ENGLISH FOR THE FINANCIAL SECTOR PDF

Preview

Summary

The organization of the 1 financial industry To learn about: the organization of the financial industry; key vocabulary of banking products and services To learn how to: express permission, necessity and prohibition To practise: asking and talking about terms and conditions of bank accounts Lead in...

Description

Accelerat ing t he world's research.

ENGLISH FOR THE FINANCIAL SECTOR Nguyên Lai Nguyễn Thanh

Related papers

Download a PDF Pack of t he best relat ed papers 

The organization of the financial industry

1

To learn about: the organization of banking products

of the financial

To learn how to: express permission, To practise:

industry;

key vocabulary

and services necessity

and prohibition

asking and talking about terms and conditions

of bank

accounts

Lead in •

What services

does your bank offer? Which of them do you use?

•

If you are still studying,

•

If you are already working, what area of finance do you work in, and why? Would you like

what area of finance do you want to work in, and why?

to change your field of activity Has the institution

•

or company

in the future, and why? you work for changed significantly

in recent years? In

what ways?

Vocabulary 1 You are going to listen to Peter Sinclair, the former director

of the Centre for Central Banking

Studies at the Bank of England, talking

industry.

your understanding

about the financial

of banking vocabulary

by completing

Before you listen, check

each sentence

with a word from the

box.

bonds capital

deposit merger

mortgage pension

takeover

shares stocks

1

A

2

Money you put in the bank is called a

is a loan to buy property.

3

Money paid to a retired person is called a

4

Securities

S

The money invested

6

representing

_

part-ownership

in a business

_

of a company

securities

or

_

is its

are interest-paying

are called

issued by companies

that need to borrow

money. 7

A

is when a company

8

A

is when two formerly

gains control of another one by buying its stocks. separate

companies

join together.

Listening 1: The development of the financial industry Listen to Peter Sinclair talking industry

about the organization

2S years ago, and answer the questions

of the financial

below.

_0 __

1

Were most financial

institutions

national, or international?

2

Were most financial

institutions

specialized,

or did they offer lots of

services?

The organization of the financial industry

Unit 1

9

3

What kinds of financial

.

institutions

traditionally

did the following

types of business?

Complete the table. . making loans

issuing shares or bonds

arranging

mergers

arranging

mortgages

providing

pensions

arranging

or fighting takeover

giving financial receiving

advice to companies

offering

bids

life insurance

deposits

Retail banks

Building societies -

Insurance

Investment

companies

banks \

Listening 2: Going international Listen to Peter Sinclair talking questions

below.

toM • ..,

about recent changes in the financial

industry,

and answer the

1

What has recently

2

In what way does Peter Sinclair compare the City of London to the Wimbledon

happened to banks in Britain and many other countries?

3

Which two words does Peter Sinclair use to summarize

tennis

tournament? the two big recent trends in

banking? Peter Sinclair makes a comparison between the City of London and the Wimbledon tennis tournament.

Discussion Has your bank changed in any of the ways described 10

Unit 1 The organization

of the financial industry

by Peter Sinclair?

Vocabulary

2

1 You are going to read about changes in the banking industry. Before you read, check your understanding oft~e words (1-8) below by matching them with their definitions (a-h). 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

conglomerates depositors deregulated fines prohibited regulation repealed underwriting

abolished or ended rules and restrictions sums of money paid as penalties for breaking the law groups of companies that have joined together control of something by rules or laws guaranteeing to buy a company's newly issued stocks if no one else does made it illegal to do something g people who place money in bank accounts h cancelled or ended (a law)

a b c d e f

2 Now look again at the words above and put a stress mark in front of the stressed syllable in each word. Example: C.O"11. 'O£o~e.mte.s

Reading: Regulation and deregulation 1 Readthe article, and complete it using the words (1-8) from the Vocabulary exercise above.

alllialion and deregulation In the late 1920s, several American commercial banks that were (1) security issues for companies weren't able to sell the stocks to the public, because there wasn't enough demand. So they used money belonging to their (2) to buy these securities. If the stock price later fell, their customers lost a lot of money. This led the government to step up the (3) of banks, to protect depositors' funds, and to maintain investors' confidence in the banking system. In 1933 the Glass-Steagall Act was passed, which (4) American commercial banks from underwriting securities. Only investment banks could issue stocks for corporations. In Britain too, retail or commercial banks remained separate from investment or merchant banks. A similar law was passed in Japan after World War II. Half a century later, in the 1980s and 90s, many banks were looking for new markets and higher profits in a period of increasing globalization. So most industrialized countries (5) _

. A lot of commercial banks

(6)

merged with or acquired investment banks and insurance companies, which created large financial . The larger American and (7) British banks now offer customers a complete range of financial services, as the universal banks in Germany and Switzerland have done for a long time. The law forbidding US commercial banks from operating in more than one state was also abolished. In Britain, many building societies, which specialized in mortgages, started to offer the same services as commercial banks. Yet in all countries, financial institutions are still quite strictly controlled, either by the central bank or another financial authority. In 2002, ten of Wall Street's biggest banks paid (8) _ of $1.4 billion for having advised investors, in the 1990s, to buy stocks in companies that they knew had financial difficulties. They had done this in order to get investment banking business from these companies - exactly the kind of practice that led the US government to separate commercial and investment banking in the 1930s.

their financial systems. The Glass-Steagall Act was

The orgonizotion

of the finonciol industry

Unit 1

11

2

Put the sentences (a-d) below in the right order on the timeline, and write the time period that each sentence refers to. The first one has been done as an example. a Major USbanks were fined for giving bad advice to investors. b Commercial banks used their investors' mone~ to bu~ securities and man~ depositors lost mone~. c Man~ banking regulations were ended and big financial conglomerates were formed. d New laws in the USand Britain separated commercial and investment banks.

b-

1900

3

192.0s

2000

Look at the following statements. Are the~ true or false, according to the article? 1 The Glass-Steagall Act was the result of the behaviour of investment banks. 2 The British and American financial markets are now cornpletelq unregulated. 3 German and Swiss banks did all t~pes of banking business at a time when American and British ones were not allowed to. 4 During the 20th centurq, manu financial markets first became more regulated, and then less regulated. 5 Large American banks no longer do the kind of things that led to the separation of investment and commercial banking in the 1930s.

Discussion • •

Which are the largest banks (or financial conglomerates) in ~our countrq? Towhat extent is banking regulated in ~our countru? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this?

Permission, necessity and prohibition 1 The Reading article gives information about banking regulations - how banking is controlled b~ rules. Look at the following sentences and underline the words that are used to describe things that are permitted, necessary, not necessary, or prohibited (forbidden). 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12

Unit 1 The orgonization

Although banks are allowed to open on Saturdaqs, most of them don't. Banks aren't allowed to charge less than the minimum interest rate. Commercial banks have to deposit part of their reserves at the central bank. If ~ou have a credit card, ~ou don't need to pa~ cash. If ~ou keep at least $1,000 in the bank, ~ou don't have to pa~ charges. Todaq, retail banks need to react to competition from building societies. Our policq states that we can't lend ~ou more than one month's salarq. You can pa~ me back at the end of the month. You must keep at least $1,000 in the account if ~ou want free banking. You mustn't use this loan for an~ other purpose. You needn't go to the bank - ~ou can do it on the internet.

of the financial industry

2

Put the sentences into the correct columns, according to their meaning. The first one has been done as an • example. Permission

Meaning Sentence number

I

Verbs used

I

Necessity or obligation

No necessity or no obligation

I

I

be. (A,£.£.owe.d to

Prohibition

I

I

I

I

These verbs change if we talk about the past: Present

Past

can / can't must mustn't is / are (not) allowed to has / have to doesn't / don't have to needto needn't / don't need to

was / were (not) able to ORcould / couldn't hadto was / were not allowed to ORcouldn't was / were (not) allowed to ORcould / couldn't had to didn't have to needed to didn't need to

Examples: I had a credit card, so I didn't need to pay cash. I had to keep $1,000 in the account. 3

Complete each sentence using a verb. Look back at the Reading and Listening exercises to find the information you need. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

In the 1970s, UScommercial banks do business in more than one state. Today, USbanks operate in several states. Today, American banks be specialized any more. For most of the 20th century, commercial banks issue shares. Banks sell stocks to their own customers if it is not in the customers' interest. Today, building societies restrict their activity to mortgages. German banks were always do business with both large companies and small individual customers. 8 Before deregulation, foreign banks operate in many countries. 9 Even after deregulation, banks still obey a lot of laws. 10 Twenty-five years ago, most banks worry about foreign competition.

Practice Acustomer calls a bank to ask about the terms and conditions of a bank account. Your teacher will give you a role to prepare. Use the phrases for permission, necessity and prohibition from the Language focus above. Work in pairs. Student A should look at page 115, and Student B at page 123.

Discussion -iow do the bank accounts in the Practice compare with your own? Talk about the rules for ~our account using the language from the Language focus above. The organization oj the financial industry

Unit 1

13

3

Retail banking To learn about: developments -services, ke~ vocabularq

in retail banking, banking products

and

of retail banking

To learn how to: express likelihood and probabilitq To practise:

talking about the future of retail banking

Lead in •

What services would ~ou expect a retail or commercial

•

What is the difference

•

How do commercial

between

bank to offer?

retail banking and investment

banking?

banks make rnoneu?

Reading 1: Commercial and investment banking 1

Liar's Pokeris

Michael Lewis's ver~ funn~ book about working

in New York and London. In this extract, commercial

2

3

as an investment

banker

he explains wh~ he didn't want to become a

or retail banker. Read the text and explain in ~our own words what Lewis is saqing about:

1

commercial

bankers

2

investment

bankers.

... in 1934, American lawmakers had stripped investment banking out from commercial banking. Investment bankers now underwrote securities, such as stocks and bonds. Commercial bankers, like Citibank, took deposits and made loans .... After Glass-Steagall most people became investment bankers. ow I I didn't actually know any commercial bankers, but a commercial banker was reputed to be just an ordinary American businessman with ordinary American ambitions. He lent a few hundred million dollars each day to South American countries. But really,

he meant no harm. He was only doing what he was told to do by someone higher up in an endless chain of command .... He had a wife, a station wagon, 2.2 children, and a dog that brought him his slippers when he returned home from work at six .... An investment banker was a breed apart, a member of a master race of deal makers. He possessed vast, almost unimaginable, talent and ambition. If he had a dog it snarled. He had two little red sports cars yet wanted four. To get them, he was, for a man in a suit, surprisingly willing to cause trouble.

Find words or phrases in the text that mean the following: 1

to separate

4

a big hierarchq

2

generalh, considered to be

5

special; different

3

didn't want to cause trouble for other people

6

extrernelq

'He lent a few hundred million dollars each da~ to South American What other exaggerations

of directors

and managers

from other people

big

countries.'

This is an exaggeration.

or jokes can you find in the text?

Discussion Which area would ~ou preferto

I

t

1

Retait banking

work in - commercial

banking or investment

banking? Wh~?

Vocabulary 1 You are going to listen to Peter Sinclair, who we heard in Unit 1, talking about retail banking . Before • you listen, check your understanding of the words and phrases in the box by matching them with their definitions (1-7). assets currency 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

income lucrative

national income liabilities

trend

a general development or change in a situation or in people's behaviour all the money received by a person during a particular period anything of value owned by a business; for a bank, the loans it has made money that a company will have to pay to someone else one day; for a bank, its deposits profitable (describes an activity that makes a profit] the money earned by a country's people in a particular period the money used in a particular country

Listening: Retail banking 1

Listen to Peter Sinclair talking about retail banking. According to what he says, is retail banking in decline? Q)

2

Listen again and look at the following statements. Sinclair?

C§J)

Are they true or false, according to Peter

1 In the past, people used to keep more money in cash. 2 Because of retail banks, national income is increasing in developing countries. 3 Some people think that investment banking is more exciting than retail banking. 4 Investment banking is more profitable than retail banking. 5 There is more risk involved in investment banking than retail banking.

Discussion • •

How has commercial or retail banking changed since the 1980s? How do you think it will develop in the next few years?

Vocabulary 2 1

Read the web page below advertising

online banking, and complete the sentences overleaf.

Why bank online? Becauseyou haveaccess to your account24 hours a day, 7 days a week. With internet bankingyou can: Checkyour balancewheneveryou want. Pay billswithoutwriting chequesor queuingat the bank. Transfermoneybetweenyour currentaccountand your savingsaccount. Print a statementat any time. Set up, change and delete your standingorders. View and cancel direct debits. Apply for a loan. Apply for a new or increasedoverdraft. Order foreign currencyor traveller'scheques.

Retail banking

,

J

19

1

A

is an instruction

to another account on particular 2

A

3

A

4

An

S

A

•

money can be withdrawn

pays interest

sums of money

but usually has limits as to how much

during a certain period of time.

lists the recent debits and credits in a bank account. is an arrangement

more than they have deposited

allowing someone to borrow money by withdrawing

in their account, up to a certain limit. pays no or little interest,

withdraw 6

to a bank to pay varying

dates.

cash or pay cheques without

but usually allows the holder to

any restrictions.

A

is an amount of money borrowed from a bank for a fixed period.

7

A

is the amount of money in a bank account at a particulartime.

8

A

is an instruction

to a bank to pay regular, fixed sums of

money to another account. 2

Use a word or phrase from each box to make common word combinations.

You can use

some words more than once.

the balance a cheque an overdraft a direct debit a loan money a standing order

apply for cancel ch...