Financial securities

'Financial security' is a financial instrument issued by companies, financial institutions and the government as a means of borrowing money and raising new capital. The most commonly used financial securities are shares and stocks, debentures, bills of exchange, treasury bills and bonds. Once issued these securities can be bought and sold either on the money market or on the stock market.

A share (Am, stock) is a financial security issued by a joint-stock company as a means of raising long-term capital.

Debentures are a means of financing companies through fixed-interest loans secured against company assets.

A bill of exchange is a financial security which is used to extend a business credit for a limited time period.

A treasury bill is a redeemable financial security bearing a three-month redemption date. In the UK they are issued by the Bank of England.

Bonds are another kind of financial securities issued by a company or by the government to raise finance for the government to cover budget deficits and also as a means of controlling the money supply and level of interest rates.

Answer the following questions:

1. What is a financial security?

2. What are the most commonly used financial security?

3. What are shares and stocks?

4. What are the debentures?

5. What is a bill of exchange?

6. What are bonds?

Match the nouns from Column 1 with the suitable attributes from Column II.

Column I Column II

1. Security a) money

2. market b) interest

3. loan c) long-term

4. capital d) business

5. period e) financial

6. company f) fixed-interest

7. credit g) joint-stock

8. date h) limited time

9. deficit i)redemption 10 rate j) budget

Fill in the blanks with the proper words or phrases from the text:

1. Companies issue ... to borrow money.

1. The government was looking for some new ways of ... to cover the current budget deficit.

2. Treasury bills ... by the Bank of England.

3. This loan is secured ....

4. A treasury bill is ....

5. Bills of exchange extend a ... for a limited time period.

6. Securities are sold and bought....

7. Shares are issued by ....

Adjectives + preposition. Choose the correct variant:

1. The Department chairman says that he is not satisfied ... her J performance.

a) of

b) to

c) with

2. It is very stupid ... her to go out without umbrella. It is raining.

a) for

b) of

c) by

3. My sister has always been very kind ... me.

a) to

b) with

c) on

4. My friend is always so kind ... other people.

a) with

b) of

c) to

5. Peter is upset... not being invited to the party.

a) about

b)of

c) with

6. Mary starts her new job on Monday. She's quite excited ... it.

a) with

b) about

c) of

7. The film was quite different... what we expected.

a) from

b) for

c) of

8. I'm sure you are capable ... passing the examination.

a) of

b) about

c) for

9. The man we interviewed for the job was quite intelligent but we were not very impressed ... his appearance.

a) of

b) about

c) on

10. We are shot … staff in our office at the moment. There aren't enough people to do the work that has to be done.

a) of

b) with

c) on

11. I'm sorry ... the smell in this room. It's just been painted.

a) of

b) about

c) on

12. This part of town is always very lively at night. It is usually crowded ... people.

a) about

b) for

c) with

13. I don't think they are very interested ... what I have said.

a) in

b) on

c) for

14. Can't we have something different to eat for a change? I'm tired ... having the same thing day after day.

a) with

b) of

c) on

Read and translate the dialogue “Company Organization”

Mr Brown: Good morning, Mr Petrenko! How are you?

Mr Petrenko: Good morning, Mr Brown! I am fine, thanks. And how are you getting on?

Mr Brown: Very well, thank you.

Mr Petrenko: We are looking for new partners. We would like to expand our activity. So I arrived here to establish personal contacts with your company. Before we knew it only by correspondence. Could you say some words about your company?

Mr Brown: With pleasure, Mr Petrenko. I'd like to say a few words about the organisational structure of Rossomon. The Managing Director of our company is Mr Bunce.

Mr Petrenko: What is the Managing Director responsible for?

Mr Brown: He is responsible for running the company and is accountable to the Board.

Mr Petrenko: And who assists him?

Mr Brown: Now, he is assisted by four executive departments. These are Human Resources, which is responsible for personnel, training and management development; then there is the Finance Department which takes care of corporate finance and accounting; next we have the Management Services Department, led by Peter Jenkins who is in charge of rationalization throughout the company; and finally there is the R&D Department - research and development - which works closely with the five regions on new product development.

Mr Petrenko: Who is accountable directly to the Managing Director?

Mr Brown: Directly under the Managing Director, there are five Regional Managers.

Mr Petrenko: What are they responsible for?

Mr Brown: Each of them is responsible for the day-to-day management of a territory - these are geographically split into North, South, East, West and Central Regions. Now then, the five regions are supported by two sections — Marketing and Technical Services. They are organized on a matrix basis with section leaders.

Mr Petrenko: Section leaders are accountable to the Regional Managers, aren't they?

Mr Brown: Yes, that's right. They are accountable to the Regional Managers. They work closely with the regions on the marketing and technical side.

Mr Petrenko: Does your company have any subsidiaries?

Mr Brown: Yes, it does. In addition to the parent company, Rossomon had three subsidiaries, namely Rossomon France, Germany and Japan. Ihe subsidiaries report to the Export Sales Department, which in turn is accountable to the Board. Well that's a brief over­view.

Mr Petrenko: Thank you very much, Mr Brown, for exhaustive information about the organisational structure of your company.