退歐公投後 歐洲城市爭奪倫敦商業地位

Britons had only just begun to digest the results of their referendum when cities and companies across Europe leapt into action, all of them jockeying to lure businesses, entrepreneurs and investment from London, the region's economic beheMoth.

英國人才開始試着理解他們公投的後果，全歐洲的城市和公司已經迅速行動起來，競相拋出誘餌，想要把企業、創業者以及投資從身爲歐洲經濟巨擘的倫敦吸引過去。

Much remains up in the air, as the country embarks on a yearslong process to leave the 28-nation bloc. Britain has not even officially filed to leave, and there will be painful negotiations on matters including trade and whether people from European Union nations will have the freedom to work in Britain, as they do now.

英國要花費數年時間，才能脫離由28個成員國組成的歐盟。當它踏上這漫漫征程的時候，許多事情都懸而未決。英國甚至尚未正式提交脫歐申請，而且要就一些事情——比如貿易，再比如來自歐盟成員國的人們是否還能像現在這樣擁有在英國工作的自由——進行艱苦的談判。

Despite the high levels of uncertainty, others in Europe are, in effect, looking to gain from Britain's pain.

儘管存在太多不確定性，但歐洲其他國家其實正期待從英國的痛苦中獲益。

Across the Continent, officials are already vocally trying to entice financial services firms, technology startups and others to forgo the British capital for cities like Paris, Luxembourg, Frankfurt and even the relatively tiny Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. They warn that businesses will suffer if they stay in a Britain that no longer has unfettered access to the EU and its hundreds of millions of potential customers.

歐洲大陸各地的官員已經紛紛發聲，竭力慫恿金融服務公司、科技初創企業以及其他機構拋棄英國首都倫敦，前往巴黎、盧森堡、法蘭克福，甚至是相對較小的立陶宛首都維爾紐斯之類的城市。他們警告說，如果留守不再擁有無條件進入歐盟市場、接觸其億萬潛在消費者資格的英國，企業的日子會很不好過。

"We didn't want the vote to turn out that way," said Tarek Al-Wazir, economics minister for the German state of Hesse, which includes Frankfurt. But, he added, "we prepared just in case."

"我們並不希望看到這樣的投票結果，"法蘭克福所在的德國黑森州經濟部長塔裏克·瓦齊爾說。但他也說，"我們做了準備，以防萬一。"

Several companies — including banks like HSBC and JPMorgan Chase and the telecommunications giant Vodafone — have said they will consider moving at least a few jobs to the Continent.

若干家公司--包括匯豐、摩根大通等銀行以及電信巨頭沃達豐--已經表示，會考慮至少把少量工作崗位遷移到歐洲大陸。

"A 2 percent loss for London is a 20 percent gain for Frankfurt," said Hubertus Vaeth, managing director of Frankfurt Main Finance, a coalition of businesses and local government organizations that were behind the campaign.

"倫敦失去2%，法蘭克福會收穫20%，"法蘭克福美因河金融協會常務董事胡貝圖斯·韋思說。該協會由一些企業以及前述遊說活動背後的地方政府機構組成。

When it comes to the financial services industry, several cities have rolled out the red carpet to lure London-based companies.

至於金融服務業，若干城市已經鋪開紅毯，以便吸引總部位於倫敦的公司。

Before the referendum, local and regional government officials held an event in Paris at the offices of Euronext, the stock market operator. Called "Welcome to Europe!" it encouraged financial services companies to consider the French capital as an alternative.

英國舉行公投前，地方和地區政府官員在巴黎股市運營機構泛歐交易所的辦公室裏舉辦了一場以"歐洲歡迎你！"爲主題的活動，鼓勵考慮遷址的金融服務企業把法國首都作爲備選。

Valérie Pécresse, the president of the region that surrounds Paris, has extolled the city's virtues, noting the opening of new bilingual schools as well as its quality of life and available office space.

巴黎大區主席瓦萊莉·佩克雷斯對巴黎的優點大加頌揚，她說那裏有新開的雙語學校，有優越的生活品質，還有可資利用的辦公空間。

"When Britain goes out, a lot of firms will have to relocate in Europe," Pécresse said. "There is a competition that is going to take place. It is already taking place between the big metropolises in Europe."

"當英國退出時，許多公司都會在歐洲重新選擇辦公地點，"佩克雷斯說。"屆時肯定會有競爭。事實上，歐洲各個大都會之間的競爭已經開始了。"

Along with those large cities, smaller financial centers — in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands — are also getting involved. Even Lithuania, a country not typically noted as a hub for business in Europe, much less high finance, is involved.

除了這些大城市，比利時、盧森堡以及荷蘭的一些較小的金融中心也正加入戰團。就連通常不會被視爲歐洲商業中心，更別說是金融中心的立陶宛也加入了進來。

On the day the referendum results were announced, Antanas Guoga, a Lithuanian member of the European Parliament, wrote to several financial institutions with large London staffs, suggesting they move some of their European operations to Vilnius, Lithuania's capital, with a population of just over 500,000.

公投結果宣佈當天，歐洲議會立陶宛議員安塔納斯·古歐加致信若干在倫敦有大批員工的金融機構，建議它們將一些歐洲分支機構遷移到維爾紐斯。維爾紐斯是立陶宛的首都，人口只有50萬多一點。

Guoga, a former professional poker player and chief investment officer for Vilnius, noted in his letter that the British bank Barclays, the Danish lender Danske Bank and the stock market operator Nasdaq all had operations in the city.

古歐加曾是一名職業撲克玩家，目前是維爾紐斯的首席投資官。他在信中指出，英國的巴克萊銀行、丹麥的丹斯克銀行以及股市運營商納斯達克都在該市設有分支機構。

"It's an opportunity now to let everyone know about our success stories," he said.

"這是一個讓所有人瞭解我們的成功的機會，"他說。

Despite the overtures from elsewhere, officials in London still believe they will retain most of the business and finance that is currently based there.

儘管其他地方紛紛拋出橄欖枝，但倫敦的官員仍然相信，自己可以留住大多數總部設在倫敦的商業和金融企業。

"There will be no mass exit of banks and financial institutions from the Square Mile," Mark Boleat, policy chairman of the City of London Corp., said in a statement, referring to the British capital's financial center.

"不會出現銀行和金融機構大規模撤離'方里'的情況，"倫敦金融城政府政策委員會主席包墨凱在一份聲明中表示。"方里"指的是倫敦的金融中心。

"The City of London has thrived as a financial and trading center for more than 1,000 years," he said, "and will continue to do so."

"倫敦作爲一個金融和貿易中心已經繁榮了1000多年，"他說，"必將繼續繁榮下去。"

The competition, though, extends outside of financial services — Europe's tech hubs are turning on the charm offensive, as well.

不過，競爭已經超出金融服務的範疇——歐洲的一些科技中心也發動了魅力攻勢。

While cities are fiercely competing to steal companies from London, others are hoping to profit by helping companies sort through their options.

當一些城市爲了挖走倫敦的公司而激烈競爭的時候，另外一些人希望通過幫助公司梳理面前的選擇來獲利。

Major law firms in the British capital are gearing up for a surge in business: A spokesman for Allen And Overy said that before the results of the referendum, 500 clients registered to take part in a conference call discussing the fallout from the so-called Brexit. After the results, 1,200 more signed up.

倫敦各大律所正開足馬力，應對業務的猛增：安理國際律師事務所的發言人表示，公投結果出爐前，有500個客戶報名參加一場討論英國脫歐影響的電話會議。結果出爐後，又有1200個客戶報名。

Real estate agents in major cities across the Continent, including Stockholm and Frankfurt, are also reporting increased interest from banks and technology companies casting their eyes away from London.

斯德哥爾摩、法蘭克福等歐洲大陸各大城市的房地產經紀機構也紛紛表示，銀行和科技公司現在更願意把目光從倫敦轉向其他地方。

All of this has been a long time coming. The referendum was officially announced in February, but has been in the cards for more than a year, and those hoping to profit from a Brexit have been planning extensively.

所有這些由來已久。英國於今年2月正式宣佈了將要舉行公投的消息，但早在一年多以前人們就知道很可能迎來公投。那些希望從英國脫歐中獲利的人已經做了大量準備。