Marketing Independent Sales Representatives versus Direct Sales Force

How to Use Formal and Informal Italian Subject Pronouns

How to Use Formal and Informal Italian Subject Pronouns While in English we might differ in word choice during informal and formal situations, we don’t change the forms being used.  However, Romance languages have separate forms of addressing others in formal versus informal situations. As if learning a new language wasn’t difficult enough! Learning how to use the formal and informal subject pronouns in Italian is very important. So-called social graces are key to Italian culture, and what seems like a language nuisance can determine the success of a social interaction, especially with the elderly and someone to whom you should show respect. How Many Ways You Can Say You? There are four ways of saying you in Italian: tu, voi, lei, and loro. Tu (for one person) and voi (for two or more people) are the familiar/informal forms. The Informal While it’s taught that tu is used only with family members, children, and close friends, it can also be used with people  around your age. For example, if youre around 30 and go to a bar to get a cappuccino, you can use the â€Å"tu† form with the barista who seems around your age, too. It’s likely that she’ll give you the â€Å"tu† form first anyway: Cosa prendi? – What are you having?Che cosa voui? – What do you want?Di dove sei? – Where are you from? If youre talking to a person that is younger than you tu is always the best choice. Voi is the plural form of the informal way of addressing people. Voi works for formal and informal scenarios and its the plural you: Di dove siete? – Where are you all from?Voi sapete che... – You all know that... The Formal In more formal situations like at a bank, the doctors office, a work meeting, or talking to an elder, the lei form is always best. Use lei (for one person, male or female) and its plural voi in more formal situations to address strangers, acquaintances, older people, or people in authority: Lei à ¨ di dove? – Where are you from?Da dove viene lei? – Where do you come from?Voi siete degli studenti. – You are students. You’ll often see Lei capitalized to distinguish it from lei (she) when there might be room for confusion. TIP: If you’re really not sure and you want to avoid choosing between â€Å"lei† or â€Å"tu† entirely, you can always use the generic altrettanto to mean likewise in place of anche a lei/ anche a te. Also, unless you’re talking to royalty, you don’t have to use the formal loro like most textbooks teach. It Can Be Confusing Finally, it’s tough to figure out when you should use the tu or when you should use the lei form, so if you get it wrong at first, don’t worry. Italians know that you’re learning a new language and that it can be difficult, so do your best. When In Doubt, Ask You can always ask when you are unsure about how to address a person. If, for example, you feel youre close in age or there is no relationship that might call for a respectful lei, go ahead and ask: Possiamo darci del tu? – May we switch to the tu form? In response, someone can say: Sà ¬, certo. –Yes, certainly. If you want to tell someone to use the tu with you, you can say: Dammi del tu. – Use the the tu form with me.

Mock Study Sampling and Data Collection Approaches Assignment

Mock Study Sampling and Data Collection Approaches - Assignment Example sampling approach is proposed for the study because of the wide geographical area that the target organization covers, suitability of the sampling design for such diversity, and statistical advantages of the design. Stratified random sampling is a restricted probability sampling approach (Sekaran and Bougie, 2010) in which a population is divided into subgroups and random sampling implemented in each sub-group. Homogeneity within sub groups that distinguishes members of a subgroup from members of other subgroups informs the division (Votg, 2007). Differences in state laws and possible social and cultural values across state boundaries inform the boundaries as the basis for stratification. The sampling design will therefore ensure representation of all sales consultants of the organization towards internal reliability of the study’s results. In addition, eliminated bias through the randomized approach will ensure validity of developed data from sample besides external reliabili ty. Stratified random sampling, like simple random sampling, is easy to implement and this ensure validity due to sampling ccuracy. A sample size of 510 participants is proposed for the study. Seventeen states will be selected at random and a branch of the company selected from each of the states, at random. From each branch, five supervisors or managers will be selected at random and a further five sales consultants, operating under each of the supervisors or managers selected at random. The stratified random approach will contribute to validity and reliability of the study (Christensen, Johnson, and Turner, 2011) and the sample size is adequate because it falls within used sample size ranges in similar studies. Explored literature from empirical studies identifies use of such sizes as 408, 71, and 74 (Graham, Ziegert, and Capitano, 2015; Liden, Wayne, Liao, and Meuser, 2014; Aragon-Correa, Garcia-Morales, and Cordon-Pozo, 2007). Economic feasibility, due to proposed use of internet-based

How is the technologically mediated behavior driven by the low Essay

How is the technologically mediated behavior driven by the low fidelity public soundscape - Essay Example It is evident from the study that the idea of a public soundscape for instance, has only turn out to be important over the past few centuries, as sealed and enfolded buildings turned out to be more common. Previous to completely enfolded buildings, sound flowed mainly unrestrained from the private ball to the public, and vice versa which destined that, two persons in close proximity to each other experienced an analogous soundscape, despite of whether they occurred to be in the private or public realm. â€Å"R. Murray Schafer, one of the early pioneers of the study of soundscapes indicates that the rise of life spent primarily indoors gave way to two enduring phenomenon: the high art of music, and noise pollution† (Neudorf 3). The events of public soundscapes keep on developing in the current period of mobile phones and moveable music instruments. Nowadays it is possible, certainly general, to build ‘semi- private’ soundscapes (by way of make use of movable device of music and mobile phones) in public spaces, which highly block soundscapes in public. The idea of soundscape which represents a spatial implication no longer appears to fit in this circumstance; ‘sound experience’ may be a more suitable word given to the rising disconnect among site and audio perception. Second difference can be made among soundscapes in densely inhabited (urban) places and soundscapes in places that are less impacted by the activity of the persons. The density of the sound normally reflects the population compactness of the human being. However, there are numerous exemptions, where in high compactness places, sounds must contend  with each other with the intention to be heard. And also at the same time, sounds originate by human beings and their particular activities normally dominate urban soundscapes, as natural sounds hardly ever adjust to a louder soundscapes by raising their volume. Soundscapes, which are not conquered by activity of the huma n being, may have more moderate and reasonable, but they are distant (far) from unfilled. Even urban soundscapes which may not provide wealthy and rich environmental habitats frequently consist of impressive sounds.  Research method used to conduct the study is the primary research method. Primary research method used to acquire most authentic data directly from respondent. It is include survey method, interview method and Questionnaire Survey.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is a certain kind of risk in adopting the word soundscape which has a clear etymological debt to its progenitor landscape that a variety of suggestions from the visual world will also be adopted into the audio realm. Schafer builds the perceptive examination that unlike landscapes; soundscapes are concerning various activities and actions, not artifacts. In view of the fact that soundscapes are based on these activities, they are intrinsically unique at any of the specified point in time and space. â€Å"Scha fer suggests that there are two ways to improve the soundscape. The first is to increase sonological competence through an education program that attempts to imbue new generations with an appreciation of environmental sound. This he believes will foster a new approach to design - the second way - that will incorporate an appreciation of sound and thus reduce the wasted energy that noise represents† (Wrightson & Gil par. 24). Differentiation between Private and Public Soundscapes:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A soundscape is a kind of sound or amalgamation of sounds that shapes or occurs from an immersive

Estimation of peak oxygen uptake from submaximal tests Lab Report

Estimation of peak oxygen uptake from submaximal tests - Lab Report Example Generally, V02PEAK values were significantly greater among men than among women, despite correcting for differences in body mass (i.e., values expressed as mL/kg/min). The study sought to estimate peak oxygen uptake from submaximal tests using treadmill and cycle tests. Peak oxygen uptake (V02PEAK), defines the maximum volume of oxygen that is consumed within a unit time, normally a minute (Sagiv, 2012). It is an indicator of oxygen utility in the body and therefore shows effectiveness of the body’s functionality. Oxygen uptake and utility defines capacity to undertake physical and mental tasks and in extremely low cases, is necessary for cellular and organ activities. It is therefore significant to performance and health. Peak oxygen uptake depends on many factors. Gender is one of the factors and biological differences explain this. Males have higher peak oxygen consumption and according to Sagiv (2012), difference in size of the human heart between males and females explain this. Males have a larger size of the organ and this suggest greater capacity to circulate oxygen that in females. Since circulation is one of the factors to diffusion of oxygen in the lungs and therefore transfers to body parts for utility, it explains that men have higher oxygen consumption capacity and higher peak oxygen uptake that have women. Angiotensin-Converting enzyme and temperature have also been associated with higher peak oxygen uptake. Age is another facto to peak oxygen uptake. Increase in age increase the uptake level and this is more significant in males that in females, especially during younger ages. Body mass that increases in boys, as they grow, together with increase in hemoglobin content also explains the increase peak oxygen uptake (Coelho-E-Silva, Cupido-dos-Santos, Figueredo, Armstrong, & Ferreira, 2013). Brown, Miller, & Eason (2006) also explain that weight, age, and sex are significant factors

Can We Control Global Warming?

Can We Control Global Warming? Earth has a natural system of balancing the absorption and release the heat, which it absorbs from the sunlight, but for the last few years, the balance seems to be under severe threat. There has been enormous increase in gases like Carbon -dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide etc. As the temperature rises, there is rise in sea level, due to melting of glaciers and the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica. While sea level is expected to rise almost every year but a considerable variation is seen now-a-days. In some regions, the rise in sea level may be almost nil, but the other might experience a rise of as much as twice the global average. The predictions are that the rise in sea level in some parts of north Pacific and to the west of Greenland may be comparatively more and it can spoil the ecological balance of the respective region. As per the latest reports of U.K. Met offices Hadley centre for climate prediction and research, global warming over the next century might turn out to be much worse than estimated. If the green house gas emissions are stabilised, which means immediate cut of 60-70% emission of carbon dioxide globally, even then the rise of atmospheric temperature would be 1Ãâ€"   C and the rise in would be approximately 1 metre. Based on the finding of the Intergovernmental Panel on climate change, the centre predicted that warming overland could lead to a 6Ãâ€"   C rise in temperature by 2100, which is 2Ãâ€"   C higher than the earlier estimates. As per the findings of the joint study conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology New Delhi and Hadley Centre, the global warming may cause a good increase in rainfall in western coastline. GREENHOUSE EFFECT: Greenhouse effect is an effect caused when there is rise in temperature due to trapping of Suns rays in the Earths atmosphere. The heat and light coming from the sun can get through the atmosphere, but it cannot escape out. Due to this, the temperature of Earths surface rises. As we know that the greenhouse effect help to make the people to live on this Earth. These gases help to keep the atmosphere of earth warmer, but too many gases will make the Earth unusually hot, making the survival difficult here. All the living species would die because there will be no much food. Greenhouse Gases: The role of Greenhouse gases is to the heat and light that is emitted from the sun. When amount of gases in the Earths atmosphere will increase as a result they will larger amount of heat and light and the Earths surface will go warmer. It will be difficult to live in these conditions for humans, animals and plants. These greenhouse gases help in contributing greenhouse effect. Though green house gases are essential as there role is to allow the sunlight to enter the Earths atmosphere and to radiate it back after making the Earths atmosphere warmer. Thus greenhouse gases absorb this heat and trap it in Earths lower atmosphere. First, sunlight shines onto the Earths surface, where it is absorbed and then radiates back into the atmosphere as heat. In the atmosphere, greenhouse gases trap some of this heat, and the rest escapes into space. The more greenhouse gases are in the atmosphere, the more heat gets trapped. Causes of Global Warming on our Environment: While arguments persist, there is a little doubt that human-produced greenhouse gas emissions play a major role in the current warming trend. Nature has a role, but it pales in the face of increasing emissions from human activity. Global warming means that the overall temperature of the earth is changing and getting to be warmer than it was before. The change in temperature can be a result of natural causes of global warming and those which are caused by humans. The gases that are natural causes of global warming are also called greenhouse gases. Although the gases are one of the natural causes of global warming, humans add to them by deteriorating the ozone layer and burning too many fossil fuels. NATURAL CAUSES: Along with human activities natural activities also emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Some of the natural occurrences which cause CO2 emissions include: Volcanic eruptions: Large amount of carbon dioxide is released from the volcanic eruptions. But the amount of CO2 released is much less from the amount emitted by human activities. Solar cycles and cosmic rays: A recent study released by a group of European scientists concluded that The chance of the natural cosmic-ray or solar irradiance explanation being responsible for more than 14% of the observed warming is quite negligible. Gases emitted from a volcano HUMAN CAUSES: 1. Carbon Dioxide From power Plants emission of carbon dioxide from the power plants is one of the most contributing factor for global warming. Large amount of CO2 is released in to the atmosphere from the power plants. According to recent researches, almost half of the carbon dioxide emission comes form the power plants. Natural gas, coal, and oil are the types of polluting power plants. Coal is the biggest contributor out of the 3 because of it releases more carbon than the rest of them. Power plants releasing CO2 2. Pollution emitted from vehicles There are almost, 3 billion vehicles being used today. Vehicles also emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Vehicles emit millions of tons of harmful gases into the air. In some populated cities of the world, this causes some of the smog that is mixture of fog and smoke and also causes ozone problems. Thousands of cases of cancer are reported each year from pollution. 3. Deforestation Deforestation means cutting of trees. Trees help in balancing the ecological system as they absorb carbon dioxide. The more trees that are lost, especially in temperate forest zones, the less carbon dioxide that is recycled into oxygen. 4. Use of Fertilizers With the increase in population the requirement for food has also increased. So to increase the productivity of the food fertilizers are used. The use of large amounts of fertilizers also contributes in global warming. Fertilizers emit large amount of greenhouse gas such as nitrous oxide, which also play a major role in global warming. 5. Methane Methane gas is released into the atmosphere the cattle and the rice fields. After carbon dioxide methane is the second largest contributor to the global warming. EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING: For a long time now the effect of mans industrialization and technological progress has quietly yet continuously eked away at the delicate balance of the planets atmosphere and ecosystem, but within the last 30 or so years the pace of this damage has markedly accelerated. Green house gases stay can stay in the atmosphere for an amount of years ranging from decades to hundreds and thousands of years. No matter what we do, global warming is going to have some effect on Earth. Here are some effects of global warming:- 1. Melting of Polar Ice Caps As expected, rising global temperatures are causing the glaciers to recede. It will raise the sea level. There are 5773000 cubic miles of water in ice caps, glaciers, and permanent snow. If all glaciers melt today the seas will rise about 230 feet. Luckily, thats not going to happen in a single day. But the sea level will rise, which will affect 3 billion of our population. Some of the glaciers have totally disappeared 2. Increased probability of heat waves and droughts Although some areas of Earth will become wetter due to global warming, other areas will suffer serious droughts and heat waves. Africa will receive the worst of it, with more severe droughts also expected in Europe. Water is already a dangerously rare commodity in Africa, and according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, global warming will exacerbate the conditions and could lead to conflicts and war. 3. Economic consequences Most of the effects of anthropogenic global warming wont be good. And these effects spell one thing for the countries of the world: economic consequences. Hurricanes cause do billions of dollars in damage, diseases cost money to treat and control and conflicts exacerbate all of these. 4. Diseases caused by increasing of earths temperature Thirty of the new diseases that emerged in the last 20 years, many thrive in warmer and wetter weather. Malaria one of its example which kills about 1 to 2 million people a year worldwide. About 90 % of new cases occur in Africa and Southeast Asia. Although the disease is almost rare in developed countries, that could change with global warming. As soon as 50 years from now, malaria could spread to parts of the world that are too cold to support life cycle of the mosquitoes and their parasites that transmit disease. 5. Warmer waters and more hurricanes As the temperature of oceans rises, so will the probability of more frequent and stronger hurricanes. It appears that global warming already has increased the frequency of heavy rains in the United States. Which is caused by warmer air can hold more water vapours than cooler air can, so when it rains it really pours. Preventive Measures: Never before in the history, global warming has drawn such attention of policymakers, academicians and the court at least in India. A lot of research has been done in the last a few years to find the suitable linkage between economic activities and global warming and a need for new technologies has felt in order to save our environment. We can reduce the demand for fossil fuels, which in turn reduces global warming. ROLE OE PEOPLE 1. Reduce, Reuse and recycle People must do their bit to reduce wastes by choosing reusable products over of disposables. Buying products with minimum packing will help to reduce wastes. If half of our household waste is recycled then we can save 1000 kg of carbon dioxide annually. 2. Using less heat and Air Conditioning Adding proper insulation to our walls of the house and applying weather stripping around doors and windows can result in lowering our heating expenditure more than 25%, by reducing the amount of energy we need to heat or cool our homes. While sleeping at night or away during the day we must turn off the heating appliances. We must keep temperatures moderate while using AC. 3. Drive less and Drive smart Global warming can be reduced by not using vehicles for every purpose. By not using vehicle for 25km for a week we can save 30kg of carbon dioxide emission to the air. Use of petrol and diesel must be reduced. Also while driving, make sure that the car is running efficiently. For example, keeping the tyres properly inflated can improve the mileage by more than 3%. 4. Afforestation It is assumed that planting more trees will solve the problem as the trees absorb more carbon dioxide, but is a wrong presumption. Planting more trees will absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in some parts of the world, but in the other parts, global warming may hamper the growth of trees or even may cause their destruction. Therefore, afforestation may not be a perfect solution to this problem. ROLE OF GOVERNMENT The government is doing many things to help stop global warming. The government made a law called The Clean Air Act so there is less air pollution. Global warming is making people get very bad illness that could make them disabled, very sick and sometimes even die. The Clean Air Act is making many companies to change product production to decline the problems. The laws made give the information that no one is allowed to put much pollutants into the air. The Clean Air Act has also made car companies to change something to reduce the amount of pollution caused by them. Also many schemes and co-operations are made by the government has been successful to some extent. Facts about global warming: 1. Antarctica home of thousands of penguins is getting hotter slowly and gradually. In Antarctica the annual melt season has increased up to three weeks in the last twenty years. 2. Mount Kili Manjaro has lost 75% of its ice cap since 1912. The ice on the Africas highest peak could vanish totally within next 15 years if no remedial measures are taken. 3. Venezuelan mountain peaks had only two glaciers today out of six. 4. Indias worst heat stroke killed more than 2500 people in 1998. 5. Polar Bears in Hudson Bay are having fewer cubes, possibly as a result of earlier spring ice break up. 6. Since 1950s, Arctic ice has declined by 15%. 7. Coral reefs suffer from the loss of algae that colour and nourish them. The process called bleaching is caused by Warmer Ocean. 8. Florida farmland up to 300 meters inland from Biscayne Bay is being in filtered by salt water rendering the land too toxic for crops. Salt water is also nibbling at the edge of the farms on Marylands eastern shore. Conclusion: The bottom line is coming and we have to figure out what can we do. Waters rising will be disaster, food will be affected and we need to plan for the catastrophies. This will affect every one of us and we all are in the heap of trouble and will soon accepting this fact. We should put serious effort to overcome the problems and strive as much as possible to reinstate our earth for the sake of our future generations. In the nutshell the global warming has become a grave threat to the ecological balance of the Earth. The civilization is slowly moving towards the doomsday. All the nations, particularly the most industrialized, developed countries have to be active to take immediate action on the matter, otherwise, the human race has to face an unimaginable peril and the day is not too far. MOTHER EARTH MAKES A CALL PRESERVE OR DESTROY ALL

Netflix – Essay

Identify key issues, problems and opportunities facing Nettles. It may be helpful to consider the fact that the Nettles business model evolved through many strategy revisions. What caused them to make each shift? Were the shifts driven from the top or bottom? Is this easier for a small or large company? The key issue that was facing Nettles early on was the selective market of people that were into the DVD market. Most were still with VS. market at this time and it gave them a small problem during start-up.But, with that changing market they new that consumers will soon turn to DVD's and leave behind their old technology of VS.. They also faced the problem of most Blockbuster being a 10 minute drive from at least 70% of U. S. Populated homes. This makes their whole sales pitch of people not having to leave their homes to rent movies even harder due to the number of available Blockbusters. With Nettles no late fee policy this made it easier for them to get more sales because Blockbust er charged late fees.Also, they came across the problem of half the movies they shipped were the new releases. This made under stocking when customers wanted them and overstocking when the movie was not new anymore. They fixed this problem by making the recommended movies for consumers because this expanded their horizons on other movies other then the new ones. They also had a distribution problem because they only had one distribution center. All these shifts were driven from the top. With the growing customers and profits they have learned what consumers wanted.They held surveys to find out what movie a customer wants and the movie recommendation system helped expand the nonuser's movie choices. They even got special packages and were tied into the USPS for their delivery services that got perfected over time. This Is easier for them as they became a large company and made deals and expanded with the profit and knowledge they had about customers from their surveys. (B) How did di sruptive versus incremental innovations play out in the Nettles versus Blockbuster story? Is VOID disruptive or incremental? What roll does diffusion of innovation and adopter categories play?Timing of entry? Disruptive Innovation played a role In the beginning and start-up for Nettles. When they first opened and should to the DVD population this was disruptive. From then on they made incremental innovations along the way from the video recommendations to the shipping services. These were smaller steps done from learning from customers and growing in popularity. Also, their growing profits made innovation easier and affordable for the company. VOID Is disruptive Innovation because It Is a totally new marketing approach by the company.VOID was not a spin off of there DVD rental service It was a totally new approach for the company to take. This would require for the company to have different marketing for VOID and a new concept of nothing through the mean, instead it's all online. Di ffusion of innovation came along when Nettles went into the VOID services. They were one of the innovators of this but shortly after they had many companies patting v I Nils mace It very competitive Ana Nora to De cutlets Decease other companies only did VOID and Nettles was not known for that service.Also, the time of entry for the other business was good because Nettles was not that successful introducing it to the market that when the competitors advertised they got more business then Nettles. (C) Using only the information provided in the case, evaluate alternative approaches to the current problem (VOID), and VOID had the problem of not being able to provide high quality video to the customer as do the cable companies. This problem is hard to fix because it will have to mean changing around Nettles servers to higher quality servers to stream movies n high-definition.Another problem they had was people can not play the movies on their TV but, instead only on their laptops or de sktops. The only was customers can play the movies on their TV's is if they buy either a ERG, S-Video, or HIDE cable so they can project the movie from the laptop to the TV. But, with this means that customers will have to go out and make a purchase to Just watch online movies on the TV. The solution to this problem would be is Nettles provided the cable needed to watch the movies from the computer to the TV for a low rental fee.As long as they have a Nettles VOID account they can pay a one time rental fee for a cable as long as they stay with the company. (D) Select the best alternative. Your choice should be supported by sound arguments and be realistic given the firm's resources. I feel that the best alternative for Nettles is to keep their rental services and also have the VOID services. I feel that both are very profitable services they can provide to customers. They have such a large customer base that they can pick up on shifts in the market.Nettles has been proven o make bot h incremental and disruptive innovation to help their company grow. Even my Android phone has Nettles on it that allows me to stream videos directly to my phone anywhere there is Wi-If. If the market turns to more VOID then Nettles will make that shift and turn their company into a VOID company. But, if it doesn't they still have their rental services for profit. Their rental services cost the most to up- keep because of all the workers and distributed facilities they need to keep up with the demand. VOID has a lot less running fees. They can greatly cut down on employees and facilities.

Freedman’s Bureau

Freedmen’s Bureau is also known as â€Å"the Ex-Slave’s Friend† was created on March 4th of 1865 during the Reconstruction era by the U.S. government as a federal agency and a part of the United States Department of War to help the newly released and freed slavery which is also known as freedmen and southern white refugees transition to freedom in the Southern States and the District of Columbia. The Bill was created by President Abraham Lincoln and was originally intended to last for one year to help the freedmen but instead it lasted until 1872 and President Ulysses S. Grant broke it up. To distinguish it from being known as just a welfare agency, the agency’s employees also helped ex-slaves find employment, investigated unfair treatment complaint, and also help negotiated labor contracts for the slaves. After the Civil War, Freedmen’s Bureau is the only federal agency that help protects the civil rights of the former slaves and the only place that enable them to seek help when their rights were violated thus creating a hostility among the White Southerners. Although the bureau was setup to help distribute food, housing, medical aid, and clothing to the freed slaves and the Southern white refugees, the bureau most well known successes were in education. During that period of 1865 – 1872 there were more than 1000 Negro schools built and was taught by well- qualified instructors and had educated more than 250,000 African Americans. Most of the black colleges around the United States were founded with the help of the agency and a lot of them still exist today. The successes of the Bureau in its education goals were marred by the failure of its land redistribution. At first the Bureau had gave 850,000 acres to the freedmen but President Andrew Johnson later took it back and the land in turn were given to the Confederate landowners giving the blacks no choice and forcing them to work in the plantations. At first the white landowners wanted to restore gang labor but the freedmen wanted to maintain their freedom refused to sign the contract ultimately forcing the white owner to come up with sharecropping as some sort of compromise. Under sharecropping, the land was divided into a 20 to 50 acres parcel that allowed a single family to farm it. The deal is usually half of the crop to be given to the landlord in exchange for the land, housing and supplies. The Bureau one and only commissioner is Major General Oliver Otis Howard. General Howard was the provider of â€Å"moral purpose, an ideological framework and a vision for the bureau†. He was once warned by his friend, General William Sherman after hearing about his new assignment and the task given to him that this is a â€Å"Hercules† of a task. After accepting his new assignment, General Howard was given very little help from the Congress and most of it is from some sort of â€Å"hand me down† from the Department of War in the form of personnel and what left of the army funds and relied heavily on the few private relief, missionary and educational associations of the North. In his autobiography, General Howard expressed his frustration on how the Congress disbanded his Bureau by sending him on a temporary mission to deal with the Indian affairs in the west and upon his return he found out that the Bureau and all its activities had been suspended. Howard University in Washington D.C. which is founded by General Howard is a well known and it is a predominantly black university and he was the third president of the university. In conclusion the Bureau did not accomplished all that it is set up to do. Its role in Reconstruction in the South had created a huge debate on if the bureau had done enough to help the freedmen and the refugees but given that they were working on a limited resources one cannot fault the bureau completely and most historian agreed that whatever â€Å"the bureau did not do† was â€Å"because it could not† References http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/6257/Freedmen-s-Bureau.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Refugees,_Freedmen_and_Abandoned_Lands

Free Essays on Neville Brody

Neville Brody is an internationally known British graphic designer and typographer, who is best known for his work on magazines, most notably ‘The Face.’ This magazine transformed the way in which designers and readers approach typography and layout. In addition to his magazine work, he designed record covers for such independent record companies as Fetish, Hannibal, and Phonogram Records in the 1980s. Along with his other work, Brody created a vast amount of type faces throughout his career. A few of these types are Arcadia, Industria, and Insignia. Brody was born in 1957 and grew up in Southgate, which is a suburb of North London. He commented that he does not remember a time in his life when he was planning to do anything other than art or painting. In 1975, Brody attended the Fine Art Foundation Program at Hornsey College of Art. The school was extremely conservative and at this time Brody decided to pursue a career in graphics instead of the Fine Arts. He says why c an’t you take a painterly approach within a printed medium? In the autumn of 1976, Brody started a three-year BA course in graphics at the London College of Printing. Brody says he hated his time there, but that it was necessary to his development as a designer. I wanted to communicate to as many people as possible, but also to make a popular form of art that was more personal and less manipulative. I had to find out more about how the process worked. The only way possible was to go to college and learn it, His work was often considered too experimental. At one stage he was almost thrown out of the school for putting the Queen’s head sideways on the design of a postage stamp. If tutors said they liked something I was doing, I would go away and change it, because such approval then made me think there must be something wrong with the work. I think that was a very positive and healthy attitude. Brody’s attitude on computers has changed a lot since he first starte. .. Free Essays on Neville Brody Free Essays on Neville Brody Neville Brody is an internationally known British graphic designer and typographer, who is best known for his work on magazines, most notably ‘The Face.’ This magazine transformed the way in which designers and readers approach typography and layout. In addition to his magazine work, he designed record covers for such independent record companies as Fetish, Hannibal, and Phonogram Records in the 1980s. Along with his other work, Brody created a vast amount of type faces throughout his career. A few of these types are Arcadia, Industria, and Insignia. Brody was born in 1957 and grew up in Southgate, which is a suburb of North London. He commented that he does not remember a time in his life when he was planning to do anything other than art or painting. In 1975, Brody attended the Fine Art Foundation Program at Hornsey College of Art. The school was extremely conservative and at this time Brody decided to pursue a career in graphics instead of the Fine Arts. He says why c an’t you take a painterly approach within a printed medium? In the autumn of 1976, Brody started a three-year BA course in graphics at the London College of Printing. Brody says he hated his time there, but that it was necessary to his development as a designer. I wanted to communicate to as many people as possible, but also to make a popular form of art that was more personal and less manipulative. I had to find out more about how the process worked. The only way possible was to go to college and learn it, His work was often considered too experimental. At one stage he was almost thrown out of the school for putting the Queen’s head sideways on the design of a postage stamp. If tutors said they liked something I was doing, I would go away and change it, because such approval then made me think there must be something wrong with the work. I think that was a very positive and healthy attitude. Brody’s attitude on computers has changed a lot since he first starte. ..

The Bond Market in Bangladesh

The Bond Market in Bangladesh Free Online Research Papers The bond market is a financial market where participants buy and sell debt securities, usually in the form of bonds. Like emerging-market countries around the world, Bangladesh could benefit from having a local-currency, fixed-income securities market. At present, its main fixed-income financial products are bank deposits, bank loans, government savings certificates, term loans, treasury bills, and government bonds and corporate debt (syndicated loans, private placement, and debentures). But in general the corporate debt market is still very small compared with the equity market. Numerous factors in Bangladesh today suggest that Bangladesh will not be able to develop an active, local-currency fixed-income market. In this paper, we will discuss the current situation of our bond market, what the drawbacks are and what may be the remedy for overcoming these drawbacks. INTRODUCTION: Money Market is an integral part of the financial market of a country. It provides a medium for the redistribution of short term loan-able funds among financial institutions, which perform this function by selling these short term securities that usually are highly marketable. The money market in Bangladesh is in its transitional stage. The various constituent parts of it are in the process of formation, while continuous efforts are being made to develop appropriate and adequate instruments to be traded in the market. At present Money market instruments such as Government treasury bills of varying maturity, Bangladesh Bank Bills, Certificates of Deposits, Bankers Acceptance or L/C and Repo and Reverse etc in limited supply are available for trading in the market. However, the short-term credit market of the banking sector experienced a tremendous growth since in recent years, a total of about 6000 branches of the scheduled banks provided short-term credit throughout the country in th e form of cash credit, overdraft and demand loan. The paper first analyzes the current situation of the bond markets in Bangladesh: The bond market has played a limited role in the Bangladesh economy. The Bangladesh bond market is also rather shallow compared to the neighboring countries. Then, the paper analyzes the main impediments to the Bangladesh debt market include (I) the weak regulatory framework; (ii) supply-side constraints such as a lack of the benchmark bonds; (iii) demand-side constraints such as the limited investor base; (iv) a lack of intermediaries with expertise in debt products; (v) a lack of confidence in corporate borrowers; (vi) market distortions which are caused by the National Savings Scheme (NSS) offering above-market returns; and (vii) a lack of interest from private companies, including financial intermediaries and large business, in launching new debt products due to high fees. Finally, the paper offers a roadmap for the development of the Bangladesh bond market. BACKGROUND: Before independence, the use of bonds as a means of resource mobilization was virtually non-existent in Bangladesh. Immediately after liberation, the government of Bangladesh reissued long-term bonds accepting the liabilities of the Income Tax Bonds and the Defense Bonds of the Pakistan government held by Bangladeshi nationals and institutions. The government also issued a 5% non-negotiable bond to Bangladeshi shareholders of nationalized industries. In addition, savings bonds were also issued to pay for the value of demonetized 100-taka notes in 1974. Most of these bonds are held by Bangladesh bank. The first effort to mobilize savings for use of development expenditure was the issue of Wage Earners Development Bonds in 1981 to be sold to Bangladeshi wage earners abroad. Later, a two-year special treasury bond was issued in January 1984 to be sold to individuals, public and private sector organizations including banks. In December 1985, another instrument, the National Bond, was issued to be sold to non-bank investors. During the implementation period of the financial sector reform programmed that took effect from 1990, Nationalized commercial banks, specialized banks and development financial institutions had to make considerable provisions for huge classified loans. As a result, the capital base of those banks and financial institutions eroded severely and their viability was seriously threatened. In this situation, the government issued a series of bonds to restructure the capital base of these banks and financial institutions as well as to assume the liabilities of the bad loans made to a number of public sector organizations. The government also issued some bonds for augmenting loan able funds for specialized banks and financial institutions. Moreover, some bonds were also issued to mobilize funds for a number of public sector organizations like the TT Board, Bangladesh Biman etc. Following is the list of bonds issued by the government on various occasions: 15-year treasury bond (recapitalization and bad debt provisioning, issued 30.12.1990); 3-year Jatiya Biniyog Bond (national investment bond, issued 30.12. 1985); Interest-free treasury bond (issued 1988, withdrawn from 15.10.1993); treasury bond to specialized banks (issued 2.5.1993); 3-year T T bond (for digital telephone installation, issued 29.12.1993); 3-year special treasury bond (for reimbursement of losses on A/C of working capital, issued 1.7.1993); 15-year treasury bond (capitalization, provisioning and agricultural loans write-off, issued 16.10.1993); 25-year treasury bond (jute sector liquidation, issued 1.11.1993); 3-year treasury bond (re constitution of BSRS, issued 16.4.1994); interest free treasury bond (issued 30.6.1994) and 2-year treasury bond (issued 15.7.1995) for reimbursement of agricultural loan remission,); 3-year treasury bond (reimbursement of loss in jute sector, issued 1.7.1994); 3-year TT bond (for digital telephone installation, issued 7.8.1994); 3-year treasury bond (reimbursement of loan loss in BADC, issued 29.6.1995); 3-year treasury bond (reimbursement of loan loss in BTMC, issued 29.6.1995); 3-year T T bond (for digital telephone installation, issued 30.1.1995); 3-year jute treasury bond (for jute sector, issued 1.7.1995); 25-year treasury bond (jute sector liquidation, issued 30.6.1994); 5-year Biman treasury bond (to increase share capital of Biman, issued 29.6.1995); 3-year jute treasury bond (issued 1.7.1995); 25-year jute treasury bond (private banks jute loan liquidation, issued 1.7.1995); 15-year agriculture treasury bond (reimbursement of agricultural loan remission, issued 16.4.1996) ; 3-year T T bond (for digital telephone installation, issued 30.11.1996); 3-year treasury bond (reconstitution of BSRS, issued 19.6.1997); 5-year Biman treasury bond (share capital, issued 1.4.1997); 3-year treasury bond (reimbursement of loan loss in BTMC, issued 26.5.1996); 3-year T T bond (for digital telephone installation, issued 22.6.1999); 10-year jute treasury bond (for jute sector, issued 1.7.1995); 5-year Biman treasury bond (issued 25.5.1998); 5-year Biman treasury bond (issued 15.7.1998); 10-year BSC treasury bond (to meet the loss of BSC, issued 1.7.1998); 10-year jute treasury bond (for jute sector, issued 1.7.1995); 3-year TT bond (issued 18.8.1999); and 3 year treasury bond (bad loan provisioning, issued 1.1.2000). Marketability of bonds issued in the country is very limited. The bulk of these bonds are held by the nationalized commercial banks. The few specialized and some private banks hold a part of them. Individuals and non-bank financial institutions also hold some of these bonds. Therefore, the main market of these bonds so far is being provided by the banks which hold them due to the government allocation system, as well as to maintain statutory liquidity requirements (SLR). Many of these bonds are non-negotiable. As there is no secondary market in the country, the holders of these bonds have to wait till the date of maturity for their encashment. LITERATURE STUDY: Bond Market is a place or incidence of transaction in which any kind of bonds changes hands. References to the bond market usually refer to the government bond market, because of its size, liquidity, lack of credit risk and, therefore, sensitivity to interest rates. Because of the inverse relationship between bond valuation and interest rates, the bond market is often used to indicate changes in interest rates or the shape of the yield curve. Bond markets in most countries remain decentralized and lack common exchanges like stock, future and commodity markets. This has occurred, in part, because no two bond issues are exactly alike, and the number of different securities outstanding is far larger. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association classifies the broader bond market into five specific bond markets. Corporate Government Agency Municipal Mortgage Backed, Asset Backed, and Collateralized Debt Obligation Funding Bond markets link issuers having long-term financing needs with investors willing to place funds in long-term, interest-bearing security. Bangladesh has both the issuers and the investors in place but it still has not been able to link them effectively through a bond market. The positive effect of developing a domestic bond market on the economy is well-known. On the one hand, bond markets are essential for a country to enter a sustained phase of development driven by market-based capital allocation and increased avenues for raising debt capital. On the other hand, the central position occupied by domestic bond markets in markedly increasing the resilience of a country’s financial system and insulating it against external shocks, contagion and reduction of access to international capital markets is established. Capital markets are essentially about matching the needs of investors with those that need capital for development. Bangladesh has no shortage of both such parties, a young and dynamic population that increasingly wants, and is able to, make provision for lifetime events, to save for children’s education, for the possibility of ill health and ultimately for old age and retirement. On the other side of the equation, Bangladesh has a pressing need for investment resources to bolster its stretched infrastructure resources, to build more power stations, bridges, ports and gas-pipelines to empower the people in the development of enterprise and the creation of jobs. Debt markets are an extremely effective mechanism for matching the long term needs of savers with those of entrepreneurs. Term capital is a precious commodity and it has been a frustration to see the process of long term savings, such as provident funds and life insurance contracts, being invested in short term instrume nts such as bank deposits, a process we call ‘reverse term transformation’ but we could equally call it â€Å"reverse alchemy† in which the gold of term capital is turned into the lead of short term liabilities. As a development institution it is our goal to establish sustainable capacity. As Bangladesh has led the world in its development of the microfinance industry, we have impressed others with our ability to mobilize funds for productive purposes at the community level in the villages. What we need to see now is a similar degree of success at the institutional level in terms of mobilizing resources for infrastructure and other uses of long term funds. It is much more useful that Taka funds are mobilized to fund projects whose sole revenue source will be in Taka. Bangladesh should play a larger role in mobilizing its own capital resources and reducing the dependency upon donor institutions such as World Bank, IMF and ADB etc. Bond markets in most countries are built on the same basic elements: a number of issuers with long-term financing needs, investors with a need to place savings or other liquid funds in interest-bearing securities, intermediaries that bring together investors and issuers, and an infrastructure that provides a conducive environment for securities transactions, ensures legal title to securities and settlement of transactions, and provides price discovery information. The regulatory regime provides the basic framework for bond markets and indeed, for capital markets in general. Efficient bond markets are characterized by a competitive market structure, low transaction costs, low levels of fragmentation, a robust and safe market infrastructure, and a high level of heterogeneity among market participants. An important element of a domestic bond market is the government bond market. Development of a government bond market provides a number of important benefits if the pre-requisites to a sound development are in place. At the macroeconomic policy level, government securities market provides an avenue for domestic funding of budget deficits and avoids a build-up of foreign currency-denominated debt. A government securities market can also strengthen the transmission and implementation of monetary policy, including the achievement of monetary targets or inflation objectives, and can enable the use of market-based indirect monetary policy instruments. The existence of such a market not only can enable authorities to smooth consumption and investment expenditures in response to shocks, but if coupled with sound debt management, can also help governments reduce their exposure to interest rate risk – a situation that is looming large in the National Savings Certificates market, cu rrency, and other financial risks. Finally, a shift toward market-oriented funding of government budget deficits will reduce debt-service costs over the medium to long term through development of a deep and liquid market for government securities. The prerequisites for establishing an efficient government domestic currency securities market include a credible and stable government; sound fiscal and monetary policies; effective legal, tax, and regulatory infrastructure; smooth and secure settlement arrangements; and a liberalized financial system with competing intermediaries. Since pension and life insurance reform helps in the development of government securities market, starting the process of pension and insurance reform now might be prudent because of the time it takes to feel the positive impact of such reforms on the capital market. The current emphasis on local-currency bond markets stems mainly from their risk-management benefits, as highlighted by the Asia and the Tequila crises. Issuing bonds can reduce the types of interest rate, foreign exchange, and refunding exposures that created those crises and can help ensure that emerging market borrowers have more shock absorbers- more tools- to limit the impact of those exposures. Foreign investment is clearly a plus for economic development but it does create certain risks. Since financial sector crises will never be eliminated, and, at least for many years to come, flows into emerging markets will be large in relation to the markets in which they are investing, any rapid outflow will create serious problems for the borrowing country. Emerging market countries must find ways to manage the risks, and hence benefit from international capital flows. They need to be able to reduce exposures to foreign-currency borrowing and also absorb the associated shocks and volatility, so that small problems will not escalate into broadly based social catastrophes, harming people who were in no way directly involved in the markets. Local-currency bonds dampen the effect of crises created by international capital flows by locking in interest rates and local-currency funding. This allows borrowers to hold on to their funds and positions and work their way through a crisis. But, as happened in Asia, many borrowers want to rely on short-term, foreign-currency funding because when their economy and local currency is strong, such borrowing creates a double benefit to their net worth: the borrower’s liabilities fall while its assets and revenues rise. The flip side is that when times turn bad, borrowers get a double hit on their net worth: liabilities rise and assets fall, causing strains and in some cases defaults. The solution to this problem is to use funding structures that have a neutral effect on net worth, as in the case of bonds. The difficulty lies in convincing borrowers that good times may turn bad, and in getting them to incur the potential opportunity cost from locking in stable funds and rates. Local bond markets also support major trends that stem from economic and financial sector growth. For issuers, infrastructure development is creating demands throughout Asia and other parts of the world for large-scale, longer-term funds that banks cannot often provide. Privatization, securitization (particularly for housing finance), and decentralization of governments are all creating new financing demands. On the investor side, many countries are now rich enough for insurance and social security and are creating institutional investors that need long-term assets. They want to keep their interest rate (fixed), reinvestment (long term), and local-currency risks to manageable levels. With macroeconomic stability increasing in many countries, issuers and investors alike are more willing to lock in rates. Local bond markets also strengthen the financial sector by encouraging greater transparency, pushing companies to disclose in public markets and forcing them to better understand themselves and in turn improve their management (as is the case in equity markets, too). Bond markets create competition with the local banking sector, which can reduce lending rates. Ideally, countries should try to build both primary and secondary markets for bonds. Primary markets reduce the three risks noted; secondary markets, by adding liquidity and broadening the investor base, help reduce funding costs. Many countries will not be able to create secondary markets, and some will find it hard to develop public primary markets. Whatever the situation, reducing one or two of the three financing risks is worthwhile. Getting local-currency, fixed-rate, long-term funds in a private placement may cost more than a publicly traded issue but it might be all that a country can do, and will reduce the issuer’s risk. Developing bond markets can be more complicated than developing equity markets. Bond markets need supporting pricing infrastructure. They operate best when they have money market and longer-term benchmarks. Most emerging markets lack these benchmarks. The issuer’s credit risk is another major concern. The issuer has to service and repay the bonds, whereas with equity the issuer can be â€Å"incubated† from payments as it grows. Investors need to make sure issuers have the cash flow to make interest payments and redeem principal. Bond markets simply cannot grow as quickly as equity markets can. Furthermore, bond markets need more sophisticated market participants. Issuers need to be able to manage their cash flow to make repayments. Bond markets typically need dealers and market makers, which means creating a new class of intermediaries who can take positions and manage their risks. FINDINGS: The obstacles to bond market development can be divided into three broad categories: those around and across the market, and those inside the fixed-income markets. Around and Across the Market The obstacles in this group stem from the political situation, the macroeconomic situation, and the broader financial system. The Political Situation: The People’s Republic of Bangladesh has been a parliamentary democracy since September 1991. The present government is headed by the Awami League which has an absolute majority, but the opposition party has stepped up its nationwide program of strikes, processions, and mass meetings. These activities have weakened the government’s intentions to foster changes such as the development of the financial market. In addition, certain commercial and financial regulations are outdated in that they tend to focus on institutions rather than functions. Governance and accountability are lacking in certain areas, and there are elements of inefficiency in the financial system, mainly concerning the state-owned banking sector. Although the government is aware of these problems, it has been slow to improve governance and develop strong institutional capacity. The problems created by these weak institutions are compounded by an increasingly confrontational political environment. At the same time, the government has committed itself to launching financial reforms that could help accelerate the country’s rate of growth. The main goal of these reforms is to reduce the direct controls on the financial system, and to deregulate and introduce a new set of market-oriented approaches to financial sector activity. The Bangladesh National Budget for 1999–2000, for example, earmarks funds for the creation of a central depository system (CDS) to help streamline trading at the stock exchanges and improve authentication. Furthermore, a proposal is under scrutiny that would amend the Trust Act to allow provident and pensions funds to invest in the capital market. To achieve that goal, it will be essential to ease the bad-loan situation, which is draining the country of its monetary resources. But certain factions in Bangladesh oppose those aims and commitments. Since no one has stepped forward to â€Å"champion reform,† the government appears unwilling and unable to undertake the requisite changes in due time. Because the political environment is so fragile, laws and regulations are not being fully enforced. Macroeconomic Situation: Bangladesh’s macroeconomy was fairly strong throughout the 1990s, with growth rates averaging a respectable 5%, and inflation averaging a modest 9%–10%. The primary fiscal deficit during the past five years has averaged about 5.5% of GDP, which has generally been within sustainable limits. (However, the consolidated public sector deficit, taking into account losses incurred by state-owned enterprises, is much higher and underscores the need for improved fiscal management, although foreign exchange reserves have become more stable recently owing to impressive export performance and reduced imports.) Heightened foreign investor interest in the country’s natural gas sector has opened up tremendous possibilities. But despite these positive elements there are some serious constraints on the development of active corporate bond markets in Bangladesh. First, Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world, with approximately 125 million inhabitants, of which ab out 60 million live below the poverty line. Although its GNP growth rates- in the range of 4%–5% year- are attractive, they suggest that it will take Bangladesh 25 years to double its per capita income. In order to reduce the incidence of poverty to about 11%, as it hopes to do, Bangladesh will have to achieve economic growth rates of 7.5% or more a year. According to several studies (see, for example, World Bank, â€Å"Bangladesh, Key Challenges for the Next Millennium,† April 1999), economy has the capacity to move out of poverty with increasing speed, but that will require decisive policy actions in several areas, not least of which is the financial market. However, a sense of urgency is missing in policymaking, despite the growing imbalances in the economy and crowding out as Bangladesh continues to channel vast monetary resources into servicing bad loans. Given that macroeconomic changes can happen in short periods of time and that non-performing loans, which account for a third of the loan portfolio, can create financial sector vulnerability, the bad-loan situation could trigger a severe liquidity crisis nationwide. It can take decades to build a fixed-income market in the wake of such crises. This issue clearly needs immediate and focused attention. If the country’s positive macroeconomic trends continue into the future, the fiscal deficit and bad-loan situation will ease up and these factors would pose less threat to the financial market. Broader Laws and Regulations: Certain omissions or drawbacks of the broader laws and regulations directly affect development of the fixed-income market. First, with regard to the ownership of land, the law provides for the registration of deeds rather than of ownership, which makes it impossible to take land as collateral for bond issuance. Second, the law makes arbitration a cumbersome and slow process; moreover, foreign arbitration awards are not enforceable in Bangladesh. Third, in terms of obtaining issuers, there is no privatization law to lend transparency and authority to the privatization process, although one is at present being drafted. Fourth, Bangladesh’s laws represent a mixture of codified British common law and legal principles from various religious heritages. Although the court system derives from a common law tradition, Bangladesh courts are limited in their ability to function effectively. In view of these constraints, the legal system can move only so fast in amending the laws and enacting new ones, even though the government acknowledges the need for such changes. Contract laws and commercial codes seem to be fair, but ensuring that they are observed is difficult because of a weak adjudication system. Broader Financial System: The broader financial system includes the banking sector, nonbanking sector, government securities market, and short-term money markets. Banking sector. Bangladesh’s banking system, which is dominated by state-owned NCBs, creates two serious problems for a local corporate bond market.First, the system provides low-cost loans to stateowned enterprises, which account for a large part of the corporate sector. This undermines development of the corporate bond market because other financial institutions are unable to compete with these â€Å"underpriced loans.† Indeed, the state-owned enterprises constitute a large part of the NCBs’ business. To complicate matters,development financial institutions (DFIs) also provide low-cost loans, priced at a small percentage over bank deposits for similar maturities. Second, the banking sector is faced with a substantial number of bad loans; nonperforming assets account for about 30% of total assets. Although these nonperforming assets can be said to create a need for an active bond market, to the extent that banks are constrained in new lending and thereby cannot meet the funding needs of corporate borrowers, they also rob the bond market of needed investors. Yet the state-owned banks just keep on making bad loans. Nonbanking sector. The nonbanking portion of the financial sector consists of two small stock exchanges (Dhaka and Chittagong),2 both of which have still not recovered from the bull market problems of 1996, which left the public suspicious of corporate institutions because it is hard to get them to disclose their figures. At that time, the stock exchange experienced a hefty run-up in prices owing to a large inflow of funds from retail investors. This inflow, drawn by the prospect of easy money, was a new experience for the Bangladesh people, but it lasted only the second half of 1996. In those six months the index soared from 500 to 3500 and the market came crashing down to about 600. The stock market has not recovered yet: in May 1999 the index hit a 63-month low, at about 465. The average daily turnover in the spring of 1999 was about US$1 million to US$2 million. The weak operating performance by listed companies and low confidence in the market overall has made it difficult for the market to recover. In sum, the nonbanking sector has not evolved in a way that would allow it to play an active role in the financial system. Nor, as discussed in the section on intermediaries, is it prepared to play an active and skilled leadership role in developing and participating in an active fixed income market. Government securities market: The government securities market in Bangladesh is small, does not provide much of a yield curve to support a corporate bond market, and does not provide intermediaries with skills and a profit base to support the corporate bond market. At present, the government issues long-term savings certificates at high interest rates and government bonds, and it only has market-oriented rates for T-bills. At the shorter end of the market, T-bills are auctioned weekly for 91 days and the Bangladesh Bank (BB) occasionally issues paper for 180 days, 365 days, and 720 days. Commercial banks participate in auctions weekly for 91-day T-bills, whereas the others are issued occasionally. Accepted bids are noted in the newspapers. The market is small, with outstandings of about US$800 million. There is no secondary market and no market for repurchase agreements (â€Å"repos†). T-bills are transferable, but settlement is manual and very slow, done through BB. On the whole, T-bills are mainly used to satisfy statutory liquidity requirements (SLRs). The past few years have seen a clear bias for short-term borrowing. Government bonds, with maturities ranging from 3 to 25 years, are issued when needed; they do not create a yield curve as T-bonds are nontransferable, mostly because they are issued to recapitalize state-owned banks. Their notable feature is that they are guaranteed by the government and are eligible for SLRs. Government savings certificates (GSCs) range in maturity from three to eight years. GSCs are offered to different types of investors in the retail sector (but small corporate are allowed to invest). The types of investors are mostly individuals and families but also include charity and provident funds. GSCs are issued in series through the year. The holder may redeem them at par at any time. Finally, GSC issuances offer significantly higher rates than local bank deposits, which create a relatively high rate for risk-free and tax-free government securities. This establishes a high benchmark rate for corporate fixed-income securities, creating a disincentive to invest in corporate securities. GSC rates are 2%–3% higher after tax compared with rates on other government paper. GSCs create a high benchmark interest rate foundation for corporate securities. That matters because it is very hard to compete with risk-free government debt. At present, Bangladesh law and the government’s fiscal and monetary policy combine to create a financial market monopoly for GSCs and NCBs, which in turn keeps alternate financial intermediation from emerging. Bangladesh needs a healthy nonbank financial institution (NBFI) sector to increase mobilization and make competitive financing available in a fixed-income market. To achieve that end, it must break the NCBs’ monopoly. Although the government is aware of this problem and has put forward some relevant reforms, there are no real incentives to speed up the process, maybe because of political considerations. Short-term money markets: Money markets provide another foundation for bond markets. The money markets in Bangladesh are quite small. There is an interbank market, in which commercial banks borrow and lend to adjust their short positions (the size of this market is not publicly known). Normal maturities range from overnight to 30 days. Bangladesh also has a forward market for U.S. dollars against the taka, but only for short maturities. There is no commercial paper market. Inside the Fixed-Income Markets The important factors to consider inside the fixed-income markets are regulators and regulations, central market infrastructure, and intermediaries. Regulators and Regulations: One impediment at the regulator and regulation level is the overlapping authority between the two financial market regulators, Bangladesh Bank and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and no clear jurisdiction over the fixed-income market. In general, BB regulates the commercial banks and their activities, while the SEC regulates the NBFIs, the two stock exchanges, and the capital market. A second problem is that the SEC has no authority to issue rules and regulations, and the procedure as a whole is long and drawn out. As a result, the SEC has not proposed any regulations for the issuance of bonds or debentures. All rule proposals must first be submitted to the Minister of Finance for approval and then passed on for approval from Ministry of Law. Furthermore, potential issuers have to look at various sets of regulations and follow a long and cumbersome procedure. Third, although the SEC requires listed companies to meet international standards on accounting and auditing, accounting information appears to be of doubtful quality and reliability. Fourth, the Securities and Exchange Act of 1993 confers vast regulatory authority on the state, and is regarded as a constraint on capital market development. There is a board of policymakers. Three of its members are appointed by the state, another is from the Ministry of Finance and one from the central bank, and the chairman is appointed by the government. Fifth, in the present system, a company can float debentures up to a maximum amount of its current asset value and has to register its assets in the name of the Trustee as Security. Hence there is no provision for floating unsecured debentures. Central Market Infrastructure: In the absence of a secondary market in fixed-income securities, no effort has been made to build up a central market infrastructure to support it. Bangladesh only has a telephone market for T-bill trading and central market infrastructure at the stock exchange for trading equities and debentures. In the T-bill market, the counterparts call each other and settle transactions without any transparency in real time for other participants in the market. At the stock exchange, the debenture market is fully automated. The debenture market has a somewhat more transparent order-matching system in that bids and offers are entered in the computer and then matched automatically. Bangladesh has no central depository system, though one is expected to start operating in 2000. Today, clearing and settlement are done manually, which creates various risks to completing a transaction. Also lacking are a credit rating agency, research and information companies, and market information on screens; market participants are referred to other media, such as the daily financial newspaper, and thus experience a delay in obtaining essential eco- nomic information. According to some participants, even that information is often unreliable. Market Participants: Market participants can be divided into issuers, investors, and intermediaries. Issuers: The foremost impediment here is that Bangladesh lacks a significant number of potential, good-quality issuers. Its economy continues to be agriculturally based; agriculture accounts for nearly 30% of the country’s GNP, and more than 70% of the labor force is engaged in agricultural activities. The industry and service sectors contribute 20% and 50%, respectively, but compared with landholdings, the average size of industrial and commercial enterprises is rather modest. Most private sector enterprises are small and owner-run, many are of â€Å"cottage size† and most are in the garment industry, which to date depends largely on short-term bank loans for financing. These enterprises could benefit from longer-term funding but are neither large enough nor well known enough to issue bonds. Most of the large-scale industrial units and commercial enterprises are state owned. Their shares are not listed, and they do not offer debentures since their financing needs are met by the government or by the state-owned NCBs. These state-owned firms generally stay outside the capital market. The privatization program for state-owned companies works too slow to influence the market. Second, although Bangladesh has a debenture market, to date only a small number of well-known issuers have used the market (see table 2). The liquidity in those debentures at the stock exchange is insignificant because of the small number of investors and their buy-and-hold mentality. The investor community does not seem to find this market too attractive owing to weak disclosure by the issuers, which in turn reduces credibility and investor confidence. Third, companies find that issuing debt is costly, both in monetary and nonmonetary terms. The interest rate distortion due to the GSCs mentioned earlier raises the ongoing cost of borrowing, while various up-front costs amount to about 7% of the value of the issue (these include registration costs- that is, stamp duties- totaling about 2.5% of the issue value). Fourth, it is difficult to persuade issuers to disclose sufficient information about their companies (although prospectus requirements for listed debentures do seem fair). Yet another problem is that most potential issuers are unwilling to take the opportunity cost involved in issuing a long-term bond. In addition, the absence of a yield curve makes pricing difficult. Investors: On the investor side, few investors are sophisticated enough to think about investing in bonds. About 80% of the base here is made up of retail investors, whose primary concerns include the equity at the stock exchange or the government savings certificate. Of the few institutional investors that could support a bond market, most are either prevented from investing in corporate bonds by restrictive guidelines or are not professionally managed. The major institutional investors are the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh- a government-owned financial institution- and the insurance companies. The mutual fund industry in Bangladesh is the exclusive domain of ICB. There are no private mutual funds to mobilize savings toward the debt market, and the ICB’s monopoly has prevented new investor companies, that is, mutual funds, from developing in Bangladesh. There are provident and pension funds (total assets managed amount to Tk 6.7 billion; see The Financial Express), self-managed by public and private corporate entities, but none are professionally managed. The pension obligations of the gov- ernment are not funded. The Trust Act of 1882 prohibits those funds from being invested in equities, corporate debentures, and private money market instruments. In addition, no protective laws are in effect to ensure that investors will get their dividend and capital back. Missing are higher audit standards together with SEC regulations on disclosure standards in prospectus along with arbitrary institutions. Furthermore, most investors lack a trading mentality and just buy and hold because of SLR requirements or because they do not know how to trade. Few foreign investors are attracted to this, mainly because of the weak disclosure by the borrowers. As for the general public, it has little understanding of debt products, and the intermediaries are not much help because few engage in research on markets, companies and industries to encourage investment. Intermediaries: Intermediaries in Bangladesh lack many of the skills needed to foster an active local corporate bond market. As mentioned earlier, commercial banks dominate the financial sector and not enough intermediaries are skilled in securities. Few are able to identify issuers and investors and bring them to the market. They provide little or no research analysis on industries or companies to encourage investment in the local debt market. Too few private merchant banks are able to conduct financial advisory and trust services. Nor do any feel motivated to become a market maker for an issue. Hence the market is illiquid, with large spreads. At the same time, the fee structure and pricing are high enough to allow intermediaries to make money, but because transactions are so limited, the intermediaries seldom make money. Even if they are able to participate, intermediaries are reluctant to take any risk in dealing. Prospects of a bond market in Bangladesh: Despite the earlier setbacks the bond markets in Bangladesh is ready to take off. The need for a bond market in Bangladesh deserves attention because of the following: Foreign aid flow is diminishing and the trend is expected to continue. Specialized banks are not in a position to supply desired level of long term fund. Commercial banks have strategically cut down their long term lending. The concept of prudent asset mix is most likely to generate demand for investment grade bonds. The Provident Funds and Insurance Companies Funds are not generally allowed to invest their funds in stock market instruments. There is a bright possibility that these funds may be permitted to invest a part of their funds in marketable instruments subject to prudential guidelines, which may necessitate supply of lucrative debt instruments. Reduction in the interest on Govt. savings instruments and withdrawal of certain savings instruments is expected to boost demand for debt instruments. The registration fee for trust deed has been reduced from 2.5% (on the amount of debentures) to Tk. 2500.00 providing a very significant incentive. There are now credit rating agencies to provide rating prospective issuer. Any interest paid by investor on money borrowed for investment in debentures is deducted from total income. Interest income not exceeding Tk. 20000 received by an individual investor on debentures approved by SEC is excluded from total income.. The interest on Zero coupon bond approved by SEC at the hand of the recipient is tax exempt upto Tk. 25000.00. Such interest exceeding Tk. 25000.00 is subjected to tax @ 10% deducted at source. Banks and other financial institutions and insurance companies which are the mainstay of demand for bonds will now pay 10% tax on interest on such bonds instead of 45% tax payable on other income RECOMMENDATIONS: Recent developments and events have already created an environment conducive to fosterage of the debt market. A number of financial institutions have sold bonds or debentures to institutions. Further, an Islami Bank has decided to issue perpetual bond subject to approval of relevant authorities. It is also expected that quite a number of institutions will float bonds through securitisation in the near further. A sustainable bond market needs enabling policies. The following actions and policy measures are seen important to promote a bond market in Bangladesh. All issues of debentures be rated by independent rating agency prior to issue. Companies issuing bonds/debentures to public may be rated periodically to keep track of issuing companys financial position. Public utilities and infrastructure projects be asked to raise a part of debt through issue of marketable bonds. Industrial companies with good track record be advised to issue marketable bonds instead of relying on bank financing. Existing public utilities and infrastructure projects be advised to securitise debts by issuing marketable bonds. Existing industrial companies be encouraged to replace a portion of bank/DFI loans with marketable bonds. To facilitate liquidity of marketable bonds, discounting facilities may be provided by financial institutions. Systems of market makers (specialists) may be evolved to facilitate market for marketable bonds. Bond maturities be diversified between one year and seven years as to give investors with different maturity profiles the option of purchasing debentures with different maturities. The methods of revolving underwriting facility (RUF) may be introduced so that companies can issue short-term debentures whenever necessity arises. RUF is a system in which a consortium of underwriters make commitment to the issuing company to purchase all the unsold portions of the short-term debentures which may be issued from time to time during a certain period (e.g. five years) up to certain maximum amount. Coupon rates and all other issuing conditions of debentures be determined by market forces. Coupon rates may differ according to the rating of the issuer accorded by independent rating agency. In order to make long-term investment more attractive, issuers may find it useful to increase the coupon rate as years go by, e.g. 9 percent in the first year, 10 percent in the second year, 11 percent in the third year and so on. Such increasing coupon rate methods will be useful, especially if the investor is given the right to call for redemption of the bonds at the end of each year so that he may choose to hold them to enjoy a higher coupon rate. Interest received by individual investors on bonds/debentures approved by SEC may be fully exempted from tax. Investment in bonds/debentures approved by SEC may be given tax-exempt status up to a certain limit. The tax rates/relief available to investors on Zero coupon bonds may be extended to all other bonds/debentures approved by SEC. If all the above things can be done, then this could pave the path for a well-functioning bond market that can change the existing bank-oriented financial system to a multilayered system, where capital markets can complement bank financing. REFERENCE: Jeff Madhura. â€Å"Financial Markets and Institutions† (7th Edition). Thomson south-western Scott Besley Eugene F. Brigham. â€Å"Essentials of Managerial Finance†(13th Edition). Thomson south-western Peter S. Rose Sylvia C. Hudgins. â€Å"Bank Management Financial Services† (7th Edition). McGraw-Hill International Edition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bond_market (Retrieved on: 14.04.2008). bangladesh-bank.org/seminar/iwdbmbd/seciia06.html (Retrieved on: 14.04.2008). http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/EXTPROGRAMS/EXTTRADERESEARCH/0,,contentMDK:20625246~menuPK:64001880~pagePK:210083~piPK:152538~theSitePK:544849,00.html (Retrieved on: 14.04.2008). ifc.org/ifcext/publications.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/Building_Local_Bonds_Chp.14/$FILE/Building_Local_Bonds_Chp.14.pdf (Retrieved on: 14.04.2008). 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