Inglese commerciale

Materie:	Appunti
Categoria:	Inglese
Download:	435
Data:	21.06.2007
Numero di pagine:	9
Formato di file:	.doc (Microsoft Word)

INGLESE
Banking
BANK OF ENGLAND
The Bank of England is the central bank of UK; it was founded in 1964.
Its functions are the following (6):
* it’s the centre of the government and the other bank’s affairs;
* it exercises supervision over the banking system;
* it issues coins and notes in England and Wales;
* it fixes exchange and interest rates;
* it protects the national gold and silver reserves;
* it handles the UK’s debts.
BANKING SERVICES
Banks offer services to personal customers (7):
* they receive money from the general public and deposit it, making it available to them or lend it at interest to people need it;
* they regularly send a statement of account, recording all payments for a given period of time;
* they exchange money from one currency to another;
* they inform customers on the best way of investing money;
* they allow the bank account owner to pay by standing orders (regular payments of a fixed amount drawn from is current account – payments for insurance) and directs debits (money can be taken directly out from a customer’s personal account for payments of many amounts – telephone and gas bills);
* they provide cash cards, switch cards, credit cards and cheque books;
* they lend money trough loans, mortgages and overdrafts (loans made by a bank to current accounts owners).
Banks offer also services to companies (6):
* they arrange for payments for all national and international transactions;
* they can provide exporters with the necessary finance to carry out a large order they may have received from a foreign investor;
* they can give an exporter credit in advance for varying reasons;
* factoring (the exporter sells all his debts to a bank);
* leasing (the bank pays for what the company needs and leases it out;
* they provide advice on investment prospects in international finance markets.
The European Union
EU OBJECTIVES
The European Union (EU) consists in a group of countries in Europe which have decided to join forces for their mutual benefit. His objectives are the following (7):
* the defence of freedom, democracy, human rights and the respect of the law;
* economic and monetary union, with a single currency;
* solidarity between Union’s people;
* economic and social progress;
* common citizenship;
* common foreign and security policy;
* cooperation in justice and home affairs.
The first countries which entered in EU was France, Germany, Italy and Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg).
MEMBER STATES AND CRITERIA FOR ENTRY
1st May 2004 – Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Cyprus entered in the EU.
They met the EU criteria for membership (7):
* guarantee of democracy;
* rule of law, respect of human right and minorities;
* functioning market economy;
* capacity to cope with market forces and competitive pressures within the Union;
* apply EU law;
* reinforce the bureaucratic system;
* tense up security to block illegal immigration.
2007 – Bulgaria and Romania.
ADVANTAGES OF THE ENLARGEMENT
The advantages are the following (6):
* major security of all people of EU;
* better quality of life;
* protection of environment and fight of crime;
* increase of cultural diversity and better understanding of other people;
* modern economies with new technologies that have led to major increase in productivity;
* new business opportunity.
THE MONETARY UNION - ADVANTAGES
1st January 1999 – 11 EU countries (all except the UK, Sweden and Denmark) formed an economic and monetary union (EMU) with a single currency, the Euro.
Its benefit are the following (3):
* countries in the Euro don’t have to change the currencies when doing business with each other;
* exchange rate certainty;
* transparent prices differences.
REASONS WHY BRITAIN SHOUDN’T JOING THE EURO
1. The Euro is a weak and unstable currency that doesn’t compare well with the Dollar and the Yen.
2. Many EMU countries are in debt and don’t really meet the Maastricht Treaty criteria;
3. Uk’s economy would be affected by the economic weakness and this would lead to a rise in unemployment.
4. Britain would ally its economic stability with countries whose economic position in world trade was far less healthy than ours.
5. European Central Bank can’t fight for the British home-owner’s rights because the situation in most other countries is different.
6. The EU hasn’t really achieved political union yet, and for this reason can’t have an economic unity.
Transportation
Transportation is a key element of distribution; the choice of the means of transport depend on (4):
* cost;
* speed and security;
* type of product;
* distance.
ROAD TRANSPORT
Advantages (4):
* it’s cheap and fast over short distances;
* it can deliver door-to-door;
* it hasn’t fix timetables;
* routes can be changed at short notice.
Disadvantages (5):
* it’s slower over long distances;
* the weight of each load is limited;
* delays caused by road traffic, strikes and bad weather;
* risk of accidents;
* it caused a lot of pollution.
RAIL TRANSPORT
Advantages (3):
* it’s faster for long distances (than road transport);
* suitable for bulk goods;
* not subject to bad weather and traffic conditions.
Disadvantages (4):
* it’s slower for short distances (than road transport);
* it can’t deliver door-to-door;
* it has fixed routes;
* strikes and manpower problems can cause delays.
SEA TRANSPORT
Advantages (3):
* suitable for bulk goods;
* much cheaper (than air transport);
* it can cover long distances.
Disadvantages (4):
* slower (than air transport);
* needs to other forms of transport to and from the port of destination;
* risk of accident can have very serious effects on the environment.
AIR TRANSPORT
Advantages (2):
* fast over long distances;
* suitable for urgently-required and perishable good.
Disadvantages (3):
* expensive;
* suffers from delays;
* needs to other forms of transport to and from the airport.
PACKING
Goods to be transported must be carefully packed. For this reason, the seller must consider the following factors (6):
* type of goods;
* weight and size of goods;
* distance;
* type of transport;
* weather;
* customer’s special instructions.
Goods without packing are called goods in bulk. The common types of packing are (7):
* bags and sacks (paper or jute);
* crates (wood or plastic);
* cartons or cardboard boxes (cardboard);
* drums (metal);
* bales (protective material);
* cases (wood or plastic);
* barrels (wood).
CONTAINERS
Containers are large steel boxes, in which goods can be packed and transported as a single item. Wagons, ships and planes are made to the right size to take containers. They are mostly used for durable goods, but they also can be specialised in transportation of certain types of good (perishable goods) and they are so refrigerated or ventilated. Liquid goods can be transported in tank containers.
TRANSPORT DOCUMENTS (4)
* The International Consignment Note – CMR (road transport);
* The Railway Consigment Note (rail transport);
* The Bill of Lading (sea transport);
* The Air Waybill (air transport).
INSURANCE
Insurance protect people and companies against risks, accidents or losses.
The insurance company (insurer or underwriter) and the company or person that require an insurance (insured) sign a contract (insurance policy) specifying the terms of the insurance cover, including the level of financial compensation (indemnity) that will be paid. The company pay a sum of money (premium) which is calculated on the value of the goods. In the event that it suffers a loss, it makes a claim and it will be reimbursed.
The most important types of insurance are the following (8):
* employers’ liability (accidents or illnesses that happen in the place of work);
* health (employees’ hospital treatment);
* public liability (accidents which might happen to the general public, for example, durig a visit to a company);
* buildings and contents ( direct effects of an accident or a disaster – fire or flood);
* motor vehicle (damage to company’s vehicles);
* credit (risk of customers not paying for the goods);
* consequential loss (indirect effects of an accident which causes the company to stop or reduce trading temporarily);
* goods in transit (goods while beign transported).
International trade
International trade is the process of buying and selling good and services between different countries.
The exporter sells to other countries, while the importer buys from other countries.
DIFFICULTIES
The factors that make trading abrosd more riskythan trading at home are the following (4):
* the different languages and cultures;
* the different currencies, which occurred an exchange of rate;
* the different legal systems;
* the political or economic instability.
PROTECTIONISM
Government controls international trade by means of protectionism, which consists of restictions to trade, for the following reasons (5):
* to protect domestic industries;
* to safeguard employement;
* to raise revenues trough tariffs;
* to remove a balance of payment deficit;
* to restrict dumping.
The methods of protectionism are (4):
* tariffs or custums duties (taxes imposed to imported good to encourage customers to prefer domestic products);
* quotas (limit on the quantity on the foreign goods that can be admitted into a country);
* subsidies (money given by the Government to domestic producers);
* embargo (ban to the export or import of a particulat type of goods or on trade with a particular countries).
IMPORT/EXPORT DOCUMENTS (5)
* COMMERCIAL INVOICE;
* CONSULAR INVOICE ;
* DELIVERY NOTE;
* CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN;
* PACKING LIST.
INCOTERMS
Incoterms are 13 standard terms established by the International Chamber of Commerce which define importer and exporter’s responsability during a commercial transaction.
E-TERMS
EXW+exporter’s town (ex works): minimum obligations for the seller. The price includes the price of the goods only, while the other expenses are borne by the buyer. (franco fabbrica)
F-TERMS
FCA+named place for the exporter (free carrier): the seller hands over the goods into the custody of the carrier named by the buyer at the named place. (franco vettore)
FAS+port of shipment (free alongside ship): the seller delivers the goods alonside the ship on the quay. All expenses from the loading of the goods onto the ship are borne by the buyer. (franco sotto bordo)
FOB+port/airport of shipment (free on board): the seller loads the goods on board the ship. The buyer must bear all coasts and clears the goods for export. (franco a bordo)
C-TERMS
CFR+port/airport of destination (cost and freight): the seller pays costs and freight necessary to bring the good to the port of destination. (costo e nolo)
CIF+port/airport of destination (cost, insurance and freight): the seller pays costs, freight and insurancefor to bring the goods to the port of destination. (costo, assicurazione e nolo)
CPT+place of destination (carriage paid to): the seller pays freight for the carriage of the goods to the point of destination. (trasporto pagato fino a)
CIP+place of destination (carriage end insurance paid to): the seller pays the carriage and the insurance of the goods to the point of destination. (trasporto e assicurazione pagati fino a)
D-TERMS
DAF+name of frontier (delivered at frontier): the seller delivers the good at the named place on the frontier. (reso frontiera)
DES+port of destination (delivered ex ship): the seller makes the goods available to the buyer on board the ship at the named port of destination. (reso ex ship)
DEQ+port of destination (ex quay): the seller makes the goods available to the buyer on the quay at the named port of destination. (reso banchina)
DDU+place of destination (delivered duty unpaid): the seller delivers the goods to a named place in the country of destination. (reso non sdoganato)
DDP+place of destination (duty paid): maximum obligation for the seller. He pays for all costs up to final destination. (reso sdoganato)
Methods of payment
CREDIT CARD: it’s a plastic card with people buy goods or services and the account is paid the following month. The purchase has to sign a vouchers instead of paying cash.
SWITCH CARD: it’s a plastic card for use in a cash point machine. It has a personal and secret code that the owner taps into machine to get money from his bank account out.
CHEQUE: it’s an order from a person (drawer) to a bank (drawee) to pay money to someone (payee). The cheque can be cashed or endorsed to another person.
BANK TRANSFER: it’s an irrevocable and unconditional order of payment. The money is taken from the debtor’s bank and transferred to creditor’s bank.
TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE: it’s bought from a bank or a travel agency and can be cashed into the currencies of the countries one is in. it’s need an identity document to cash the cheque. They are insured by bank for steal and loss.
DRAFT (BILL OF EXCHANGE): it’s a document that orders a bank to pay a fixed sum of money a demand or on a certain date specified by the company. It can be (3):
* a sight draft (normally cashed immediately);
* at 30/60/90 days;
* at fixed date specified.
DOCUMENTARY COLLECTION (CASH AGAINST DOCUMENT): the shipping documents are given to the importer only if he pays (documents against payment) or accepts (documents against acceptance) the draft. The shipping document are usually (5):
* invoice;
* transport documents;
* packing list;
* draft;
* insurance policy.
LETTER OF CREDIT
* the importer ask is bank to opena credit in favour of the exporter;
* the issuing bank issues a letter of credit and guarantees payment;
* the issuing bank sends the letter of credit to the exporter’s bank, that informs the exporter;
* the exporter dispatches the goods to the importer and hand all the necessary documentation to the advising bank, which sends them to the issuing bank;
* the issuing bank checks that the document are correctand ensures that the exporter has fulfilled all the conditions in the original agreement;
* the importer receives the draft, returns it to the exporter and collects his goods.
CASH WITH ORDER (CWO): the importer pays for the goods when he places the order.
CASH ON DELIVERY (COD): the importer pays the invoice when the good are delivered to him.
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