澳洲經(jīng)紀(jì)商三名上海員工重獲人身自由
一家澳大利亞經(jīng)紀(jì)商周二表示，在持續(xù)近一周的離奇對峙后，在上海被憤怒的投資者扣留的最后三名員工已重獲人身自由，并協(xié)助警方進(jìn)行調(diào)查。
As many as 50 investors who blame Sydney-based Union Standard Group Forex for losses of about $2.6m in foreign currency trades entered the company’s Shanghai office on Wednesday last week. Images from the office’s cameras showed dozens of casually dressed people sprawled on furniture and sitting in company meeting rooms.
多達(dá)50名投資者指責(zé)總部位于悉尼的聯(lián)準(zhǔn)國際金融集團(tuán)(USGFX)造成外匯交易損失約260萬美元，他們于上周三闖入該公司上海辦事處。辦公室攝像頭拍下的影像顯示，幾十名身著休閑裝的人或靠在家具上，或坐在公司會議室里。
The company said 20 staff members had initially been held hostage and that all but three were released on Friday.
該公司表示，最初有20名員工被扣留，除三名員工以外其余人均于上周五被釋放。
“The final three staff members are free and have been taken to a local police station to assist police with further investigation into this matter,” Justin Pooni, marketing manager at USGFX, told the Financial Times.
聯(lián)準(zhǔn)國際金融集團(tuán)營銷經(jīng)理賈斯丁•普尼(Justin Pooni)告訴英國《金融時報》：“最后的三名員工已重獲人身自由，并被帶到當(dāng)?shù)嘏沙鏊鶇f(xié)助警方進(jìn)一步調(diào)查此事。”
Real returns from bank deposits have been consistently low in China and stock market performance underwhelming, prompting investors to seek higher-yielding products. Some such products have been exposed in recent years as fraudulent pyramid schemes, sparking protests by investors when they are exposed.
在中國，銀行存款實際回報持續(xù)較低，且股市表現(xiàn)不佳，促使投資者尋求更高收益的產(chǎn)品。近年來，部分此類產(chǎn)品被揭露為欺詐傳銷活動，在真相暴露后往往引發(fā)投資者抗議。
Investors who lost money in a metals trading scheme staged demonstrations in 2015, gathering outside the headquarters of China’s securities regulator. Protesters also took to the streets over a $7.6bn Ponzi scheme called Ezubao.
2015年，在一個金屬交易機制中虧損的投資者舉行示威游行，他們聚集在中國證監(jiān)會總部外。抗議者還曾因名為“易租寶”(Ezubao)的76億美元龐氏騙局走上街頭。
In a statement on Tuesday, USGFX said the disgruntled investors were “heavily shorting” the Australian dollar against the US dollar and had continued adding multiple short positions “until their accounts were exhausted”. It added that the trades were the responsibility of clients and it “had no part” in them.
聯(lián)準(zhǔn)國際金融集團(tuán)在周二的一份聲明中表示，這些心懷不滿的投資者“大量做空”澳元兌美元，并持續(xù)增加多個空頭頭寸，“直到其賬戶被用盡”。該公司還表示這些交易是客戶的責(zé)任，它“沒有任何參與”。
On its Chinese web site, USGFX says: “Customers can invest in a relaxed way, and don’t need to worry their losses will be greater than their total assets”, adding that clients can withdraw all their funds in less than 48 hours. The company’s account on Chinese social network WeChat described its products as having the “highest capital safety”.
聯(lián)準(zhǔn)國際金融集團(tuán)的中文網(wǎng)站上寫道，客戶可以輕松投資，而不用擔(dān)心虧損超過凈值，而且客戶還可以在48小時內(nèi)提取所有資金。該公司在中國社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)微信(WeChat)的公眾號上稱，其產(chǎn)品擁有最高的資本安全。
USGFX had in recent months advertised its services at expos around China, with foreign women in short skirts and midriff-baring tops attempting to attract customers, according to the WeChat account. “Beautiful models allowed the crowd to relax,” said an account of one such event.
根據(jù)該微信公眾號，最近幾個月，USGFX在中國各地的博覽會上宣傳其服務(wù)，由身穿短裙和露臍上衣的外國女性來吸引顧客。“漂亮的模特可以讓觀眾放松，”介紹此類活動之一的一個帖子稱。
The end of the USGFX stand-off followed a protest in Beijing on Monday involving hundreds of people who invested in what they called a pyramid scheme.
在USGFX僵局結(jié)束之前，周一北京爆發(fā)了一場數(shù)百人參加的抗議活動，這些人投資了他們所稱的“金字塔騙局”。
Police last week detained executives from a company called Shanxinhui, accusing them of operating a pyramid investment structure disguised as a charity.
上周，中國警方拘留了一家名為“善心匯”的公司的高管，指控他們經(jīng)營一家偽裝成慈善機構(gòu)的傳銷組織。
After the protest in Beijing brought traffic to a standstill, police said members of Shanxinhui were “incited by those with ulterior motives to come to Beijing and illegally gather, seriously disturbing social order in the capital”.
此次抗議活動導(dǎo)致北京部分交通中斷，警方表示，“部分‘善心匯’會員被別有用心之人煽動來京非法聚集，嚴(yán)重擾亂了首都社會秩序”。
