Английский язык. Бочкарева Т.С - 15 стр.

                                                капиталами
     treasure bill                            - казначейский вексель

     Banks provide a wide variety of services to companies, and a company operating
internationally is likely to use several banks around the world to meet its various needs.
Banks keep in touch with these customers by telephone and perhaps with regular
meetings, to maintain the relationship and to market new services.
     Most companies use banks at one time or another to finance their operations. As
with any other type of loan, banks charge interest on corporate loans. Interest rate for
loans in Britain, for example, can be charged in one of three ways:
     - at a margin above the bank's base rate. Each bank decides its own rate, and then
charges the company a rate of interest which is related to this. A big customer with a
very good reputation may be charged the bank's base rate plus 0,5%, for example, while
a smaller company might be charged the base rate plus 3%;
     - at a margin above LIBOR, the margin again depending on the bank's assessment
of the corporate customer;
     - at a fixed rate of interest for the period of the loan.
     The first two ways are variable and are adjusted periodically to reflect movement in
interest rates on the market. They may also be dangerous for the bank when market rates
are erratic.
     A company in a business where income and expenditure are subject to constant
changes needs a variable borrowing facility.
     This is met most simply by an overdraft facility. The company opens an account
with the bank, and an overdraft with a specified limit is granted on the account.
     A standby letter of credit is a commitment under which a bank agrees to provide
funds to a customer where, unlike most other forms of documentary credits, no goods
are involved. The standby letter of credit is a flexible form of lending and can cover a
variety of situations, in which procedures are reduced to a statement of the documents to
be received before payment is made to the third party.
     Many companies make a profit not only from the goods or services which they sell
but also from the money that they have. Cash managers utilize funds at their disposal,
buying and selling shares, treasury bills and so on, to generate profit in the form of
investment income. Rather than move valuable foreign shares and securities around the
world by post, a company will deposit them for safe keeping with a bank in the foreign
country. A company in Sweden which buys shares on the American market, for
example, will use the custodian services of a US bank. Banks naturally charge fees
and/or commissions for custodian services.
     Сomprehention Questions

     1 What do banks provide to companies?
     2 Do companies working internationally use 2 or 3 banks to meet their needs?

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