BERLIN — Led by Europe’s five biggest economies, 51 nations on Wednesday signed what Germany’s finance minister hailed as a milestone in the fight against tax evasion — an agreement that commits them all to automatic exchange of tax information starting in 2017.
柏林——周三，以欧洲五大经济体为首的51个国家签订了一项协议，协议要求所有缔约方从2017年开始，自动交流税务信息。该协议被德国财政部长誉为打击逃税的斗争中的一个里程碑。

The accord will end banking secrecy as it has been known for decades, the finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, told Germany’s Bild newspaper before the deal. It was an apparent bid by Mr. Schäuble to sell the effort as one way ordinary people might see the rich — individuals and corporations — brought to heel.
德国财长沃尔夫冈·朔伊布勒(Wolfgang Schäuble)在签约仪式前告诉德国《图片报》(Bild)，这个协议将结束数十年来所谓的银行保密制度。朔伊布勒的这种说法似乎是在向公众介绍，这一努力可以让普通人看到，富裕的个人和企业将被迫就范。
The signing of the accord in Mr. Schäuble’s cavernous ministry, built for Hermann Goering under the Nazis, capped a two-day meeting of officials from most of the 123 nations that have joined the Global Forum, which evolved from an agreement by Germany and Britain two years ago to crack down on tax evasion and tax fraud.
签约仪式在朔伊布勒掌管的德国财政部举行。空阔的德国财政部本是纳粹时期，为赫尔曼·戈林(Hermann Goering)而建的。签约仪式是一场为期两天的会议的最后环节。参加会议的官员，来自一个全球论坛的123个成员国中的大部分国家。这个论坛是从德国和英国两年前为打击逃税和税务欺诈而签署的一项协议演变而来的。
Notably absent Wednesday were Switzerland, known for the secrecy of its banking system, and the United States, which has preferred to pursue its own path in fighting international tax evasion.
值得注意的是，以银行系统的保密性而著称的瑞士，以及倾向于用自己的方式打击国际逃税行为的美国，均未在周三出席。
George Osborne, the chancellor of the British Exchequer, joined other ministers on Wednesday in lauding the relative speed with which the agreement had been negotiated and signed. “Tax evasion is a scourge across the world,” he said. The accord “will reduce the places that tax evaders can hide their money.”
周三，英国财政大臣乔治·奥斯本(George Osborne)和其他财政官员，都对协议的谈判签署过程相对迅速地表示称赞。“逃税是全世界的一大难题，”他说。该协议“将减少逃税者能隐匿财富的场所”。
A declaration unveiled at the signing ceremony said that “under the new global standard, a wide range of information will be exchanged on offshore accounts, including account balances and beneficial ownership.”
签字仪式上发布的一份宣言称，“在新的全球标准之下，我们将交换有关离岸账户的广泛信息，包括账户余额和受益所有人。”
“The ability of tax evaders to hide is vanishing quickly,” it added. “Tax evaders have two choices — come forward, or be caught.”
“逃税者很快就将无处藏身，”宣言接着说。“逃税者有两个选择——要么自首，要么被抓。”
With Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain spearheading the effort, other signatories included Singapore, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg, several British territories, like the Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and Gibraltar, as well as the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey.
除了主导该行动的英国、法国、德国、意大利和西班牙，协议的其他签字方包括，新加坡、列支敦士登、卢森堡，以及几个英国属地，如维京群岛、开曼群岛和直布罗陀，以及马恩岛、格恩西岛和泽西岛。
The Italian finance minister, Pier Carlo Padoan, said the agreement should signal that the international community is capable of cracking down on injustice. It is “a positive response on a global level to the global crisis,” he said.
意大利经济部长皮耶尔·卡洛·帕多安(Pier Carlo Padoan)称，该协议应该可以说明，国际社会有能力打击不公正的现象。他说，这是“在全球层面对全球危机的积极回应”。
Mr. Schäuble and other ministers said the Swiss were expected to join the ranks of the 51 “early adopters” within months. Switzerland is part of the Global Forum on Transparency and exchanges information for tax purposes, officials said. Forum members are supposed to introduce automatic exchange of taxpayer information from 2018.
朔伊布勒和其他一些国家的财长称，预计瑞士将在几个月内加入51个“先行者”的行列。官员们称，瑞士是“税务透明与信息交换全球论坛”(Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes)的成员。该论坛的成员将从2018年开始推行自动交换纳税人信息的做法。
Despite the United States’ absence from the gathering, Mr. Schäuble and others stressed that the Americans had been trailblazers — with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, known as Fatca — even if Congress remains wary of international accords.
尽管美国没有参加这次会议，朔伊布勒等人强调，美国一直是先驱——《海外账户纳税法案》(Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act)就是一个例子——尽管美国国会仍然对国际协议怀有警惕。
None of the ministers would estimate how many billions in otherwise unpaid taxes they might now expect to see.
各国部长都不愿估计，自己期待有多少亿美元的税款会因为这项协议失而复得。