au profit de

English translation: in favour of

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

French term or phrase:	au profit de
English translation:	in favour of
Entered by:	Roberta Beyer

20:20 Oct 7, 2011

French to English translations [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Business/Commerce (general) / register of shareholders

French term or phrase: au profit de

Hi everyone, I am a translating a register of shareholders and keep coming across this construction:

Certificat ci-après annulé suite à la vente aux enchères de 4 600 actions au profit de M. [NAME].

For "au profit de," my first guess is that the named person won the auction, but the more I come across it the more I want to double check with you all. In the context it seems highly unlikely that it is some sort of charity/benefit auction for this person, but it's giving me the runaround so I could use some help.

Thanks!

Roberta Beyer KudoZ activity Questions: 239 (2 open) (1 without valid answers) (23 closed without grading) Answers: 84 United States
Local time: 17:58

in favour of

Explanation:
Another possible solution. I suspect there are answers to this one in the ProZ glossaries. Might be a good idea to look there if you have not done so already!

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Note added at 4 hrs (2011-10-08 01:15:00 GMT)
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I can see where an ambiguous reading may be made of this one. The meaning is no doubt clearer if you bear in mind that the "vente" is "au profit de", that the sale is for someone's benefit, i.e., the person who receives the proceeds from the sale, thus the titleholder whose certificate has been cancelled.
Put more simply, X has sold his shares and received the proceeds of sale.
The potential ambiguity arises when you consider that "profit" in terms of benefit may arguably be attributed to the purchaser who has acquired the shares. You may think that it is a question of standpoint and that the idea of benefit depends on whose shoes you are in.
My reading is in line with Phil Goddard's reading, that there is no ambiguity in fact and that the benefit is for the one who receives the money (vendor) and not the one who has acquired the shares (purchaser).
When describing who has benefitted from a sale, commercial contexts consider into whose hands fall the proceeds, who has gained financially.

Selected response from:

Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Local time: 00:58

Grading comment

this is the answer i used, I felt that it properly mirrored the slight ambiguity of the original and was the most versatile choice. Thanks everyone!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +4

Jennifer Levey

4 +3

for/on behalf of

philgoddard

in favour of

Nikki Scott-Despaigne

for the benefit of

Bashiqa

Discussion entries: 2

Answers

4 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

au profit de (this context) for/on behalf of

Explanation:
It means they owned the shares and received the proceeds of sale.

philgoddard
United States
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 295

9 mins confidence:

au profit de (this context) for the benefit of

Explanation:
As an alternative

Bashiqa
France
Local time: 00:58
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 66

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

to

Explanation:
The easy ones are always the most difficult, eh?

vente aux enchères de 4 600 actions au profit de M.
-->
sale by auction of 4,600 shares to M.
or
sale to M, by auction, of 4,600 shares

The complicated bit is not forgetting to put the comma separator 'twixt the thousands groups (assuming you want UK English conventions).

Jennifer Levey
Chile
Local time: 18:58
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 74

56 mins confidence:

in favour of

Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Local time: 00:58
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 148

Grading comment

this is the answer i used, I felt that it properly mirrored the slight ambiguity of the original and was the most versatile choice. Thanks everyone!

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English translation: in favour of

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