|
Thin Capitalisation
A company is said to be thinly capitalised when the level of its debt is much greater than its equity capital, i.e. its gearing, or leverage, is very high. An entity's debt-to-equity funding is sometimes expressed as a ratio. For example, a gearing ratio of 1.5:1 means that for every $1 of equity the entity has $1.5 of debt. A high gearing ratio can create problems for: * creditors, which bear the solvency risk of the company, and * revenue authorities, which are concerned about excessive interest claims. Credit risk If the shareholders have introduced only a nominal amount of paid-up share capital, then the company has lower financial reserves with which to meet its obligations. If all or most of the company's capital comes from debt, which (unlike equity) needs to be serviced, and ultimately repaid, it means that the providers of capital are ultimately competing with the company's trade creditors for the same capital resources. In general, most common law countries tend not to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Company (law)
A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether natural, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared goals. Over time, companies have evolved to have the following features: "separate legal personality, limited liability, transferable shares, investor ownership, and a managerial hierarchy". The company, as an entity, was created by the state which granted the privilege of incorporation. Companies take various forms, such as: * voluntary associations, which may include nonprofit organizations * business entities, whose aim is to generate sales, revenue, and profit * financial entities and banks * programs or educational institutions A company can be created as a legal person so that the company itself has limited liability as members perform or fail to discharge their duties according to the publicly declared incorporat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Equity Capital
In finance, equity is an ownership interest in property that may be subject to debts or other liabilities. Equity is measured for accounting purposes by subtracting liabilities from the value of the assets owned. For example, if someone owns a car worth $24,000 and owes $10,000 on the loan used to buy the car, the difference of $14,000 is equity. Equity can apply to a single asset, such as a car or house, or to an entire business. A business that needs to start up or expand its operations can sell its equity in order to raise cash that does not have to be repaid on a set schedule. When liabilities attached to an asset exceed its value, the difference is called a deficit and the asset is informally said to be "underwater" or "upside-down". In government finance or other non-profit settings, equity is known as "net position" or "net assets". Origins The term "equity" describes this type of ownership in English because it was regulated through the system of equity law that develo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gearing (finance)
In finance, leverage, also known as gearing, is any technique involving borrowing funds to buy an investment. Financial leverage is named after a lever in physics, which amplifies a small input force into a greater output force. Financial leverage uses borrowed money to augment the available capital, thus increasing the funds available for (perhaps risky) investment. If successful this may generate large amounts of profit. However, if unsuccessful, there is a risk of not being able to pay back the borrowed money. Normally, a lender will set a limit on how much risk it is prepared to take, and will set a limit on how much leverage it will permit. It would often require the acquired asset to be provided as collateral security for the loan. Leverage can arise in a number of situations. Securities like options and futures are effectively leveraged bets between parties where the principal is implicitly borrowed and lent at interest rates of very short treasury bills.Mock, E. J., R. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Share Capital
A corporation's share capital, commonly referred to as capital stock in the United States, is the portion of a corporation's equity that has been derived by the issue of shares in the corporation to a shareholder, usually for cash. ''Share capital'' may also denote the number and types of shares that compose a corporation's share structure. Definition In accounting, the share capital of a corporation is the nominal value of issued shares (that is, the sum of their par values, sometimes indicated on share certificates). If the allocation price of shares is greater than the par value, as in a rights issue, the shares are said to be sold at a premium (variously called share premium, additional paid-in capital or paid-in capital in excess of par). This equation shows the constituents that make up a company's real share capital: : \sum\text \times \text This is differentiated from share capital in the accounting sense, as it presents nominal share capital and does not take t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capital Requirement
A capital requirement (also known as regulatory capital, capital adequacy or capital base) is the amount of capital a bank or other financial institution has to have as required by its financial regulator. This is usually expressed as a capital adequacy ratio of equity as a percentage of risk-weighted assets. These requirements are put into place to ensure that these institutions do not take on excess leverage and risk becoming insolvent. Capital requirements govern the ratio of equity to debt, recorded on the liabilities and equity side of a firm's balance sheet. They should not be confused with reserve requirements, which govern the assets side of a bank's balance sheet—in particular, the proportion of its assets it must hold in cash or highly-liquid assets. Capital is a source of funds, not a use of funds. From the 1880s to the end of the First World War, the capital-to-assets ratios globally declined sharply, before remaining relatively steady during the 20th century. Reg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. As banks play an important role in financial stability and the economy of a country, most jurisdictions exercise a high degree of Bank regulation, regulation over banks. Most countries have institutionalized a system known as fractional-reserve banking, under which banks hold liquid assets equal to only a portion of their current liabilities. In addition to other regulations intended to ensure accounting liquidity, liquidity, banks are generally subject to minimum capital requirements based on an international set of capital standards, the Basel Accords. Banking in its modern sense evolved in the fourteenth century in the prosperous cities of Renaissance Italy but, in many ways, functioned as a continuation of ideas and concepts o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insurance Company
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect against the risk of a contingent or uncertain loss. An entity which provides insurance is known as an insurer, insurance company, insurance carrier, or underwriter. A person or entity who buys insurance is known as a policyholder, while a person or entity covered under the policy is called an insured. The insurance transaction involves the policyholder assuming a guaranteed, known, and relatively small loss in the form of a payment to the insurer (a premium) in exchange for the insurer's promise to compensate the insured in the event of a covered loss. The loss may or may not be financial, but it must be reducible to financial terms. Furthermore, it usually involves something in which the insured has an insurable interest established by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liquidation
Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a Company (law), company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as :wikt:wind up#Noun, wound-up or dissolved, although Dissolution (law), dissolution technically refers to the last stage of liquidation. The process of liquidation also arises when customs, an authority or Government agency, agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding Duty (economics), customs duties, determines the final computation or ascertainment of the duties or drawback accruing on an entry. Liquidation may either be compulsory (sometimes referred to as a ''creditors' liquidation'' or ''receivership'' following bankruptcy, which may result in the court creating a "liquidation trust"; or sometimes a court can mandate the appointment of a liquidator e.g. ''wind-up order'' in Australia) or voluntary (sometimes referred to as a ''sharehold ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Domino Effect
A domino effect is the cumulative effect produced when one event sets off a series of similar or related events, a form of chain reaction. The term is an analogy to a falling row of dominoes. It typically refers to a linked sequence of events where the time between successive events is relatively short. The term can be used literally (about a series of actual collisions) or metaphorically (about causal linkages within systems such as global finance or politics). The literal, mechanical domino effect is exploited in Rube Goldberg machines. In chemistry, the principle applies to a domino reaction, in which one chemical reaction sets up the conditions necessary for a subsequent one that soon follows. In the realm of process safety, a domino-effect accident is an initial undesirable event triggering additional ones in related equipment or facilities, leading to a total incident effect more severe than the primary accident alone. The metaphorical usage implies that an outcome ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Financial Sponsor
A financial sponsor is a private equity investment firm, particularly a private equity firm that engages in leveraged buyout transactions. Sponsors and management In addition to bringing capital to a deal, financial sponsors are expected to bring a combination of capital markets expertise, various important contacts, strategies for operational improvement, and the experience of owning leveraged companies. As the owners of the company, financial sponsors rarely manage a company directly and are most active in issues relating to the company's capital structure and balance sheet as well as strategic initiatives including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and management restructurings. The company's CEO and other senior management maintain responsibility for day-to-day operational issues. Sponsors and other investors Various investor classes look to the financial sponsor to generate value in a company as much as the management or operations of the company. In particular, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leveraged Buyout
A leveraged buyout (LBO) is the acquisition of a company using a significant proportion of borrowed money (Leverage (finance), leverage) to fund the acquisition with the remainder of the purchase price funded with private equity. The assets of the acquired company are often used as collateral for the financing, along with any equity contributed by the acquiror. While corporate acquisitions often employ leverage to finance the purchase of the target, the term "leveraged buyout" is typically only employed when the acquiror is a financial sponsor (a private equity investment firm). The use of debt, which normally has a lower cost of capital than Equity (finance), equity, serves to reduce the overall cost of financing for the acquisition and enhance returns for the private equity investor. The equity investor can increase their projected returns by employing more leverage, creating incentives to maximize the proportion of debt relative to equity (i.e., debt-to-equity ratio). Whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
