经济学人:商业模式:企业管理层的更替

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　　AkzoNobel, a Dutch maker¹ of paints and coatings, rejected a third informal takeover offer, worth 26.9bn euros ($28.8bn), from PPG, an American rival. 荷兰油漆涂料公司AkzoNobel拒绝了美国对手PPG价值两百六十九亿欧元（约合两百八十八亿美元）的第三次非正式收购要约。

　　That prompted Elliott Advisors², a hedge fund with a 3% stake in Akzo,  这促使在该企业拥有3%股权的对冲基金Elliott Advisors启动法定程序，

　　to start legal proceedings³ to force the company to call an extraordinary meeting of shareholders⁴, at which Elliott will try to oust⁵ Akzo's chairman. 迫使公司召开特别股东大会，Elliott将试图在会上罢免Akzo董事会主席。

　　Elliott wants Akzo at least to talk to PPG, arguing that its decision not to is a “flagrant breach” of its fiduciary⁶ duties. Elliot希望Akzo至少与PPG开展对话，并称不这么做是“严重违背”信托义务的行为。

　　But Akzo is governed by a foundation that makes it almost impossible for shareholders to turf out the board. 但是Akzo是由一家基金会管理的，这使得股东们几乎不能够抛弃董事会。

　　Whole Foods replaced its chairman and chief financial officer,  零售公司Whole Foods 更换了董事会主席和首席财务官，

　　a month after an activist⁷ hedge-fund revealed that it had accumulated a 9% stake in the retailer⁸ and called for a shake-up in management. 一家活跃型对冲基金在一个月之前宣布在该公司股份累积到9%，并要求对管理层做出重大调整。

　　The company named several new people to the board, including the founder⁹ of Panera Breads, a rising bakery chain. 公司向董事会提名了新人选，其中包括成长中的烘焙连锁公司Panera Breads 的创始人。

　　Jes Staley, the chief executive of Barclays, was confronted by angry shareholders at the British bank’s annual general meeting over his attempt to unmask an internal whistleblower. 巴克莱首席执行官杰斯·斯特利(Jes Staley)在英国银行年度股东大会上试图揭露一名内部告密者时遭到愤怒的股东对抗。

　　Mr Staley has been reprimanded by the board over his lapse¹⁰ of judgment¹¹, but the chairman, John McFarlane, gave him his full support at the AGM, promising¹² that Mr Staley has learned his lesson. Staley由于他的判断失误而饱受董事会指责，但是主席John McFarlane 在年度大会上给予他全力的支持，并保证Staley已经接受教训了。

　　Commerzbank reported net income of 217m euros ($231m) for the first quarter.  德国商业银行报告第一季度净收入两亿一千七百万欧元（约合两亿三千一百万美元）。

　　That was better than the profit it made in the equivalent period last year, mostly because of an improvement in the division that handles unwanted assets.  这优于去年同期的盈利水平，很大程度上是因为改进后的下属部门处理了多余的资产。

　　Germany’s second-biggest lender described Europe’s negative interest rates as a “burden” that hampers¹³ its fortunes. 这家德国第二大贷款人把欧洲的负利率描述为阻碍收入增长的“负担”。

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