|
| |
Business Reading Room
Glossary and Acronyms - from L to
M
A An
B C Con D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S Sp T U VWXYZ
LDC
Lesser Developed Countries.
LLC
Limited Liability Company
LLP
Limited Liability Partnership
Laisser Passer
A document accorded by a host government to foreign diplomatic personnel, which permits
them to pass freely across the border of that country.
Lake Chad Basin Commission
The LCBC recommends plans for developing the Chad Basin and coordinates research programs.
The Commission was established in 1964; headquarters are in N'Djamena, Chad. LCBC members
include: The Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria.
Latin American Association of Development Financing Institutions
The Association promotes cooperation among members in ways which support the integration
of Latin American economies, including efforts to improve the flow of information among
members and encouraging studies of problems of common interest. Members include 24 Latin
American countries and several countries in Europe and North America. The Association was
established in January 1968; headquarters are in Lima, Peru.
Latin American Economic System
LAES (Spanish: Sistema Econ¢mico Latinoamericano, SELA), established in October 1975,
promotes economic and social integration among approximately 26 Latin American and
Caribbean member states. The System also seeks to present a united view for Latin America
before agencies of the European Economic Communities and the United Nations. LAES
headquarters are in Caracas, Venezuela.
Latin American Integration Association
LAIA (Spanish: Asociaci¢n Latinoamericana de Integraci¢n, ALADI) was originally created
in 1960 as the Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA). LAFTA was restructured by
the 1980 Montevideo Treaty as a more flexible alternative to LAIA. LAIA, whose membership
included Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru,
Uruguay, and Venezuela, has been declining as a major Latin American integration effort in
favor of regional efforts, such as Mercosur. Association headquarters are in Montevideo,
Uruguay.
Law.
There are two general types of legal system that have developed
throughout the world:
Common law is based on the English legal system and is the basis of
the legal systems in many countries that were historically part of the British Empire,
including many Caribbean countries that now operate as offshore entities.
Civil Law is based primarily on the French and Spanish legal
systems and tends to refer to the constitution of the country rather than past legal
precedent.
Layoffs.
Layoffs are the termination of employees with or without advance
notice and for reasons other than performance. Layoffs are one of many tools used to
implement a downsizing strategy to reduce the size of the workforce. Downsizing can be
done with or without layoffs. Downsizing includes an array of other tools to reduce the
workforce.
Lead Time
The period of time from the date that the goods or services are
requisitioned to the time when goods can be delivered, allowing for the public bidding and
ordering.
League of Arab States
The League of Arab States (or Arab League) is a regional grouping aimed at improving
relations among Arab nations. Members include: Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq,
Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yeman Arab Republic, Yemen People's
Democractic Republic. The League was established in March 1945; headquarters are in Cairo,
Egypt.
Leasing.
Financing under which the customer (or lessee) pays for the use of
assets (capital goods and equipment) in regular installments as the asset produces
revenues. Under a finance lease, a lessee can acquire use of an asset for most, if
not all, of its useful life. Under an operating lease, a lessee
acquires use of an asset for a fraction of its useful life. Sometimes the lessee has the
option to purchase the asset at residual value upon termination of the lease term.
Less Developed Country
An LDC is a country with low per capita gross national product. Terms such as third world,
poor, developing nations, and underdeveloped have also been used to describe less
developed countries.
Lesser Developed Countries
The classification LLDC (sometimes also known as "Least" Developed Countries)
was developed by the United Nations to give some guidance to donor agencies and countries
about an equitable allocation of foreign assistance. The criteria for designating a
country an LLDC, originally adopted by the UN Committee for Development Planning in 1971,
have been modified several times. Criteria have included low: per-capita-income, literacy,
and manufacturing share of the country's total gross domestic product. There is continuing
concern that the criteria should be more robust and less subject to the possibility of
easy fluctuation of a country between less developed and least developed status.
Letters of Credit (also called Documentary
credits)
A document issued by a bank at the buyer's request in favor of the
seller, promising to pay an agreed amount of money upon receipt by the bank of conforming
documents with a specified time.
Irrevocable Letter of Credit - a letter in which the
issuing bank waives all right to cancel or in any way amend without consent of the
beneficiary or seller.
Confirmed Irrevocable Letter of Credit - a letter to
which has been added the responsibility of a bank other than the issuing bank.
Revocable Letter of Credit - a letter in which the
issuing bank reserves the right to cancel or amend such portion of the amount involved as
has not been availed of prior to the actual payment or negotiation of drafts drawn
thereunder.
Revolving Credit - a letter in which the issuing bank
notifies the seller of the merchandise that the amount involved when utilized will again
become available, usually under the same terms and without issuance of another letter.
Special clauses:
1.Red Clause: a clause authorizing the drawing of clean drafts
(without documents) accompanied by a statement that the shipping documents concerned will
be furnished later.
2.Telegraphic Transfer Clause: a clause containing an undertaking
on the part of the issuing bank to pay the invoiced amount to the order of the negotiating
bank upon receipt of an authenticated cablegram (telex) from the latter that the required
documents have been received by it and are being forwarded.
3.Green Clause: an endorsement authorizing the drawing of clean
drafts without documents by the beneficiary, but requiring the covered merchandise to be
stored in the name of the paying bank until the documents are received.
Letter of Undertaking.
See Link Contract.
License.
Official or legal permission from the owners to do, use, or own
specified things of value such as intellectual property, service and trade marks,
technology transfers and know-how. International license agreements between companies in
different countries are subject to the applicable laws in each country which may differ in
their effect and enforcement and accordingly affect the rights and liabilities of the
parties.
Licensed production.
(also one of the means of implementing Offsets - see under Offsets)
Overseas production of a U.S.-origin article based upon transfer of
technical information under direct commercial arrangements beteen a U.S. manufacturer and
a foreign government or producer.
Licensing.
A business arrangement in which the manufacturer of a product (or a
firm with proprietary rights over certain technology,
trademarks, etc.) grants permission to some other group or
individual to manufacture that product (or make use of that proprietary material) in
return for specified royalties or other payment.
Life-Cycle Processing
An accounting approach in which a company sets product prices based on recovering costs
over the life cycle of the product. U.S. authorities dispute the validity of this approach
because projections of future yield improvements cannot be verified at the time of dumping
calculations.
Lighter
An open or covered vessel which transfers cargo between ship and shore, used mainly in
harbors and inland waterways. Lighters are generally used for shorter hauls than barges.
Limited Appointment
Limited appointees to the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service (or to other foreign
services) are persons from the private sector or from the Federal Government who are
non-career officers assigned overseas for a limited time.
Limited International Bidding
LIB is one of several forms of procurement made with World Bank financing. In some
circumstances (such as: small purchases, urgent need, or few suppliers), suppliers or
contractors of specialized goods and services participate by invitation rather than in
response to an advertisement.
Limited Liability.
This is associated with the identity of a company being distinct
from the members that own it, and reflects the position that owners of the company are
only liable for the acts of the company to the extent of any unpaid share capital.
In the United Kingdom there are two types of limited companies:
(a) a private limited company in which the public cannot be invited to subscribe to any
share issue and
(b) a public limited company (plc) which can raise funds through share issues.
Before a limited company can "go public," it must have a minimum share capital.
A private limited company requires no minimum share capital.
Line Release System
The Line Release System, a part of Customs' Automated Commercial System, is designed for
the release and tracking of shipments through the use of personal computers and bar code
technology. To qualify for line release, a commodity must have a history of invoice
accuracy, and be selected by local Customs districts on the basis of high volume. To
release the merchandise, Customs reads the bar code into a personal computer, verifies
that the bar code matches the invoice data, and enters the quantity. The cargo release is
transmitted to the Automated Commercial System, which establishes an entry and the
requirement for an entry summary, and provides the Automated Broker Interface system
participants with release information.
Link Contract.
As used in this publication, a generic name for the side document
that links the import/export components of a countertrade transaction. The link contract
specifies conditions under which a primary supplier irrevocably commits to
purchase, or cause to be purchased, goods and/or services from
sources designated by the primary buyer. It also prescribes penalties or remedial
procedures in case of nonperformance. The document is sometimes referred to as a letter of
undertaking, a protocol, a framework contract, or just a countertrade contract.
Liquidation System
The Liquidation System, a part of Customs' Automated Commercial System, closes the file on
each entry and establishes a batch filing number which is essential for recovering an
entry for review or enforcement purposes. An entry liquidation is a final review of the
entry. P.L. 95-410 (Customs Procedural Reform and Simplification Act of 1978) requires
that all liquidations be performed within one year from the date of consumption entry or
final withdrawal on a warehouse entry. Three one-year extensions are permitted.
Loan Receipt.
Document signed by the Assured where he acknowledges receipt of
money advanced by the insurance company as an interest-free loan (instead of payment of a
loss) repayable to the insurance company only if the loss is recovered from a third party
and then only to the extent of the recovery.
Local Competitive Bidding
LCB is one of several forms of procurement made with World Bank financing. LCB is
generally used for contracts involving: (a) labor intensive activities; (b) small value;
(c) locally procurable services or goods priced below the world market; (d) intermittant
work; or (e) activities to be performed at numerous sites.
LOI
Letter of Intent
Lombard Rate
The Lombard rate is one of the official interest rates in Germany used to regulate
the money market. Other countries use the term Lombard to describe rates which function
somewhat like the Lombard rate. The Swiss, for example, have their own Lombard rate. In
France, it's called the Central Bank Intervention rate but performs the same function.
Lome Convention
The Convention is an agreement concluded at Lom‚, Togo in February 1975 and
which entered into force in April 1976. The orginal Convention has been followed by
several additional Lom‚ Conventions which expanded the scope of the original
agreement. The Convention is between the European Community (EC) and 62 African,
Caribbean, and Pacific states (mostly former colonies of the EC members). The agreement
covers some aid provisions as well as trade and tariff preferences for the ACP countries
when shipping to the EC. Lom‚ grew out of the 1958 Treaty of Rome's
"association" with the 18 African colonies/countries that had ties with Belgium
and France. The ACP members are: Angola, Bahamas, Barbados, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso,
Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Cote
d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana,
Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar,
Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Papua New
Guinea, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal,
Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Tanzania,
Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Zaire, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
London Club
The London Club, a creditor cartel of commercial banks, evolved in the early 1980s.
Debt rescheduling (i.e., constructing new repayment profiles over a specific period of
time) was a primary function of the club. The Brady deals on debt restructuring (i.e.,
renegotiating the entire stock of outstanding debt at a discount), obviated the need to
reschedule repayments every couple of years. In some respect, the Bank Advisory Committee
has replaced the London Club. The Paris Club, also concerned with debt repayment, is an
association of official creditors.
London Interbank Bid Rate
LIBID is the rate of interest paid for funds in the London interbank market. The
bid to Libor's offer has been used as a reference for floating rate payments for
especially strong borrowers.
London Interbank Mean Rate
Abbreviated as LIMEAN, this is the midpoint of the LIBOR-LIBID spread. LIMEAN has
been used as a reference for floating rate payments.
London Interbank Offered Rate
LIBOR, the most prominent of the interbank offered rates, is the rate of interest
at which banks in London lend funds to other prime banks in London. LIBOR is frequently
used as a basis for determining the rate of interest payable on Eurodollars and other
Eurocurrency loans. The effective rate of interest on these Eurocredits is LIBOR plus a
markup negotiated between lender and borrower.
London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange
LIFFE, Europe's leading exchange, trades in futures contracts including short-term
interest rates, government bonds, stock indices, and traded options on these instruments.
The Exchange was established in 1982 to provide a means for hedging interest rates and
currency exposures against volatility. Originally called the London International
Financial Futures Exchange, LIFFE merged in March 1992 with the London Traded Options
Market (LTOM) and retained the original acronym.
Long-Dated Forward
The long-dated forward is a foreign exchange contract whose maturity exceeds one
year; a few have extended over ten years.
Loss of Market.
A situation in which, for one reason or another, sound cargo is no
longer wanted by the consignee when it arrives. This is a "business loss" not
recoverable under a Marine Cargo Policy; e.g., Christmas trees arriving in January
undamaged.
Louvre Accord
The Louvre Accord (February 1987) attempted to stop the dollar's fall and stabilize
currency relationships by introducing reference ranges among the G-7 currencies.
Lowest Responsible Bidder
That bidder who is awarded a contract because his bid in unit
price, total cost of operation, or value per dollar is lower than any of the bidders and
whose reputation, past performance and financial capabilities are such, that they would be
judged to be capable of satisfying the needs of a specific contract.
Lusophone Countries
Lusophone countries are those in which the official language is Portuguese: Angola,
Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, and Sao-Tome and Principe.
Please visit our book selections
on Business
Back to Business Reading Room
|