AN ENGLISH COURSE FOR STUDENTS OF FINANCE. Учебно-методический комплекс

Международный консорциум «Электронный университет»

Московский государственный университет экономики, статистики и информатики

Евразийский открытый институт

И.Ф. Турук, Е.И. Лобанова

AN ENGLISH COURSE FOR STUDENTS OF FINANCE

Учебно-методический комплекс

Рекомендовано Президиумом Научно-методического совета по дистанционному образованию в области экономики и управления

вкачестве учебно-практического пособия для системы высшего

идополнительного образования

Москва – 2009

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УДК 811.111

ББК 81.2 Англ.

Т 888

Турук И.Ф., Лобанова Е.И.

Т 888 AN ENGLISH COURSE FOR STUDENTS OF FINANCE. – Учебно-методический комплекс – М.:

Изд. центр ЕАОИ, 2009. – 200 c.

ISBN 978-5-374-00155-6

УМК предназначено для студентов, специализирующихся в области финансового и банковского дела. Целью данного пособия является отработка навыков разных видов чтения специальной литературы, усвоение терминологической лексики в данной об- ласти знаний и повторение грамматических структур в письмен- ной речи. Пособие содержит тексты по финансам и банковскому делу, отражающие специфику лексики данного подъязыка и грамматические структуры типичные для специального текста. Тексты сгруппированы тематически в блоки – 7 блоков и раздел Dialogues in а Bank для речевой практики. В каждом блоке выде- ляются термины (Vocabulary notes), которые нужно выучить и, приводятся определенные задании для выполнения в письменной или устной форме, тесты. Терминологический слой текста рас- крывает понятия, присущие дайной области знаний.

УДК 811.111

ББК 81.2 Англ.

ISBN 978-5-374-00155-6 © Турук И. Ф., 2009

©Лобанова Е. И., 2009

©Оформление. Евразийский открытый институт, 2009

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Введение

УМК предназначено для студентов, специализирую- щихся в области финансового и банковского дела. Целью данного пособия является отработка навыков разных видов чтения специальной литературы, усвоение терминологиче- ской лексики в данной области знаний и повторение грамма- тических структур в письменной речи.

Пособие содержит тексты по финансам и банковскому делу, отражающие специфику лексики данного подъязыка и грамматические структуры типичные для специального текста. Тексты сгруппированы тематически в блоки – 7 блоков и раз- дел Dialogues in а Bank для речевой практики. В каждом блоке выделяются термины (Vocabulary notes), которые нужно вы- учить и, приводятся определенные задании для выполнения в письменной или устной форме, тесты. Терминологический слой текста раскрывает понятия, присущие дайной области знаний. Под термином понимается слово (или словосочетание), языковой знак которого соотнесен с соответствующим поняти- ем в системе понятий данной области науки. Термину свойст- венно наличие у него строгой, точной дефиниции и однознач- ности содержания.

Раздел Additional Practice предназначен для студентов продвинутого уровня знаний английского языка с целью бо- лее углубленного изучения языкового материала и развития речевых компетенций.

Для нахождения эквивалента термину в русском языке нужно пользоваться терминологическим словарем данной профессиональной области. В целях правильного понимания синтаксических структур текста, необходим аналитический подход к переводу текста с учетом грамматических структур специального текста.

В пособие введен краткий грамматический справоч- ник (Grammar Reference), англо-русский словарь, руково-

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дство по изучению курса, раскрывающее методические за- дачи курса и рабочая программа, которая приводит при- мерную схему прохождения учебного материала по темам в рекомендуемых временных рамках.

Разделы Reading Training включают тексты для дополни- тельного чтения. Ряд текстов предназначен для перевода со словарем, а ряд текстов - для понимания общего содержания прочитанного. Понимание прочитанного проверяется с по- мощью Self-Test questions, на которые надо ответить после прочтения текста.

Завершающим этапом прохождения курса является Final Test to Blocks в качестве итогового контроля сформированно- сти языковой и речевой компетенции.

авторы

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INFORMATION FOR STUDY

Functions of the Financial System

and the Financial Markets

A. Functions of the Financial System

The great importance of the financial system in our daily lives can be illustrated by reviewing its different functions. There are seven basic functions of the financial system in an economy.

Savings Function

The system of financial markets and institutions provides a conduit for the public's savings. Bonds, stocks, deposits, and other financial claims sold in the money and capital markets provide a profitable, relatively low-risk outlet for the public's savings. Those savings flow through the financial markets into investment so that more goods and services can be produced in the future, increasing society's standard of living. When savings flows decline, however, the growth of investment and of living standards tends to fall.

Wealth Function

For those businesses and individuals choosing to save, the financial instruments sold in the money and capital markets provide an excellent way to store wealth (i.e., to preserve value or hold purchasing power) until funds are needed for spending in future periods. While we might choose to store our wealth in

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AN ENGLISH COURSE FOR STUDENTS OF FINANCE

"things" (e.g., automobiles and clothes), such items are subjects to depreciation and often carry great risk of loss. However, bonds, stocks, deposits and other financial instruments do not wear out over time, usually, generate income, and normally, their risk of loss is much less than would be true of other forms of stored wealth. In 1986 well over $21 trillion in securities, deposits, and so on were held by businesses, households, and governments in the U.S. economy. Individuals and families alone held almost $11 trillion in stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments.* These holdings represent stored purchasing power which will be used in future periods to finance purchases and increase society's standard of living.

Liquidity Function

For wealth that is stored in financial instruments, the financial marketplace provides a means of converting those instruments into ready cash with little risk of loss. Thus, the financial system provides liquidity for savers holding financial instruments but in need of money. In modern societies money consists mainly of deposits held in banks. Money is the only financial instrument possessing perfect liquidity; it can be spent as it is without the necessity of converting it into some other form. However, money generally earns the lowest rate of return of all assets traded in the financial system, and its purchasing power is seriously eroded by inflation. That is why savers generally minimize their holdings of money and hold bonds and other financial assets until spendable funds really are needed.

Credit Function

In addition to facilitating the flow of savings into investment and providing liquidity for stored wealth, the financial markets furnish credit to finance consumption and investment spending. Credit consists of a loan of funds in return for a promise of future payment. Consumers frequently need credit to purchase a home, buy groceries, repair the family automobile, and retire outstanding

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debt. Businesses draw upon their lines of credit to stock their shelves, construct buildings, meet payrolls, and grant dividends to their stockholders. State, local, and federal governments frequently borrow to construct buildings and other public facilities and cover daily cash expenses until tax revenues flow in.

The volume of credit extended by the money and capital markets today is huge and growing rapidly, total net credit funds raised in U.S. financial markets in 1987 (including issues of corporate stock) exceeded $900 billion, compared to just over $400 billion as recently as 1982. Growth of the economy, inflation, and the tax deductibility of interest payments all appear to have fueled this rapid growth in credit usage by American households and institutions.

Payments Function

The financial system also provides a mechanism for making payments for goods and services. Certain financial assets, mainly checking accounts and NOW (negotiable order of withdrawal) accounts, serve as a medium of exchange in the making of payments.* Plastic credit cards issued by many banks, credit unions, and retail stores give the customer instant access to short-term credit but also are widely accepted as a convenient means of payment. Another type of plastic card-the debit card is used today to charge a buyer’s deposit account for purchases of goods and services and transfer the proceeds instantly by wire to the seller's account. Debit cards and other electronic means of payment, including computer terminals in homes, offices, and stores, are likely to displace checks and other pieces of paper as the principal means of payment in the years ahead.

Risk Function

The financial markets offer businesses, consumers, and governments protection against life, health, property, and income risks. This is accomplished, first of all, by the sale of life and prop- erty-casualty insurance policies.* Policies marketed by life insurance companies identify a family against possible loss of income

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AN ENGLISH COURSE FOR STUDENTS OF FINANCE

following the death of a loved one. Property casualty insurers protect their policyholders against an incredibly wide array of personal and property risks ranging from ill health, crime and storm damage to negligence on the nation's highways. *In addition to making possible the selling of insurance policies, the money and capital markets have been used increasingly by businesses and consumers to "self insure" against risk. This simply means building up one's holdings of securities, deposits, etc., as a precaution against future loss. The liquidity of most financial instruments makes it easy to raise spendable cash quickly in an emergency.

Policy Function

*Finally, in recent decades the financial markets have been the principal channel through which the federal government has carried out its policy of attempting to stabilize the economy and avoid excessive inflation. By manipulating interest rates and the availability of credit, government can affect the borrowing and spending plans of the public which, in turn, influence the growth of jobs, production, and the prices of goods and services. *This task of economic stabilization has been given largely to central banks, such as the Federal Reserve System.

B. The Financial Markets and Financial System

Of course, not all factor income is consumed. A substantial proportion of after-tax income received by households each year – $104 billion in 1987 – is earmarked for personal saving. In addition, business firms save billions of dollars each year to build up equity reserves for future contingencies and to support long-term capital investment. For example, in 1987, U.S. corporation earned $334 billion in after-tax profits, of which $112 billion was set aside (undistributed) for possible future needs. It is here that the third kind of market – the financial market – performs a vital function within the economic system. The financial markets channel saving

– which come mainly from households – to those individuals and institutions who need more funds for spending them are provided by current income. The financial markets are the heart of the fi-

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