Dos and don’ts of online shopping

Commission as Registered Investment Advisors. Investment banking financial services focus on creating capital through client investments.

Hedge fund management often employs the services of “prime brokerage” divisions at major investment banks to execute their trades.
Custody services-the safekeeping and processing of the world’s securities trades and servicing the associated portfolios. Assets under custody in the world are approximately US$100 trillion.

Insurance

Insurance brokerage – Insurance brokers shop for insurance (generally corporate property and casualty insurance) on behalf of customers. Recently a number of websites have been created to give consumers basic price comparisons for services such as insurance, causing controversy within the industry.
Insurance underwriting – Personal lines insurance underwriters actually underwrite insurance for individuals, a service still offered primarily through agents, insurance brokers and stock brokers. Underwriters may also offer similar commercial lines of coverage for businesses. Activities include insurance and annuities, life insurance, retirement insurance, health insurance, and property & casualty insurance.
Finance & Insurance (F&I), a service still offered primarily at asset dealerships. The F&I manager encompasses the financing and insuring of the asset which is sold by the dealer. F&I is often called “the second gross” in dealerships who have adopted the model

Reinsurance is insurance sold to insurers themselves, to protect them from catastrophic losses.
Capital markets services – underwriting debt and equity, assist company deals (advisory services, underwriting, mergers and acquisitions and advisory fees) and restructure debt into structured finance products.

Private banking – Private banks provide banking services exclusively to high-net-worth individuals. Many financial services firms require a person or family to have a certain minimum net worth to qualify for private banking services. Private banks often provide more personal services, such as wealth management and tax planning than normal retail banks.

Brokerage services – facilitating the buying and selling of financial securities between a buyer and a seller. In today’s (2015) stock brokers, brokerages services are offered online to self trading investors throughout the world who have the option of trading with ‘tied’ online trading platforms offered by a banking institution or with online trading platforms sometimes offered in a group by so-called online trading portals.
Foreign exchange services

Many banks and specialist foreign exchange brokers around the world provide foreign exchange services. Foreign exchange services include

Currency exchange – where clients can purchase and sell foreign currency banknotes.

Wire transfer – where clients can send funds to international banks abroad.
Remittance – where clients that are migrant workers send money back to their home country.

Investment services

Asset management – the term usually given to describe companies which run collective investment funds. Also refers to services provided by others, generally registered with the Securities and Exchange

Other financial services

Bank cards – include both credit cards and debit cards. According to the Nilson Report, Bank of America is the largest issuer of bankcards.

Credit card machine services and networks – Companies, which provide credit card machine and payment networks call themselves “merchant card providers”.
Intermediation or advisory services – These services involve stockbrokers (private client services) and discount brokers. Stockbrokers assist investors in buying or selling shares.

Primarily, internet-based companies are often referred to as discount brokerages, although many now have branch offices to assist clients. These brokerages primarily target individual investors. Full service and private client firms primarily assist and execute trades for clients with large amounts of capital to invest, such as large companies, wealthy individuals, and investment management funds.
Financial market utilities – Organisations that are part of the infrastructure of financial services, such as stock exchanges, clearing houses, derivative and commodity exchanges and payment systems such as real-time gross settlement systems or interbank networks.

Debt resolution is a consumer service that assists individuals who may have too much debt to pay off as requested, but do not want to file bankruptcy and wish to pay off their debts. This debt can be accrued in various ways including but not limited to personal loans, credit cards or in some cases merchant accounts.

The Alps plane tragedy

What are the rules of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) as regards pilot being alone in the cockpit, with the downing of the germanwings plane allegedly by its copilot will the NCAA follow the lead of the other foreign airlines and ban pilots sitting alone in their cockpits.

European safety regulations have issued a “recommendation for airlines to ensure that at least two crew, including at least one qualified pilot, are in the flight crew compartment at all times of the flight”.

To enhance aviation safety for the travelling public, burying their heads in the sand and believing that Africans are immune from this kind of behaviour will not hold water as we know that mental illness has no respect for race or colour. Also, acknowledging that foreign pilots are employed by domestic airlines and charter services. The time to act is now and be in compliance with international best practice.

Abuja garden eatries

Scattered all around the city and its districts, are the gardens that dot the city’s landscapes and situated within most of these gardens are Fast Food Joints, Bukas, Suya Spots, Beer and Pepper-soup hangouts, local restaurants that serve indigenous specialities amongst others.

A cursory look around most of the gardens, reveals a lack of toilet facilities, portable and otherwise. Then one wonders where the customers are expected to relieve themselves when nature calls. Including the cooks and stewards who handle the preparation and service of the food.

In some cases you see them squatting some distance from the eateries relieving themselves. I believe there should be an agency of the F.C.T, whose duty it should be to monitor and regulate the activities of these eatries.

Anywhere that food is being sold, there should be a law that stipulates that there must be functional toilet facilities for customers and staff. Whether this law exists in the F.C.T, and other cities around the country remains to be seen.
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