The U.S. Dollar refers to the official currency of the United States. This is also the world’s largest reserve currency since the end of the Second World War when the American economy was the only one still standing at full productive capacity after the ravaging destruction of the global war left most of Europe and Asia in economic ruin. The [...]

U.S. Treasury bonds are bonds that the United States government issues so that it is capable of paying for Federal government projects. When a person or business purchases a Treasury bond, they are actually loaning the Federal government money. Like with all loans, the principal is paid back along with a set rate of interest. Treasury bonds carry the full [...]

UBS is one of the major Swiss and international banking giants. The group is a global firm that has its headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. The bank offers a variety of financial services to corporate, private, and institutional customers. The bank recently celebrated its 150 year anniversary in 2012. The UBS Group has a presence in every major financial [...]

Contrary to what many people may think, it does not require the enormous cash or assets equivalent of a billion U.S. dollars to be counted on the list of Ultra High Net Worth Individuals. Instead, the designation covers those people who claim a net worth of minimally $50 million. There are approximately 123,838 Ultra High Net Worth Individuals living in [...]

Underlying assets refer to any asset or valuable commodity which determines the value of a derivative based upon the asset. This term is frequently and importantly utilized to discuss derivatives trading. Options are a good example of this. Derivatives themselves prove to be financial instruments that investors trade. Their price is derived from the asset that underlies them. This underlying [...]

Underwriting refers to a means of determining if a consumer is eligible or not for a particular kind of financial product. These products vary depending on the person’s or business’ requirements. They might include home mortgages, insurance coverage needs, business mortgages, lines of credit, or financing for venture start up projects. The bank or other financial institution undergoing the underwriting [...]

UniCredit turns out to be the largest Italian based bank and one of the biggest banks in the continent. This banking group is a major player throughout Western, Central, and Eastern Europe. As a leading commercial European bank, it operates in 17 different nations and maintains over 143,000 employees. The bank counts on its retail network of more than 7,500 [...]

UniCredit Bulbank proves to be the biggest bank in the Republic of Bulgaria. Until 1994, this state-controlled and -operated bank bore the name of the Bulgarian Foreign Trade Bank or BFTB. It was in 2007 that the UniCredit Bulbank became formed when Bulbank, Hebros Bank, and Biochim merged together as individual subsidiaries of UniCredit Group from Italy. Bulgarian Foreign Trade [...]

The UCC is the acronym for Uniform Commercial Code. This set of standardized rules arose as a means of covering the majority of United States’ based commercial transactions. This code does not represent official national law. Yet the potency of it lies in the fact that the majority of American states have chosen to adopt the UCC in some variation. [...]

A Unique Selling Proposition, or USP, refers to the slogan or idea that sets apart the particular company’s products, goods, and services from their main business competition. It is typically expressed by a single, often short, sentence which succinctly sums up the point and purpose of the company’s primary line of business. Another way of putting this is that the [...]

A Unit Trust Fund is effectively a vehicle in which individuals can invest their money. Investors can sink their funds into these investments using a range of financial service providers. These include an investment management company, a stock broker, and even sometimes a local or larger bank. These Unit Trust Funds are essentially a large pooled reserve of capital. They [...]

Universal basic income (UBI) is known by a variety of names in different countries and continents. Among the more popular are basic income, citizen’s income, unconditional basic income, basic income guarantee, universal demo grant, and UBI. This represents a type of social security welfare program and safety net. In it, all residents or citizens of a nation periodically receive an [...]

Unsecured debt refers to a kind of loan that does not have any underlying asset which is backing it. This means that if the borrower defaults, the lender has no valuable property to seize against the loan’s repayment. Such debt has a wide range of examples. These include credit card bills, utility bills, medical bills, and other forms of credit [...]

U.S. Trust today is the Bank of America Private Wealth Management division. It existed as an independent U.S. Trust Corporation from 1853 through 2000. At this time Charles Schwab and Co. acquired the bank and trust. They later sold it to Bank of America back in 2007. U.S. Trust today provides (as it has for two centuries) its clients with [...]

A use tax refers to a kind of revenue levy which the United States has in place in a wide range of states. The state governments collect and spend these taxes as opposed to the federal government. Use taxes are much like another country’s Value Added Tax or other states’ sales taxes. The difference is that use taxes do not [...]

Usury has several meanings. The modern day connotation of the word equates to charging high rates of interest on loans which enrich the lender unreasonably. This is considered to be immoral, unethical, and in many countries illegal. The original meaning of the word revolved around interest charges of any type for a loan. In historical Christendom, as well as in [...]