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Billions of dollars were wiped off the value of European healthcare companies yesterday after the Obama administration threatened action to halt the wave of transatlantic acquisitions by American companies seeking to cut their US tax bills.
欧洲医疗企业的市值昨日蒸发数十亿美元，此前奥巴马政府威胁称，将采取措施，遏止美国企业以降低美国税赋为目的的跨大西洋并购浪潮。
The sharp fall in several UK, Swiss and Irish companies reflected investor fears that a driving force behind this year’s surge of cross-border dealmaking in the healthcare sector could be brought to a halt by US political intervention.
几家英国、瑞士以及爱尔兰公司的股价大幅下挫，这反映出投资者担心，推动今年医疗行业跨境交易飙升的力量可能会因美国的政治干预戛然而止。
Shares in Walgreens, the US pharmacy chain, were also hit after it confirmed it would pass up an opportunity to move its tax home to Switzerland, in another sign that the time for so-called tax inversions could be drawing to a close.
美国药房连锁沃尔格林(Walgreens)的股价也受到影响，此前该公司证实，将放弃将其税收注册地迁往瑞士的机会，这一迹象再次表明，所谓的“税收倒置”(tax inversion)时代可能正在走向尾声。
Walgreens announced a well-trailed £9bn deal to acquire full control of Switzerland-based Alliance Boots – but without an inversion that could have saved it billions of dollars in taxes.
沃尔格林宣布了一笔受到密切追踪的90亿英镑的交易，将购入总部位于瑞士的联合博姿(Alliance Boots)的全部股权，但不会将税收注册地迁往瑞士，此举本可以令该公司减少数十亿美元的税赋。
The decision followed a warning from the US Treasury that it was “reviewing a broad range of authorities for possible administrative action” to deter companies from using cross-border deals to escape US taxes.
在沃尔格林做出这一决定前，美国财政部警告称，正“就各种可能的行政举措的权限进行评估”，以阻止企业利用跨境交易逃避美国税收。
Lawmakers in Congress who have led attacks on inversion deals welcomed the decision by Walgreens to remain US-based. But congressional staff said the U-turn did not signal victory in the broader fight against inversions and vowed that work would continue on legislation to curb them.
率先抨击税收倒置交易的美国国会议员，对于沃尔格林选择把总部留在美国的决定表示欢迎。但国会工作人员表示，沃尔格林的回心转意并不标志着对税收倒置行为的总体打击取得了胜利，他们誓言将继续致力于通过立法来遏制这种行为。
Political heat has been building for weeks against the inversion trend, with president Barack Obama last month criticising “corporate deserters” who had “renounced their US citizenship” by moving offshore.
数周来，反对税收倒置趋势的政治热度一直在升温，美国总统巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)上月对“企业逃兵”进行了批评，他表示，这些企业将总部迁往海外，“放弃了自己的美国公民身份”。
