My aim at Bill Smyth & Associates is to enable financial institutions to communicate effectively with their customers.

My work is founded on 3 pillars: financial expertise, competence in research and elegant writing. This is backed up by a rigorous quality control process (see the “Quality Assurance” section). I constantly maintain and update my financial expertise through regular reading of financial publications such as The Economist and Financial Times. In the case of translations from German, intercultural competence deriving from many years’ experience of institutional, legal and other structures in Germany and Switzerland is a key ingredient.

CLIENT LIST

Bill has translated for a wide range of leading financial institutions in Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg, either directly or through agencies such as Lionbridge, Apostroph and Talkfinance, including DZ Bank AG, ZKB, Commerzbank, Credit Suisse, Valiant, Finma, Bafin, European Banking Authority, Sarasin, PWC Switzerland, Züblin Immobilien and others.

As an investment writer he has worked with the financial copywriting agency Copylab.

A selection of the services Bill offers are set out below.

Confidentiality is critical in any business transaction and Bill Smyth & Associates protects its clients’ confidentiality at all times. Bill has experience of dealing with market-sensitive information and ensuring that the highest standards of confidentiality are maintained. This is particularly important when working with Switzerland.

Sample project: Translating monthly fixed income research for DZ Bank, Frankfurt and Swiss equity research for ZKB, Zurich.

Sample project: Writing regular fund and market reports for the copywriting agency Copylab. Also translate asset management material from German.

Sample project: Translating the annual and interim reports and marketing literature for leading Swiss real estate company Züblin Immobilien.

Experience: Translating parts of the annual and interim reports – both under IFRS and German GAAP – of one of Germany’s leading banks.

Sample projects: Translating a variety of documents for the Swiss financial regulator, including the annual report, speeches by board members, the recovery and resolution report and general correspondence with supervised firms. I have also translated some material for Bafin, including correspondence between Bafin and member firms on regulatory matters.

Sample project: Translation of a report on the impact of BEPS 2.0 and the global minimum tax rate on Swiss corporates for one of the “Big 4” accountancy firms.

Sample project: Translations of amendments to the German insurance legislation incorporating the Solvency II Directive for Bafin

Upon request, I can also work on-site on your financial translation or investment writing project. I regularly worked in-house at a major Swiss bank in Zurich between 2012 and 2014 on a project to translate documents relating to a US tax investigation.

Note: the Terms of Business of the Chartered Institute of Linguists apply to the commissioning of translation and editing work.