Month: August 2020

The Fourth World is a term used to describe the most underdeveloped, poverty-stricken, and marginalized regions of the world.

The back office is the portion of a company made up of administration and support personnel who are not client-facing. Back-office functions include settlements, clearances, record maintenance, regulatory compliance, accounting, and IT services. For example, a financial services firm is segmented into three parts: the front office (e.g., sales, marketing, and customer support), the middle office (risk management), and the back office (administrative and support services).

A quota is a government-imposed trade restriction that limits the number or monetary value of goods that a country can import or export during a particular period. Countries use quotas in international trade to help regulate the volume of trade between them and other countries. Countries sometimes impose them on specific products to reduce imports and increase domestic production. In theory, quotas boost domestic production by restricting foreign competition.

Equity accounting, or what is sometimes called the equity method, is an accounting process for recording investments in associated companies or entities. Generally, the equity accounting method is applied when an investor or holding entity owns 20–50% of the voting stock of an associate company.

A sweep account is a bank or brokerage account that automatically transfers amounts that exceed, or fall short of, a certain level into a higher interest-earning investment option at the close of each business day. Commonly, the excess cash is swept into a money market fund.

A value chain is a business model that describes the full range of activities needed to create a product or service. For companies that produce goods, a value chain comprises the steps that involve bringing a product from conception to distribution, and everything in between—such as procuring raw materials, manufacturing functions, and marketing activities.

Bridge financing, often in the form of a bridge loan, is an interim financing option used by companies and other entities to solidify their short-term position until a long-term financing option can be arranged. Bridge financing normally comes from an investment bank or venture capital firm in the form of a loan or equity investment.

Quick liquidity ratio is the total amount of a company’s quick assets divided by the sum of its net liabilities and its reinsurance liabilities. Quick assets are liquid assets such as cash, short-term investments, equities, and corporate and government bonds nearing maturity. The quick liquidity ratio shows the amount of liquid assets an insurance company can tap into on short notice.

Non-recourse debt is a type of loan secured by collateral, which is usually property. If the borrower defaults, the issuer can seize the collateral but cannot seek out the borrower for any further compensation, even if the collateral does not cover the full value of the defaulted amount. This is one instance where the borrower does not have personal liability for the loan.

The sell-side refers to the part of the financial industry that is involved in the creation, promotion, and sale of stocks, bonds, foreign exchange, and other financial instruments. Sell-side individuals and firms work to create and service products that are made available to the buy-side of the financial industry. The sell-side of Wall Street includes investment bankers, who serve as intermediaries between issuers of securities and the investing public, and the market makers who provide liquidity in the market. read more