Lebanon nominates Ziad Hayek for World Bank boss

words:

1.nominate

eg:each group nominate two respenstative

2.qualified

explanation1:having passed the exams or completed or completed the trainint that are necessary in order to do a particular job;having the experience to do a particular job

explanation2:having the partical knowledge or skills to do sth

explanation3:limited in some way

though as qualified as America's nominee,David Malpass,Mr Hayek stands little chance

3.dear

4.tax-dodging=tax evasion;tax-shy funds

5.egregious=extremely bad=formal

6.much less=a lot of less

7.irrational=not based on,or not using,clear logical thought

8.offence=an illegal act(criminal law)

 

 

The most intriguing bit of the six-week tax-evasion trial of UBS in France late year was dairy-themed.Prosecutors accused the Swiss bank of keeping coded notes to track how many'milk cans'-units of money-had been moved to Swiss accounts by tax-dodging French clients.UBS denied having any such parallel accounting system.A former manager insisted the notes related to banker's bounces,not tax-shy funds.

France's Tribunal de Grande instance,its high court in Paris,did not buy that explanation.On February 20th it found the Swiss bank guilty of helping thousands of rich French clients set up undeclared accounts,potentially containing over $11.3bn,betwen 2004 and 2012,It fined the bank an eye-watering $3.7 bn and added an additional $800m in damages for the French state.

If upheld,it would be more than 12 times larger than France's previous record criminal corporate fine, of  $300m against HSBC,another bank-and not far short of the roughly$5.5bn that dozens of Swiss banks have coectively paid out to the United States, their tormentor- in -chief,in tax-evasion case over the past decade.UBS paid American authorities $780m in 2009, in a case widely considered more egregious than its alleged French transgressions.

The bank could have settled for much less-around$1bn-but chose to gamble,calling French demands'irrational' and politically motivated.That decision will look spectacularly unwise if the appeal the bank was quick to announce fails.UBS says it 'strongly disagrees'with the verdict,which is 'based on the unfounded allegations of former employees'.It insists that'no offeced in France was established'.Speaking outside court,UBS‘s general counsel called the ruling'incomprehensible'.

1.appeal=a formal request to a court or to sb in authority for a judgement or a decision to be changed

2.verdict=a decision that is made by a jury in court,stating if sb is considered guilty of a crime or not

2.1verdict on sth/sb=a decision that you make or an opinion that you give about sth,after you have tested it or considered it carefully.

3.incomprehensible=impossible to understand

Inverstors will certainly be struggling to understand how the bank got itself in a position of facing penalties equivalent to 92% of last year's net profit.Worse, the potential hit is far from covered;at the end of 2018 UBS had the equivalent of $2.1bn set aside to cover possibe losses from litigation and settlements.

1.penalties=A penalty is a punishment that someone is given for doing something which is against a law or rule

2.litigation=the precess of making or defending a claim in court

The bank must now try to overturn a decision which,it claims,'effectively applies French law in Switzerland'.Meanwhile,the odds of other big firms targeted by France risking a trial rather than coughing up to avoid time in the dock have surely lengthened hugely.

1.dock=a part of port where ships are repaired ,or where goods are put onto or taken off them

2.odds= the degree to which sth is likely to happen.