Title: Monthly Euro Bond Markets Strategy and Rates Forecast

Word count: 10 – 15,000 (BM Strategy); 2,500 (Rates Forecast)

Background: The monthly bond market strategy, DZ Bank’s flagship bond market publication, covers asset allocation and curve strategy, sovereigns, SSAs, covered bonds, financials, corporates and derivatives. Between 2011 and 2022 I turned it around to a publication-ready standard in three and a half days. Unfortunately DZ discontinued the English language version of this publication at the end of 2022. I still translate the monthly interest rate forecast, which presents DZ’s forecast for monetary policy and Treasury and Bund yields, with more of a macroeconomic focus. Translating it effectively requires me to be thoroughly up to date with the financial markets.

Challenge: Working fast while maintaining quality.

The story behind the success: To keep up the translation speed necessary to deliver in a short time frame, I worked with two trusted colleagues on the strategy publication. We split the translation between us and proofread a selection of each other’s work. I work on the interest rate forecast alone. I am fortunate to have a good working relationship with DZ Bank’s analysts, which means I can talk to them to clarify queries and ensure the best translation possible.

Results: DZ Bank were always very satisfied with the quality of the translation and therefore hired us to translate the strategy publication for over ten years, while the interest rate forecast is still ongoing. The analysts are happy that their views are represented faithfully and DZ Bank’s sales force and clients no longer have to put up with clunky style and mistranslations as in the past.

Published in: Click here for one of the final English editions of the bond market strategy and here for a recent edition of the interest rate forecast (N.B. owing to restrictions imposed by MiFID II, I cannot provide editions from the last few months).

Word count: 5,000

Background: This was a more technical and detailed publication than the monthly bond market strategy. The purpose of the translation was to inform DZ Bank’s non-German clients and to demonstrate the same level of expertise as in the German original.

Challenge: Mastering the technical background of the EU bail-in regulations for banks and ensuring a good, readable style in spite of the technical nature of the publication.

The story behind the success: I had to carry out extensive research on the EU’s Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive.

Results: DZ Bank’s banking analysts are delighted with the quality of my translations, as I am able to faithfully convey their views and conclusions to their non-German-speaking clients. I am one of their preferred suppliers.

Published in: Click here for published version.

Word count: 17,000 (approximately 25% of the Code)

Background: In 2007 the Swiss legal publishers Schulthess commissioned CLS Communication to produce a new translation of the Swiss Civil Code for the 100^th anniversary of its promulgation.

Challenge: I had to collate and revise the previous translations of the Code to produce a more consistent, higher quality translation. This involved both increasing the legal accuracy and clarity of the English version.

The story behind the success: In a word? Team work. I worked closely with the team leader Craig Hilton to agree on terminology and conventions. I also had to do my homework on my section of the Code by reading commentaries and carrying out thorough terminological research.

Result: A new authoritative English translation of the Code has been published, making it accessible to legal experts around the world.

Published in: Handkommentar zum schweizer Privatrecht, ed. Marc Amstutz et al., Schulthess, Zurich, 2007, ISBN: 978-3-7255-4954-2. Click here for brochure.

Word count: 1,000,000 (10 volumes in total over the course of 4 years)

Background: The Dictionary of German Biography, DGB, is a unique biographical resource for scholars around the world. I was responsible for translating theologians and legal theorists (such as Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, Karl Rahner, Edith Stein, Friedrich Carl von Savigny) among others.

Challenge: Detailed research was needed into the subject area and equivalent English academic terminology for the complex and, in some cases, obscure academic German. The latter required considerable polishing to achieve equivalent fluency and clarity in English.

The story behind the success: The many hours I spent in the library and using Internet resources to research the content made this project possible. The reference material included 19^th century dictionaries and encyclopaedias.

Result: An extremely happy client and involvement in producing a unique resource for scholars everywhere. Much of the biographical information in the DGB is not available anywhere else in English.

Published in: Dictionary of German Biography, 10 vols, K.G. Saur, Munich, 2001-06, ISBN:359823290X. Click here for brochure.

A History of the Roman Republic, K. Bringmann, Polity Press, Cambridge, 2007, ISBN:9780745633701 (hardback); 9780745633718 (paperback)

I was sole translator of this university textbook on the Roman Republic.

For a sample, click here (reproduced by permission of Polity Press).

The Frock-Coated Communist, T. Hunt, Penguin, 2010, ISBN: 9780141021409

I translated some personal correspondence and background material on Friedrich Engels for the recent biography by the historian (and now MP) Tristram Hunt.