International business

Vocabulary notes

International trade	міжнародна торгівля
Living standard	рівень життя
domestic	внутрішній, вітчизняний
Protectionist measures	заходи щодо захисту
Exchange control	валютне регулювання
earn	заробляти
borrow	позичати
negotiate	вести ділові переговори
ensure	забезпечувати, гарантувати
The International Monetary Fund	Міжнародний валютний фонд
The World Trade Organization	Світова організація торгівлі
The World Bank	Світовий банк

International trade is the exchange of goods and services between countries. Through international trade countries can improve their living standards. International trade keeps domestic prices down by creating competition at home and provides large markets abroad. Governments can control international trade. The most common protectionist measures are tariffs, quotas, exchange controls. They raise the price of imported goods to protect national producers.

The international trade that takes place without barriers such as tariffs, quotas and exchange controls is called free trade.

Exporting and importing are two aspects of foreign trade.

Exports are goods and services produced in one country but sold in another. Exports are important because they allow a country to earn foreign exchange which can be used for buying imports from abroad.

Imports are those goods and services which are consumed in one country but which have been purchased from another country.

Imports are paid for by foreign currency earned by exporters, or by borrowing from foreign governments and agencies like the International Monetary Fund.

If exports exceed imports there is a trade surplus. If imports exceed exports there is a trade deficit.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only international organization dealing with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible.

At the heart of the system are the WTO's agreements, negotiated and signed by a large majority of the world's trading nations. Their main purpose is to help producers of goods and services, exporters and importers conduct their business.

The WTO is one of three major organizations that oversee international economic relations among governments. The other two are the International Monetary Fund, which works to improve payment arrangements and other financial dealings between countries, and the World Bank, which provides loans to poorer nations.

Types of banks and bank services

Vocabulary notes

Accept deposit	приймати вклади
Make a loan	одержати позику, надавати позику
Manage customers’ accounts	вести рахунки клієнта (у банку)
Interest	процентний прибуток
Raise capital	збільшувати, залучати капітал
Flotation	флотація, емісія
Takeover	поглинання
Merger	злиття
Securities	цінні папери
Share	акція
Bond	облігація
Saving account	ощадний рахунок
Checking account	поточний рахунок
Loan	позика
Mortgage	іпотека, застава
Overdraft	перевищення кредиту
Direct debit	пряме дебатування
Standing order	постійне доручення
Foreign exchange	купівля-продаж, обмін валют
Investment advising	консультації з капіталовкладень
Trust	довірчо-майнові відносини
Brokerage	посередництво
Home banking	банківські послуги вдома

A bank is an institution that deals in money and provides other financial services. There exist different types of banks.

Central banks such as the National Bank (Ukraine) or the Bank of England (UK) look after the government’s finance and monetary policy, act as bankers for the state and commercial banks, and are responsible for issuing banknotes.

Commercial banks deal with the public offering a wide range of services such as accepting deposits, making loans, and managing customers’ accounts. The aim of commercial banks is to earn profit and they are reaching it providing different services to customers for the price which is called interest.

Merchant banks don’t deal with the public, they provide services for companies. They specialize in raising capital for the industry, arranging flotation, takeovers and mergers, and investment portfolios.

Investment banks control the issue of new securities (shares and bonds).

Saving banks specialize in providing services such as saving accounts.

The most widely used bank services (offered to businesses as well as to individual customers) are:

- banks open different types of accounts: saving/deposit account (which pays some interest to a customer) and checking/current account (which does not);

- banks offer different credit services to their customers: credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, overdrafts;

- banks also provide services to allow customers to make payments: direct debit (when money is automatically transferred from a bank account), standing order (paying a certain amount of money to another person or organization at regular intervals);

- banks propose other different services like foreign exchange, investment advising, different trust and brokerage services, home-banking (telephone or Internet) facilities.

The service menu in banks does not remain unchangeable as new services are constantly developed by banks.