Tag Archives: Guide to City Jargon

HM Treasury

HM Treasury

This is the UK government department, headed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which is responsible for managing the country’s public revenues.
In recent years it hasn’t had the best of records (despite many ill-informed commentators promoting Gordon Brown as a “prudent” chancellor – HAH!!!) as can clearly be seen by anyone who looks at the [...]

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Free Float

Free Float

This refers to shares in a public company which are freely available for purchase or trade by the general public.
Although a company may be designated a Public Limited Company unless it is listed on a recognised stock exchange its shares may not be in “free float” and even if it is publicly listed the shares [...]

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Open-End Funds

Open-End Funds

One of the most common questions we receive asks for a definition of an open-end fund and a definition of a closed-end fund.
An open-end fund is a collective investment scheme that can issue and redeem shares according to market demand. Therefore unlike a closed-end fund, where the number of shares in issue is fixed at [...]

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Bucket Shop (or Boiler Room)

Bucket Shop (or Boiler Room)

Beware the fraudulent activities of a share “bucket shop”.
 A Bucket Shop (sometimes called a “boiler room”) is a fraudulent brokerage firm that uses aggressive sales techniques, usually by telephone, to sell stock that the brokerage owns and wants to get rid of. The securities they sell are typically poor investment opportunities, and almost always penny [...]

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Additional Voluntary Contributions

Additional Voluntary Contributions

Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) are designed for people who are members of a company pension scheme but who want to increase the contributions they make in order to boost their retirement income.
Average life expectancy is increasing so topping up a company pension with an AVC plan is a good way of helping fund the lifestyle [...]

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FSA Handbook

FSA Handbook

The FSA Handbook sets out all the FSA’s rules made under powers given to the FSA by the Financial Services and Markets Act as well as rules based on this and other Acts. It is legally binding.
The Handbook is updated almost daily and anyone involved in the financial industry is well advised to check the [...]

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Freestanding Additional Voluntary Contributions

Freestanding Additional Voluntary Contributions

Many employers offer a pension scheme to their employees though because of various recent changes in how these have to be accounted for this is becoming less common outside of the “public sector”.
If you are a member of an occupational pension scheme your retirement income will be based on the years of service and amounts [...]

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