XI. Read the text and the dialogue following it. Find answers to the questions given below. Reproduce the dialogue with your partner.

 

The structure of a Bank

 

The English commercial banks have branches in all the major towns and a similar structure and mode of working is common to them all. The owners are the shareholders. At the outset they provide the necessary capital. They are all organised on the joint stock principle and are registered pub­lic companies.

The Chairman and Board of Directors are elected by the ordinary shareholders at the Annual General Meeting and are responsible for the efficient management of the bank. The Board is concerned with the overall policy of the bank and the major decisions which put that policy into effect.

The Board will appoint a Managing Director who is directly responsible to them and a member of the Board. They will also appoint the most senior executives who in turn appoint the rest of the clerical staff who will be responsible in differ­ent capacities for the day to day running of the bank.

At the end of each business year the Directors recommend and the Annual General Meeting decides how much of the profit should be distributed to the shareholders as dividend, and how much should be retained in the business. In preparation for the Annual General Meeting, a bank publishes its Report and Accounts. These must be sent to every share­holder and are also available for anyone with an interest in the affairs of the bank. From the published accounts shareholders can easily determine the total profits the bank has earned and how much is available for distribution.

 

The Dialogue

Student:	Who really owns the bank?
Banker:	The stockholders own it. In the beginning, they put up the necessary capital and were granted a charter from the government.
S.:	Are the members of the board of directors stockholders?
B.:	Oh, yes. They're chosen by the other stockholders to operate the bank.
S.:	And the board hires the president and the vice-presidents to manage it?
B.:	That's right. Along with the cashier, the tellers and the clerical workers.
S.:	I guess most of your work has to do with checking and savingsaccounts and making loans.
B.:	Yes. But we invest money too. Planning the bank's investments is also very important.
S.:	Do you divide all the profits among the stockholders?
B.:	Not all of them. The stockholders receive regular dividends. But some of our earnings are held in reserve accounts.
S.:	I suppose that would be necessary.
B.:	Here's a copy of our last published statement. You see, the reserves are shown here as surplus and undivided profits.

1. Who owns the bank?

2. How does a bank start?

3. Who chooses the board?

4. What’s the board’s task?

5. Who hires the employees?

6. How are the profits distributed?

7. How are the stockholders kept informed?

 

XII. Using the information in the text, say what is true and what is false. Correct the false sentences.

 

1. Members of the Board of Directors are shareholders.

2. All the shareholders participate in running the bank.

3. All the bank's profits are divided among the shareholders.

4. All the retained profits of the bank belong to the shareholders.

5. The reserves are shown in the statement as retained.

 

Chose the right answer:

1. The people who decide the general policy of the bank are:

a) shareholders,

b) the board of directors,

c) the executive staff.

2. The bank's financial position can he discovered from:

a) a report,

b) an announcement,

c) a statement.

3. Bank profits kept back for later use are:

a) withdrawals,

b) surplus,

c) retained profits.

4. Earnings remaining after all the expenses of a business activity have been paid are:

a) dividend,

b) capital,

c) profit.

5. Money which one person allows another to use for a specified time and which will then be returned is:

a) investment,

b) loan,

c) interest.

 

XIII. Fill in the blanks with proper words or phrases:

 

1. The board appoints the... and the...

2. An employee in a bank who pays out and receives money is called a …

3. The Board of Directors is elected by the...

4. The Board may distribute... to the shareholders out of the profits once or twice a year.

5. The... may be high even after all the bank's expenses are paid.

6. A bank will need to seek approval for a large... to a customer

7. The Board will discuss the bank's... in other businesses.

 

XIV. Make the presentation of the text given below. Use the answers to the following questions as a guide:

 

Why did the banking industry grow quickly over the period of last 10 years?

What did the Nat West do to meet the increasing demand for its services?

According to what are the bank's clerical jobs graded?

Where does everyone start a job in the bank?

5. Work in which grade ensures more personal contact with the cus­tomer?

Which clerk sees to the customers' regular payments being made on time?

Which is the best known job in banking?

Which clerk deals with customers’ travel requirements?

Which clerk helps customers to manage their financial affairs?

Which clerk safeguards the bank’s interests in lending money?

Which job in the bank offers the best opportunities to exercise one’s own judgement?

 

Job-Career-Profession

 

The banking industry has changed radically over the last 10 years. As part of that industry National Westminster Bank has grown quickly and is still growing. We have more customers than ever before, people who have realised that having a bank account is a greater help in or­ganising their financial affairs. Nat West has built a range of financial services so diverse that we can now offer to our customers assistance across the whole range of money matters — from simple things like cashing cheques and looking after savings to the complexities of insur­ance, taxation and investment.

It takes a lot of people to run one of the biggest and most efficient financial organisations in the world. Our clerical jobs arc graded from 1 to 4 according to the demands and responsibilities of each particular position.

Grade 1. This is the most junior of the clerical jobs. Because we believe in a system of progressive promotion, everyone starts here, no matter what they see as their ultimate role. You will probably begin by preparing customers' statements, sorting cheques and learning to use accounting machines.

Grade 2. Work in this grade gives you more personal contact with the customers. This is particularly so when looking after the enquiry counter, helping the customers to solve any problems they may have with their accounts, answering their questions, outlining the bank's services.

Other grade 2 jobs which you could find yourself doing include con­trolling your Branch's records. Duties cover opening new accounts, transferring existing accounts to and from our many Branches through­out the country and ensuring that information relating to your custom­ers is kept up to date.

Then there is the Standing Order Clerk. Many of our customers ar­range for regular payments to be made from their accounts for such items as mortgage deductions, insurance premiums and subscriptions. It is the Standing Order Clerk who ensures that these payments are made correctly and on time.

Perhaps the best known of all the jobs in banking is that of the cashier and that is usually a grade 2 job. At the counter you will meet many different people, your own customers from other branches and banks as well as people who do not have a bank account. You will be dealing with many thousands of many pounds every day so accuracy is vital.

Grade 3. By the time you reach this stage the work is becoming more complex and each job carries a greater degree of responsibility. Being a foreign clerk, for instance, means that you will be dealing with custom­ers' travel requirements, supplying foreign currencies and travel cheques and assisting with passport applications and travel insurance.

The Safe Custody Clerk helps customers lo manage their financial affairs, acting on their behalf to buy or sell stocks and shares, obtaining advice from stockbrokers, or arranging insurance cover. Also there are valuables and documents, which customers deposit at the branch for safe keeping, to be looked after — which explains the title of the job.

Grade 4. This is the senior of the clerical grades and contains among others the jobs which really involve you for the first time in one of the bank's major activities — lending money. Whether the loan is lo a pri­vate individual, to a small business or to a large industrial company the bank will often require some form of security to be provided by tlie borrowers as to reduce the risk to the bank. Such security can come in many different forms including mortgages over houses or life policies and there are several legal formalities to be completed before the bank's interests are fully safeguarded. Dealing with these formalities is the job of the Security Clerk who naturally works closely with the Branch Manager.

Even more involved with the Manager is the Manager's Clerk who acts as a Personal Assistant providing all the information needed for the day to day control of accounts. As Manager's Clerk you will be given opportunity to exercise your own judgement in a number of matters.

Adapted from National Westminster Bank’s booklet.

 

 

XV. Read and translate the text. Describe the bank’s management hierarchy. Study the chart following the text.