Exercises

1. Answer the questions.

1) What companies do the private and the public sectors consist of?

2) What are the examples of individual proprietorships?

3) Who is responsible for running business in such organizations?

4) What are the advantages and disadvantages of individual proprietorships?

5) Who can form a partnership?

6) What does unlimited liability mean?

7) What is the advantage of limited or special partnership?

8) Can private limited companies offer shares to the public?

9) How can these companies raise capital?

10) What should a company do to offer its shares for sale?

11) What are the examples of companies owned by a government?

2. Translate into English.

Принадлежать либо частному, либо общественному сектору; состоять из; работать в частном секторе; находящийся в собственности одного человека; быть полностью ответственным за; преимущества и недостатки; советоваться с кем-либо; по этой причине; сложности с привлечением капитала; стать банкротом; потерять как компанию, так и личную собственность; вкладывать равный капитал; составлять соглашение; определять права, ответственность и обязанности; играть роль в управлении компанией; нести риск потери личной собственности; большинство мелких предприятий; предлагать акции для продажи населению; обратиться на фондовую биржу; опубликовать проспект компании.

3. Complete the text using the words:

shareholders, capital, amount, a factory, place, issue, annual, rights and duties, public

Founding a Company

Founders of companies have to write a Memorandum of Association (меморандум об ассоциации \ заявка на регистрацию акционерного общества), which states the company’s name, purpose, registered office or premises and authorized share 1) … .

Premises – is the technical term for the 2) … in which a company does its business: an office, a shop, 3) …, a warehouse, etc. Authorized share capital means the maximum 4) … of a particular type of share the company can 5) … .

Founders also write Articles of Association (устав компании), which set out the 6) … of directors and different classes of 7) … . Company’s Memorandum, Articles of Association and 8) … financial statements are sent to the registrar of companies, where they may be inspected by the 9) … .

4. Write the questions about Annual General Meetings to which these are the answers:

1) … ? All the shareholders.

2) … ? No, only the shareholders with voting shares. Sometimes there are categories of shares that don’t give their holder voting rights.

3) … ? To approve (or reject) the company’s accounts, and the auditors’ and directors’ reports of the year’s activities; to elect (or re-elect) directors and auditors for the coming year; and to vote on the size of the dividend that will be paid.

4) …? The company generally sends them the Annual Report before they come to the meeting.

5) …? They can be represented by proxy (уполномоченный); that means they can nominate someone else to attend a meeting and vote for them.

6) …? There has to be a quorum – a minimum number of directors and shareholders present to take decisions.

The following question starters may help you:

1) Who can … ?

2) Are all the shareholders entitled (имеют право) to … ?

3) What is the purpose of … ?

4) What information … ?

5) What happens if … ?

6) How many … ?

5. Translate into English.

1) Акционеры получают копию ежегодного отчета.

2) На ежегодном общем собрании они должны одобрить деятельность компании, выбрать директоров и аудиторов.

3) Акционеры голосуют о размере дивидендов.

4) Акционер может назначить уполномоченного голосовать вместо него.

6. Read the text and translate it into Russian.

Financial Statements

Companies are required by law to give their shareholders certain financial information. Most companies include three financial statements in their annual reports.

The profit and loss account (отчет о доходах и расходах) shows revenue and expenditure. It gives figures for total sales or turnover (the amount of business done by a company during the year), and for costs. The first figure should be greater than the second: there should generally be a profit – an excess of income over expenditure. Part of the profit is paid to the government in taxation, part is usually distributed to shareholders as a dividend, and part is retained by the company to finance further growth.

The balance sheet (балансовый отчет) shows the financial situation of the company on a particular date, generally the last day of its financial year. It lists the company’s assets (активы), its liabilities (пассивы), and shareholders’ funds. Business’s assets consist of its cash investments and property (buildings, machines, and so on), and debts – amounts of money owed by customers of goods or services purchased on credit. Liabilities consist of all the money that a company will have to pay someone else, such as taxes, interest payments, as well as money owed to suppliers for purchases made on credit, which are grouped together on the balance sheet as creditors.

The sources and application of funds (источники и использование средств) show the flow of cash in and out of business. Sources of funds include trading profits, the sale of assets and issuing of shares. Application of funds include the purchase of assets, the payment of dividends and the repaying of loans, and, in a bad year, trading losses.