美國政府和銀行暫時"和平相處"

The nation's top bankers walked away from a summit with President Barack Obama pledging broad support for his bank-bailout program and efforts to revive the economy, but the meeting failed to resolve tensions over executive pay and the president's tough rhetoric of recent weeks.
美國銀行業高管結束了與奧巴馬總統的峯會，奧巴馬承諾向銀行救助計劃提供廣泛支持，並採取措施振興經濟，不過會議沒能化解圍繞着高管薪酬和幾周來奧巴馬強硬言辭的緊張氣氛。

The highly unusual meeting, which came after weeks of public feuding between Democrats in Washington and banks, brought President Obama face to face with 15 of the nation's top bank executives, including the heads of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley. All of the banks have received federal bailout cash -- in some cases after being told they must -- and some have openly bristled over mounting public criticism of their pay and their banks' lending.
在這次極其不同尋常的會議上，奧巴馬與美國15位銀行老闆進行了面對面的磋商，其中包括摩根大通(J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.)、美國銀行(Bank of America Corp.)、富國銀行(Wells Fargo & Co.)、花旗集團(Citigroup Inc.)和摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)的老闆。所有與會銀行都獲得了聯邦救助資金（有些是在被告知必須接受的情況下接受的），其中有些銀行公開對公衆對其薪酬和放貸情況的批評表示不滿。此前華盛頓的民主黨人士與銀行之間的公開敵對狀態持續了數週。

That was one topic of discussion Friday at a meeting all sides described as cordial. According to participants, some of the chiefs told the president they want to return their bailout money later this year, but Mr. Obama told them that regulators would permit such a move only if the banks were truly healthy. This account of the meeting is based on interviews with participants, White House aides and others familiar with the gathering.
各方都表示週五進行的會議氣氛熱烈，高管薪酬是其中的一個討論話題。據一些參與者說，一些銀行老闆對奧巴馬說，他們希望在今年晚些時候歸還救助資金，不過奧巴馬告訴他們，只有在銀行確實健康時，監管機構纔會批准它們退回資金。本文是根據對與會者、白宮助手和其他熟悉會議內容的人士的採訪整理出來的。

For his part, Mr. Obama told the group that bankers should be more modest in their compensation and spending practices, participants said. The bankers responded that the administration should try to cool its anti-Wall Street rhetoric.
與會者說，奧巴馬告訴他們，銀行家應該在薪酬和開支行爲上更加適度。銀行家們則迴應說，政府應該努力緩和反華爾街的論調。

The economy was also discussed, attendees said, with Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis and Northern Trust's Rick Waddell expressing cautious optimism that the downturn is either at or near the bottom of the cycle. There was agreement that despite the tension of recent weeks, the White House needs investors to implement its banking and housing programs, and the financial system needs the government for capital.
與會者說，經濟也是一個議題，美國銀行首席執行長劉易斯 (Kenneth Lewis)和北美信託(Northern Trust)的威德爾(Rick Waddell)表達了謹慎樂觀的看法：當前的低迷要麼是到了本週期的底部，要麼接近底部。與會者一致認爲，儘管最近幾周出現緊張氣氛，白宮需要投資者來實施銀行和住房計劃，金融體系則需要政府來獲得資金。

'I think there are very few financial institutions who would not say we've made mistakes and that we feel awful bad about the mistakes we have made,' Mr. Lewis said after the meeting. But 'at some point you have to stop focusing on the past, and focus on the present.'
劉易斯在會後說，我認爲很少有金融機構不用說“我們犯了錯誤，我們對自己犯的錯誤感到非常難過”。不過，到了一定時候，你必須停止把眼光放在過去，而是要專注於現在。

Said Robert Kelly, CEO of Bank of New York Mellon: 'Our interests are very much aligned with the administration's.'
紐約銀行(Bank of New York Mellon)首席執行長凱利(Robert Kelly)說，我們的利益與政府的利益基本相符