This week some British charities have an unexpected reason to smile. On Wednesday, European and American regulators imposed fines of $4.3bn on six large banks for rigging foreign exchange markets. In the past, the British government has directed some of the money raised from so-called “misdemeanour fines” to worthy causes such as a physical rehabilitation programme for soldiers; it will probably do the same this time. As George Osborne, the UK chancellor, put it: “We’re using the money raised from fines on those who demonstrated the very worst of values in our society to support those who demonstrate the very best.”
一些英国慈善机构有了一个惊喜的理由。上周三，欧洲和美国监管当局以操纵外汇市场为由，向6家大银行开出43亿美元的罚单。在过去，英国政府曾把这类来自所谓“不端行为罚款”的收入部分投入到高尚的事业中，比如士兵身体康复计划。这次英国政府很可能也将这么做。正如英国财相乔治•奥斯本(George Osborne)所说：“我们把对于那些在我们的社会里展示出最糟糕价值观的人的罚款所得，用来资助那些展示出最美好价值观的人。”