Posts Tagged ‘debt’

The executor and administrator are referred to commonly as “personal representatives” of the decedent. The executor is one appointed in the will of the decedent. The administrator is appointed by the District Judge. The person named as executor, if otherwise eligible, must petition the court for letters testamentary. If a personal representative is not named in the will, the court issues letters of administration to persons eligible to serve as administrators.
The surviving husband or wife (or competent person whom such husband or wife may recommend for appointment) is first legally preferred to receive letters of administration. Then other classes follow in order: children; father or mother of decedent; brothers; sisters; and grandchildren; next of kin; creditors; and any other person legally competent. A business partner of the decedent is not eligible to serve as administrator.
The fees allowed the personal representative are based on a percentage of the appraised value of the estate as shown upon the tax return (before exemptions and deductions reduce the estate to taxable value). The schedule as provided by Oklahoma Statutes14 for determining the fees for the personal representative is as follows: 5 percent of the first $1,000; 4 percent of the next $5,000; and 2 1/2 percent of excess.
In the event of complex and time consuming litigation requiring the personal representative to spend time for consultation and preparation for trial and for travel and unusual personal expenses, the court will be inclined to increase the fees to the personal representative.
Except in the case of paying for the cost of obtaining a bond to secure his faithful performance, the administrator’s fee will be no higher than that for an executor. Their duties generally are the same, and the time and expense in the performance of their duties usually will be similar. The only difference might be when the will of the decedent prescribes unusual duties or confers certain authorities on the executor that would differ from the duties and powers of an administrator.

So armed with this de?nition, however inadequate, let us now look at the issue of currency speculation in more depth. The second aspect of currency speculation to realize is its size. On the face of it, it is immense. The global currency markets turn over some USD1.2 trillion in daily volume, according to the 2001 report by the Bank of International Settlements. That is the rough equivalent of world trade in global goods and services every day. In the last two decades, as barriers to capital have broken down and capital markets become liberalized, in line with the move to liberalize trade in goods and services, capital ?ows have played an increasingly important role in global currency markets. By comparison, world trade has seen its role diminish proportionally as a determining factor in exchange rate movement. Trying to work out the percentages of global currency volume is very far from an exact science given that one is faced with issues such as double counting and so forth. Nevertheless, it is possible to get a rough idea of the relative ?ow importance of the different sectors of the market. Put together, and being generous rather than conservative in one’s estimation, world trade and investment (portfolio and direct) makes up around 30% of currency market volume. The rest, using our de?nition, is currency speculation, with no underlying asset behind it. I have not the slightest doubt that these ?gures will cause debate, if not outright rejection. The truth however is that I have been charitable and generous with the ?rst half of the equation, that of trade and investment. The imbalance in favour of currency speculation should actually not be that surprising. If one thinks about it, the economic text book de?nition of a currency speculator as a liquidity provider to the productive areas of the economy might suggest an eventual 50/50 role between the two sides. The liberalization and deregulation process seen over the last three decades has meant that we have gone far beyond that.