National debt: The outstanding borrowings of the government, including overseas borrowing. Most of it consists of government and and government-guaranteed securities.
Obligatory expenditure: Expenditure of the European Union (EU) directly deriving from the founding treaties. The European Parliament, which has the final decision on approval or rejection of the (EU) budget, may propose amendments to obligatory expenditure, but if these are not agreed by the European Council, then its only recourse is to reject the budget as a whole. Main examples of obligatory expenditure are those under the common agricultural policy.
Paper: Vernacular term for any security, most generally applied to those in the money market. Used more specifically for notes issued by companies for trading at a discount, namely commercial paper.
Quota share reinsurance treaty: A proportional treaty under which an insurer places an agreed proportion of any particular class of risks with a reinsurer, ceding to the reinsurer an equivalent proportion of the relevant premiums and receiving in return a refund, in the same proportion, of relevant claims paid.
Rate of interest: The proportion of a sum of money that is paid over a specified period in payment for its loan. It may be a fixed rate of interest or a floating rate.
Savings bank: A bank that accepts interest-bearing deposits of small amounts. The earliest savings banks were established in the private sector, but later they were set up or supported by governments to encourage individual savings.
Strategic alliance: An agreement between two or more partners to share knowledge or resources, which could be beneficial to all parties involved. The term is used to cover a wide range of co-operative arrangements. Furthermore, alliances can range from a simple handshake agreement to mergers, from licensing to equity joint ventures. They can involve a customer, a supplier or even a competitor. There are three generic types of strategic alliance: (1) Joint venture (2) collaboration (non-joint ventures) and (3) consortia.
Target audience: The specific individuals at whom marketing activities (e.g. communications) are aimed. Audiences may be final consumers or the trade, e.g. retailers, wholesalers, brokers, agents, intermediaries and search engines.
Underwrite: 1. To guaranty to buy or find buyers for all or part of the issue of a security. Normally done in return for a fee by a bank or group of banks to ensure sale of any part of an issue not bought by the public to which it is directed. 2. To accept on behalf of an insuring firm or syndicate an insurance an insurance risk.
Source: Penguin Int’l Dictionary of Business & Finance
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