressure from the authorities, UBS is considering whether to divulge the names of up to 20,000 of its well-heeled American clients, according to people close to the inquiry, a step that would have once been unthinkable to Swiss bankers, whose traditions of secrecy date to the Middle Ages.
Federal investigators believe some of the clients may have used offshore accounts at UBS to hide as much as $20 billion in assets from the Internal Revenue Service. Doing so may have enabled these people to dodge at least $300 million in federal taxes on income from those assets, according to a government official connected with the investigation.
$300 million is a lot in practically everybody’s book.
Another difference is that if you stole $300 million and were caught doing it, in all likelihood you’d go to prison. These cats will pay a fine and that will probably be that. After all it would be pretty darned embarrassing if 20,000 of America’s richest ended up doing time.
富人與你我的不同
譯：正如評(píng)論家瑪麗`科倫姆所反駁的：當(dāng)然，除去富人比我們有更多的錢(qián)，他們擁有更多的方法將自己的財(cái)富藏好，不讓像山姆叔叔那樣愛(ài)打聽(tīng)的人知道。
四月的一個(gè)下午， 七十幾個(gè)美國(guó)有錢(qián)人受邀來(lái)到曼哈頓商業(yè)區(qū)參加午宴，其中，有一位從巴黎來(lái)的貴賓，亨瑞·羅瑞特，影片羅浮宮的導(dǎo)演。
這個(gè)高級(jí)聚會(huì)的主辦方是瑞士銀行-UBS:瑞士聯(lián)合銀行，該銀行的私人精英銀行業(yè)者在近幾年通過(guò)細(xì)心幫助美國(guó)的百萬(wàn)、千萬(wàn)富翁打理財(cái)產(chǎn)而大賺了一筆。羅瑞特一邊搖動(dòng)著酒杯，一邊娓娓到來(lái)法國(guó)的光榮史，瑞銀的銀行家們奉承著他們多金的客人們。
但是， 現(xiàn)在由于聯(lián)邦*已經(jīng)加大了對(duì)于境外銀行賬戶的調(diào)查，這個(gè)鮮為人知的世界正慢慢被人所了解，以致瑞銀的特權(quán)客戶人數(shù)在減少。
在*的這種壓力下， 瑞銀正在考慮是否要向此次調(diào)查的相關(guān)人士泄露多達(dá)20,000的美國(guó)貴賓名單，這個(gè)做法對(duì)瑞士銀行家們而言，是從未考慮過(guò)要做的。因?yàn)椋麄冞@種對(duì)賬戶采取保密的傳統(tǒng)源自中世紀(jì)。
聯(lián)邦調(diào)查員們認(rèn)為，有些人利用在瑞銀的國(guó)外賬戶來(lái)掩藏國(guó)內(nèi)稅收局高達(dá)2千億美元的財(cái)產(chǎn)。據(jù)這次調(diào)查的相關(guān)政府官員說(shuō)，這樣做，可以使他們能夠避免上繳因該筆財(cái)產(chǎn)所產(chǎn)生的至少3億美元稅款。
在實(shí)際生活中，3億美元對(duì)每個(gè)人的賬戶而言都不是一筆小數(shù)目。
還有一個(gè)區(qū)別就是，如果你偷了3億美元而且被當(dāng)場(chǎng)抓住，很有可能你要去監(jiān)獄了。而這些有錢(qián)的惡人只會(huì)收到一張罰單，而且可能僅次而已了。要知道，如果美國(guó)富人中的2萬(wàn)人在這樣做的話，這會(huì)是非常令人尷尬又厭惡的