1.The European Central Bank handed monetary policy over to the Bundesbank when the euro was born in 1999.
2.Federal Republic of Germany is by far the biggest member of the euro club.
3.Peer Steinbrück proposed that the interest of any gold sales should go to the country's budget.
4.Nowadays, journalists invariably describe the Bundesbank as ''mighty''.
5.Under the existing law the proceeds of any gold sales go to the government.
6.The Bundesbank's staff has been increased by over 20 %, to 12,300.
7.It is a founding principle of the euro area that retail banks be independent of their national central banks.
8.All euro-zone central banks handed monetary policy over to the European Central Bank in 1999.
9.Most national central banks are independent of their governments.
10.There was a battle between the Bundesbank and European Central Bank over the country's gold reserves.
11.The new finance minister suggested that the Bundesbank should keep the capital proceeds of any gold sales.
12.Germany's 3,400 tonnes of gold reserves are worth about €60 billion
($50 billion).
13.The Bundesbankers were glad to learn that their special pay supplement to their basic salaries would be removed.
14.Gold may be sold for different reasons, especially to fill part of the gaping hole in the public finances.
9.Find in the text sentences describing the following:
1.Перемирие, заключенное в ходе противостояния Федерального банка и правительства.
2.Позиция председателя Федерального банка в его спорах с министрами.
3.Численный состав сотрудников Федерального банка.
4.Общая стоимость золотого запаса Федерального банка.
5.Продажа части золотого запаса с целью ''заткнуть зияющую брешь''
в финансировании общественного сектора.
6.Предложение, сделанное новым министром финансов.
7.То, чем Федеральный банк особенно гордится в своем противостоянии с правительством.
8.Угроза сократить зарплату сотрудников Федерального банка.
9.Доходы от продажи золота всегда направляются в правительственный фонд.
10.Divide the text into paragraphs and entitle each of them.
FROM TIME IMMEMORIAL…
MONEY HAS NO SMELL — ДЕНЬГИ НЕ ПАХНУТ
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The proverb money has no smell is ascribed to Vespasian, an emperor of Rome. Suetonius, a Roman historian, writes that the words were used by Vespasian on the following occasion. When the emperor's son Titus reproached his father for having introduced a tax on public lavatories, Vespasian told him to smell the money he was holding in his palm, and to see if the smell was foul. Titus answered it was not, and Vespasian remarked that the money was of the urine for it had been just paid as the tax on the lavatories.
Pronunciation and stress:
Vespasian [ves'peIʒjǝn], emperor ['emprǝ], Suetonius [swI:'tǝunjǝs], Titus ['taItǝs], reproach [rI'prǝuʧ], urine ['juǝrIn], lavatory ['lævǝtrI].
The following sentences make up a story. Translate them into English and retell the story.
1.Выражение деньги не пахнут приписывается римскому императору Веспасиану.
2.Как пишет Светоний, слова эти были сказаны Веспасианом по следующему поводу.
3.Сын Веспасиана Тит упрекнул отца за то, что он ввел налог на общественные туалеты.
4.В ответ Веспасиан поднес к его носу деньги и спросил, пахнут ли они.
5.Услышав отрицательный ответ Тита, Веспасиан сказал ему, что эти деньги только что поступили в казну именно как налог на туалеты.
CHAPTER 2
FRANCE: BATTLE OF THE POCKET-BOOKS
Brussels and Paris. The post office gets a new banking arm. It may get unwelcome competition too.
1. Read the text and translate it. While reading the text try and find answers to these questions:
1.What did the European Court of First Instance annul?
2.Can duopoly distort the French banking market?
3.What is La Poste's minimum deposit?
4.What clients is La Poste primarily interested in?
For a decade France's big banks have been demanding the right to offer the Livret A2, the country's most popular saving plan and the exclusive domain of La Poste, the state-owned post office, and Caisse d’Epargne 3, a mutual savings bank.
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The banks may at last be making progress. Even though on December 21st, 2014 the European Commission is expected to approve, against their wishes, the launch on January 1st, 2015 of a bank owned by La Poste, Neelie Kroes, the competition commissioner, will continue to consider whether the duopoly distorts the French banking market.
Jean-Paul Bailly, boss of La Poste, announced his plans for a bank, called La Banque Postale, in November 2014. Yet BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Crédit
Agricole and Banque Fédérale des Banques Populaires waited until the French banking regulator approved the new venture on November 30th before complaining to the commission. They knew they had little chance of stopping the bank's launch, but thought they might open the Livret A.
The banks say that the 17,000 post offices will join a market that, with 26,000 bank branches, is already full. They also claim that La Poste will not charge its banking arm enough for its infrastructure and that the pensions of the new bank's 1,000 employees will be subsidized by the state. They also say they would charge the government only 0.8% commission for running the Livret A, against La Poste's 1.3% and Caisse d’Epargne's 1.1%.
The Livret A, which dates back to 1818, is a tax-free account held by threequarters of French people and containing almost one-fifth of their savings. Caisse d’Epargne 3 runs 24.5 million accounts, with €67 billion ($80 billion); La Poste has 21.6 million, with €47.5 billion. There is no minimum deposit, the maximum is €15,300. Savers get 2% interest and can pay in or take out money as they wish.
Deposits are channeled to the Caisse de Dépôts et Consignations 4, a state-controlled bank, to finance social housing.
This is not the banks' only such campaign. At the end of the 2000s they began a similar assault on the Livret Bleu, a tax-favoured savings plan distributed only by
Crédit Mutuel €164 million for charging the state excessive handling fees between
2001 and 2008, but in January 2015 the European Court of First Instance annulled the fine. The court found that the commission had done too little to justify its original decision. Instead of appealing, Ms Kroes decided to start a new investigation into the
Livret Bleu.
Combined, La Poste, Caisse d’Epargne and Crédit Mutuel manage more than two-fifths of French savings deposits. There seems to be little reason to bar the banks from distribution of the most popular ways of putting money aside. La Poste says that they are only interested in cherry-picking1 clients with big accounts, not the average
Livret A account, which holds a meager €150. Naturally, La Banque Postale would much prefer to take on the other banks with its privileges intact.
____________________
Notes:
1cherry-picking = choosing only the best
2livret – (фр.) сберегательная книжка
3Caisse d’Épargne – (фр.) сберегательный банк
4Caisse de Dépôts et Consignations – (фр.) банк по вкладам и депонированию
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VOCABULARY FOCUS |
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2. Match the synonyms: |
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3. Match the antonyms: |
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1) |
state |
a) extra |
1) |
headquarters |
a) |
boss |
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2) |
chief |
b) attack |
2) |
little |
b) |
maximum |
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3) |
excessive |
c) withdraw |
3) |
continue |
c) |
close |
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4) |
government |
d) customer |
4) |
open |
d) |
without |
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5) |
put aside |
e) country |
5) |
obsolete |
e) |
much |
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6) |
common |
f) mutual |
6) |
minimum |
f) |
stop |
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7) |
wish |
h) boss |
7) |
employee |
g) |
branch |
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8) |
take out |
h) administration |
8) |
with |
h) |
new |
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9) |
assault |
i) |
similar |
9) |
least |
i) |
stop |
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10) |
alike |
j) |
want |
10) continue |
j) |
most |
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11) |
client |
k) |
save |
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4. Match the words on the right with the suitable attributes on the left and translate the resulting word-combinations:
1) |
competition |
a) client |
2) |
minimum |
b) people |
3) |
bank |
c) housing |
4) |
French |
d) decision |
5) |
original |
e) commission |
6) |
tax-free |
f) account |
7) |
post |
g) post office |
8) |
state-controlled |
h) deposit |
9) |
social |
i) branch |
10) state-owned |
j) bank |
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11) cherry-picking |
l) office |
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5. Match the words on the left with their definitions on the right:
1) |
pension |
a) |
a connected series of operations designed to |
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bring about a particular result |
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2) |
privilege |
b) |
money deposited in a bank account and subject |
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to withdrawal by the depositor |
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3) |
branch |
c) |
a person employed by another person usually |
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for wages or salary and in a position below the |
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executive level |
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4) |
fee |
d) |
a politically organized body of people usually |
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occupying a definite territory; |
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5) |
account |
e) |
a fixed sum paid regularly to a person following |
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his retirement from service or to his surviving |
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dependents |
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6) |
employee |
f) |
a |
right or immunity granted as a peculiar |
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benefit, advantage, or favor |
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7) |
state |
g) |
a sum paid or charged for a service |
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8) |
campaign |
h) |
a |
separate but dependent part of a central |
organization
COMPREHENSION
6.Answer these questions on the text:
1.What was the European Commission expected to approve on December 21st, 2014?
2.What can distort the French banking market?
3.What banks manage more than two-fifths of French savings deposits?
4.What is the country's most popular saving plan?
5.Is La Poste a private or a state-owned post office?
6.What is La Poste's maximum deposit?
7.Who is the boss of La Poste — Neelie Kroes or Jean-Paul Dupont?
8.Is the market, which has 26,000 bank branches, already full?
9.Would the French government be charged for running the Livret A?
10.What year does the Livret A date back to?
11.What began at the end of the 2000s?
12.What did the European Court of First Instance find?
13.Why is La Poste only interested in cherry-picking clients?
7.Complete the sentences using proper words and phrases in the box.
subsidized, cherry-picking, |
retail banks, savings deposits, distort, |
saving plan |
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1.The Livret A is France's most popular _______ .
2.Duopoly may _______ the French banking market.
3.Sberbank manages more than two-fifths of Russian _______ .
4.The pensions of the Central Bank's employees are _______ by the government.
5.Commercial banks are only interested in _______ clients with big accounts.
6._______ are interested even in clients with the average accounts holding
a meager $100.
8. Say whether the following statements are true or false. Comment on the true statements and correct the false ones.
1. The Livret A is held by two-thirds of French people.
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