Financial system/Related Articles

Glossary

(For definitions not shown below, see the economics glossary [1])

• Basel I & Basel II [r]: international banking regulations put forth by the Basel Committee on Bank Supervision of the Bank for International Settlements requiring banks' minimum capital adequacy ratios to be related to the riskiness of their loans. ^[e]
• Bill (finance) [r]: {a) A loan with a duration of no more than a year (b)a documentary record of short-term indebtedness. ^[e]
• Bond (finance) [r]: a fixed-interest security issued by governments, companies, banks and others. ^[e]
• Broker [r]: Individual or firm that provides investment advise to clients and executes their buying and selling instructions, usually by acting as a market maker. ^[e]
• Capital adequacy ratio [r]: The ratio of a bank's capital to its risk weighted credit exposures. May be defined in terms of tier 1 (core) or tier 2 capital. ^[e]
• CDO [r]: Collateralised Debt Obligation. A portfolio of corporate bonds, grouped into tranches that are ranked by estimated risk. ^[e]
• CDS [r]: Credit-Default Swap. An insurance agreement that guarantees protection against a bond default in return for a fee. ^[e]
• CDS spread [r]: the annual percentage charge for a credit default swap ^[e]
• Central Bank [r]: A government agency that is responsible for monetary policy and the support of the banking system (for example the Federal Reserve Board and the Bank of England). Usually responsible for controlling a country's monetary policy and preserving the value of its currency. ^[e]
• Debt_instrument [r]: A formal obligation assumed by a borrower to replay the lender in accordance with the terms of an agreement, including bonds, debentures, promissory notes, leases and mortgages. ^[e]
• Derivative [r]: An asset whose value depends upon the expected value of another asset. ^[e]
• Discount_rate [r]: (i) The percentage by which current value exceeds value in a year's time. (ii) The rate at which banks may borrow at their central bank's discount window. ^[e]
• Discount window [r]: A facility provided by central banks that enables a bank to make secured short-term loans at its central bank's discount rate. ^[e]
• Financial_Intermediary [r]: A go-between organisation that obtains finance from investors (or savers) and lends it to corporations (or other borrowers). Financial intermediaries include banks, building societies (or savings and loans associations) , life insurance companies and credit unions. ^[e]
• Financial_regulator [r]: The United States Securities and Exchange Commission gives as its mission "to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation". Financial regulators in other countries have similar responsibilities. ^[e]
• Hedging [r]: Protecting against price changes by simultaneously buying(/selling) an asset and making a futures contract to sell(/buy) it. ^[e]
• Hedge fund [r]: A limited-membership, aggressively-managed investment fund, often escaping regulation. ^[e]
• Interbank market [r]: a market in which a group of banks lend to each other (for example, see LIBOR). ^[e]
• Interest rate risk [r]: The risk that the value of a fixed-rate security or loan will fall as a result of a rise in interest rates. ^[e]
• Internal rate of return [r]: the discount rate which, if applied to a sequence of cash flows, makes the net present value of those cash flows equal to zero. ^[e]
• Leverage [r]: (i) The use of borrowing to increase the amount of money that is available for investment or consumption. (ii) A proportional measure of indebtedness, such as the ratio of a company's debt to its shareholders' equity (the same as British "gearing"), or the ratio of the indebtedness of a household to the net value of its assets (ie net of its debts). ^[e]
• LIBOR [r]: (London Interbank Offer Rate) the rate of interest at which a group of banks (16 banks from seven countries, including the United States, Switzerland and Germany) are willing to lend to each other for periods ranging from a day to a year . ^[e]
• Liquidity [r]: (i) The quantity of available assets in its possession that an organisation could rapidly exchange for cash (assets that cannot be exchanged for cash at a particular time are considered to be "illiquid" at that time); (ii) the funding that is unconditionally available to settle claims through monetary authorities (termed "official liquidity"). ^[e]
• Liquidity risk [r]: the risk that assets cannot be sold at time when cash is needed to meet a commitment. ^[e]
• Margin account [r]: an arrangement that enables customers to buy securities with money borrowed from a broker, subject to a minimum maintenance level related to the market values of the securities. ^[e]
• Margin call [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Market risk [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Money market [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Moral hazard [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Net present value [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Option [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Portfolio insurance [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Selling short [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Sovereign spread [r]: Add brief definition or description

Spread   see Yield spread

• Structured investment vehicle [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Subprime lending [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Tail risk [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Value at risk [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Warrant [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Wholesale banking [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Yield spread [r]: Add brief definition or description