Chapter 2: business in fiction text1

BANK ROUTINE

Three First Mercantile American Bank managers - Edwina, Eastin, Tottenhoe -ascended the stairs from the vault to the main banking area. Canvas sacks containing cash were being delivered from an armored truck outside, the money accompanied by two armed guards.

Cash arriving in large volume always came early in the morning, having been transferred earlier still from the Federal Reserve to First Mercantile American's own Central Cash Vault. From there it was distributed to branch banks in the FMA system. Reason for the same-day schedule was simple. Excess cash in vaults earned nothing; there were dangers, too, of loss or robbery.

The trick, for any branch bank manager, was never to run short of cash, but not to hold too much.

A large branch bank like FMA's downtown kept a working cash float of half a million dollars. The money now arriving - another quarter million - was the difference required on an average banking day.

Edwina walked to her desk on the platform. Throughout the bank, activity was increasing. The main front doors were open, early customers streaming in. The platform where, by tradition, the senior officers worked, was raised slightly above the main-floor level and carpeted in crimson. Edwina's desk, the largest and most imposing, was flanked by two flags - behind her and to the right the Stars and Stripes, and on her left the state burgee. Sometimes, seated there, she felt as if she were on TV, ready to make a solemn announcement while cameras dollied in.

As she settled down, her tall, lithe figure slipping familiarly into a high-backed swivel chair, she smoothed her short hair - needlessly, since as usual it was impeccably in place.

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Edwina reached for a group of files containing loan applications for amounts higher than other officers in the branch had authority to approve.

Her own authorization to lend money extended to a million dollars in any single instance, providing two other officers in the branch concurred. They invariably did. Amounts in excess were referred to the bank's credit policy unit over in Headquarters.

In First Mercantile American, as in any banking system, an acknowledged status symbol was the size of a loan which a bank official had power to sanction. It also determined his - or her - position on the organization totem pole and was spoken of as "the quality of initial", because an individual's initial put final approval on any loan proposal.

As a manager, the quality of Edwina's initial was unusually high, though it reflected her responsibility in running FMA's important downtown branch. A manager of a lesser branch might approve loans from ten thousand to half a million dollars, depending on a manager's ability and seniority. It always amused Edwina that quality of initial supported a caste system with attendant perks and privileges. In the Headquarters credit policy unit, an assistant loan inspector, whose authority was limited to a mere fifty thousand dollars, worked at an unimpressive desk alongside others in a large open office. Next in the pecking order, a loan inspector whose initial was good for a quarter million dollars rated a larger desk in a glass-paneled cubicle.

An honest-to-goodness office with door and window was the prerequisite of an assistant loan supervisor whose quality of initial extended higher, to half million dollars. He also rated a capacious desk, an oil painting on the wall and printed memo pads with his name, a free daily copy of The Wall Street Journal and a complimentary shoeshine every morning. He shared a secretary with another assistant supervisor.

Finally, a loan officer-vice-president whose initial was good for a million dollars, worked in a corner office with two windows, two oil paintings, and a secretary of his own. His name mernos were engraved. He, too, had a free

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shoeshine and newspaper, plus magazines and journals, the use of a company car when required for business, and access to the senior officers' dining room for lunch.

Edwina qualified for almost all the quality-of-initial perks. She had never used the shoeshine.

Exercise 1. Answer the following questions based on the content of the text:

1. Why didn't branch banks keep an excess amount of cash in vaults?

2. What was a quarter million arriving that day at FMA's downtown branchfor?

3. When did cash arriving in large volume always come?

4. What was the reason for the same-day schedule?

5. Why was Edwina's desk different from the others?

6. Who had to approve Edwina's authorization?

7. What is "the quality of initial"?

8. How does it influence perks and privileges of a bank manager?

9. Where did a loan officer-vice-president work?

10.Why, in your opinion, didn't Edwina use a free shoeshine? Exercise 2. Put questions to which the following data are the answers:

1. Two armed guards.

2. Two flags.

3. Fifty thousand dollars.

4. Half million dollars.

5. Two oil paintings.

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Exercise 3. Find Russian (Ukrainian) equivalents to the following business words

and word-combinations:

vault

branch banks

working cash

loan application

credit policy unit

quality of initial

perks and privileges

loan inspector

open office

assistant loan supervisor

loan officer-vice-president

memo pad

quality-of-initial perks

Exercise 4. Translate the following sentences into your native (Russian or

Ukrainian) language:

1. Vaults are usually strongly protected against robbery.

2. The bank has branches throughout the country.

3. Don't hesitate and apply to a bank for a loan.

4. Her quality of initial was not high enough to approve this loan.

5. Perks and privileges in this job do not make up for its heavy responsibility.

6. Psychologists have recently agreed that open offices can create stress atwork.

7. Go to the stationery's and buy memo pads for all the participants of themeeting.