英语翻译Outsidetheeuroarea,banks’pre-taxprofitsimprovedlastyearbutremainedgenerallybelowpre-crisisaverages.Interestratemarginsdidnotcontributeasmuchasinpreviousyears.Theyremainedmostlyflatglobally,andinsomecaseseve

　　英语翻译

　　Outsidetheeuroarea,banks’pre-taxprofitsimprovedlastyearbutremained

　　generallybelowpre-crisisaverages.Interestratemarginsdidnotcontributeas

　　muchasinpreviousyears.Theyremainedmostlyflatglobally,andinsomecases

　　evendeclined(egintheUnitedStates).Instead,lowercredit-relatedcostswerethe

　　mainfactoratwork.Loanlossprovisionshavebeendeclininginmostcountries,

　　reflectingtheeconomicrecoveryandprogressinlossrecognition.

　　Intheeuroarea,thepicturewasquitedifferent.Profitsremainedlacklustre.

　　Sovereigndebtstrainscontinuedtoaffectassetquality,andastagnatingeconomy

　　compressedrevenues.Banksaresteppinguptheirefforttodealwithimpaired

　　balancesheetsaheadoftheECB’sassetqualityreviewlaterthisyear,aswitnessed

　　bytherecentspikeinthewrite-offrate.

　　RecentdevelopmentsintheChinesebankingsectorillustratethebenefitsof

　　retainingearningsasabufferagainstlosses.AseconomicgrowthinChina

　　weakened,borrowersinthecountrycameunderfinancialstrainandthevolumeof

　　impairedloansballooned.Bydrawingontheirreserves,however,thefivelargest

　　Chinesebankswereablein2013toabsorbcreditlossestwiceaslargeasayear

　　earlier,poststrongprofitsandmaintainhighcapitalratios.

　　Investmentbankingactivityproducedmixedresults.Revenuesfrommerger

　　andacquisitionadvisorybusinessandsecuritiesunderwritingstrengthened,aided

　　byveryrobustcorporatedebtissuance.Bycontrast,secondarymarkettradingof

　　fixedincomeproductsandcommoditiesweakened,draggingdownrelatedrevenues

　　and,alongsideatoughersupervisorystance,leadingseverallargecapitalmarket

　　playerstotrimtheirtradingactivity.Legalriskalsoplayedarole.Intensifyingofficial

　　probesintomarketbenchmarkmanipulationhaveresultedinverylargefinesin

　　recentyears.