Guide to Analysing Companies

Offshore banking unit
A branch set up in an international financial centre
(such as London or Hong Kong) by a non-resident bank. Off-
shore banking units (obus) may accept deposits from other
obus and from foreign banks but not from domestic savers.
Since the 1970s, obus have been established in a number of in-
ternational centres, most of them to make loans in the euro-
markets. Since the early 1980s, US banks have been allowed
to set up international banking facilities in large US cities which
conduct more or less the same kind of business.
Old Lady of Threadneedle Street
See bank of england.
Ombudsman
An independent person appointed to hear and act upon citizens’
complaints about government services. Invented in Sweden, the
idea has been widely taken up by other developed countries.
For example, groups of banks, mortgage lenders and in-
surance companies have appointed ombudsmen to attend to
the complaints of their customers. Regulators will also often fill
a similar role. In most cases, customers who approach an om-
budsman but who fail to resolve their disagreement still have
the right to pursue their case through the courts.
O
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Open-end fund
See closed-end fund.
Open interest
The number of contracts in a futures or options market
that are still open; that is, the number that have not been exer-
cised, closed out or allowed to expire. It also refers to the
number of contracts outstanding on an underlying financial
instrument – for example, a futures contract to deliver so
many barrels of oil in six months. The level of open interest is
reported daily and so provides an idea of the popularity of a