高盛利用稅收倒置稱霸併購領域

Tax inversions have been, well, golden, for Goldman Sachs.

對高盛（Goldman Sachs）來說，稅收倒置（tax inversion）一直都是一門賺錢的好生意。

The investment bank has made more than any other Wall Street firm advising companies on the controversial acquisition deals that have enabled U.S. companies to move their headquarters overseas and avoid U.S. taxes. According to Thomson Reuters, Goldman has raked in just over $200 million in fees in 3.5 years advising companies on how to do deals that will allow them to contribute less to the United States.

這家投資銀行的業務之一是爲公司提供建議，讓它們通過有爭議的收購活動將總部遷至海外，進而規避美國的稅收——這項業務給高盛帶來的收入超過了其他任何一家華爾街公司。湯森路透（Thomson Reuters）的數據顯示，三年半以來，通過告訴別的公司如何藉助收購來少給美國做貢獻，高盛獲得的手續費已經超過了2億美元。

Goldman is certainly not alone in benefitting from inversions. It is closely followed by JPMorgan Chase , which stands to make $185 million on these deals. The New York Times noted on Tuesday that, collectively, Wall Street firms are nearing in on the $1 billion mark in fees from the deals, and don’t forget all the fees charged by law firms and other advisors who work on these deals.

高盛當然不是稅收倒置的唯一受益者。緊隨其後的是摩根大通（JPMorgan Chase），這項業務爲它帶來了1.85億美元收入。《紐約時報》（The New York Times）週二指出，整體而言，華爾街公司通過這項業務獲得的手續費收入已經接近10億美元大關。此外，別忘了參與這些收購活動的律師事務所和其他諮詢機構收取的那些手續費。

By jumping with both feet into inversions, Goldman has been able to regain the top spot among M&A advisors this year. According to Wells Fargo, through mid July, Goldman was an advisor on just under 30% of all completed global M&A transactions this year. That helped it secure the No. 1 spot over Morgan Stanley . This time last year, Goldman followed Morgan slightly on M&A transactions. But Goldman still led last year by the number of deals announced.

通過充分參與稅收倒置，今年高盛得以重新成爲併購諮詢領域的王者。富國銀行（Wells Fargo）指出，截至7月中旬，高盛在今年全球已經完成的併購交易中佔據了幾乎30%的份額。這幫助它鞏固了榜首位置，繼續領先於摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley）。去年此時，高盛在併購領域的表現稍遜於摩根士丹利。不過，如果按照已公佈的併購項目數量計算，去年排名靠前的還是高盛。

In response to a question from a Fortune reporter on an earnings conference call, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon gave the tax inversion deals a thumbs up. He said as long as the U.S. was going to have a higher tax rate than other countries, American companies should feel free to move elsewhere. He likened the move to consumers who choose to shop at Wal-Mart because it’s ostensibly cheaper than alternative options.

在業績電話會議上，摩根大通首席執行官吉米o戴蒙在回答《財富》（Fortune）雜誌記者提問時爲稅收倒置業務點了個贊。他說，只要美國的稅率繼續高於其他國家，美國公司就可以遷到別處。他把這樣的舉措比作消費者到沃爾瑪（Wal-Mart）購物，因爲那裏的商品看起來比別處便宜。

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein does not seem to have made any similar statements on inversions, either for or against. Two years ago, as the U.S. was nearing the fiscal cliff, Blankfein wrote an editorial for the Wall Street Journal saying the government needed to raise more tax revenue. He said that President Obama had signaled that he was willing to make a deal on corporate tax reform, and Blankfein called for business leaders to work with the president. No deal was ever struck.

高盛首席執行官勞埃德o布蘭克梵似乎從未就稅收倒置問題發表過類似言論，他既不支持，也沒有表示過反對。兩年前，就在美國行將跌落財政懸崖之際，布蘭克梵在《華爾街日報》（Wall Street Journal）上發表社論稱，美國政府需要提高稅收。他說，奧巴馬總統已經表示願意敲定企業稅收改革方案，同時呼籲企業領導人跟總統攜手合作。但雙方一直未能就此達成共識。

Inversions have become an increasingly popular way for U.S. companies to avoid the IRS, and they have come under increasing scrutiny. Fortune’s Allan Sloan recently called corporate executives who do inversions “positively un-American.” What’s more, Sloan argued that inversions undermined the U.S. tax base and that such deals will be bad for all shareholders in the long run.

作爲避開美國國稅局（IRS）的一種方法，稅收倒置日益受到美國公司歡迎，但對這種做法的審查也越發嚴格。《財富》雜誌高級編輯艾倫o斯隆最近表示，那些進行稅收倒置活動的公司高層採用了一種“不利於美國的積極方式”。此外，斯隆指出，這種行爲削弱了美國的稅收基礎，對所有股東來說是個長期不利因素。

You know who else is worried about inversions? Economists at Goldman Sachs. The bank recently noted in a report how much money the U.S. could lose in tax dollars because of them. Someone should show that report to the bankers.

大家知道還有誰對稅收倒置感到擔心嗎？高盛的經濟學家們。該公司在最近發佈的報告中提到了自己可能給美國政府造成了多少稅收損失。真應該把這篇報告拿給那些投行人士看看。