English translation: insured debt/liabilities, maybe secured debt
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20:37 Jun 14, 2010
French to English translations [PRO] Bus/Financial - Investment / Securities
French term or phrase:passifs assurés
I'm tempted to use "insured liabilities" but I do not think it is the correct term. Are these really "matched liabilities"? It has to do with mutual fund management strategy for a bond fund. Here is the sentence:
...dont la composition exacte sera périodiquement ajustée en fonction de l’évolution des **passifs assurés**...
Explanation: I think this might be insured or secured debt (US).
Investopedia:
What Does Secured Debt Mean?
Debt backed or secured by collateral to reduce the risk associated with lending. An example would be a mortgage, your house is considered collateral towards the debt. If you default on repayment, the bank seizes your house, sells it and uses the proceeds to pay back the debt.
Investopedia explains Secured Debt
Assets backing debt or a debt instrument are considered security, which means they can be claimed by the lender if default occurs. Obviously unsecured debt is higher risk, and as such lenders of unsecured money typically require a much higher return.
Is there any more context? This might be a very specialised term. Dette garantie is also used as well as dette assortie d'une garantie.
Is there an indication that the author might not be sophisticated in his financial language, or is being creative?
I don't think I've encountered the term 'passif assuré'. The term as such does not seem to appear on google and doesn't appear in any of my finance dictionnaries. There are lots of hits for 'secured debt', quite a lot fewer for 'secured liabilities'.
It might literally, really just mean 'insured liabilities'. One can insure liabilities to a certain extent through derivative contracts, credit default swaps, self-insurance, mortgage insurance, etc. Can't tell without more context. Property mortgage liabilities are almost always insured in the States.
If you google "insured liabilities' you can get a sense of what it means and how it's used. But it seems like the French term should get at least a few google hits if it is an accepted term.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 18 hrs (2010-06-15 14:57:56 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
You don't get a policy but they are considered a type of 'insurance'. I think the guy means that they are insured in the broadest literal sense, that the CDS assures that the risk is covered.
For example, a definition from TIME.com:
"Credit default swaps are insurance-like contracts that promise to cover losses on certain securities in the event of a default. ..."
or from CFO Magazine:
"New York: Credit-Default Swaps=Insurance
The state will regulate a chunk of the derivatives as insurance, requiring issuers to put up reserves and be licensed as insurers."
So, I don't think the statement "Swaps are most definitely not "insurance"" is correct, and obviously in New York State they are regulated as insurance.
If you google "credit default swap" + insurance you can get a feel for this. So I'd say you are definitely on the right track with "insured", especially if your frame of reference is New York State, which is the home of most US CDS's. Similar US federal legislation is being deliberated as we speak.
Don't know about France, but CDS's are definitiely considered insurance by most in the finance community.
… if you determine what they are in fact talking about. Swaps are most definitely not "insurance", or they would be regulated as such; rather, they are "protection". But your source may not be observing the niceties of the term 'assuré' in the technical sense.
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Answers
4 hrs confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
secured liabilities
Explanation: Secured Liability Obligation secured by a pledge of assets that can be sold, if necessary, to ensure. www.answers.com/topic/secured-liability - Cached - Similar
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 4 hrs (2010-06-15 01:19:58 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
secured liability - Business & Money Definition. secured liability business & money definition. secured liability. A debt that is guaranteed with a pledge ... www.yourdictionary.com/business/secured-liability - Cached - Similar
David Hollywood Local time: 15:28 Works in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 12
Explanation: I think this might be insured or secured debt (US).
Investopedia:
What Does Secured Debt Mean?
Debt backed or secured by collateral to reduce the risk associated with lending. An example would be a mortgage, your house is considered collateral towards the debt. If you default on repayment, the bank seizes your house, sells it and uses the proceeds to pay back the debt.
Investopedia explains Secured Debt
Assets backing debt or a debt instrument are considered security, which means they can be claimed by the lender if default occurs. Obviously unsecured debt is higher risk, and as such lenders of unsecured money typically require a much higher return.
Is there any more context? This might be a very specialised term. Dette garantie is also used as well as dette assortie d'une garantie.
Is there an indication that the author might not be sophisticated in his financial language, or is being creative?
I don't think I've encountered the term 'passif assuré'. The term as such does not seem to appear on google and doesn't appear in any of my finance dictionnaries. There are lots of hits for 'secured debt', quite a lot fewer for 'secured liabilities'.
It might literally, really just mean 'insured liabilities'. One can insure liabilities to a certain extent through derivative contracts, credit default swaps, self-insurance, mortgage insurance, etc. Can't tell without more context. Property mortgage liabilities are almost always insured in the States.
If you google "insured liabilities' you can get a sense of what it means and how it's used. But it seems like the French term should get at least a few google hits if it is an accepted term.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 18 hrs (2010-06-15 14:57:56 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
It looks like you are on the right track.
joehlindsay Local time: 13:28 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 22
Grading comment
I ended up using this answer. Based on the context of the document, it made the most sense.
Notes to answerer
Asker: The context is just the strategy used in a bond fund (mutual fund) to minimize risk. It does have to do adjusting the level of swaps, so it might indeed be insured liabilities, after all.
The translation workplace 
