3 Mistakes To Avoid In Financial Translation

By Author: Fayeem
Total Articles: 145
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One of fastest evolving industries is the financial service industry – especially since the technological revolution. In this day and age, when everything is becoming global, organizations that remain confined to a specific region end up missing out on a lot of lucrative business opportunities. Language translation agencies are more important now than they ever were and those organizations that avail their services have a definitive edge over others.

Given that financial translation is not a simple task, you need to hire a company that provides translation services in Delhi or any other area close to your location, but you have to make sure that the company that you’re hiring has got the skilled personnel that can precisely and effectively translate your company’s literature without any flaws or discrepancies. Let us take a look at some of the common mistakes that one must avoid while doing financial translation.

Error in punctuation

Translating numbers seems like an easy enough task, but it isn’t always so. There are minor details, that, if go overlooked, can create blunders. For example, a simple ...
... misplaced comma can cause a lot of confusion in financial translation. Let’s take a random number 2,45,879: now, in India, it is read as two lakh forty five thousand eight hundred and seventy nine, but in US the same figure would need to be written as 245,879. The excess comma, if added, would make the number meaningless. So you need to hire a language translation agency that is aware of these nuances.

Mistranslation of certain words

There are often words in one language that mean different things depending upon the context in which they are being used. If the translator is not aware of those subtle nuances then it can lead to blunders.

One such incident occurred in the year 1994. A publication by the name Commodity News Service published an article regarding Continental Illinois Bank where it was state that there had been rumours that a Japanese bank was planning to take over the Continental Illinois Bank because of some financial troubles. When the report was translated to Japanese, the word ‘rumour’ became ‘announcement’. As a result, people panicked and rushed to the bank to take out their money. It caused a boatload of trouble. Therefore, you should always hire the best translation services in Delhi or any other region where your company is headquartered in.

Translation without context

It is very important for the organization to consult with the language translation agencies and clearly state the message that they want to convey – otherwise translation can become a recipe for disaster. Once such incident occurred in the year 2009, when HSBC bank, which is one of the largest banks in the world fell victim to mistranslation. It’s slogan that stated “Assume nothing” became “Do Nothing” when it was translated to other languages. As a result, the bank had to do rebranding which set it back by a few million dollars.

It is quite evident that this disaster could’ve easily been avoided if the translator was aware of the context and had better knowledge of the language. To avoid such problems for occurring, the best course of action is to settle for nothing but the best when it comes to hiring a translation agency. Even if it costs you a bit more, it can save you tons of money, which you otherwise have to spend in fire fighting in case a company that provides cheap services messes things up for you. Always remember, spending a few extra dollars in the right direction can save you from having to spend a few millions for being stingy.