News and views

Industry bodies or associations:

Acronym

Organisation

ABI

Association of British Insurers

ACCA

Association of Certified Corporate Accountants

ACT

Association of Corporate Treasurers

AIC

Association of Investment Companies

AIMA

Alternative Investment Management Association

APB

Accounting Practices Board

ASB

Accounting Standards Board

BIBA

British Insurance Brokers' Association

BIS

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (UK)

BIS

Bank of International Settlements

BoE

Bank of England

CBI 

Confederation of British Industry

CE/CEE

Communauté européenne/Communauté économique européenne (> EC, EEC)

CEBS

Committee of European Banking Supervisors

CESR (now ESMA)

Committee of European Securities Regulators

CII

Chartered Insurance Institute

CIMA

Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

CPMA

Consumer Protection and Markets Authority

CRUF

Corporate Reporting Users' Forum

ECB 

European Central Bank

ECHR 

European Court of Human rights

ECJ

European Court of Justice

ECONFIN

Economic and Financial Affairs Council

EDF 

European Development Fund

EFSF 

The European Financial Stability Facility

EFTA

European Free Trade Association

EMS 

European Monetary System

EMU 

Economic and monetary union

ESMA

European Securities and Markets Authority

FINRA

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc

FPC

Financial Policy Committee

FRB

Federal Reserve Board

FRC

Financial Reporting Council

FRRP

Financial Reporting Review Panel

FSA

Financial Services Authority

HMT

Her Majesty's Treasury

ICAEW

Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales

ICSA

Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators

IMF 

International Monetary Fund

NAPF

National Association of Pension Funds.

NASDAQ

National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation

NYSE

New York Stock Exchange

OECD 

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

OFT

Office of Fair Trading

OSCE

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

PRA

Prudential Regulation Authority

QCA

Quoted Companies Alliance

SEC

Securities Exchange Commission

UKLA

United Kingdom Listing Authority

Acronym

Phrase

ADTV

Average Daily Trading Volume

AIR 

Assumed Interest Rate

AMEX

American Stock Exchange

APR

Annual Percentage Rate

ARM 

Adjustable Rate Mortgage

CA 

Collateralised Debt Obligation

CAGR

Compound annual growth rate

CAO

Chief Accounting Officer

CAPEX

Capital Expenditures

CDS

Credit Default Swap

CEO 

Chief Executive Officer

CFA

Chartered Financial Analyst

CfDs

Contracts for Difference

CFO

Chief Financial Officer

CMA

Certified Management Accountant

CPA

Certified Public Accountant

DG

Directorate-General/Direction générale

DJIA

Dow Jones Industrial Average

DTR

Disclosure and Transparency Rules

EAR

Effective Annual Rate 

EBITDA

Earning Before Interests, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization

ECON

Economic and monetary affairs

ECU 

European currency unit

EDGAR

Electronic Data-Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system

EI

European issuers

EPS

Earnings per share

ERM 

Exchange rate mechanism

ETF

Exchange Traded Funds

FOREX

Foreign Exchange

GAAP

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

GP

Gross Profit

IPO

Initial Public Offering

IRFS

International Financial Reporting Standards 

iXBRL  

Inline XBRL  a technology developed for HMRC

LBO

Leveraged Buyout

MAD

Market Abuse Directive

MiFID 

Markets in financial instruments directive

MMKT

Money Market

NAV

Net Asset Value

NDA

Non-Disclosure Agreement

NOA

Net Operating Assets

P/E

Price-to-earnings ratio

Panel

The Panel on Takeovers and Mergers

PFD

Preferred stock which has a higher priority than common stock.

PPP

Purchasing power parity

RE

Retained Earnings

ROA

Return on assets

ROCE

Return on Capital Employed

ROE

Return on Equity

ROI

Return on Investment

ROIC

Return on Invested Capital

RONA

Return on net assets

ROS

Return on Sales

SIV

Structured Investment Vehicle

SMEs 

Small and medium-sized enterprises

SOX

Sarbanes-Oxley

SWF

Sovereign Wealth Funds

T2S

TARGET2-Securities

TSR 

Total Shareholder Return

WACC

Weighted average cost of capital

XBRL 

Extensible Business Reporting Language

YTM 

Yield To Maturity