The proposed takeover of the Chicago Stock Exchange by a group of Chinese investors is stirring controversy in Washington, where lawmakers have urged the Obama administration to submit the deal to a national security review.

一个中国财团对芝加哥证交所(CSE)发起的拟议收购正在华盛顿引起争议，一些议员敦促奥巴马政府对该交易进行国家安全审查。

The buyout, announced earlier this month, would mark the first time a Chinese company took over an American bourse and would give the buyer, Chongqing Casin Enterprise Group, a foothold in the American equities market.

本月早些时候宣布的这起收购若成功完成，将标志着一家中国公司首次收购一家美国证交所，将让买家重庆财信集团(Chongqing Casin Enterprise Group)在美国股市获得立足点。

Forty-five members of Congress wrote to the US Treasury department in a letter this week urging that the deal be reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, or Cfius, which has the power to block any deal that jeopardises US national security.

45位国会议员本周写信给美国财政部，敦促该交易接受美国外国投资委员会(Cfius)的审查。美国外国投资委员会有权阻止所有危及美国国家安全的交易。

They said CCEG lacked transparency and raised questions over its ties to the Chinese government.

他们表示，财信集团缺乏透明性，而且可能与中国政府存在关联。

“The American market has little information about CCEG, and it shares many of the traditional opaque qualities of a Chinese company. Moreover, according to initial reports, CCEG’s financial assets were originally owned by the Chinese government, and the company was created to absorb those state-controlled assets in 1997,” they wrote.

他们写道：“美国市场对财信集团知之甚少，而且该集团有着中国公司固有的许多不透明特质。此外，初步报告显示，财信集团的金融资产最初由中国政府所有，而该公司是为了吸收那些国有资产而在1997年创立的。”

The Chicago Stock Exchange accounts for miniscule amounts of trading relative to rivals such as the New York Stock Exchange, but its acquisition by a Chinese company would be highly symbolic of China’s growing influence overseas.

相对纽约证交所(New York Stock Exchange)等竞争对手而言，芝加哥证交所的交易份额微不足道，但如果它被一家中国公司收购，将明显象征中国在海外的影响力日益增长。

In a Republican presidential debate on Saturday, Donald Trump, the party frontrunner for the White House nomination, cited the stock exchange takeover as an example of how America was losing its international competitiveness.

在共和党于上周六举行的总统竞选辩论中，该党的总统候选人领跑者唐纳德礠朗普(Donald Trump)以芝加哥证交所被收购为例说明，美国失去了其国际竞争力。

The letter was organised by Robert Pittenger, a Republican member of the House of Representatives from North Carolina, and signed by 44 other Republicans and one Democrat.

上述信函由北卡罗来纳州的共和党众议员罗伯特皮滕杰(Robert Pittenger)策划，并由44名共和党议员和1名民主党议员联署。

China’s flourishing appetite for acquiring overseas companies was dealt a sharp setback this week as regulatory fears hit two other potential takeovers.

中国收购海外企业的旺盛胃口本周遭遇严重挫折。监管担忧阻止了两笔潜在的收购交易。

The US Treasury does not comment on Cfius reviews.

美国财政部不就Cfius的审查置评。