Back to Back Loan - A loan structure when "A" deposits a sum of money with a bank in country "X" on condition that a related branch, agency, edge corporation or bank located in country "Y" will lend an equivalent sum to "A" or a designee in country "Y".
Bare Trusts - Also known as dry, formal, naked, passive or simple trusts. These are trusts where the trustees have no duties to perform other than to convey the trust property to the beneficiary(s) when called upon to do so.
Bear - An investor who has sold a security in the hope of buying it back at a lower price.
Bearer Share Certificate - A negotiable share certificate made out in the name of the bearer and not in the name of a particular person or organization.
Bearer Stocks/Shares - Securities for which no register of ownership is kept by the company. Dividends are not received automatically from the company and must be claimed.
Beneficial Owner - The actual or economic owner of an offshore company as distinct to the registered or nominal owner.
Best effort - A designation that a certain financial result is not guaranteed but that a good faith effort will be made to provide the result that is represented.
BIS - Bank for International Settlements, Basle, Switzerland. The bank’s bank.
Blind Trust - A trust in which the trustees are not allowed to provide any information to the beneficiaries about the administration of the assets of the trust.
Blocked Funds - Term for "reserving" funds by one bank for the benefit of another bank. Blocking of funds is an often used banking procedure to ensure that the same funds are not used twice. Often more beneficial to an investor than a bank guarantee.
Blue Chip - Term for the most prestigious industrial shares. Originally an American term derived from the color of the highest value poker chip.
Bond - Any interest-bearing government or corporate security that requires that the issuer will pay the holder of the bond a specified sum of money, usually at fixed intervals, and will repay the principal amount of the loan at maturity. A secured bond is backed by collateral, whereas as an unsecured bond or debenture is backed by the full faith and credit of the issuer, not by any specified collateral.
Broker - An intermediary. An individual or organization in-between the person/organization that controls the funds and the provider/trader. A broker often knows someone who knows somebody else who may provide program trading. This chain of brokers is known in the business as a "daisy chain". There are thousands of "want-to-be”-, "hope-to-be”- and "wish-they-were” brokers in the high-yield business who are giving the industry a bad name.
Bull - An investor who has bought a security in the hope to make a profit from rising prices.