Practice English Vocabulary Exercises – Vocabulary for Banking and Finance: International banking and investments

A. Choose the best words to go into the spaces.

1   Because Britain is an island, in British English, a bank account in another country is known as an …………………… account.

        a   off-island       

        b   off-coast       

        c   offshore

2   Transferring money from Britain to another country is called sending money ……………………

        a   overseas       

        b   over-water        

        c   over-waves

3   A country with very low taxes is known as a ……………………

        a   tax heaven       

        b   tax haven       

        c   tax paradise

4   The principal aim of offshore banking in tax havens is to reduce the customer’s tax ……………………

        a   liabilities       

        b   expenses       

        c   costs

5   A person of any nationality who normally lives in the UK is called a UK ……………………

        a   resident       

        b   inhabitant       

        c   citizen

6   A person with a UK passport is called a ……………………, even if they don’t live in the UK.

        a   UK resident       

        b   UK inhabitant       

        c   UK citizen

7   A person who is has a UK passport but doesn’t normally live in the UK is called a ……………………

        a   non-resident       

        b   non-inhabitant       

        c   non-citizen

8   Jim mostly lives in Spain, but for tax …………………… he’s resident in the UK.

        a   purposes       

        b   registration       

        c   payment

9   Jim is ……………………

        a   UK taxed       

        b   UK taxable       

        c   a UK tax-payer

10   Although she lives and works in Germany, Maria’s company is …………………… in Liechtenstein.

        a   registered       

        b   recorded       

        c   officially situated

11   An informal way of saying that Maria lives in Germany is that Maria is …………………… in Germany.

        a   housed       

        b   domiciled       

        c   based

12   A formal way of saying that Maria lives in Germany is that Maria is …………………… in Germany.

        a   housed       

        b   domiciled       

        c   based

13   A …………………… payment is a fast and secure way to make an international payment.

        a   fast-track       

        b   priority       

        c   top priority

14   SWIFT is an international …………………… payment system.

        a   electric       

        b   electrical       

        c   electronic

15   A person who receives an international payment is called the ……………………

        a   getter       

        b   beneficiary       

        c   receiver

B. Fill in the missing words. Then number these stages in order, 1 to 6.

funds          identification          prevailing

sterling          tradable          working days

Making a priority payment from the UK

…   If the payment is in a foreign currency, the bank carries out the currency exchange at the ………………… rate.

…   The payment is sent by SWIFT.

…   Instruct your bank to make the payment. If transferring ………………… to a bank account, quote the beneficiary’s IBAN (International Bank Account Number).

…   The transfer usually takes three or four …………………

…   The payment is credited to the beneficiary’s account, or can be collected by the beneficiary upon production of a suitable means of …………………

…   Decide if you want to send the payment in ………………… or in another ………………… currency.

C. Complete the chart below. Is each sentence true for UK-based unit trusts*, offshore funds, both or neither?

* For a definition of unit trust