The countdown is on. Two months out from Andy Burnham’s inaugural autumn budget, bank executives are wringing their hands over whether the government will target their bumper profits with fresh taxes.(距离伯纳姆首份秋季预算还有两个月，银行高管们正为政府是否会对丰厚利润征税而焦虑。)
倒计时已经开始。距离安迪·伯纳姆的首份秋季预算还有两个月，银行高管们正忧心忡忡，担心政府会对他们丰厚的利润征收新税。
The chancellor, John Healey, is reportedly considering(据报道正在考虑) a windfall(意外之财，暴利) tax on both banks and oil companies in the late October Westminster setpiece(重要事件，精心安排的场合).
据报道，财政大臣约翰·希利正在考虑在十月下旬的威斯敏斯特重要场合对银行和石油公司征收暴利税。
The UK’s four largest lenders(贷款机构，放贷人) – HSBC, NatWest, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group – have generated £200bn in pre-tax(税前的) profits over the past five years, largely off the back of(凭借，由于) rising interest rates.
英国四大银行——汇丰、国民西敏寺、巴克莱、劳埃德银行集团——在过去五年中创造了2000亿英镑的税前利润，主要得益于利率上升。
Spain: taxed and undeterred
西班牙：征税但未受挫
Lithuania: a defence spending boost
立陶宛：国防开支的提振
Czechia: ‘unrealistic expectations’
捷克：“不切实际的期望”
Italy: a tax that fell flat
意大利：失败的税收
What if the UK followed suit?
如果英国效仿会怎样？