Banking Terms----->6

Banking Terms

Margin Call: A notice to a client that it must provide money to satisfy a minimum margin requirement set by an Exchange or by a bank / broking firm.

Market Capitalization: The product of the number of the company’s outstanding ordinary shares and the market price of each share.

Market Maker: A dealer who maintains an inventory in one or more stocks and undertakes to make continuous two-sided quotes.

Market Order: An order to buy or an order to sell securities which is to be executed at the prevailing market price.

Money Market: Market in which short-term securities are bought and sold.

Marginal Standing Facility Rate: MSF scheme has become effective from 09th May, 2011 launched by the RBI. Under this scheme, Banks will be able to borrow upto 1% of their respective Net Demand and Time Liabilities.  The rate of interest on the amount accessed from this facility will be 100 basis points (i.e. 1%) above the repo rate. This scheme is likely to reduce volatility in the overnight rates and improve monetary transmission.

Mandate: Written authority issued by a customer to another person to act on his behalf, to sign cheques or to operate a bank account.

Material Alteration: Alteration in an instrument so as to alter the character of an instrument for example when date, amount, name of the payee are altered or making a cheque payable to bearer from an order one or opening the crossing on a cheque.

Merchant Banking : When a bank provides to a customer various types of financial services like accepting bills arising out of trade, arranging and providing underwriting, new issues, providing advice, information or assistance on starting new business, acquisitions, mergers and foreign exchange.

Micro Finance: Micro Finance aims at alleviation of poverty and empowerment of weaker sections in India. In micro finance, very small amounts are given as credit to poor in rural, semi-urban and urban areas to enable them to raise their income levels and improve living standards.

Minor Accounts: A minor is a person who has not attained legal age of 18 years. As per Contract Act a minor cannot enter into a contract but as per Negotiable Instrument Act, a minor can draw, negotiate, endorse, receive payment on a Negotiable Instrument so as to bind all the persons, except himself. In order to boost their deposits many banks open minor accounts with some restrictions.

Mobile Banking : With the help of M-Banking or mobile banking customer can check his bank balance, order a demand draft, stop payment of a cheque, request for a cheque book and have information about latest interest rates.

Money Laundering: When a customer uses banking channels to cover up his suspicious and unlawful financial activities, it is called money laundering.

Money Market: Money market is not an organized market like Bombay Stock Exchange but is an informal network of banks, financial institutions who deal in money market instruments of short term like CP, CD and Treasury bills of Government.

Moratorium: R.B.I. imposes moratorium on operations of a bank; if the affairs of the bank are not conducted as per banking norms. After moratorium R.B.I. and Government explore the options of safeguarding the interests of depositors by way of change in management, amalgamation or take over or by other means.

Mortgage: Transfer of an interest in specific immovable property for the purpose of offering a security for taking a loan or advance from another. It may be existing or future debt or performance of an agreement which may create monetary obligation for the transferor (mortgagor).

Mutual Fund: A company that invests in and professionally manages a diversified portfolio of securities and sells shares of the portfolio to investors.

NABARD: National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development was setup in 1982 under the Act of 1981. NABARD finances and regulates rural financing and also is responsible for development agriculture and rural industries.

Negotiation: In the context of banking, negotiation means an act of transferring or assigning a money instrument from one person to another person in the course of business.

Net Asset Value: The underlying value of a share of stock in a particular mutual fund; also used with preferred stock.

Non-Fund Based Limits: Non-Fund Based Limits are those type of limits where banker does not part with the funds but may have to part with funds in case of default by the borrowers, like guarantees, letter of credit and acceptance facility.

Non-Resident: A person who is not a resident of India is a non-resident.

Non-Resident Accounts: Accounts of non-resident Indian citizens opened and maintained as per R.B.I. Rules.

Notary Public: A Lawyer who is authorized by Government to certify copies of documents .

NPA Account: If interest and instalments and other bank dues are not paid in any loan account within a specified time limit, it is being treated as non-performing assets of a bank.

Off Balance Sheet Items: Those items which affect the financial position of a business concern, but do not appear in the Balance Sheet E,g guarantees, letters of credit . The mention "off Balance Sheet items" is often found in Auditors Reports or Directors Reports.

Offer for Sale: An offer to the public by, or on behalf of, the holders of securities already in issue.

Offer for Subscription: The offer of new securities to the public by the issuer or by someone on behalf of the issuer.

Online Banking: Banking through internet site of the bank which is made interactive.

Open-end (Mutual) Fund: There is no limit to the number of shares the fund can issue. The fund issues new shares of stock and fills the purchase order with those new shares. Investors buy their shares from, and sell them back to, the mutual fund itself. The share prices are determined by their net asset value.

Open Offer: An offer to current holders of securities to subscribe for securities whether or not in proportion to their existing holdings.

Option: A security that gives the holder the right to buy or sell a certain amount of an underlying financial asset at a specified price for a specified period of time.

Oversubscribed: When an Initial Public Offering has more applications than actual shares available. Investors will often apply for more shares than required in anticipation of only receiving a fraction of the requested number. Investors and underwriters will often look to see if an IPO is oversubscribed as an indication of the public’s perception of the business potential of the IPO company.

Pass Book: A record of all debit and credit entries in a customer's account. Generally all banks issue pass books to Savings Bank/Current Account Holders.

Par Bond: A bond selling at par (i.e. at its face value).

Par Value: The face value of a security.

Perpetual Bonds: Bonds which have no maturity date.

Placing: Obtaining subscriptions for, or the sale of, primary market, where the new securities of issuing companies are initially sold.

Personal Identification Number (PIN): Personal Identification Number is a number which an ATM card holder has to key in before he is authorized to do any banking transaction in a ATM .

Plastic Money: Credit Cards, Debit Cards, ATM Cards and International Cards are considered plastic money as like money they can enable us to get goods and services.

Pledge: A bailment of goods as security for payment of a debt or performance of a promise, e.g pledge of stock by a borrower to a banker for a credit limit. Pledge can be made in movable goods only.

Post-Dated Cheque:  A Cheque which bears the date which is subsequent to the date when it is drawn. For example, a cheque drawn on 8th of February, 2007 bears the date of 12th February, 2007.

Power of Attorney: It is a document executed by one person - Donor or Principal, in favour of another person, Donee or Agent - to act on behalf of the former, strictly as per authority given in the document.

Portfolio: A collection of investment vehicles assembled to meet one or more investment goals.

Preference Shares: A corporate security that pays a fixed dividend each period. It is senior to ordinary shares but junior to bonds in its claims on corporate income and assets in case of bankruptcy.

Premium (Warrants): The difference of the market price of a warrant over its intrinsic value.

Premium Bond: Bond selling above par.

Present Value: The amount to which a future deposit will discount back to present when it is depreciated in an account paying compound interest.

Present Value of an Annuity: The amount to which a stream of equal cash flows that occur in equal intervals will discount back to present when it is depreciated in an account paying compound interest.

Price/Earnings Ratio (P/E): The measure to determine how the market is pricing the company’s common stock. The price/earnings (P/E) ratio relates the company’s earnings per share (EPS) to the market price of its stock.

Privatization: The sale of government-owned equity in nationalized industry or other commercial enterprises to private investors.

Prospectus: A detailed report published by the Initial Public Offering company, which includes all terms and conditions, application procedures, IPO prices etc, for the IPO

Put Option: The right to sell the underlying securities at a specified exercise price on of before a specified expiration date.

Premature Withdrawals: Term deposits like Fixed Deposits, Call Deposits, Short Deposits and Recurring Deposits have to mature on a particular day. When these deposits are sought to be withdrawn before maturity , it is premature withdrawal.

Prime Lending Rate (PLR): The rate at which banks lend to their best (prime) customers.

Priority Sector Advances : consist of loans and advances to Agriculture, Small Scale Industry, Small Road and Water Transport Operators, Retail Trade, Small Business with limits on investment in equipments, professional and self employed persons, state sponsored organisations for lending to SC/ST, Educational Loans, Housing Finance up to certain limits, self-help groups and consumption loans.

Promissory Note: Promissory Note is a promise / undertaking given by one person in writing to another person, to pay to that person , a certain sum of money on demand or on a future day.

Provisioning:  Provisioning is made for the likely loss in the profit and loss account while finalizing accounts of banks. All banks are supposed to make assets classification and make appropriate provisions for likely losses in their balance sheets.

Public Sector Bank: A bank fully or partly owned by the Government.

Rate of Return: A percentage showing the amount of investment gain or loss against the initial investment.

Real Interest Rate: The net interest rate over the inflation rate. The growth rate of purchasing power derived from an investment.

Redemption Value: The value of a bond when redeemed.

Reinvestment Value: The rate at which an investor assumes interest payments made on a bond which can be reinvested over the life of that security.

Relative Strength Index (RSI): A stock’s price that changes over a period of time relative to that of a market index such as the Standard & Poor’s 500, usually measured on a scale from 1 to 100, 1 being the worst and 100 being the best.

Repurchase Agreement: An arrangement in which a security is sold and later bought back at an agreed price and time.

Resistance Level: A price at which sellers consistently outnumber buyers, preventing further price rises.

Return: Amount of investment gain or loss.

Rescheduling of Payment:  Rearranging the repayment of a debt over a longer period than originally agreed upon due to financial difficulties of the borrower.

Restrictive Endorsement: Where endorser desires that instrument is to be paid to particular person only, he restricts further negotiation or transfer by such words as "Pay to Ashok only". Now Ashok cannot negotiate the instrument further.

Right of Appropriation: As per Section 59 of the Indian Contract Act, 1972 while making the payment, a debtor has the right to direct his creditor to appropriate such amount against discharge of some particular debt. If the debtor does not do so, the banker can appropriate the payment to any debt of his customer.

Right of Set-Off : When a banker combines two accounts in the name of the same customer and adjusts the debit balance in one account with the credit balance in other account, it is called right of set-off. For example, debit balance of Rs.50,000/- in overdraft account can be set off against credit balance of Rs.75,000/- in the Savings Bank Account of the same customer, leaving a balance of Rs.25,000/- credit in the savings account.

Rights Issue: An offer by way of rights to current holders of securities that allows them to subscribe for securities in proportion to their existing holdings.

Risk-Averse, Risk-Neutral, Risk-Taking:

Risk-averse describes an investor who requires greater return in exchange for greater risk.

Risk-neutral describes an investor who does not require greater return in exchange for greater risk.

Risk-taking describes an investor who will accept a lower return in exchange for greater risk.

Safe Custody: When articles of value like jewellery, boxes, shares, debentures, Government bonds, Wills or other documents or articles are given to a bank for safe keeping in its safe vault, it is called safe custody.. Bank charges a fee from its clients for such safe custody.

Savings Bank Account: All banks in India are having the facility of opening savings bank account with a nominal balance. This account is used for personal purposes and not for business purpose and there are certain restrictions on withdrawals from this type of account. Account holder gets nominal interest in this account.

Senior Bond: A bond that has priority over other bonds in claiming assets and dividends.

Settlement: Conclusion of a securities transaction when a customer pays a broker/dealer for securities purchased or delivered, securities sold, and receive from the broker the proceeds of a sale.

Short Hedge: A transaction that protects the value of an asset held by taking a short position in a futures contract.

Short Position: Investors sell securities in the hope that they will decrease in value and can be bought at a later date for profit.

Short Selling: The sale of borrowed securities, their eventual repurchase by the short seller at a lower price and their return to the lender.

Speculation: The process of buying investment vehicles in which the future value and level of expected earnings are highly uncertain.

Stock Splits: Wholesale changes in the number of shares. For example, a two for one split doubles the number of shares but does not change the share capital.

Subordinated Bond:  An issue that ranks after secured debt, debenture, and other bonds, and after some general creditors in its claim on assets and earnings. Owners of this kind of bond stand last in line among creditors, but before equity holders, when an issuer fails financially.

Substantial Shareholder: A person acquires an interest in relevant share capital equal to, or exceeding, 10% of the share capital.

Support Level: A price at which buyers consistently outnumber sellers, preventing further price falls.

Teller : Teller is a staff member of a bank who accepts deposits, cashes cheques and performs other banking services for the public.

Technical Analysis: A method of evaluating securities by relying on the assumption that market data, such as charts of price, volume, and open interest, can help predict future (usually short-term) market trends. Contrasted with fundamental analysis which involves the study of financial accounts and other information about the company. (It is an attempt to predict movements in security prices from their trading volume history.)

Time Horizon: The duration of time an investment is intended for.

Trading Rules: Stipulation of parameters for opening and intra-day quotations, permissible spreads according to the prices of securities available for trading and board lot sizes for each security.

Trust Deed: A formal document that creates a trust. It states the purpose and terms of the name of the trustees and beneficiaries.

Underwriting : is an agreement by the underwriter to buy on a fixed date and at a fixed rate, the unsubscribed portion of shares or debentures or other issues. Underwriter gets commission for this agreement.

Underlying Security:  The security subject to being purchased or sold upon exercise of the option contract.

Universal Banking : When Banks and Financial Institutions are allowed to undertake all types of activities related to banking like acceptance of deposits, granting of advances, investment, issue of credit cards, project finance, venture capital finance, foreign exchange business, insurance etc. it is called Universal Banking.