Vocabulary

Euro, single European currency евро, единая валюта для стран членов европейского союза

To bring in line установить единообразие, ввести в соответствие с чем-либо

Low-income housing жилье для граждан с низкими доходами

To determine interest rates установить процентную ставку

Payable on a range of taxable по широкому кругу накопительных

savings accounts on savings счетов, подлежащих налогообложению,

schemes по схемам накопления

To trigger вызывать

A considerable political backlash существенные политические последствия

To spur побуждать, подстрекать

Exercise 12. Answer the following questions:

1. What is this article about?

2. In what way will the adoption of Euro impact the French banking system?

3. Who controls the interest rates on saving schemes in France?

4. Why is the decision to bring rates in line with the market not favorable for some institutions?

5. What are these institutions?

6. What is the French government to allow banks freely to do?

7. What did the bankers argue about?

8. What is the committee to be established to advise on future rates for the tax-free schemes likely to include?

Exercise 13. Find the Russian equivalents for the following:

1. to determine interest rates

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2. deregulation of the financial services sector

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3. creation of the single European currency

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4. on a number of tax-free savings products

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5. to establish an advisory committee

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6. to distort competition and create a heavy financing burden on the state

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7. to pay significantly above market rates

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8. to deregulate the system

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9. to trigger a considerable political backlash

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10. to have an exclusive right

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11.to package a decision

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12. to include representatives of low-income housing operators

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Exercise 14. Find the synonyms for the words in italics:

1. The French government is to allow banks to determine interest rates

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2. It is also to cut the interest rates on a number of tax-free savings products

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3. To establish an advisory committee

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4. To play an important role in determinating the level of the rates

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5. Bankers argued yesterday that the new European Central Bank would have forced the government to deregulate the system

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6. The decision to bring rates more in line with the market is also a competitive blow to the Post Office,…

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7. However, the government has packaged the decision as a way to reduce the cost of financing low-income housing

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8. Banks will also be free to set the interest rate payable on the Livret Jeune savings scheme

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9. The committee to be established to advise on future rates for the tax-free schemes is …

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Exercise 15. Translate the sentences into English:

1. Введение единой европейской валюты евро привело к необходимости сокращения вмешательства государства в деятельность финансового сектора.

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2. В качестве важного шага в этом направлении французское правительство намерено позволить банкам самим устанавливать процентную ставку по широкому кругу накопительных счетов, подлежащих налогообложению.

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3. До сих пор под прямым контролем со стороны французского правительства находятся процентные ставки по схемам накопления, относящиеся к вкладам, составляющим почти три триллиона французских франков.

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4. В настоящее время накопительные счета по схеме Levret A имеются у 47 млн. жителей Франции, что объясняет особый интерес к повышению процентных ставок со стороны французской общественности.

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5. За последние двенадцать лет процентные ставки сокращались дважды, и каждый раз это действие вызывало существенные политические последствия.

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6. Решение правительства о сближении процентных ставок с существующими ставками на рынке подрывает конкурентоспособность других накопительных схем, которые до последнего времени имели исключительное право на предоставление подобного вида банковских услуг.

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Exercise 16. Read the article below quickly to pick out the main economic indicators. Then study the vocabulary given after it.

Protecting consumers is big part of reforming bank law

For many years overhauling the banking industry has been one of Congress’ favorite pastimes. Just promise to change the nation’s Depression-era banking laws, and a host of competing industries starts flooding campaign coffers with cash in an effort to protect their interests. The trick for lawmakers was to not actually pass anything.

This week announcement of a merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group could bring that game to a halt. The marriage will likely prompt other banks to start courting insurance and securities firms. All of which will put intense pressure on lawmakers to get off the dime and kill the 1933 law that sought to minimize risks to depositors by preventing banks from underwriting securities or insurance products. But breaking down the financial service industry’s firewalls also raises serious risks to consumers.

Rip-off risks. The big promise to consumers from merging banking, securities and insurance firms is one-stop shopping. But will those looking for a mortgage be pressured into buying other services from the lender? Or will banks offer package deals that seem appealing but are far more expensive than if each were bought separately? Some consumer-protection ground rules are needed here.

Uninsured risks. Will bank customers be misled about which products are insured and which aren’t? Bank deposits are FDIC insured – if the bank goes under, taxpayers pony up to cover the deposits. Stock funds and other investment vehicles aren’t. Consumer groups complain that it will be too easy for banks to woo customers to riskier, higher-paying investments, with customers thinking their assets are protected. Clear guidelines are a must.

Taxpayer risks. Taxpayers also face heightened risks. Banks might be tempted to use insured deposits as leverage to make riskier investments, knowing that if the investments turn sour, taxpayers will bail them out. That’s what happened in the S&L bailout of the late 80s. It cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. Firms also might be tempted to loan that money to struggling subsidiaries – again boosting taxpayer risk. Strong safeguards against this “moral hazard” problem have to be in place. It is nevertheless clear that banking laws designed for an economy 65 years ago don’t work as well now. The goal of the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act was to keep banks separate from insurance and securities firms as a way to protect banks. But the law has weakened banks. They’ve lost ground at home and abroad to more flexible foreign financial firms.

Responding to this concern, the Federal Reserve Board over the past decade used its authority as regulator of bank holding companies to chip away slowly at the Glass-Steagall wall, giving banks more leeway to set up securities subsidiaries. The Fed has gone about as far as it can under the law. Congress has to tear down the rest of the wall. As lawmakers remove obstacles to the brave new world of finance, they must take care not to leave the consumer behind.