What Is Attachment? Attachment is a legal process referring to the action of seizing property in anticipation of a favorable ruling for a plaintiff who claims to be owed money by the defendant. At the request of a creditor, a court of law may transfer specific property owned by the debtor to the creditor (or
What Is Attained Age? Attained age is the age at which the beneficiary of an insurance policy or retirement plan (or another age-dependent plan) can receive benefits or withdraw funds. Attained age can be any age at which benefits are received. In some cases, the person may have to take action when they reach the attained
What Is an Attestation Service? An attest service, or attestation service, is an independent review of a company’s financial statement conducted by a certified public accountant (CPA). The CPA delivers an attestation report with conclusions about the reliability of the data. The standards for attestation services are developed and published by a professional services group
What Is At The Money (ATM)? At the money (ATM) is a situation where an option’s strike price is identical to the current market price of the underlying security. An ATM option has a delta of ±0.50, positive if it is a call, negative for a put. Both call and put options can be simultaneously
What Is an At-the-Opening Order? An at-the-opening order is an investor’s directive to her broker or brokerage firm to buy or sell a specific security in their account at the very beginning of the trading day. If the order cannot be executed at the opening of the stock market, it will be canceled. Key Takeaways
What Is an Attorney-in-Fact? An attorney-in-fact, also called an “agent,” is a person who is authorized to act on behalf of another person, known as the “principal,” typically to perform business or other official transactions. The principal usually designates someone as their attorney-in-fact by assigning them power of attorney, although a court may choose to
What Are Attorney’s Fee Awards? Attorney’s fee awards refer to the order of the payment of the attorney fees of one party by another party. In the U.S., each party in a legal case typically pays for their own attorney fees, under a principle known as the American rule. Key Takeaways Attorney’s fee awards are
What Is an Attorney’s Letter? An attorney’s letter is a formal business letter sent by a certified public accountant (CPA) to a client’s attorney. The attorney’s letter verifies the information sent by the management of a company pertaining to pending litigation of the company. The purpose of the attorney’s letter is to inform and certify
What Is Attrition in Business? The term attrition refers to a gradual but deliberate reduction in staff numbers that occurs as employees leave a company and are not replaced. It is commonly used to describe the downsizing of a firm’s employee pool by human resources (HR) professionals. In this case, downsizing is voluntary, where employees
What Is an Auction Market? In an auction market, buyers enter competitive bids and sellers submit competitive offers at the same time. The price at which a stock trades represents the highest price that a buyer is willing to pay and the lowest price that a seller is willing to accept. Matching bids and offers are
