| 1. funds | фонды, денежные средства; запас, резерв |
| 1. make withdrawals | снимать со счёта |
| 2. asset | активы, средства; капитал; имущество, собственность |
| 3. meet demands | удовлетворять требования |
| 4. cushion | деньги, отложенные на черный день (на случай сложного финансового положения) |
| 5. unexpected demands | неожиданные нужды, требования |
| 6. rate of return | норма прибыли; коэффициент окупаемости капиталовложений |
| 7. highly liquid lending | легко ликвидные (реализуемые) кредиты, ссуды |
| 8. money market | денежный рынок, рынок краткосрочного ссудного капитала |
| 9. capital market | рынок долгосрочного ссудного капитала |
| 10. yielding | доход по ценным бумагам, доход в виде процентов на вложенный капитал; приносить доход |
| 11. government bonds | облигация, закладная, долговое обязательство |
| 12. readily | легко (без труда) |
| 13. saleable | пользующийся спросом; реализуемый, продаваемый |
| 14. occasion demand | когда потребуется по какой-то причине |
| 15. short notice | сокращенный срок уплаты |
| 16. banks investment portfolio | портфель ценных бумаг |
| 17. working capital | оборотный капитал |
| 18. fixed capital | основной капитал; активы длительного пользования |
| 19. AA rating | Первоклассный |
| 20. blue chip | первоклассная ценная бумага |
The investment policy of a bank is based upon the reconciliation of two conflicting aims. On the one hand the bank wants to make as much profit as it can and for this reason it must take the risks of lending money. On the other hand its funds belong to its depositors and must be available whenever they wish to make withdrawals.
There are two things that the bank must therefore do. First it must keep a proportion of its assets in the form of cash to meet demands. The amount that this needs to be varies very little from one bank to another or from one day to another and experience suggests that it is about six percent. As a cushion against unexpected demands a further proportion of funds is invested at low rates of return in highly liquid lending mostly to firms in the money and capital markets.
The second thing that the bank must do is to ensure that the investments it chooses are safe. This also means that they are relatively low yielding since high yields are associated with risk and with lending for long periods of time. Much of a bank’s investment is in short and medium term government and local government bonds. They yield certain incomes and are readily saleable should the occasion demand.
Advances by a bank to its customers are the least liquid of their assets since there are few borrowers who could repay a loan at very short notice. However, they are also the most profitable of them yielding the highest rates of return. Advances to customers are likely to account for more than two thirds of the banks investment portfolio although this will vary on a day to day basis since overdrafts are the most common form of advance and are not immediately controllable by the bank.
In general the banks do not lend to industry for long periods of time or for investment projects. They regard themselves as providing working capital rather than fixed capital.
Questions on the text:
- What two conflicting aims must a bank reconcile in its investment policy?
- What must the bank do to be ready to meet demand for cash on the part of its
Customers?
- Why does the bank prefer rather low yielding investments?
- Which investments do usually yield high returns?
- Which investments are hardly controllable by the bank? Why?
- Why don’t banks usually invest in industrial projects?
Тексты для самостоятельной работы
Экономические специальности –IV семестр (6-летки)
Специальность Бухучет
Assets and Liabilities
The term “asset” means anything of value that is owned by a company and can be expressed in terms of money. Economic resources that provide a potential future service to the organization are called assets in accounting. A company’s total assets include such items as cash, buildings, equipment, any other property and accounts receivable, that is, money owned by its customers.
Assets are usually classified as current and long-term, both types consisting of tangible as well as of intangible items. Current tangible assets including cash, accounts receivable, stock-in-trade are usually converted into cash within one year and sometimes can be used as a means of payment. On the other hand, current intangible assets consist of short-term investments in stocks and bonds.
Long-term intangible assets are not really visible and include such items as goodwill, patents, trademarks, copyrights, these assets often being the most important factor for obtaining future incomes. For example, goodwill means an intangible asset which takes into account the value added to a business as a result of its reputation which cannot be really calculated. In contrast, the real estate (such as farm land, machinery, buildings and other physical objects) belongs to long-term tangible assets.
Liabilities are obligations that a company owes to another organization, to an individual (such as creditors and employees) or to the government. Like assets, liabilities are divided into current and long-term ones. Current liabilities are usually amounts that are paid within one year, including accounts payable, taxes on income and property, short-term loans, salaries and wages, and amounts of money owed to suppliers of goods and services. Noncurrent liabilities often called long-term are usually debts, such as bonds and long-term loans.
The amount by which the total assets exceed total liabilities is known as the net worth which is usually called the equity for companies. When the company is a corporation, the equity means the investment interest of the owners (that is, the stockholders) in the organization’s assets. The owners’ equity can be increased either by investing more money in the company or by earning a profit and can be decreased because of the company’s losses.
All companies keep proper accounting system in order to know whether or not they are operating profitably, each of the assets and the liabilities and the equity being shown in a company’s accounts separately. The balance sheet prepared by the company’s accountant is one of the important financial reports showing the value of the total assets, total liabilities and equity on a given date. The relationship of these main categories is represented by the fundamental accounting equation: assets (everything that is owned) are equal to liabilities (owed) plus equity (clear of debt).
ASSETS = LIABILITIES + EQUITY
As all three factors are expressed in terms of money, they are limited to items that can be given a monetary value. The accounting equation should always be in balance, so that one side must equal the other.
Active vocabulary
assets – актив, фонд; капитал, имущество
assets and liabilities – актив и пассив
capital assets – основные фонды, основной капитал, основные средства
term – термин, выражение; период
terms – условия
credit terms – условия аккредитива, условия ссуды
lending terms – условия выдачи кредита
accounting – учет, отчетность, бухгалтерское дело; анализ хозяйственной деятельности
accounting cycle – цикл учета; учетный период; syn. accounting period
item – отдельный предмет, вид товара, изделий; статья (в счете, балансе), пункт, позиция, параграф
account – финансовый отчет, запись финансовой операции
accounts – отчетность, деловые книги
accounts receivable – счета дебиторов, счета к получению; ожидаемые поступления
accounts payable – счета к оплате; ожидаемые выплаты
capital account – счет основного капитала, счет основных фондов; баланс движения капиталов
income account – счет доходов (прибылей) и убытков
current – текущий
current account – текущий счет
current assets – оборотные средства (фонды); текущие (легкореализуемые, ликвидные) активы
current liabilities – краткосрочные обязательства; текущие пассивы
ant. noncurrent liabilities, long-term liabilities – долгосрочные обязательства
tangible – осязаемый, материальный
tangible assets – материальные активы
tangible item – материальный предмет
intangible – неосязаемый, нематериальный
intangible assets – нематериальный актив
intangible item – нематериальный предмет
stock-in-trade – товарный запас, товарная наличность, остаток непроданных товаров
stock(s) – активы, запас(ы), фонд(ы)
in stock – в запасе, в наличии, в ассортименте
goodwill – гудвил, деловая репутация; ценность фирмы, определяющаяся ее клиентурой, репутацией, деловыми связями; престиж фирмы
trademark – торговая марка
copyright – авторское право
to take into account – принимать во внимание
real estate – недвижимое имущество
employee – служащий, рабочий, работающий по найму
salary – заработная плата, оклад
net worth – стоимость имущества за вычетом обязательств; собственный капитал (предприятия), чистая стоимость компании
equity – капитал компании, акционерный капитал; активы (предприятия) за вычетом задолженности
investment interest – процент инвестиций
stockholder – акционер, владелец акций, владелец государственных ценных бумаг
syn. shareholder
proper – правильный, надлежащий
properly – правильно, должным образом
operate – работать, управлять
balance sheet – балансовый отчет
balance sheet account – статья бухгалтерского баланса
to be in balance – быть сбалансированным
accountant – эксперт по анализу балансов и финансовой отчетности, квалифицированный бухгалтер; ревизор, контролер
equation – уравнение, равенство; правильное соотношение
accounting equation – бухгалтерская сбалансированность
clear of debt – без долга
Questions to the text:
- What does the term “asset” mean?
- How can the company’s assets be classified?
- How “goodwill” increase the company’s profits?
- What liabilities does the company usually have? How are they classified?
- How is the net worth calculated?
- What accounts should be kept by the company?
- What is the main accounting equation?
- Why is it important to keep the proper accounting system?