reserve bank(austrailia)

he Reserve Bank of Australia came into being on 14 January 1960 as Australia'scentral bank and banknote issuing authority, when the Reserve Bank Act 1959 removed the central banking functions from the Commonwealth Bank to it.^[2]

The Bank has the responsibility of providing services to the Government of Australia, which the profits of the Bank are transferred back to, in addition to also providing services to other central banks and official institutions.^[3] It currently consists of the Payments System Board, which governs the payments system policy of the Bank, and the Reserve Bank Board, which governs all other monetary and banking policies of the bank.^[4]

Both Boards consist of members of both the Bank, the Treasury, other Australian government agencies, and leaders of other institutions that are part of theeconomy.^[4][5] The structure of the Reserve Bank Board has remained consistent even since 1951, with the exception of the change in the number of members of the Board.^[2]The Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia is appointed by the Treasurer and chairs both the Payment Systems and Reserve Bank Boards and when there are disagreements between both Boards, the Governor resolves them.^[4][6]

From the middle of the 19th century into the 1890s, the prospects of a national bankforming grew. In 1911, the Commonwealth Bank was established, but did not have the authority to print notes, which was a power that was still reserved to the Treasury. A movement toward reestablishing the gold standard occurred after World War I, with John Garvan leading various boards in contracting the money supply on the route to doing so, and the gold standard was instituted for both the British pound sterling and the Australian pound in 1925.^[7]

During the Great Depression, the Australian pound became devalued, no longer worth the pound sterling, and formally departed from the gold standard with the Commonwealth Bank Act of 1932.^[8] Legislation in 1945 led toregulation of private banks which H.C. Coombs was opposed to, and when he became Governor in 1949, he gave them more overall control over their institutions.^[2][7] When the monetary authorities implemented the advice of Coombs to have a flexible interest rate, it allowed the Bank to rely more on open market operations.^[7]

The float of the Australian dollar happened in 1983, around the same period of time that the financial system in Australia was deregulated. Administration of the banks was transferred in 1998 from the Bank to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and the Payments System Board was created, while the Bank was given power within the said Board in the same year.^[2] The current Governor of the Reserve Bank isGlenn Stevens, who has been the incumbent since 18 September 2006.^[9

banking career

Commercial banks are in the business of providing banking services to individuals, small businesses and large organizations. While the banking sector has been consolidating, it is worth noting that far more people have jobs in the commercial banking sector than any other part of the financial services industry. Jobs in banking can be exciting and offer excellent opportunities to learn about business, interact with people and build up a clientele.

Today's commercial banks are more diverse than ever. You'll find a tremendous range of opportunities in commercial banking, starting at the branch level where you might start out as a teller to a wide variety of other services such as leasing, credit card banking, international finance and trade credit.

If you are well-prepared and enthusiastic about entering the field, you are likely to find a wide variety of commercial banking jobs open to you. Carefully read through the material below as you decide whether you've got what it takes to pursue a career in commercial banking.

merchant bank account

Merchant Account Marketing

Merchant accounts are marketed to merchants by two basic methods: either directly by the processor or sponsoring bank, or by an authorized agent for the bank and additionally directly registered with both Visa and MasterCard as an ISO/MSP (Independent Selling Organization / Member Service Provider). Marketing details are by card issuers like Visa and MasterCard, and are enforced by various rules and fines. A few of the largest processors also partner with warehouse clubs to promote merchant accounts to their business members, such as Costco andElavon.

[edit]Marketing by Banks

A bank that has a merchant processing relationship with Visa and Mastercard, also known as a member bank, can issue merchant accounts directly to merchants. To reduce risk, some banks limit approval to merchants in its geographical area, those with a physical retail storefront, or those that have been in business for 2 years or more.

[edit]Marketing by Independent Sales Organization (ISO)/MSPs

To market merchant accounts, an ISO/MSP must be sponsored by a member bank. This sponsorship requires that the bank verify the financial stability and suitability of the company that will be marketing on its behalf. The ISO/MSP must also pay a fee to be registered with Visa and Mastercard and must comply with regulations in how they may market merchant accounts and the use of copyrights of Visa and Mastercard. One way to verify if an ISO/MSP is in compliance is to check a website or any other marketing material for a disclosure "company is a registered ISO/MSP of bank, town, state. FDIC insured". This disclosure is required by both Visa and Mastercard and will cause a fine of up to $25,000 if it is not clearly visible. In almost all cases, if there is no disclosure, the company is likely to be an uninformed 4th party or worse. In many cases unregistered operators have been responsible for some of the worst horror stories from merchants.

[edit]Rates and fees

A Merchant Account has a variety of fees, some periodic, others charged on a per-item or percentage basis. Some fees are set by themerchant account provider, but the majority of the per-item and percentage fees are passed through the merchant account provider to the credit card issuing bank according to a schedule of rates called interchange fees, which are set by Visa and Mastercard. Interchange fees vary depending on card type and the circumstances of the transaction. For example, if a transaction is made by swiping a card through a credit card terminal it will be in a different category than if it were keyed in manually.

[edit]Discount Rates

The discount rate comprises a number of dues, fees, assessments, network charges and mark-ups merchants are required to pay for accepting credit and debit cards, the largest of which by far is the Interchange fee. Each bank or ISO/MLS has real costs in addition to the wholesale interchange fees, and creates profit by adding a mark-up to all the fees mentioned above. There are a number of price models banks and ISOs/MLSs use to bill merchants for the services rendered. Here are the more popular price models:

[edit]3-Tier Pricing

The 3-Tier Pricing is the most popular pricing method and the simplest system for most merchants, although the new 6-Tier Pricing is gaining in popularity. In 3-Tier Pricing, the merchant account provider groups the transactions into 3 groups (tiers) and assigns a rate to each tier based on a criterion established for each tier.

merchant banking

In banking, a merchant bank is a financial institution primarily engaged in offering financial services and advice to corporations and to wealthy individuals. The term can also be used to describe theprivate equity activities of banking.^[1] The chief distinction between an investment bank and a merchant bank is that a merchant bank invests its own capital in a client company whereas an investment bank purely distributes (and trades) the securities of that company in its capital raising role. Both merchant banks and investment banks provide fee based corporate advisory services including in relation to mergers and

History

Merchant banks, now so called, are in fact the original "banks". These were invented in the Middle Ages by Italian grain merchants. As the Lombardy merchants and bankers grew in stature based on the strength of the Lombard plains cereal crops, many displaced Jews fleeing Spanish persecution were attracted to the trade. They brought with them ancient practices from the middle and far east silk routes. Originally intended for the finance of long trading journeys, these methods were now utilized to finance the production of grain.

The Jews could not hold land in Italy, so they entered the great trading piazzas and halls of Lombardy, alongside the local traders, and set up their benches to trade in crops. They had one great advantage over the locals. Christians were strictly forbidden the sin of usury. The Jewish newcomers, on the other hand, could lend to farmers against crops in the field, a high-risk loan at what would have been considered usurious rates by the Church, but did not bind the Jews. In this way they could secure the grain sale rights against the eventual harvest. They then began to advance against the delivery of grain shipped to distant ports. In both cases they made their profit from the present discount against the future price. This two-handed trade was time consuming and soon there arose a class of merchants, who were trading grain debt instead of grain.

The Jewish trader performed both finance (credit) and an underwriting (insurance) functions. He would derive an income from lending the farmer money to develop and manufacture (through seeding, growing, weeding and harvesting) his annual crop (the crop loan at the beginning of the growing season). He would underwrite (insure) the delivery of the crop (through crop or commodity insurance) to the merchant wholesaler who was the ultimate purchaser of the farmer’s harvest. And he would make arrangements to supply this buyer through alternative sources (the merchant function) of supply (such as grain stores or alternate producer markets), should any particular farming district suffer a seasonal crop failure. He could also keep the farmer (or other commodity producer) in business during a droughtor other crop failure, through the issuance of a crop (or commodity) insurance against the hazard of failure of his crop.

Thus in his underlying financial function the merchant banker (trader) would ensure the continuous smooth flowing of the commodity (crop, wool, salt; salt-cod, etc.) markets by providing both credit and insurance.

It was a short step from financing trade on their own behalf to settling trades for others, and then to holding deposits for settlement of "billete" or notes written by the people who were still brokering the actual grain. And so the merchant's "benches" (bank is a corruption of the Italian for bench, banca, as in a counter) in the great grain markets became centers for holding money against a bill (billette, a note, a letter of formal exchange, later a bill of exchange, later still, a cheque).

These deposited funds were intended to be held for the settlement of grain trades, but often were used for the bench's own trades in the meantime. The term bankrupt is a corruption of the Italian banca rotta, or broken bench, which is what happened when someone lost his traders' deposits. Being "broke" has the same connotation.

A sensible manner of discounting interest to the depositors against what could be earned by employing their money in the trade of the bench soon developed; in short, selling an "interest" to them in a specific trade, thus overcoming the usury objection. Once again this merely developed what was an ancient method of financing long distance transport of goods.

Islam makes similar condemnations of usury as Christianity.

The medieval Italian markets were disrupted by wars and in any case were limited by the fractured nature of the Italian states. And so the next generation of bankers arose from migrant Jewish merchants in the great wheat growing areas of Germany and Poland. Many of these merchants were from the same families who had been part of the development of the banking process in Italy. They also had links with family members who had, centuries before, fled Spain for both Italy and England.

This course of events set the stage for the rise of banking names which still resonate today: Schroders, Warburgs, Rothschilds, even the ill-fated Barings, were all the product of the continental grain trade, and indirectly, the early Iberian persecution of Jews. These and other great merchant banking families dealt in everything from underwriting bonds to originating foreign loans. Bullion trading and bond issuing were some of the specialties of the Rothschild family..

banking lesson plan

urpose and Audience:

The purpose of these materials is to get the students speaking about all of the terms related to their personal finances in English. In particular, students will role-play being either bank clients or bankers. The bank clients will visit the bank and talk to the bankers about various financial products such as credit cards and mortgages. After the bankers explain the financial products, the client will select one product and apply. The bankers will then open up a bank profile and start a credit evaluation.

Having just moved back to Canada from Asia, I have undergone this exact process several times. The credit evaluation and bank profile are in reality not that difficult. For the most part, my bank representative just asked basic questions about income and debt. I think the hardest thing for students will be the amount of technical vocabulary involved. Though there is a lot, it is certainly worth learning for anybody who plans to work in banking, business, government, or finances. It is also very important for individuals moving to English countries as they probably will want to apply for credit cards, open accounts, and take out mortgages. It goes without saying that this lesson is intended for adults.

To smoothen the process of learning all of this technical vocabulary, I’ve created several pre-class vocabulary assignments. I recommend that students be made to finish these before the role-play begins. There will probably not be enough time to go over the sheets and do the role-play in a single class. In fact, the role-play itself could go for a full two hours if you have the time to do it.

banking activities

In previous press releases ABN AMRO has announced that ABN AMRO Bank N.V. ("ABN AMRO") and RBTT Financial Holdings Limited ("RBTT") have signed a sale/purchase agreement regarding the sale of the onshore banking activities of ABN AMRO in Curaçao, and all its banking activities in Bonaire to Antilles Banking Corporation (Curaçao) N.V. ("ABC"), and the banking activities of ABN AMRO in Sint Maarten to Antilles Banking Corporation (Sint Maarten) N.V. ("ABC").

ABN AMRO is pleased to announce that on 5 November 2001 all assets and liabilities pertaining to ABN AMRO's onshore banking activities in Curaçao and all its banking activities in Bonaire, and the banking activities of ABN AMRO in Sint Maarten, have been transferred to ABC.

ABC has changed its name to RBTT Bank Antilles N.V. and RBTT Bank St. Maarten N.V. respectively to identify it as a member of the RBTT Group. The transfer of assets and liabilities includes the transfer of ABN AMRO's entire banking relationship with its clients, which means that their banking relationship with effect from 5 November 2001 is with RBTT Bank Antilles N.V. and RBTT Bank St. Maarten N.V. respectively.

ABN AMRO is grateful for the confidence the clients have given during all these years and trusts that with RBTT the business, the employees and the clients of ABN AMRO are in good hands. ABN AMRO will have a minority stake in RBTT Bank Antilles N.V. for a period up to three years.

ABN AMRO will continue its offshore banking activities in Curaçao, as well as its present activities carried out through ABN AMRO Bank Asset Management N.V. and ABN AMRO Trust Company N.V.

Banking Companies Ordinance

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has proposed major changes to the Banking Companies Ordinance-1962 to bring all deposit taking Non-Bank Financial Companies (NBFCs) like investment banks, leasing companies and housing finance companies completely under the fold of SBP.

The major rationale behind this move is that these NBFCs are engaged in activities which are quite incidental to banking both on the liability as well as asset side.

Bringing such entities under SBP would lead to greater supervisory efficiency as being regulator of banks. Its supervisory approach was well-equipped for their kind of business. The proposed amendments would enable Pakistan to ensure compliance with this principle said Governor, State Bank of Pakistan Dr Shamshad Akhtar while delivering her key-note address on Pakistan : Framework for Consolidated Supervision at the 58th annual general meeting of Institute of Bankers Pakistan (IBP) here on Friday. She indicated that the SBP is positioning itself for moving to consolidated supervision, in anticipation of amendments in Banking Companies Ordinance (BCO)-1962 to empower SBP to launch this initiative. This is a timely move in the wake of potential risks arising from complex structures of financial groups and emergent supervisory challenges.

Dr Akhtar stated the SBP has proposed significant amendments in the Banking Companies Ordinance. The objective of these proposed amendments is to strengthen the oversight of financial sector in accordance with the 10- year strategy and blueprint of financial sector reforms of the SBP. Although Pakistan’s financial sector as a whole has a lot to gain through increased integration and conglomeration, the newly emerging phenomenon has to be properly monitored and governed under proper legal framework to mitigate the potential risks, she added.

The SBP, as part of its overall financial sector reforms launched in July 2008, has been advocating the need for legislature to empower the Central Bank to augment its oversight of the financial sector, she said adding that the legislative reforms proposed by the SBP in this area have recently been approved, in principle, by the Cabinet and will be tabled for consideration of the Parliament.

The SBP governor said the banking sector being at the core of all activities of the financial sector, its safety and soundness is critical for public, financial sector itself and the economy as a whole. However, the current legislation and regulatory tools are not adequate to effectively address the threats to safety and soundness of the financial sector, she observed.

Dr Akhtar said the amendments proposed by the SBP would result into significant benefits in the form of operational efficiency, lower costs, reduced prices and innovation in products and services. She said one of the Core Principles for effective banking supervision (CP-24) issued by Basel Committee on Banking Supervision requires that a banking supervisor should be able to supervise the banking groups on a consolidated basis.

Presently, Pakistan is either compliant or largely compliant with all the core principles except those dealing with consolidated supervision, she said.

Dr Akhtar said another change being sought in BCO is to authorise the SBP to designate and regulate the financial groups. Financial group for this purpose will be any group containing at least one of the entities, directly regulated by the SBP. This is an extremely important step because it will enable the central bank to effectively monitor the intra-group potentially dubious transactions involving banks and NBFCs and also will enable it to curtail the possible contagion risk.

The proposed amendments will also enable the SBP to seek information from the unregulated commercial entities and conduct limited inspection for verification of such information, she added. The SBP governor observed that for entities in a financial group, which are falling under securities regulator’s supervision, current supervisory mechanism also needs to be amended to move towards greater consolidated supervision. She further said that the time is ripe for the introduction of a Financial Holding Company (FHC) concept. For facilitating the FHC model, we are also seeking several amendments in the BCO covering its definition, licensing and supervision (which will be done by SBP), capital requirement and various other aspects, Dr Akhtar said.