Top-quality specialist translations by specialist native-language translators

Keeping up the cashflow: Specialist translations in the financial services field

Multilingual financial services – an opportunity for growth and multicultural integration

Financial services are all those financial products and services that high-street banks, building societies, and insurance companies supply to their customers. These products and services range from investment consultation and foreign exchange trading to classical retail banking services, life insurance, private banking, and financial transactions; many of these services already come in multiple languages for integration into the customer journey using the customer’s language.

Financial texts are subject to strict regulations worldwide, and this extends to translation

German law did not include the concept of financial services until April 2022, specifically with the German Financial Services Supervision Act (FinDAG). One of the institutional consequences was the former Bundesaufsichtsamt für das Kreditwesen – the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority – being renamed as the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin) in May 2002 after merging with other authorities, with the German term Finanzdienstleistungen for financial services appearing in the name of the authority, even if the official English translation does not reflect this.

BaFin provides a translation of the Questions and Answers (Q&As) from the European Securities and Markets Authority ESMA on investor protection in Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) and Markets in financial instruments regulation (MiFIR). The specialist translators in the ConText® Financial Services practice group in Mainz contributed to these translations, which serve as an effective working aid for market participants.

Increasing digitalisation in the banking sector – and in the ConText® translation agency

New technologies have been developing at breakneck speed, and the banking sector has seen increasing influence from digitalisation as a result. Today’s customers are more well-informed; this means raised expectations in general, and specifically from the digital solutions that financial service companies provide. The digital transition requires clear strategies from financial service companies to remain legally compliant, and this includes texts translated by a translation agency familiar with the financial services field.

Interfaces to our systems ensure a high degree of automation in the translation process from the translation itself through approval to publication in digital and printed form.

Individually created translation memories allow segments or passages that have already been translated to be leveraged, which not only saves time but also contributes to confluence, or translation consistency. We make sure that our translations comply with the relevant regulations and standards by using specialised terminology databases according to EStG, WpHG, HGB, GAAP, and IFRS.

Translations 100% accurate in content and form – multilingual access to financial portals

We can’t improve the figures, but we can improve their presentation. Banking portals may only be available in the national language and sometimes also in English at present, but many banks at least give brief instructions in several languages for their main online banking services or provide apps that have been translated accordingly. One example is the Sparkasse app, which is now available in Ukrainian, English, Czech, Polish, and Turkish as well as German. The app sets its language automatically depending on the language set in the device; this helps simplify access to financial services for customers from different language backgrounds.

The specialist translators at ConText® translated the self-service terminal user interfaces into numerous languages for Fiducia & GAD IT (now Atruvia), the digitalisation partners to Genossenschaftliche FinanzGruppe, the German Cooperative Financial Network. Apart from accurate bank-specific terminology, the customer placed especially high priority on clear user navigation in simple language with clear CTAs. Atruvia operates around 23,000 cash dispensers, service terminals, and statement printers for the Cooperative Financial Network.

Translations in corporate reporting

Repeating obligations of exchange-listed corporations include publishing annual and semi-annual financial reports; these reports need to include comprehensive information on the corporation’s financial situation, assets and liabilities, and earnings as well as statements on corporate governance.
Specialist native-language translators with expertise in corporate reporting use glossaries and style guides to ensure translation consistency in terminology, while also securing effective project management for reliable and efficient translation projects in multilingual reporting.

Our specialist translators with a focus on corporate finances translate the following documents:
✓ Annual reports
✓ Balance sheets
✓ Earnings statements
✓ Financial statements compliant with German Commercial Code (HGB) and IFRS standards
✓ Consolidated financial statements and quarterly reports compliant with IFRS standards

ConText® Financial Services practice group

Our specialist translators with a focus on financial services have extensive knowledge of the industry. The ConText® Financial Services practice group provides access to outstanding specialist translators with a focus on asset management, wealth management, alternative investments, real estate, consumer and commercial banking, trade and commodity finance, capital markets and investment banking, fintech, insurance, to name a few examples.

Need a qualified native-language translator for a translation in the field of finance? You can count on ConText® translation agency.