UBS Dictionary of Banking

Ra

raider / Raider / raider / raider
Synonym for black knight.

rally / Rally / rally / rally
Also: price rally. Fast, strong uptrend in prices in the financial markets. See also bull market, boom.

range option
Synonym for collar.

range warrant / Range-Warrant / option range accrual / range warrant
Also called a corridor warrant, hamster warrant, range option or range accrual. It enables the investor to bet on an underlying remaining within a specific range. The longer the price stays within this range, the higher the amount paid out on maturity.

rate for advances against collateral / Lombardsatz / taux lombard / tasso lombard
Also: rate for advances on securities. Interest rate applied where securities are pledged as collateral for loans. See also Lombard loan.

rating / Rating / notation / rating
Classification of the credit quality of an individual, firm, bank or state, or of securities issued by them. Awarded by banks or specialized rating agencies.

rating agency / Rating-Agentur / agence de notation / agenzia di rating
A company that specializes in assigning ratings, e.g. Standard & Poor's, Moody's.

raw material / Rohstoff / matière première / materia prima
Also: commodity. Unprocessed commodity obtained from primary production.

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Rb

RBA-Holding / RBA-Holding / RBA-Holding / RBA-Holding
The umbrella organization of the Swiss regional banks, founded in 1994 with the aim of strengthening the regional banks and promoting collaboration between them. RBA-Holding performs central functions for its members relating to IT, bundling of business volumes, service standards and the purchasing of professional services. It also acts as a monitoring body. Do not confuse with the Reserve Bank of Australia (also RBA).

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Re

readily marketable assets
Synonym for easily realizable assets.

real asset / Sachwert / valeur réelle / valore reale
Also: non-fixed-income asset, tangible asset. Assets with a lasting value (e.g. real estate, precious metals, inventories of commodities or goods, shares). As a rule, an investment in real assets offers better protection against inflation and greater security against the depreciation of a currency over the long term than nominal claims (e.g. bonds). They are, however, subject to greater fluctuations in value. See also real asset clause.

real asset clause / Sachwertklausel / clause valeur réelle / clausola valore reale
Clause linking the amount of a monetary payment to the value of a real asset or to changes in the price of real assets. Depending on the type of link, a distinction is for example drawn between a gold clause and an index clause.

real estate / Immobilien / immobilier / immobili
Asset class for investments in property or in companies and investment instruments that conduct real estate transactions or invest in real estate.

real estate fund / Immobilienfonds / fonds immobilier / fondo immobiliare
Investment fund whose assets are placed in buildings and/or vacant land, the overriding principle being to spread risks geographically and to invest in a number of diverse properties.

Real Estate Investment Trust / Real Estate Investment Trust / Real Estate Investment Trust / Real Estate Investment Trust
Abbreviation: REIT. An exchange-listed US real estate company, at least 75% of whose capital is invested in the US real estate market. REITs enjoy special tax benefits (e.g. exemption from corporation tax). A distinction can be drawn between equity REITs, which themselves invest directly in large real estate projects such as hotels, shopping centres (malls) and office blocks, and mortgage REITs, which only make mortgages available to fund such construction projects.

real GDP / reales Bruttoinlandprodukt / produit intérieur brut réel / prodotto interno lordo reale
Gross domestic product less inflation.

real interest rate / Realzins / taux d'intérêt réel / interesse reale
Interest rate calculated by subtracting the annual inflation rate from the stated (or nominal) interest rate. If inflation is higher than the interest rate, then real interest rates are negative.

real wages / Reallohn / salaire réel / salario reale
Nominal wages less inflation.

real return / reale Rendite / rendement réel / rendimento reale /
Nominal return less inflation.

receivables / Debitoren / débiteurs / debitori
Also: advances, due from banks and customers. In general, that which is due and collectable. The total amounts due on goods sold, services rendered or money loaned. In bank balance sheets, unsecured current account loans (overdrafts). Opposite: deposits.

received bill of lading / Übernahmekonnossement / connaissement pour embarquement / polizza ricevuta per l'imbarco
Words stamped onto a bill of lading to indicate that the shipowner has received the goods for shipment. It does not indicate that the goods have already been shipped.

received for shipment bill of lading
Synonym for received bill of lading.

recession / Rezession / récession / recessione
The stage in the economic cycle at which activity declines, characterized by a drop in real terms in the national product.

recommended list / Anlageliste / liste de placement / lista degli investimenti raccomandati
List published periodically by a bank containing a selection of securities recommended for investment.

recourse / Regress / recours / regresso
Right of a person to whom a cheque, bill of exchange, promissory note or other negotiable instrument has been endorsed to recover payment from the endorser if the original borrower defaults.

redemption price / Rücknahmepreis / prix de rachat / prezzo di riscatto
Also: repurchase price. The price at which an investment fund is obliged to repurchase fund units. The redemption price is charged to the fund's assets and corresponds to the net asset value less any redemption commission and (in the case of Swiss investment funds) the expenses incurred in connection with the sale of investments

rediscount / Rediskont / réescompte / risconto
Literally, to discount again. To sell or discount a negotiable instrument which has already been discounted once. For example, the Swiss commercial banks are able to rediscount bills which they have already discounted at the Swiss National Bank.

reference currency / Referenzwährung / monnaie de référence / moneta di riferimento
Also: base currency.
(1) Currency in which an investor thinks and calculates.
(2) Currency in which the performance of an investment product is measured.

reference index / Referenzindex / indice de référence / indice di riferimento
Synonym for benchmark.

refinancing / Refinanzierung / refinancement / rifinanziamento
Raising of funds by a bank to finance its own lending business.

reflation / Reflation / reflation / reflazione
Intentional reversal of deflation through aggressive monetary policy easing.

regional bank / Regionalbank / banque régionale / banca regionale
In Switzerland, generally a small bank whose operations are restricted to a specific region. In the nineties, the majority of regional banks came under the aegis of RBA-Holding.

regional fund / Regionenfonds / fonds spécifique à une région / fondo regionale
Investment fund which invests in a specific geographic region or economic area.

register of mortgage holders / Gläubigerregister / registre des créanciers / registro dei creditori
List kept by the Office of the Land Register in Swiss communities in which each holder of a lien on real estate (or each mortgagor and creditor under a mortgage note) can ask to be entered.

registered lien / Registerpfandrecht / droit de gage enregistré / diritto di pegno registrato
Lien on movable property without transfer of title to the pledgee. Instead the lien (pledge) is entered in a register, and the pledged item itself remains the property of the pledgor. Applied to the pledging of livestock, ships and airplanes as collateral.

registered mortgage note / Namenschuldbrief / cédule hypothécaire nominative / cartella ipotecaria nominativa
A mortgage note made out to order, under which only the party named on the mortgage note can claim the rights arising from the mortgage note.

registered security / Namenpapier / titre nominatif / titolo nominativo
A security which is made out in the name of the owner and can be transferred only by assignment. It differs from instruments made out to order, such as bills of exchange, checks, registered shares, promissory notes, etc., which name a beneficiary and are transferable by endorsement.

registered share / Namenaktie / action nominative / azione nominativa
A share made out in the name of the owner who is entered in the company share register. Opposite: bearer share.

registered share with restricted transferability / vinkulierte Namenaktie / action nominative liée / azione nominativa vincolata
A registered share which can only be transferred subject to restrictions. Its purpose is to provide better protection against an undesired change in the share capital structure. See also restricted transferability.

regulated market
A market place, trading system or exchange which meets the minimum EU standards set out in title III of the MiFID. Under MiFID, entities that offer multilateral trading for financial instruments (such as an order book) must be organized as either a regulated market or an MTF, with slightly different standards applying to each.

reinvestment / Thesaurierung / thésaurisation des revenus / capitalizzazione
(1) Continuous reinvestment of income by an investment fund. See also accumulation fund.
(2) Continuous reinvestment of income by a company for self-financing purposes.

reinvestment discount / Wiederanlagerabatt / rabais de réinvestissement / sconto di reinvestimento
Discount on the issuing price granted by investment funds to customers reinvesting income proceeds to acquire fund units of the same type.

REIT
Abbreviation for Real Estate Investment Trust.

Reka check / Reka-Check / chèque Reka / assegno Reka
Voucher created by the Schweizerische Reisekasse (Swiss Travel Fund), sold at a discount by many companies and associations to employees or members for the purpose of promoting family tourism within Switzerland. Accepted as payment medium by many Swiss railway and transport enterprises, hotels and other establishments in the tourist field.

remittance / Rimesse / remise / rimessa
Sum of money forwarded from one person or one entity to another, either by cash or by negotiable instrument, usually in payment of an invoice for goods or services purchased.

renewal / Novation / novation / novazione
The act or process of transforming or extending a credit agreement, whereby the old debt is cancelled by the establishment of a new one. With current accounts this can be achieved by determining the negative balance and having this acknowledged.

renewal coupon / Talon / talon / cedola di affogliamento
Also: talon. Certificate attached to the coupon sheet of a share or bond and exchangeable for a new set of coupons.

rental deposit / Mieterkaution / caution de loyer / cauzione di affitto
Synonym for tenant's guarantee.

reorganization / Sanierung / assainissement / risanamento
Also: reform. Restoring the economic and financial viability of a company through such measures as tighter control over its financial operations, reducing the capital stock (share capital) or raising new capital resources.

repatriation / Repatriierung / rapatriement / rimpatrio
The act of returning assets invested in other countries to the funds' country of origin.

repay / abdecken / amortir / ammortare
To settle a debt through repayment.

repayment / Tilgung / amortissement / ammortamento
Also: redemption. Repayment of a debt.

replacement reserves / Wiederbeschaffungsreserven / réserves de remplacement / riserve di sostituzione
See undisclosed reserves.

replacement value / Wiederbeschaffungswert / valeur de remplacement / valore di rimpiazzo
Price that the bank would have to pay on the market in order to conclude an equivalent replacement transaction if a counterparty were to pull out. The current replacement value of a contract is the most reliable measure of credit risks associated with derivatives business.

repo business
Abbreviation for repurchase agreement.

reporting / Reporting / reporting / reporting
(1) Drawing up of reports by companies on their business activities.
(2) Reporting of on-exchange securities trades. A requirement on the Swiss Exchange.

repos
Abbreviation for repurchase agreements (1).

repurchase agreement / Pensionsgeschäft / mise en pension / operazione di pensionamento titoli
(1) Agreement whereby commercial banks temporarily borrow liquidity from the central bank. Under a repurchase agreement, the Swiss National Bank (or equivalent) will buy a specific quantity of securities for a set period and subsequently sell them back to the bank it bought them from. Also called repos.
(2) The acceptance of securities (such as equity paper) by a bank or financing institution for a limited period, with the depositor or a third party undertaking to repurchase the relevant securities after a stipulated period.

repurchase price
Synonym for redemption price.

repurchase transaction
Synonym for repurchase agreement.

rescription / Reskription / rescription / rescrizione
A Swiss Treasury note issued by the federal government and Treasury bills issued by the cantons and communities. They can run for up to four years. Generally employed by public authorities to raise funds temporarily. Used in part also to achieve cyclical or capital market objectives, e.g. when the state sells sterilization rescriptions to the banks in order to mop up liquidity. Such rescriptions can sometimes be sold by the bank to the Swiss National Bank for short terms under repurchase agreements or discounted like other rescriptions during their remaining life of three months.

reserve for doubtful debts / Debitorenreserve / réserves pour débiteurs douteux / fondo perdite su crediti
A reserve set aside for anticipated losses arising from bad debts. See also credit risk.

reserves / Reserven / réserves / riserve
Accounting term denoting an amount of money set aside from profits and other company funds transferred from surplus or undivided profits to a special liability account. In Switzerland, the Swiss Federal Code of Obligations and the Banking Law require the formation of reserves. Reserves serve an important safety function but are also used for self-financing. See also legal reserves, voluntary reserves, disclosed reserves, statutory reserves, undisclosed reserves.

resident / Deviseninländer / résident / residente
Private person or legal entity treated as resident under fiscal, currency control and other legislation.

Residential Mortgage-Backed Security / Residential Mortgage-Backed Security / residential mortgage-backed security / residential mortgage-backed security
Abbr.: RMBS. Pass-through mortgage-backed security on residential property. See also mortgage-backed security.

restricted security / Restricted Security / restricted security / restricted security
(USA) Term used for securities not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission which therefore have limited transferability.

restricted transferability (of shares) / Vinkulierung (von Aktien) / restriction de transfert d'actions / vincolo azionario
A restriction on the transferability of shares as defined in the issuing company's articles of association. See also registered share with restricted transferability.

restrictive endorsement / Rektaindossament / endossement non à ordre / girata non all'ordine
The endorser of an instrument bearing a «not to order» clause is liable to the direct endorsee only and not to persons who (despite said clause) obtain it through subsequent endorsement.

retail banking / Retail-Banking / retail banking / retail banking
Also: consumer banking, personal banking. High street banking business with individuals. The main objective of retail banking is to provide low-cost banking services in line with customers' needs by offering standardized products and simplifying sales processes.

retail clients
private clients

retained correspondence; correspondence held by bank / banklagernd / banque restante / fermo banca
Correspondence from the bank to the customer retained at the bank at the customer's written instructions. Mail retained in this manner is handed out or forwarded to the customer only at his request.

retrocession / Retrozession / rétrocession / retrocessione
Assignment by a bank of part of the commission received to another bank or to an agent (intermediary) which has participated in the transaction. Retrocession is common in bond underwriting and syndicate operations.

Return on Assets / Return on Assets / rendement de l'actif / return on assets
Profitability ratio of the profit over a given period against the average assets of the company. Abbr. ROA.

return on equity / Eigenkapitalrendite / rendement des capitaux propres / redditività del capitale proprio
Abbr.: ROE. Ratio of net profit generated over a certain period to equity capital.

revaluation / Aufwertung / réévaluation / rivalutazione
Also: appreciation. Increase in the external value of a currency in terms of other currencies. In a system of fixed or bloc-linked exchange rates, revaluation is effected through legal or official increases in the parity of a currency against the other currencies or the key currency (formerly against gold). In the case of flexible or floating exchange rates, appreciation is the result of a rise in the exchange rate on the currency market in response to supply and demand. Opposite: devaluation.

reverse split / Aktienzusammenlegung / regroupement d'actions / raggruppamento di azioni
Restructuring of the capital stock of a company by combining several of the old shares into one new share or preferred (preference) stock and common stock into a single share category.

revocable letter of credit / widerrufliches Akkreditiv / accréditif révocable / credito documentario revocabile
Documentary credit that can be modified or cancelled at any time. The revocable letter of credit is hardly ever used because it offers little security.

revocable stock exchange order / widerrufgültiger Börsenauftrag / ordre de Bourse valable jusqu'à révocation / ordine di borsa revocabile
Unconditional, limited order which is considered valid until revoked, i.e. until the end of the current month or, if given at month's end, until the close of the following month. The principal can extend or revoke the order at any time.

revolving credit / revolvierender Kredit / crédit revolving / credito revolving
A credit line which can be utilized, repaid and utilized again during the agreed term. Examples: revolving discount credit, revolving collateral loan.

revolving letter of credit / revolvierendes Akkreditiv / crédit documentaire renouvelable / credito documentario rotativo
See documentary credit, revolving credit.

revolving underwriting facility / Revolving-Underwriting-Facility / facilité de prise ferme renouvelable / revolving underwriting facility
Abbr. RUF. Short to medium-term security traded on the Eurocommercial paper market. The lead manager acts as the sole placing agent. Renewable after expiry as required. Similar to note issuance facility.

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Rh

Rho / Rho / rhô / rho
A measure of an option's sensitivity to changes in interest rates (or changes in dividend payments), i.e. the extent to which the option's value changes as a result of a shift in interest rates on risk-free investment instruments.

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Ri

right of lien / Pfandrecht / droit de gage / diritto di pegno
Also: lien in rem. Restricted right to hold and retain property until a claim is satisfied. If the claim is not met, the creditor is entitled to realize the property securing the lien and to satisfy his claim out of the resulting proceeds.

right of preemption / Vorkaufsrecht / droit de préemption / diritto di prelazione
The right to purchase either in preference to others or before an offer is made to others.

right of redemption / Rückgaberecht / droit de retour / diritto di restituzione
Units of investment funds may be sold back to the fund management company on a daily basis at their current redemption price. Exception: real estate funds.

right to move mortgage to higher order of priority / Nachrückungsrecht / droit d'avancement à un rang antérieur / diritto di subentrare in un grado anteriore
Right of the creditor next in order of priority to move up to the vacant place in the land register.

right to take delivery / Andienungsrecht / droit à la livraison / diritto alla consegna
Right of a third party to purchase a specific asset at a particular point in time in the future. The right to take delivery is the buyer's security that the seller will be able to deliver the goods promised at any time throughout the term to maturity of an option.

ring / Ring / corbeille / corbeille
Circular counter around which ring representatives used to buy and sell contracts by calling out bid and asked quotations. A distinction was drawn between the stock trading ring and the bond trading ring depending on the type of securities traded. See also open outcry trading, electronic trading system.

ring bank / Ringbank / banque admise à la corbeille / banca ammessa alla corbeille
Obsolete. A bank licensed to trade securities on a ring. See also stock exchange bank.

ring representative
Synonym for ring trader.

ring trader / Ringhändler / crieur / operatore alla corbeille
Also known as the ring representative. Formerly the broker of a ring bank who traded securities on a stock exchange using the à la criée method. See also ring, broker.

risk / Risiko / risque / rischio
Exposure to damage or financial loss, e.g. a fall in the price of a security, or insolvency on the part of a creditor. Financial market theory measures the risk exposure of an investment in terms of the degree of variance. Risk and return are in direct mutual correlation: the higher the risk exposure, the more substantial the long-term return on an investment should be. The main risk categories are: country risk, transfer risk, settlement risk, price risk, interest-rate risk and credit risk. Risks are hedged with provisions. Hedging products available from banks include forward and repurchase transactions, options and financial futures. See also systematic risk.

risk appetite; willingness to accept risk / Risikobereitschaft; Risikoneigung; Risikofreude / goût pour le risque; propension au risque; tolérance au risque / capacità di rischio; propensione al rischio
Synonym for risk tolerance.

risk arbitrage / Risk Arbitrage / arbitrage du risque / arbitraggio di rischio
Strategy of taking opposite positions in the shares of a takeover candidate and its likely buyer. Highly speculative investment technique.

risk aversion / Risikoscheue / aversion au risque / avversione al rischio
See risk tolerance.

risk concentration / Klumpenrisiko / gros risque / grande rischio
Also: concentration of risk. Loans, equity interests or investments whose size exceeds acceptable limits, thereby contravening the bank's policy of risk diversification.

risk diversification / Risikoverteilung / répartition des risques / ripartizione dei rischi
Also referred to as risk spread, risk spreading. Diversifying capital investments or loans granted to third parties so as to achieve the greatest possible protection against risks of losses or reductions in income. The aim is to ensure an optimally balanced risk exposure via the broad diversification of investments (or loans) in terms of the geographical mix, currencies, sectors and individual companies. See also diversification.

risk management / Risiko-Management / gestion des risques / gestione dei rischi
(1) Management tool designed to broadly and systematically identify, quantify and manage banking-related risk exposure.
(2) Service package provided by banks to commercial clients to help them limit risk exposure through the use of hedging instruments.

risk paper
See share.

risk premium / Risikoprämie / prime de risque / premio di rischio
Premium demanded by investors for investing in risky capital investments. The higher the risk of loss or default, the higher the premium.

risk spreading
Synonym for risk diversification.

risk tolerance / Risikoneigung / propension au risque / propensione al rischio
Also: risk appetite, willingness to accept risk. A person's individual attitude towards risk. They may, for example, be willing to accept risks or they can be risk-averse.

risk-free return / risikofreier Ertrag / revenu sans risques / rendimento a rischio zero
Return on an investment in first-class money market paper, which due to its short term to maturity is subject to virtually no price fluctuations and is therefore regarded as being risk-free, e.g. Treasury bills.

risk-return profile / Ertrags-Risiko-Profil / profil rentabilité/risque / profilo di rischio/rendimento
Also: risk-earnings profile, risk/reward ratio. Comparison of the anticipated risk of an investment with the expected return. If the return is the greater of the two then the investment is made.

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Rm

RMBS
Abbr. for Residential Mortgage-Backed Security.

Ro

ROA
Abbreviation for Return on Assets.

ROE
Abbr. for return on equity.

Roh-, Hilfs- und Betriebsstoffe / Materials / Matériels / Materiali
Sektorbezeichnung für Aktien von Unternehmen, die Chemikalien, Metalle (einschliesslich Bergbau), Baustoffe, Textilien oder Papier und Pappe herstellen. Der entsprechende MSCI-Sektorindex fungiert als Benchmark für die Aktien dieses Sektors.

roll-over credit / Roll-over-Kredit / crédit roll-over / credito roll-over
Medium- to long-term credit with a floating interest rate which is usually reset every 3, 6 or 12 months. The basis for the periodic interest rate adjustment is, for instance, the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) for short-term borrowing on the Euromarket.

round lot / Schlusseinheit / unité de cotation / lotto minimo
Standard unit of securities trading. See also odd lot.

royalty / Royalty / royalty / royalty
(1) Synonym for licence fee.
(2) Remuneration for the assignment of land with exploitable raw materials (coal, oil, etc.) paid by the licensee to the owner of the land.

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Ru

RUF
Abbr. for revolving underwriting facility.

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