7 G Basic Banking Guide A to Z
G
GATT
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. (GATT) was first signed in 1947. The agreement was designed to provide an international forum that encouraged free trade between member states by regulating and reducing tariffs on traded goods and by providing a common mechanism for resolving trade disputes. Treaty organization affiliated with the United Nations whose purpose is to facilitate international trade GATT was replaced by the WTO in 1995.
Gazette
Official publication issued by the government, such as gazette of Pakistan, gazetted holidays,
General average
This is a Marine insurance provision under which damages or expenses incurred by shippers are shared among them in proportion to the value of their exposed cargo. It is the contract between the cargo owner and the ship owner to compensate loss in case of direct harm to the ship and/or to the cargo, or in a course of action to prevent initial or additional harm to them.
General crossing
General crossing is a cheque which bears across its face two parallel transverse lines without any words like �and company� �or �& Co.� written in between them. Section 123 of Negotiable instrument Act 1881deals with general crossing. If a cheque is crossed generally, it can not be paid on counter in cash.
General ledger
The general ledger is the main accounting record of a business which uses double-entry bookkeeping. It consist on accounts for such items as current assets, fixed assets, liabilities, revenue and expense items, it provides the entire data for preparing financial statements for the company.
General lien
It applied to all goods, not just the actual goods provided, by the borrower,. It covers not only the goods or property that gives rise to the debt, but all the goods or property of the debtor.
General reserve
It is a reserve created for general purpose, by transferring some amount of undistributed profit for funding expansion, acquisition, paying dividends, discharging of liabilities, writing off of losses, or redemption of securities etc.
Going concern
Currently operating business that is expected to continue to function as such and remain viable in the predictable future.
Gold credit card
Refer credit card
Golden handshake
Extra payment in the form of generous bonus offered to an employee, as a separation payment, or an inducement to leave the company without creating a controversy or fuss. In late nineties and early two thousand banks operating in Pakistan have offered golden handshake to their employees.
Gold reserve
the stock of gold held by a government or central bank to back its promissory notes or currency or to settle its international debts.
Gold standard
A monetary standard under which the basic unit of currency is equal in value to and exchangeable for a specified amount of gold.
Good faith
Acting according to the standards of honesty, trust, sincerity, etc. If banker acts in good faith and without negligence, he can claim protection under the law and there should not be any reason to question his motives.
Goodwill
This is the excess of the purchase price over the fair market value of the net assets of a company. It is an intangible asset, arising from the reputation and prestige of a business and its relations with its customers over a period.
Gratuity
This is a kind of bonus given permanent staff of a company on discharge or retirement in return for services rendered.
Gresham law
The tendency of the public for hording new or fresh currency notes push back in circulation old /inferior types of currency notes.
GDP
This is the abbreviation of gross domestic products. It is the total market value of all the goods and services produced within the borders of a country during a specified period and a basic measure of a countrys economic performance,
GNP
This is the abbreviation of Gross national product it is the sum total of the total market value of all the goods and services produced by a nation during a specified period. Pakistan�s GNP crossed $ 150 billions in 2007.
Gross profit
Amount by which sales revenue exceeds production costs or cost of goods sold. A high gross income means stability in the competitive market because the company can afford to cut prices; a low gross profit may mean inability to fight off competition.
Ground rent
In the indo pak subcontinent, the rent that a person or organization who builds upon land owned by another, commonly under a 99-year lease , pays to the land owner. After the expiry of the lease, either the leasehold owner vacates the land or pays an agreed sum for renewal of the lease.
Group
It refers to the persons, whether natural or juridical, if one of them or his dependent family members or its subsidiary, have control or hold substantial ownership interest over the other.
A body shall be deemed to be a subsidiary of another company if that other company or body corporate directly or indirectly controls, or holds more than 50% of its voting or otherwise has power to elect and appoint more than 50% of its directors.
Control refers to an ownership directly or indirectly through subsidiaries, of more than one half of voting power of an enterprise.
Substantial ownership / affiliation means beneficial shareholding of more than 20% by a person and/or by his dependent family members, which will include his/her spouse, dependent brothers and sisters. However, shareholding in or by the Government owned entities and financial institutions will not constitute substantial ownership/affiliation, for the purpose of these regulations.
Group insurance
This is a single insurance policy or contract that covers a groups of employees and in some cases their dependents.
Guarantee
A contract of guarantee is an agreement to perform the promise and/or to discharge the liability of a third person in case of default. In other words, a guarantee is an undertaking by the guarantor to be collaterally responsible for a debt in case of default by principle debtor. So for enforcement of guarantee against guarantor, default from principle debtors is must.
Guarantor
The person who gives a guarantee, a surety
Guardian
A person who is entrusted by law to look after the person or property, or both, of another, as a minor or someone legally incapable of managing his or her own affairs. In banking business, generally parents play the part of a guardian, unless specially authorized by the court to an other person.