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Solleinwaage
Dipl.-Kfm. (FH)
May 14, 2020 11:38
4 yrs ago
43 viewers *
German term

Aufhebung von verfügungsbeschränkten Finanzmitteln

German to English Bus/Financial Accounting
No context I'm afraid, I only know it's in connection with the cash flow from investing activities.

I can't decide how to translate "Aufhebung". Is the finance being cancelled, suspended, reserved or raised?
Proposed translations (English)
4 +2 reclassification of restricted cash as unrestricted cash
3 accessibility to restricted funds
3 The Revocation of the Financial Restrictions
3 providing access to restricted financial assets
3 reversal of restrictions on the disposal of borrowings
3 cancellation of financial restrictions
3 Freeing up restricted cash

Discussion

scottmw90 (asker) May 14, 2020:
Unfortunately it's all the context I can provide and I can assure you the phrase is on its own in the paragraph (the passage of text below the financial table explaining why the numbers have changed). There's no explanatory information before or after.
philgoddard May 14, 2020:
You're still not being very forthcoming with German context, and cash flow statements don't have paragraphs.
Klaus Beyer May 14, 2020:
Grausames Deutsch Könnte natürlich auch bedeuten, dass sie etwas "aufheben" im Sinne von "sparen" wollen, i.e. "set aside for future use". Dann müßte es allerdings heißen: The retention of (Das Aufheben von...usw).

Goethe dreht sich jedenfalls im Grabe um.
scottmw90 (asker) May 14, 2020:
It's part of a list of things that are "gegenläufig" to cash outflows in a paragraph in a cash flow statement. That makes me think it's something to do with freeing up the finance.
philgoddard May 14, 2020:
I wonder if the reason why Aufhebung is difficult to translate is because the German is badly written. Surely it's the restrictions that are being lifted, not the funds, and it should be something like Aufhebung von Verfügungsbeschränkung auf Finanzmitteln. This would increase the company's liquidity.

Could you confirm the context, please, asker? Is this a line item in a cash flow statement?

Proposed translations

+2
5 hrs
Selected

reclassification of restricted cash as unrestricted cash

Yes, I know it's the long way round, but I'm not aware of any concise English equivalent of "Aufhebung" in this context. It simply means that cash that is subject to a restriction has been reclassified as cash that is not subject to a restriction.

"Finanzmittel" is a German GAAP term for cash, often rendered as "cash funds". It is the German GAAP more-or-less equivalent of "cash and cash equivalents", but the latter is very much an IFRS/US GAAP concept. I think it's justifiable to translate "Finanzmittel" simply as "cash" in this particular context.

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Note added at 5 hrs (2020-05-14 17:04:36 GMT)
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I've just seen Michael's response to another answer, so I think "release of restricted cash" is probably the best solution here. (I worked through most of the night so my brain isn't firing very evenly today...)
Peer comment(s):
neutral philgoddard : Cash is unrestricted by definition.
10 hrs
Phil: Cash can be restricted or unrestricted. Just google it to find loads of examples.
agree Björn Vrooman : Agree with added note. Not sure what Phil is trying to say. I see this all the time. Can‘t post links cause I’m on my phone, but restricted cash is part of the IFRS FAQ and Amazon‘s cash flow statements. See section 18 EinSiG for Finanzmittel.
12 hrs
agree Ted Wozniak : Definitely agree that "Finanzmittel" is the HGB term for cash in the cash flow statement. Or cash funds. Also agree with "release of restricted cash". Cash funds can definitely be restricted Phil.
20 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you very much, I went in this direction in the end!"
7 mins

accessibility to restricted funds

Is what I would suggest...

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Note added at 11 mins (2020-05-14 11:49:42 GMT)
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In other words, lifting the restriction...

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Note added at 27 mins (2020-05-14 12:05:45 GMT)
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Compare this:

"Als Folge wurden die Restriktionen von den beschränkt verfügbaren Mitteln aufgehoben und diese Mittel wurden wieder für...."

"As a result the restrictions were lifted from the restricted cash and investments and the funds became available for use...."

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Note added at 36 mins (2020-05-14 12:14:52 GMT)
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And here the German and English links:
https://www.roche.com/dam/jcr:56369ee4-7f43-4c57-a8cc-e3143e...
http://ir2.flife.de/data/roche/igb_html/pdf/1000003_d.pdf
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1 hr

The Revocation of the Financial Restrictions

The restriction has been "lifted"
Example sentence:

HM Treasury has published a statutory instument revoking the Financial Restrictions (Iran) Order 2012 (SI 2012/2904) on the the ...

Reference:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/162/contents/made

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/corporate-finance-manual/cfm98460

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1 hr

providing access to restricted financial assets

(There is a certain amount of ambiguity due to lack of context.)
Alternative 1: providing access to restricted financing assets.
Alternative 2: providing access to restricted financing resources.
Alternative 3: providing access to restricted financial resources.
Alternative 4: restoring availability of certain restricted financial assets.
Alternative 5: restoring availability of certain restricted financial means.
Alternative 6: restoring availability of certain restricted financial resources.
Etc. (Other permutations are possible.)


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Note added at 1 hr (2020-05-14 13:08:38 GMT)
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The financial assets in question may be, e.g., assets in certain so-called reserve accounts.
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2 hrs
German term (edited): Aufhebung von Verfügungsbeschränkungen der Finanzmitteln

reversal of restrictions on the disposal of borrowings

As usual, I agree with Phil G's interpretation.

This kind of pidgin German is referenced in the Sebastian Sick (yes, that his name) best-seller: Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod.

Note that, in non-pidigin English, it is prohibitions, restraints and restrictions *on* and not *of*.

Note also the German philosophical ambiguity of Aufhebung: die Unterschiede werden aufgehoben > saved or reversed.
Reference:

http://www.wikiwords.org/dictionary/term/171234/341468

http://www.helpster.de/der-dativ-ist-dem-genitiv-sein-tod-bedeutung_183895

Peer comment(s):
agree philgoddard : We still don't have the context, but it's clearly something along these lines, and I think the German is faulty.// "Funds" might be better.
1 hr
Thanks. I lifted your idea of faultiness, and coincidentally intended to post 'lifting of the restraints on disposal of funds' but had been fearful of an accusation of pinching the latter idea.
disagree RobinB : Sorry Adrian, but this is simply wrong. It has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with "borrowings". It's just cash.
3 hrs
Thanks Robin, but not really my point. I merely wanted to avoid a charge of plagiarising the term of 'funds'
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2 hrs

cancellation of financial restrictions

Not 100% sure
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1 hr

Freeing up restricted cash

Without more context, that's what I would suggest.

Compare with this:
"The cash designated as restricted for that purpose is then freed up for the company to spend or invest elsewhere." https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/restricted-cash.asp


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Note added at 1 hr (2020-05-14 13:30:49 GMT)
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Search Results
Featured snippet from the web
Image result for restricted cash
www.wallstreetmojo.com
Restricted cash is money that is reserved for a specific purpose and therefore not available for immediate or general business use. Examples of restricted cash. There are many scenarios in which a company might need to set aside a specific amount of restricted cash.

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Note added at 2 days 12 hrs (2020-05-16 23:56:38 GMT)
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Page 13:
"Restricted Cash / Verfügungsbeschränkte Finanzmittel."
https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk030GDBefSrqMx4WJR6L...
Peer comment(s):
neutral Chris Pr : Wouldn't "cash" equate to "beschränkt verfügbaren liquiden Mittel"...?
5 mins
Restricted cash=beschränkt verfügbare Mittel. No need to specify "liquide"
neutral philgoddard : I'm not sure, but I think this is from a table of accounts, so this would not be appropriate terminology.
10 mins
Fair enough. Replace it with 'Releasing restricted cash' then.
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