ENGLISH - BANKS

ENGLISH - BANKS

There are a lot of banks in our tows and villages and even the internet offers you the opportunity to do on line banking as you can pay for goods and services with a little smart card.

Speaking about the UK, one has to go back in time, three hundred years ago, to find the beginning of the banking system. The banks were subject to the provisions of the various Acts of the Parliament. The Bank of England was established in 1694 and it was nationalized in 1946 due to the Bank of England Act and got legal powers to enforce its directives. After the second world war, many companies set themselves all over the country, called themselves banks, had  freedom to develop themselves but some restrictions were also imposed. The financial markets developed very quickly. London became an important banking town and started to attract international banks.

In 1987, the Banking Act was passed; it peplaced another Banking Act, that of 1979, which, at its turn, answered to the 1973-1974 banking crisis. This crisis was caused by the fringe banks which got into difficult situations because of their short term borrowing and long term lending. These banks were not subject to rigorous supervision, they operated speculatively with the funds owned by their customers.

The Banking Act abolished a two-tier system of the recognized banks; it licensed deposit-takers. Its purpose is the introduction of a prudential supervision. But it does not regulate the day to day banking operations. All the institutions that are banks are under the control of the Banking Act; there are other institutions that have the right to take deposits and they are subjects to the Acts of Parliament which are relevant to their operations.

Banks and insurance companies are allowed to own stock exchange subsidiaries. A new electronic system has been introduced bringing the old fashioned banking system up to date. In fact the banks act as intermediaries between borrowers and lenders. This is done in different ways.

Text Comprehension

1. Answer the following questions

When was the Bank of England founded?

What acts control the banks?

What happened in 1946?

What happened after the Second World War?

When was an important bank crisis and what happened?

What did the Banking Act abolish and license?

Does it regulate the every day operations?

Who control the banks

What o the acts of   Parliament do?

What are the banks?

2.Banking vocabulary

Asset (orice posesiune, tangibila sau intangibila, care are valoare pentru posesorul sau) 

Bank (banca; institutie comerciala autorizata sa atraga depozite)

Borrower( persoana care face un imprumut )

Deposit (suma de bani, platita in avans de catre un comparator, ca parte a pretului de vanzare a unui produs, in scopul rezervarii acelui bun; suma de bani depozitata intr-o banca)

Financial adviser (orice persoana care ofera consiliere pe plan financiar altei personae, in special in privinta investitiilor )

Interest(dobanda perceputa la imprumutarea unei sume de bani)

Intermediation(activitatea unei banci care actioneaza ca intermediary intre doua parti ale unei tranzactii)

Liabilities(datorie; obligatie)

Loan(imprumut, credit)

Payer(persoana sau organizatie care face o plata)

3. Topics for speaking and writing

Write a short composition about the bank you are working with

Build up a conversation about a bank; you are a bank clerk and try to convince somebody to become the bank customer