CM101 - D&B - Securities Overview

FDN-CM101-DB Study Material for Introduction & Overview of Securities Industry

Introduction & Overview of Securities Industry

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Table of Contents Introduction & Overview.....................................................................................................3 Financial Markets ................................................................................................................3 What are Financial Markets?............................................................................................ 3 Objectives of Financial Markets........................................................................................ 4 Participants Participants in the Financial Markets.................................................................................6 Investors........................................................................................................................... Investors................................................................................. .......................................... 7 Issuers ............................................................................................................................10 Financial Intermediaries Intermediaries ..................................................................................................12 Infrastructure Infrastructure Providers Providers ...................................................................................................25 Industry Bodies................................................................................................................34 Bodies................................................................................................................34 Asset Classes.................................................................................................................... Classes.................................................................................................................... 36 Equity..............................................................................................................................37 Fixed Income Income Securities Securities ..................................................................................................38 Currencies.......................................................................................................................39 Commodities ...................................................................................................................40 Derivatives ......................................................................................................................41 Types of Risks.................................................................................................................42 Types of Markets...............................................................................................................44 Primary Market and Secondary Secondary markets..........................................................................44 Money and Capital Markets.............................................................................................45 Markets for Financial Instruments....................................................................................47 Role of Regulators ............................................................................................................51 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC):.................................................................51 Financial Services Services Authority (FSA) ..................................................................................56 Recent Developments Developments in Financial Services Industry ....................................................59 Dematerialization.............................................................................................................59 Electronic Trading ...........................................................................................................59 Web Trading....................................................................................................................60 Electronic Communicatio Communications ns Networks .............................................................................60 Financial Messaging........................................................................................................60 Shortening Shortening of Settlement Settlement Cycles Cycles .....................................................................................62 GLOSSARY........................................................................................................................62 Sample Questions: Questions: US Securities Markets - Introduction and Overview Overview ......................67


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Introduction & Overview Overview Financial Markets What are Financial Markets? In any economy, entities such as individuals, organizations and governments may have surplus funds or may need funds for a variety of purposes. Thus funds need to be exchanged between those who have surplus of them ( called savers/investors/lenders ) and those who need them ( called issuers/borrowers ). Broadly speaking individuals are the principal savers while organizations and governments are principal borrowers or fund raisers.1 This transfer of funds takes place through a mechanism of financial markets.

Individual Investors

Fund / Capital Raisers

Funds are Invest funds through

Financial Markets

transferred transferr ed to Organizations Or Governments

What are financial assets or securities?

When investors lend their surplus funds to organizations or governments, investors get an acknowledgement for the same from organizations or governments in the form of financial securities. Thus financial securities are issued by those who need capital 2 and represent the fact that such issuers have raised funds from investors. For the investors who have invested in such securities, such securities become financial assets. These financial assets represent a claim on the issuer’s earnings or resources. The issuers have certain obligations towards the investors, the most important among them being providing a return on their investments.

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The classification of individuals as investors and organizations and governments as fund raisers is only a

broad one. This is because individuals do borrow funds and organizations and governments do invest or lend funds. 2

Capital is the amount of monetary monetary resources required to run the business


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Financial securities are primarily of two types i.e. equity shares or stocks and fixed income securities. Equity share represents an ownership capital i.e. an investor buying equity shares issued by a company, becomes a fractional owner of the company. Fixed income securities, on the other hand, is like a loan taken by the company from the holder of fixed income securities. They are also called debt securities or debt instruments. Both these financial securities are explained in detail in the section on “Asset Classes”.

As we have already seen, financial markets facilitate transfer of funds between the two parties. This transfer takes place by issuing financial securities to the investors. The advantage of these securities is that they are negotiable and thus can be traded. For example, Organization A issues securities to Investor B. Obviously, investor B has given / lent money to the organization A. Suppose investor B wants his money back after some time, he can simply transfer the securities to any other investor, say Investor C by selling the securities to him. This is what is meant by negotiable instrument and transfer of security from B to C is called trading in securities.

Objectives of Financial Markets 

Bringing borrowers and lenders together - The most important objective of financial markets is to bring borrowers and lenders together so that excess funds can be channelized from lenders to borrowers. Bringing borrowers and lenders together does not mean that they have to be brought together physically. We are living in a technologically advanced world and with the help of technology borrowers and lenders in any part of the world can c an be brought together electronically.

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Financial intermediation : The process of transfer of funds between issuers and investors is takes place through intermediaries who operate in financial markets. Thus one of the objectives of the financial markets is to perform the function of financial intermediation intermediation as efficiently as possible.

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Price Discovery : One of the objectives of financial markets is “price discovery” which means that when securities are continuously transferred between various investors, it helps arrive at the correct price at which the security should should trade.


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Meeting needs of market participants : Investors and issuers have different needs. For example, Organization A wants to borrow funds for 1 year while Organization B wants to borrow for 10 years. Investor A is very young and aggressive and hence is prepared to take higher risk while investing. On the other hand, Investor B, a retired employee wants to play very safe. Thus different investors and borrowers have differing needs and a well developed financial market should provide a wide variety of financial securities or instruments so that their requirements can be met.


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Participants in the Financial Markets Participants and Vendors in financial markets include •

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•

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Investors 

Institutional

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Individual

Issuers 

Organizations Organizations / Corporations Corporations

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Governments

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Government Sponsored Agencies

Financial Intermediaries Intermediaries 

Banks

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Investment Managers / Asset Managers

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Broker / Dealers

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Managed Investment Companies

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Investment Banks

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Insurance Companies

Infrastructure Providers 

Stock Exchanges, Over the counter markets

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Settlement Service Providers

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Market Data Vendors

Industry Bodies Support Service Providers 

Data Vendors

All the participants have important roles to play. Their roles are described in detail in the sections that follow.


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Investors Two types of investors participate in the financial markets viz. Institutional and Individual investors. The features and characteristics of the two types of investors are discussed below. Institutional Investors

These are the investors who exist as Corporations. As they are corporations, they pool money from a variety of sources and invest through financial markets. Examples of these include banks, mutual funds and insurance companies. o

Banks are depository institutions i.e. they collect deposits from individual investors

and business corporations. These deposits are lent to borrowers or invested in financial securities of issuers. o

Managed Investment Companies collect money from individual investors, business

corporations and other institutional investors and in turn give them mutual fund units which are again financial securities. On behalf of investors from whom money has been collected, mutual fund managers / asset managers invest these funds through financial markets in various securities. o

Insurance companies collect insurance premiums for a variety of purposes from

those who insure their lives or assets. These funds are in turn invested in various financial instruments. instruments.

Let us look at some of the characteristics of these investors.

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An institutional investor has a pool of funds. This pool of funds can be invested in a variety of assets.

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Since they collect a pool of funds from investors, the resources available to them are huge compared to individual investors. Hence their investments are in large amounts.

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They employ one or several investment managers who take investment decisions. These investment managers are well trained, market professionals and hence these


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institutions are considered to have superior market knowledge and access to information. o

Since transactions are on large scale, they get preferential (competitive) rates from brokers 3 who execute the transactions on their behalf.

Individual Investors

Individual investors are also called as ‘retail investors’. Retail investors participate in financial markets either directly or indirectly. Direct participation means investors make investment decisions on their own and invest money in various securities directly. Else, they can park their funds with mutual funds who in turn invest in financial instruments. In this case, investors do not participate in investment decision making process and thus participate indirectly.. Retail investors are an important part of any financial market.

As against the institutional institutional investors, retail investors have the following characteristics.

Retail investors have limited resources since they use their own funds to invest. o

If they participate directly, investment decision making may not be professional.

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Small sizes of investments.

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Since investment sizes are small, no preferential rates are offered by brokers to execute the transactions. transactions.

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Brokers actually execute transactions for investors. Detailed information about brokers in mentioned in the section of “Infrastructure “Infrastructure Providers”.


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Types of Individual/ Retail Investors It is generally observed that different types of individuals have different investment approaches supported by a multiplicity of factors together with their propensity for risk4. Mutual Fund Investors

Day Traders

Professional Investors

Stock Pickers

The different types of individuals are as follows: 

Professional Investors: This refers to all those individuals who have substantial

investment resources so that they can acquire professional money management services for their investment portfolio. 

Stock Pickers: Stock Pickers are those individuals who are of the opinion that they can

choose individual stocks 5 for long-term investment on their own. They do their own research and pick the stocks accordingly. 

Mutual Fund Investors: A majority of the investors do not have adequate resources to

acquire individual professional money management services or adequate time or penchant to invest on their own. It is these kind of individuals who normally select Mutual Funds to invest in Securities. 

Day Traders: Yet another category of individual investors is a day trader. A day

trader typically buys or sells securities during the day and does the reverse to close positions by the end of the day. For example if a day trader purchases /(sells) a 4 5

Risk refers to the uncertainty of investment return Stocks or equity shares are explained in the section on “Asset Classes”


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security of a particular issuer, then he will sell / (buy) the same before the trading closes for the day. Thus he does not keep his position open overnight i.e. till the next day. Hence such traders are called day traders. The day trader bets on a very short term movement in prices of securities, and hence it is considered to be a risky activity because security prices may not move in desired direction in such a short period of time.

Issuers Issuers include government, government sponsored agencies and corporations that desire to raise funds. They need to raise funds for a variety of purposes.

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Issuers - Governments

Government requires funds for expenditures on infrastructure, infrastructure, health, education etc. as well as to meet the shortfall in government revenue. Governments issue different forms of fixed income securities6 to meet their needs. Government includes following categories: o

US Federal Government (or Central government of any country)

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US Government Agencies and Quasi-government Agencies – These are government formed or sponsored agencies.

o

State Governments

o

Local Governments such as Counties and Municipalities 

Issuers – Government Sponsored Agencies

The government sponsored agencies get privileges so that they can lend to desired sectors. For example in the US, US, a number of special purpose purpose agencies with varying varying degrees of of federal government sponsorship raise finance so that they can lend to designated sectors of the economy i.e. agriculture and housing. The principal agencies are as follows. o

Farm Credit System (FCS) - The Farm Credit System (System) is a network of borrower-owned lending institutions and related service organizations in the US. These institutions specialize in providing credit and related services to farmers,

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Fixed Income Securities are explained in detail in the section on Asset Classes.


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ranchers, and producers or harvesters of aquatic products. Loans may also be made to finance the processing and marketing activities of these borrowers. o

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC) - The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("Freddie Mac") is a government sponsored enterprise. It is a stockholder-owned and a publicly-traded company chartered by the United States federal government to purchase mortgages7 and related securities. These securities are then issued in financial markets backed by those mortgages.

o

Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) – It is a competitor to FHMLC. It is also a government-backed government-backed corporation which purchases mortgages mortgages from lenders and resells them to investors. It is financed by the issue of fixed income securities.

o

Student Loan Marketing Association (SLMA) – It is a government-sponsored government-sponsored private corporation created to increase the flow f low of funds into student loans by facilitating the purchase of student loans in the secondary market.

These agencies issue fixed income securities. 

Issuers – Corporations

Corporations need funds for carrying out new projects, expansion projects or to finance their day to day needs. The securities issued by corporates are of various types and include both fixed income and equity shares. 8

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A mortgage is a loan that is secured by the underlying real estate. For example when a loan is taken by a home buyer, the house property is mortgaged with the lender. 8 Equity shares are explained in detail in the section on Asset Classes.


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Financial Intermediaries A number of institutions, agencies play an important role in bringing issuers and investors together. These are as follows. 

Banks

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Broker / Dealers

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Managed Investment Companies

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Insurance Companies

These are called financial intermediaries and perform a vital function of transfer of capital from one party to another. Let us now look at important financial intermediaries. intermediaries. Banks

All of us as individuals and even business houses and governments consider banks as a safe place to deposit money. A number of accounts can be opened with banks which have different features and allow us to deposit money with them. They are financial intermediaries because these deposits deposits are in turn lent to those who need them or are used to invest in financial instruments issued by issuers.

The services offered by Banks for individuals and institutions institutions include: Services for deposit holders o

Checking accounts also called as demand deposits – These accounts do not earn any interest for keeping deposits but the deposit holder can withdraw deposit any time he wants. That is why they are called demand deposits.

o

Savings accounts – These accounts pay a low rate of interest. These accounts are generally very popular amongst individuals who park their surplus funds and withdraw whenever they want subject to certain restrictions.

o

Time deposits that includes Certificates of Deposit – These pay a higher rate of interest compared to savings deposits. In this case funds have to be parked for a


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specific time period, say a six months’ time deposit. Funds can not be withdrawn before six months.

Services for borrowers o

Secured lending – As mentioned above, banks lend the deposits collected, to organizations or other entities that need them. By secured lending we mean that the loan given is secured against any asset that borrower has. For example, a corporation may obtain a loan from a bank by securing it against the machinery that it has. In the event that the company is unable to pay off the loan, the bank can sell off the machinery to recover its dues.

o

Unsecured lending – These types of lending are not secured against any asset. Hence in the event of default i.e. corporate not paying back the loan, the bank can not take charge of any asset and recover its dues.

Other important services o

Transfer of funds from one bank to another – This service is provided so that payments can be made by one party to another. Thus when party A issues a cheque in favor of party B, and when latter deposits it with his bank, funds get transferred from party A’s account to party B’s account in the same or a different bank.

o

Distribution of investment products - Making available a number of investment products including the mutual funds

o

Foreign exchange – When party A which is based in US wants to purchase or sell any foreign currency say British Pounds or Euros, he can do so through the banks.


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Categories of Banks: Various categories of banks are as follows.

o

Retail Banks: As the name suggests, these banks basically satisfy the needs of

retailers i.e. individuals. They offer services such as 

Secured and Unsecured Loans: These loans are provided to the retailers for a variety of purposes.

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Checking and savings accounts

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Purchase and sale of mutual funds and securities through specific purpose subsidiaries

o

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Electronic funds transfers

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Bank investment products such as Certificates of Deposit

Commercial Banks: Commercial Banks do not restrict their operations to

individuals; in fact their main clients are business enterprises. These banks offer different kinds of services, such as: 

Loans to business enterprises that may be both; b oth; secured or unsecured

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Loans to brokerage firms for the brokers to finance their purchase of securities


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Underwriting services9 with the help of bank’s corporate finance departments

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Securities custody services10

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Clearing of US government securities – Whenever investors buy securities issued by US government, government, they need to be transferred from seller of securities to the buyer. Similarly funds have to be transferred from buyer of securities to seller of securities. This means that these trades need to be cleared and settled. Clearing of US government securities is done by banks. Clearing and settlement of various securities are explained in detail in subsequent modules.

Recent trends in commercial banking

The commercial banking business has undergone lot of changes over the years. Some trends in the financial services industry have resulted in the decline in the banking business for many years. These trends are as follows: 

There is growing disintermediation in financial securities industry. This simply means that issuers and investors come together without any intermediary and transfer funds amongst themselves. As a result the bank’s role as an intermediary gets reduced.

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Traditionally retail investors have preferred to keep their surplus funds in banks. However, with the availability of new investment opportunities such as investing in mutual funds, retail investors have shifted to such products for getting better returns. Hence banks face considerable competition in collecting deposits.

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Underwriting Services mean whenever issuers issue securities underwriters ensure that any unsubscribed portion is subscribed to by the underwriters. This ensures that the issuer raises the amount which is required by him. For example, if issuer A wants to issue securities and raise $ 10 million. If the investors’ response is not good, the issuer may not be able to raise the required amount. Underwriters ensure that he gets the full amount. The function of underwriting is explained detail in Equity Module. 10 Custody function is explained in the next section on Custodian Banks


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o

Custodian Banks : We have already seen earlier that institutional investors investors have vast

resources at their disposal and hence their investments are large. The securities in which they invest need to be kept safely and administered administered in the sense the the record of buying and selling and the stock of securities need to be updated on a continuous basis. This service is called custody service which is provided by Custodian banks. Not only securities are administered but cash is also managed by custodian banks. A custodian may resort to perform its services for institutions and also for those individuals who are very wealthy private clients, known as High Net Worth Individuals (HNIs). Banks generally form separate legal entities or departments to offer these services.

o

Trust Banks : The custodial services mentioned above can be provided by the banks

directly or by forming trusts. Such banks are called Trust Banks. For example, an institutional trust may be formed to take care of employee benefit programs such as retirement plans for the employees that invest a certain amount regularly for the benefit of the employees. The proceeds from such investments are payable to the employees when they retire.

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We have already seen that mutual funds provide an opportunity for retail investors and other investors to invest their funds in instruments or units of mutual funds. Who manage these funds? The answer is investment managers or asset managers. The investment managers or asset managers actually take the decisions to deploy these funds in various investment products / securities. Since they are principally buyers of securities they are normally considered to be the buy-side of the industry. Investment managers or asset managers can be structured as sole proprietorships, partnerships and corporations. The Securities Exchange Commission Commission (SEC) under the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 regulate all these structures.


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The main function of these investment managers is to manage money for pension funds, high net worth individuals or any other institutions and mutual funds. The functions can be summarized as below. o

Investment Research and Portfolio Management – They have to identify the right kind of investment instruments and manage the total portfolio of securities.

o

Offering investment advice – In this case, they simply offer investment advice, no actual portfolio management is done by them.

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Broker / Dealers : Brokers are the intermediaries who provide broking services to

the investors. That means whenever the investors want to buy or sell securities they do so through brokers. Brokers use the mechanisms established in the financial markets to make sales or purchases for investors. Thus they act as agents for their clients and charge a commission for services rendered. Unlike brokers who do securities’ transactions for their clients, dealers act on their own accounts as principals. That means they buy buy or sell securities securities for themselves. themselves. How do dealers make money? They make money by buying the securities at a lower prices and selling them at higher prices. The terms Brokers and Dealers are used together because the same firms may act as brokers or dealers at different times. Hence these terms are used together at many places throughout the text.

The services offered by brokerage firms can be summarized as follows : 

Supporting clients in buying and selling securities

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Providing research on securities which help the clients make investment decisions

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Offering a custody service for the securities

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Making available statements statements of the assets in the account periodically

We saw earlier that investment managers are considered buy side of securities industry. Brokers are considered sell side because they sell their research on securities and offer broking services. Introduction & Overview of Securities Industry

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Recent trends in broking business

With the changes in securities industry, broking business has also undergone lot of changes. The recent trends in broking businesses are as follows. o

Increasing competition – Broking business has become fiercely competitive with a large number of firms offering these services. This increased competition has brought down brokerage rates. Dealers also face narrowing spreads between the prices at which they buy and prices at which they sell. Obviously this causes reduction in their profits. Thus broking business witnesses increased competition and pressure on profit margins.

o

Need for continuous upgradation of technology – The securities industry is undergoing constant changes due to technological advancements. To give a simple example, across all the markets there is a trend that the trades be settled in lesser time. In fact one would like to settle trades on the same day when they are entered into. This requires significant investment on part of the brokers.

o

Changes in the methods of Trading : The trading practice has shown noteworthy changes during the last few years. This is basically due to the new Alternative Trading Systems (ATS) and Electronic Communication Networks (ECN) 11 provided by a large number of vendors. Similarly internet trading has changed the way retail investors may trade. All this affects broking firms directly.

o

Stringent Regulations : Broker / Dealers are regulated entities and their activities are closely monitored by the regulators in various markets. The reporting requirements of brokers are increasing. This requires them to incur some costs and may restrict their activities in some ways affecting their profitability.

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Explained in the section on Recent Developments


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Categories of Brokers/Dealers The following are the three major types of brokerage firms: o

Full Service Firms: As the name itself suggests, these broking firms offer a full range of services. They have large research departments which offer client advice and research on securities. They also provide additional services such as financial planning, wealth management etc. The commissions charged by them are higher compared to discount brokers.

o

Discount Firms: These firms have not traditionally offered investment recommendations along with their implementation and transaction processing services. They just execute the deals for their clients charging lower commissions. It should be noted the differences between them are getting blurred as full service firms may charge lower commissions through their online accounts, while discount firms have started offering research to their clients.

o

Online firms : These may be either virtual firms with no physical existence. Or

they can be online services offered by the full service or discount firms. However, there is no personal contact or advice in case of online trading.

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Managed Investment Companies : These are formed so that the investments can be

pooled together from a number of investors and invested in various securities. Managed investment companies create a mutual fund and manage the same by hiring professional portfolio managers. There are generally more than one mutual funds created by these companies and each fund has different objectives. Thus it becomes easier for investors to select the fund that meets their objectives.


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Mutual Funds

A mutual fund is a fund collected by Managed Investment Companies that is invested in a diversified portfolio of securities. The individuals who buy shares or units of a mutual fund are known as its shareholders or owners. Their investments offer the money for a mutual fund to buy shares, namely, stocks and bonds. Need for Investing in Mutual Funds

Mutual funds help in create savings, are simple, accessible and also within an individuals’ reach. The major benefits of mutual funds are: Diversification: It is said that it is better not to put all the eggs in one basket. This applies to

investments also. The successful investors are aware that diversification of their investment helps in decreasing the adverse effect of a single investment. Mutual funds bring in diversification to an investor’s investment portfolio automatically by holding a large variety of securities. In addition, since the investor pools his assets with those of the other investors, a mutual fund enables an investor to acquire a more diversified portfolio than one would perhaps be in a position to comfortably manage on his own and also at a fraction of cost. In brief, mutual funds give the opportunity to the investors to invest in many markets and sectors / industries.

Professional Management: In spite of best market conditions, it takes a judicious,

knowledgeable investor to choose investments properly, and a further commitment of time to constantly supervise those investments. As far as the mutual funds are concerned, experienced professionals manage a portfolio of securities to buy and also sell based on wide research. An individual or a team choosing investments that best match the fund’s objectives normally manage a fund. Along with the changes in economic conditions, the managers, frequently adjust the combination of the fund’s investments to make sure it continues to meet the fund’s objectives.


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Convenience: The investor can sell or purchase fund shares directly from a fund or through a

broker, insurance or bank agent, financial planner, by mail or over the telephone and also through the computer. The arrangement can also be made for automatic reinvestment of the dividends12 paid by the fund. Funds can also offer a large variety of other services, which include monthly or quarterly account statements, tax information, computer accessibility to the fund and account information and 24-hour phone service.

Low Costs: Mutual funds normally hold dozens or even hundreds of securities like stocks

and bonds. The basic method through which an investor pays for this service is through a fee that is based on the total value of an individual’s account. Since the fund industry is characterized by the possession of hundreds of competing firms and thousands of funds, the exact level of fees changes. But, in the case of many investors, mutual funds provide professional management and diversification at a fraction of the cost of making such kind of investments investments independently by the investors on their own.

Liquidity: This refers to the ability to voluntarily access investor’s money in an investment.

Mutual fund shares are considered as liquid investments as they can be sold on any business day. The price per share at which an investor can redeem shares is referred to as the fund’s net asset value (NAV). NAV is the current market value of all the fund’s assets, minus liabilities, divided by the total number of outstanding shares.

Protecting the Investors: The mutual funds are not only subjected to rigorous internal

standards, they are also highly regulated by the federal government through the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As part of this government regulation, all the funds are required to meet particular operating standards, should observe strict anti-fraud rules, and reveal total information to existing and prospective investors. These laws are stringently imposed and intended to protect investors from fraud and abuse. However, these laws cannot help the investor in picking up a fund that is appropriate for the investor

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Dividends are a part of profits that any company / investment institution pays out to the shareholders.


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or prevent a fund from losing the money. The individual can still lose money by investing in a mutual fund.

Types of Funds Basically, there are three types of mutual funds based on asset class : i.

Stock or Equity: Stock mutual funds invest basically in shares of stock issued by foreign companies or US.

ii.

Bonds: These mutual funds invest mostly in bonds.

iii.

Money Market: They invest basically in short-term securities issued by the US government and its agencies, US corporations and state and local governments.

Stock Funds

These funds invest primarily in stocks. A share of stock fund signifies a unit of ownership in a company. If a company is successful, then, the shareholders earn profits in the following two ways: The stock increases in value The company can pass its profits to shareholders which take the form of dividends

Bond Funds

These funds invest basically in securities known as bonds. A bond is referred to as a type of security that resembles a loan. Whenever a bond is purchased, money is lent to the company, municipality or government agency that issued the bond. In exchange for use of this money, the issuer promises to repay the amount loaned, in other words, the principal, also known as the face value of the bond, on a specific maturity date. Apart from this, the issuer characteristically assures to make periodic interest payments over the entire period of the loan.


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Money Market Funds

This fund invests in a pool of short-term, interest-bearing securities. A money market instrument is a short-term debt instruments issued by the US government, US corporations, and state and local governments. These instruments have a maturity period of less than one year. The short-term character of money market investments makes money market funds less volatile than any other type of fund.

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Investment Banks: Investment banks offer a number of services including broking services and underwriting of new securities. Their different businesses may be considered as buy side or sell side businesses in securities industry. The role of investment banks and the functions they perform are extremely vital for the securities industry. The services provided by investment banks are as f ollows.

o

Investment research – In this case, investment banks provide research on industries, companies to their clients so that the clients can take investment decisions.

o

Portfolio management – The investment portfolios of clients need to be monitored, altered on a regular basis in response to the developments in financial markets. This service is provided by b y the investment banks.

o

Trading for the clients – Investment banks act as brokers and trade on behalf of their clients.

o

Private banking – Already explained in the section on Banks.

o

Wealth management – This is a service provided to High Net worth Individuals where their wealth is managed as per their objectives by the investment banks.

o

Mergers & acquisitions (M&A) – In the corporate world, developments such as merger of two companies, acquisition of one company by another company take place continuously. Investment banks play a vital role in identifying opportunities


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for M & A, valuing companies in case of M & A, meeting the necessary regulatory requirements etc. for their clients.

A point that needs to be remembered is that the operations of investment banks need to be separated from each other by a Chinese wall. This is because there is chance of conflict of interest between the operations of different departments of investment banks. For example, a research analyst in research department should provide an independent opinion about any company, whether that company is the client of an investment bank or not.

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Insurance Companies: These companies are active in the securities market through their treasury functions 13 and also in the course of their investment management activities. This means that the premiums collected from the buyers of insurance need to be invested in various securities so that the insurance companies can meet their payment obligations smoothly. Their treasury departments watch cash inflows and outflows carefully and invest surplus funds from the short term perspective. On the other hand, investment mangers invest these funds from long term perspective.

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In simple terms treasury function involves managing short term cash surpluses and deficits.


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Infrastructure Providers Stock Exchanges

Stock exchanges are the institutions which provide trading facilities to all interested parties who trade through individuals individuals or firms which are the trading members members of stock exchanges. exchanges. Once the issuers issue securities, these securities are listed on stock exchanges. Listing is a mechanism through through which securities are allowed to be traded by the stock exchanges. Once the securities are listed, they are traded by the investors through trading members. The most important objective of getting securities listed is that participants can trade in the securities. Let us see how this process works.

Issuer Issues securities to

Gets securities listed on stock exchanges

Trading starts in securities after listing amongst various investors

I N V E S T O R S

Thus the most important function of stock exchanges is that they provide trading a platform for securities issued. Suppose Investor A has purchased a few securities issued by Issuer B. The investor is in need of money and wants to sell the securities. This is greatly facilitated by the stock exchanges since all the market participants who want to trade in particular types of securities, do so through stock exchanges where the securities are listed. Without stock exchanges, trading would have been difficult. In most of the countries there may be a number of stock exchanges but a few usually dominate in terms of volumes of securities traded. There may be National level stock exchanges or regional stock exchanges. The stock exchanges operate under the supervision


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of market regulators and form their own rules and regulations regarding listing of securities, allowing membership to market participants etc. Stock Exchanges in US are: 

New York Stock Exchange

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American Stock Exchange

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Philadelphia Stock Exchange

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Pacific Stock Exchange

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Boston Stock Exchange

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Chicago Stock Exchange

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Cincinnati Stock Exchange

The stock exchanges may require the members to assemble at a place to trade in shares (called an open outcry system) or may allow trading through computer networks (called a screen based trading).

Over-the-Counter Market

Unlike the stock exchanges, an Over-the-Counter (OTC) Market for stocks consists of dealers who buy or sell stocks by negotiating through telephones and computer systems. OTC market trading in US is done through network of computer systems called National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) System. It was put into operation by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD). This nationwide communication system allows brokers to know instantly the terms currently offered by all major dealers in securities covered by the system. The dealers buy stocks for their own account and sell them to investors at prices higher than their buying prices. A number of companies are listed on NASDAQ.


26



Clearing Service Providers

Before any trade is ready for final settlement (exchange of securities and funds between the buyers and the sellers), trades need to be cleared. The institutions providing these clearing services are called clearing c learing service providers. The main service that is provided by clearing service providers is that of netting. After the trades are done on each day, trades are netted out amongst the brokers and only the net amount of securities and funds f unds are actually transferred. This ensures that number of transactions to be settled goes down. There are different clearing service providers operating for clearing trades for various securities.

o

Depository Trust Company (DTC)

A member of US Federal Reserve System, Depository Trust Company retains custody of 2 million securities, most of them in dematerialized dematerial ized form. The depository also provides the services necessary for the maintenance of the securities it has in custody. The mission of DTC is to:-Hold securities like equities, bonds & unit investment trusts -Arrange for the receipt & delivery of securities -Arrange for the payments during settlement

o

National Securities Clearing Corporation

The National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) is the largest of the US clearing corporations processing approximately, about 20 million transactions in a day. It provides risk management, clearing and settlement, central counterparty services14, to money market instruments 15, corporate, and municipal debt etc. It also

14

Central counterparty function guarantees that the trade will take place without any default. For example if the buyer of securities fails to make payment for his purchase, the seller is guaranteed money for the securities he has sold through Central Counter party. 15 Money market instruments, corporate and municipal debt are explained in the section on Asset Classes


27

nets trades16 and payments among its participants, decreasing the volume and securities and payment that are required to be exchanged by an average of 95% each day. It clears and settles trades on a T+3 basis 17.

o

Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (FICC)

FICC was formed by the merger of the Government Securities Clearing Corporation (GSCC) and the Mortgage Backed Securities Clearing Corporation (MBSCC). It caters to post-trade processing for the fixed income markets. FICC offers, under one roof, a unified approach to fixed income processing through a wide array of services for the government and mortgage-backed mortgage-backed securities markets.

It operates through its divisions – i) Government Securities Division which clears and settles government securities transactions and ii) Mortgage Backed Securities Division which handles clearing and settlement settlement of Mortgage Backed Securities

o

Options Clearing Corporation (OCC)

OCC is the world’s largest equity derivatives clearing organization. Acts as a clearing house and guarantees the fulfillment of trades which are cleared by OCC. OCC clears transactions for a number of derivatives products traded on various stock exchanges such as American Stock Exchange, Chicago Board Options Exchange, International Securities Exchange, Philadelphia Stock Exchange etc.

16

Netting of trades is done as a part of clearing process. For example, broker buys 300 units of Security A for Client B during the day and sells 200 units of same security for Client C. In this case, the Clearing Corporation will arrive at a net bu y position (300-200) for this broker. Netting reduces the number of transactions. 17 Explained in the section “Recent developments”


28



Settlement Service Providers

Settlement service providers provide a variety of services to investors in order to ensure that trading in securities becomes smooth. For example, suppose investor A buys equity shares from investor B. After the trade is over, the shares which A has; need to be transferred to B. Similarly, B has to pay cost of shares purchased and these funds have to be sent to A. Moreover, A and B may be in the same city, same country or different countries. Hence transfer of funds and securities need systems to be created which help hassle free completion of this process. One of the settlement service providers is a bank since it plays an important role in transferring funds from one party’s account to another. Since the role of the banks has already been explained, let us look at other settlement service providers.


29

o

Depositories

A depository is an institution which can be compared to a bank. A bank holds money deposits of deposit holders. On the other hand, a depository holds securities (like shares, or fixed income securities, units of mutual funds etc.) of investors in electronic form. Thus depositories play an extremely important role as most of the securities now are held only in electronic form. The transfer of securities between the two parties is greatly facilitated by depositories as follows. Depository

Customer A’s account

Pre Trade Balance

100 shares of ABC Company

Customer B’s Account 300 shares of ABC Company

Suppose B sells 50 shares of ABC Compan y to A, the post trade balance will look like :



Depending upon whether the depository settles international or national securities, there are two types of depositories; International Central Securities Depository and Central Securities Depository. Depository.


30

International Central Securities Depositories

The Internation International al Central Securities Depositories (ICSDs) emerged as institutions to manage and settle the Eurobond18 business initially. However, over the years, ICSDs have achieved global connectivity and now settle most domestic and internationally traded instruments. In Europe, there are two International Central Securities Depositories (ICSD) namely Euroclear and Clearstream, AG.

Central Securities Depository

The main function of Central Securities Depositories is to hold dematerialized securities so that by electronic book book entries, the transfer transfer of ownership can be affected. affected. Thus it does not require a physical settlement settlement to take take place. This transfer of ownership ownership may occur in the books of CSD. If any intermediary holds account with a CSD, the settlement can take place by a book entry in intermediary’s account. CSD is concerned with the settlement settlement of domestic securities. For example, Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation is the central securities depositary in US. In Europe, a number of CSDs operate in different countries. These CSDs mostly are part of either the Euroclear or Clearstream groups. groups.

Custodian Banks Though we have already mentioned about custodian banks in the section on banks, it is appropriate to mention the role custodian banks or custodians play as settlement service providers. This role comprises of customer account keeping and the administration of securities on behalf of customers. In simple terms, customers open accounts (of securities, just as accounts for money deposits are opened with banks) with custodians and custodians in

18

Eurobonds are fixed income instrument issued in the currency which is not the currency of the country where the bonds are issued. For example, a US dollar denominated bond issued outside US is called a Eurodollar bond.


31

turn are members or hold accounts in depositories where actual transfer of securities takes place by book entries.

Custodians not only maintain customer’s accounts wherein changes take place continuously, but also provide a number of other services. For example, a company declares a dividend which is to be paid to the shareholders. This dividend is collected and paid to the shareholders by custodians. There can be two types of custodians; domestic or local custodians and global custodians.

o

Domestic or Local Custodians: As the name suggests, t hese custodian c ustodianss process trades19 in domestic securities. For example, local custodians in US process US securities for both US firms and international firms. They are accountable for organizing their clients’ transactions between brokers, investment advisors and the suitable US depository.

o

Global Custodians: Unlike local custodians, global custodians process cross border i.e. international international trades. A global custodian in US may operate in number of other countries through local custodians (also called subcustodians) in countries other than US to provide a number of settlement services.

Some of the firms which act as both global and local custodians (for US markets) are State Street, Bank of New York, J P Morgan, Citigroup, Mellon Group, Northern Trust etc.

Transfer Agents When a company issues new shares to investors, the function of actually issuing shares to investors is done by transfer agents. Moreover, transfer agents also track the movement of shareholding pattern20 because as we have seen when shares are sold by party A to party B, the former no longer remains a shareholder. Hence shareholding pattern changes due to 19 20

Processing of trade means preparing for clearing and settlement of securities and actually settling the trades. Shareholding pattern is a summary of list of shareholders and the number of shares each holder holds.


32

trading in shares. Transfer agents track these changes in shareholding patterns. They also act as an intermediary between the company and investors. In case of physical certificates, transfer agents handle matters regarding lost, destroyed and stolen certificates. Most of the transfer agents are banks or trust companies but sometimes a company may act as transfer agent for its securities.



Market Data Vendors

Market participants need a variety of data or information. Most of the data requirements are real time. For example, information on prices of securities and corporate announcements have to come real time. Some data may be received batch wise i.e. end of the day or some data may be required over a long period of time, say historical data of activities done during the month. Market data vendors provide this data. o

Real time data on prices are used by brokers and investors to make investment decisions. Vendors collect this data through the quotes available on stock exchanges and Electronic Communication Networks (ECNs) and may be a delayed quote by few minutes. Major real time data vendors include Bloomberg, Reuters, Comstock, SunGard, Thomson etc.

o

Batch wise data are closing prices of securities and may be some notifications of corporate announcements such as dividends or other information affecting the shareholders. Some batch data vendors include Standard & Poor’s, Financial Information Incorporated, Incorporated, J J Kenny, Interactive Data etc.


33

Industry Bodies A number of industry bodies operate in the securities industry. Some of them are as follows. 

National Association of Securities Dealers

The National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) is considered as the rule-making body governing the over-the-counter brokerage industry. It adopts, administers and enforces rules of fair practice and also stipulates rules to prevent manipulative and fraudulent acts and practices and also to promote fair principles of trade to protect the investors. It also registers member firms, provides rules to supervise their behavior, scrutinizes them for their conformity. It gives punishment to the faulty firms at the same time helping the vast majority of the members who obey the rules. 

National Futures Association

The National Futures Association Association (NFA) was established with the objective of protecting the public investor by sustaining the reliability of the future’s market place. The board of directors comprises elected representatives of each category of membership and by representatives from US futures exchanges and non-futures Board members. Functions of the NFA : o

Screens all firms and individuals who are desirous of conducting business with the investing public

o

Develops a vast range of investor protection rules and monitor all members for compliance

o

Provides investors with information required to make educated financial decisions

o

Adopts fast and efficient methods for settling the disputes


34



International Swaps & Derivatives Association (ISDA)

ISDA is an association of member institutions that deal in the privately negotiated derivatives industry21. It has today approximately 700 member institutions from 50 countries on six continents. ISDA has pioneered efforts to identify and reduce the sources of risk in the derivatives and risk management business. •

Among its most notable accomplishments are: –

developing the ISDA Master Agreement;

–

publishing a wide range of related documentation documentation materials and instruments instruments covering a variety of transaction transaction types;

–

securing recognition of the risk-reducing effects of netting in determining capital requirements; requirements;

–



promoting sound risk management practices

Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT)

The need for communicating financial messages across the globe amongst various financial institutions is fulfilled by SWIFT. Thus SWIFT provides the services of financial data communication and message processing. SWIFT has dedicated telecommunication network which ensures that messages are transferred rapidly, in a cost effective manner and securely. Financial institutions operating in the areas of securities, payments, foreign exchange, derivatives and money markets and trade finance use SWIFT messages for communication 24 hours a day. SWIFT is owned by approximately 2300 banks, broker/dealers and investment6 managers who use its services.

21

Privately negotiated derivatives means derivative derivative contracts negotiated between two parties which are popularly known as Over-the-counter Derivatives. Derivatives are explained in the slide on Asset Classes.


35

Asset Classes In the earlier sections, we have seen that issuers issue different types of securities. These securities represent various alternatives available for investments to the investors. Types of securities which have similar characteristics can be classified into a category called an asset class. Thus an asset class is nothing but a specific category of assets or investments. The assets within classes have similar features, are traded in similar market places and are subject to the same laws and regulations.

Following are the main asset classes.

Fixed Income

Currency

Asset Classes

Equity

Commodities


Derivatives

36

A brief description of these asset classes are as follows.

Equity

Equity is a share in the ownership of a company. It represents a claim on the company's assets and earnings. As one acquires more stock, the person’s ownership stake in the company becomes greater. As an owner, the shareholder is entitled to the company's earnings (popularly known as dividend) as well as any voting rights attached to the stock.

There are two major types of stocks known as common stock or equity and preferred stock.



Common Stock

Common stock represents ownership in a company and a claim (dividends) on a portion of profits. Whenever we refer to equity shares, we are referring to common stock. Common stock is also known as ordinary stock or shares. Equity shares are listed on stock exchanges or trade over the counter. The trading in equity shares is very active in well developed financial markets across the globe.

Equity represents ownership capital and being ownership capital, common stocks carry risks and rewards of ownership. As far as rewards are concerned, the price appreciation is considered to be the most promising one. A large number of shareholders hold equity shares because they expect prices to go up. Other reward includes dividends which are paid out of profits of the company. Apart from this shareholders have a right to vote and right to information etc. However these rewards do bring along with them risks in terms of decrease in price of shares or dividends not being paid since they are not mandatory. Moreover, if a company goes bankrupt 22 and liquidates, the common shareholders will not receive money 22

Bankruptcy in simple terms means the company is unable to meet its payment obligations, thus it may fail to make payments for raw materials it has purchased or salaries or interest on loans etc. Such as company needs to be liquidated i.e. its assets must be sold and liabilities (obligations) must be paid off from proceeds to assets sold.


37

until the creditors, bondholders, and preferred shareholders are all paid. That is why equity capital is called a residual capital. That means the claims of equity holders are residual claims.

It has been observed historically that as an asset equities have provided larger returns during the long-run compared to other asset classes. This higher return comes at greater risks as mentioned above. Preferred Stock

Preferred stock represents some degree of ownership in a company but usually it does not come with the same voting rights. Preferred stock or preference shares have a combination of features of equity and debt. Normally, the holders of preference shares are entitled a f ixed dividend. This is different than common stock, which has variable dividends that are never guaranteed. Preferred shareholders are paid off before the common shareholders in case of liquidation of the company. As for the risk-return profile of preference shares is concerned, it lies between the fixed income securities and equity.

Fixed Income Securities Fixed income securities are securities which promise to pay a fixed amount as a return to the investors. Unlike equities, where dividends or capital appreciation can hardly be determined when the investment is made, in case of fixed income securities the interest payments (called coupon payments) and principal payments are determinable at the time of investments. investments. From the issuer’s perspective, perspective, these instruments instruments represent a kind of loan or borrowing that the issuer has done. Hence these securities are also called debt securities. The issuers of fixed income securities involve the governments and corporate. For example, US government and US corporations issue these fixed income products which have varying maturities. These securities are marketable and provide liquidity to the users. Treasury securities (fixed income securities issued by the governments) form major chunk of fixed income securities which are in the form of treasury bills, treasury notes, and treasury bonds.


38

Apart from the federal government in the US, state and local governments also issue fixed income securities which are called municipal debt instruments. Federal government agencies and government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) also issue debt instruments. Corporate debt instruments are issued by various corporations to meet their current and future cash requirements. They are listed and traded on various stock exchanges. However trading in corporate debt (bonds), is not as active as that of equity shares.

Currencies

Currency market refers to market for foreign currencies. All entities may require foreign exchange for variety of purposes. For example, individuals need them for funding their education, travel plans, investments etc. Corporations require foreign currency for meeting their payment obligations in foreign currency, making investments in foreign country or for trading purposes.

Foreign exchange market is, by most accounts, the oldest, largest, and most extensive financial market in the world. According to a triennial survey of foreign exchange markets, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) estimated average daily turnover in the global foreign exchange market to be $1.9 Trillion in April 2004. Currently, the daily turnover in the global forex market is close to $3.0 trillion.

Dollar, Euro, Pound Sterling and Yen are the four most popular currencies that are traded. Although participants participants in the foreign exchange market are increasingly scattered around the globe, most transactions still take place in London, New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong and Switzerland.

Foreign Exchange market consists of spot, forward and derivative products 23. Spot transaction involves exchange of two currencies for settlement as soon as practicable, 23

Explained in next section


39

typically in two working days. As can be seen in the table below, they account for about one -third of the transaction volume. Outright forward contract involve exchange of currencies at an agreed future date beyond the spot two-day period. Foreign exchange swaps, on the other hand, involve two transactions. One exchange being performed immediately, in the spot market and the other being performed at a future date, as a reversal of the first one.

Volumes in FX market over time

(Amount in $ Billion) 1989

1992

1995

1998

2001

2004

Spot Transactions

317

394

494

568

387

621

Outright Forwards

27

58

97

128

131

208

Exchange

190

324

546

734

656

944

reporting

56

44

53

60

26

107

590

820

1190

1490

1200

1880

Foreign Swaps Gaps

in

(Est.) Total

Source: Bank of International Settlement, Triennial Surveys

Commodities Commodities have existed as oldest asset class. As a simple investment strategy, traders would hold the stocks of a commodity if they felt price of that commodity would go up. The organized trading in commodities emerged ever since the evolution of Chicago Board of Trade, an exchange for trading in commodities set up in the year 1848. A number of exchanges all over the world provide trading in commodities.

As an example, following commodities are traded on the Chicago Board of Trade, which is one of the oldest commodity exchanges. Agricultural Products: Soybeans, Wheat, Rice, Corn, Soybean Oil, Soybean meals, Oats, Precious Metals: Gold, Silver. The other


40

commodities that are usually traded include livestock and meat, base metals like aluminum, copper, steel, nickel and zinc. Also, energy products like natural gas, oil, and gasoline are traded very actively.

Derivatives Derivatives are financial instruments which derive their value from the value of the underlying asset. The underlying asset can be equity, fixed income instruments, interest rates, foreign exchange or commodities. The price movements of derivative products are related to that of the underlying securities.



Types of Derivatives o

Forward Contracts – A forward contract is a contract between the two parties

which allows them to exchange the underlying asset at some future date at a price decided today. For example, a buyer may enter into a contract with a seller to buy shares of company ABC at $ 50 after one month. Thus the actual exchange takes place after a month but the price is decided today. This removes the uncertainty for both the buyers and the sellers. o

Futures Contracts – A futures contract is similar to forward contracts except that

futures contracts are traded on a futures exchange. Thus in case of futures contracts, buyers and sellers execute the same through futures exchange and not amongst themselves as it happen in case of forward contracts. Because transactions are done through a futures exchange, the terms of futures contract are standardized. o

Options Contracts – Suppose in an example given earlier, a buyer and a seller

decide to exchange shares of ABC at $ 50 after one month, but the buyer reserves the right to sell the shares to B, then this contract is called an options contract. This means the buyer has the right but not the obligation to sell (in this case) or to buy the underlying asset. He gets this privilege if he pays some amount when


41

the contract is entered into. This amount is known as option premium. Options can be traded on exchange or traded over the counter between two parties.

Types of Risks Market participants deal in various asset classes. This exposes them to different types of risks. Broadly the risks are as follows.

Credit /Counterparty Risk



This refers to the risk that the counterparty fails to meet its obligations. For example, if investor has invested in a fixed income security, the issuer

o

may fail to repay the interest and / or principal of the security. Another example is that of a bank loan where the borrower is unable to

o

repay the loan. Suppose buyer A buys 100 units of a particular security from seller B. Both

o

of them face the credit risk. Buyer A faces the risk that seller B does not deliver the securities, while Seller B faces the risk that Buyer A does not pay the due amount. All these risks can be classified as credit / counterpart c ounterparty y risk. 

Market Risk

Market risk is the risk of losses due to movements in financial market variables. These may be interest rates, foreign exchange rates, security prices etc. So market risk is the risk of fluctuations in portfolio values because of movements in these variables. The market risks which can be talked about are Price risk, Interest rate risk, Forex risk, Liquidity risk which are explained below. o

Price risk – Prices of securities keep changing continuously. Thus all the

market participants are worried about the adverse changes in market prices. This is called the price risk. o

Interest rate risk – Interest rate is an important variable which affects

the prices of securities. Fluctuations in interest rates causes prices of


42

securities to change and this leads to generation of interest rate risk. The return for those who have invested in fixed income securities also fluctuates with changes in interest rates. o

Forex risk – Foreign Exchange refers to the currency of foreign country.

Since the value of foreign currency in terms of domestic currency keeps changing, this leads to foreign exchange risk. o

Liquidity risk – Liquidity refers to ability to liquidate (sell) investments

whenever required at the right price. Sometimes, one may not be able to sell securities because there are not enough number of buyers or sellers who are available to trade in that security. Hence an investor may not be able to sell the securities whenever he wants. This is liquidity risk. risk.


43

Types of Markets The Different types of Financial Markets are as follows:

Primary Market and Secondary markets This classification is based on issue of securities and trading of securities. Primary market is the market in which securities are sold at the time of their issuance. In other words, sale of new securities takes place in primary markets. For instance, when the General Electric needs money to expand its plant and construction activities, it issues new common stocks in the primary markets. Or when the US Federal government wants to issue treasury bills or bonds for the first time, it does so through primary market. A number of market participants are involved in placing the securities for the first time. For corporate issues, investment banks play an important role. They help the issuer sell the shares to investors. In fact they underwrite the issue which means that they subscribe to any unsubscribed portion of the issue, ensuring that the company gets the full amount of the issue. As far as issue of government securities are concerned the central banks of respective countries for example, Federal Reserve in case of US play an important role. Role of primary markets

Primary market enables enables the issuers to raise the capital capital required from investors. investors. Thus it has a major role in bringing the investors and issuers together. A vibrant primary market ensures that a number of corporates issue securities which in turn provides a range of investment opportunities for the investors. This leads to an increase in market size, attracting more investors.


44

Secondary Markets If primary markets provide investment opportunities, secondary markets provide exit option to the investors. Secondary market for financial securities, is a market where outstanding securities i.e. securities which have already been issued by the issuer are traded. Thus when a corporation issues new shares, it does so through primary market. Once these shares are issued to the investors, a mechanism is established so that shares can be exchanged between the interested parties. This is called the secondary market. Role of secondary market

The main function of secondary market is to create liquidity in financial instruments. In simple words, it provides entry point to those investors who want to buy the securities and exit point to those who want to sell them. Thus a vibrant secondary market increases the market size, attracts more participation from investors and leads to the development of sound financial markets. In fact, a healthy secondary market will also give a boost to primary market.

Money and Capital Markets This classification of financial markets is based on time for which the securities are issued or the maturity of securities 24. The market where, securities with shorter maturities are traded and issued is referred to as money markets. The money market is a market for short-term instruments. The short term is generally defined as less than one year. The issuers can be governments governments or the corporations.

The money market instruments, their maturities, principal borrowers and the nature of secondary market in US are described in the following table.

24

Maturity of instruments mean the time period after which the securities no longer exist. For equities there is no maturity period. For fixed income instruments, there is a maturity period attached to each instrument. For example, US Federal Government issues securities with maturities less than an year (called treasury bills), between two to ten years (called treasury notes) and more than ten years (called treasury bonds).


45

The Money Market Instruments

Typical Maturities

Principal Borrowers

Federal funds

Chiefly 1 business Depository institutions day Negotiable Certificates of 1 to 6 months and Depository institutions Deposits (CDs) longer Bankers’ Acceptances 90 days Financial and business enterprises Eurodollars Time deposits Overnight, 1 week, (non-negotiable) 1-6 months and Banks longer CD (negotiable) Treasury Bills Repurchase Agreements

Federal agencies Discount notes Coupon securities

1-6 months longer

and Banks

3 to 12 months 1 day, and terms of 2 days to 3 months typical; 6 months less typical

30 to 360 days 6 to 9 months

Commercial paper

1 to 270 days

Municipal notes

30 days to 1 year

US government Banks, security dealers, other owners of securities, non-financial corporations, governments Federally sponsored agencies: Farm credit system, Federal Home Loan Banks, Federal National Mortgage Assn. Financial and business enterprises State and local governments

Secondary Markets

Active brokers’ market Modest activity Limited

None

Moderately active Very active None, but very active primary market for short maturities

Active Active

Moderately active Moderately active for large issuers

Source: US Monetary Policy and Financial Markets, US Federal Reserve Bank of New York p. 81


46

The Capital Market

Markets dealing with instruments having maturities exceeding one-year are often referred to as capital markets. Again the issuers can be governments governments and corporates. Capital Capital market is again subdivided into equity market and fixed income market which we have already seen. Thus the instruments of capital market include fixed income securities with maturities over one year and equities.

Markets for Financial Instruments Equity Markets

In equity markets equity related instruments are traded. These are as follows. 

Equity Related instruments o

Common Stock – Refer to the section on equity in asset classes.

o

Preferred Stock - Refer to the section on equity in asset classes.

o

Convertible Bonds – These instruments, when issued, are fixed income securities to be converted into equity shares after some time. The conversion into equity shares can be optional or mandatory. The conversion terms are generally pre-specified so that the investor knows how many shares he gets after the conversion.

o

Equity Warrants – Warrants entitle the warrant holders to subscribe to equity shares at a particular price sometime sometime in the future. It is similar to options explained earlier, but equity options traded on the exchanges are of short term maturity while warrants generally have a long term maturity. Warrants are generally issued along with another security. For example, a company at the time of issuing fixed income securities may issue equity warrants. These warrants may be listed and traded separately on stock exchanges.

o

Equity Indexes – By equity index we mean a weighted average price for a group of securities which make that index. For example, Standard & Poor 500 index consists of weighted average price for shares of 500


47

companies that make this index. Equity index may be traded just like a single stock. Moreover, derivatives based on equity indexes as underlying assets are also available. o

Equity Futures & Options – Futures & Options are already explained. In this case, the underlying assets are equity shares.

Fixed Income or debt markets In this market, fixed income instruments are traded. 

Fixed Income Instruments

Fixed income instruments instruments can be classified broadly into three categories: o

Money market instruments,

o

US Government Securities

o

Corporate Bonds

o

Money market instruments : Commercial paper is a short-term debt instrument instrument issued by both financial and

non-financial companies. companies. These debt instruments are unsecured in nature, that means, they do not require any charge to be created on the company’s assets. In simple terms, if the company fails to pay back the investors the amount of commercial papers after their maturity, the investors can not sell a particular asset and recover their dues. Commercial papers papers are discount discount instruments instruments which means they are issued at discount and redeemed at face value. For example suppose the par value or face value of commercial paper is $ 1,000,000, and has a three months maturity, it may be issued at say $955,000. Thus investor pays $ 955,000 at the time of making the investment and gets $1,000,000 back after the maturity (three months in this case). The difference represents the income earned by the investors. o

Certificates of deposits (CDs) are interest-bearing deposit at a commercial

bank or saving and Loan association. association . Jumbo or large denomination CDs are


48

issued in amounts of $100,000 or more, have a specified maturity, and are generally negotiable and can be sold by one investor to another. All interest is paid along with the principal at maturity. Foreign banks that have branches in US also offer dollar-denominated CDs to investors.

o

Bankers’ acceptances are the trade financing instruments. For example,

Company A sells goods worth $500,000 to Company B. The latter does not have money to pay at present but issues a written promise that it will do so in three months. This promise is accepted by a bank. Thus the bank obligates itself to pay the amount if Company B fails to pay on due date. The accepted bill may be sold by the Company A immediately for a discount to an investor. The investor in turn may keep it till maturity or trade the same. o

Repurchase agreement is most popular form of money market instruments

that is used by the financial institutions. For instance one investor (a financial institution) sells to another investor (a financial institution) a security and agrees to repurchase it at a later date for an agreed price. These agreements involve little risk to the lenders because the money market instruments used in a repurchase agreement are of high quality. o

US Treasury Bills are issued at a discount with maturities of up to 52 weeks,

and in denominations of $1000 dollars or more. These instruments are issued in book entry form; the buyer receives a receipt at a time of purchase that indicates the bills’ face value at maturity. Offerings of 13-week and 26-week bills are usually made once in a week and 52-weeks bills are offered every fourth week.


49

US Government Securities – Bonds & Notes o

US Treasury bonds are another form of fixed income instruments with maturities greater than 10 years at the time of issuance. Denominations range from $1000 upward and some bonds will have call provisions allowing them to be “called” during a specified period. US government issues notes with maturities from 2 to 10 years.

Corporate Bonds o

Corporate bonds are similar to the other kinds of fixed income securities in that they promise to make specified payments at specified dates and provide legal remedies in the event of default. Restrictions are often placed on the activities of issuing corporations to provide protection to the bondholders.


50

Role of Regulators Regulators play an extremely important role in smooth conduct of the securities industry. Every country has one or many regulators which are responsible for regulation, supervision and conduct of securities industry in those countries. Some of the countries and regulators are as follows.

Country Australia Belgium China France Germany Hong Kong India Japan South Korea United Kingdom United States

Regulator Australian Securities & Investments Commission Banking, Finance and Insurance Commission China Securities Regulatory Commission Autorité des marchés financiers Bundesanstalt Bundesanstal t für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsic Finanzdiens tleistungsaufsicht ht Securities Securitie s & Futures Commission Securities & Exchange Board of India Financial Services Agency Financial Supervisory Superviso ry Commission / Financial Supervisory Service Financial Services Authority Securities & Exchange Commission Commission

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC):

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) : It administers

the US securities industry. The Congress through the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 brought it into existence. The functions of SEC are as follows:

To set the overall rules for the industry and to review the procedures established by the Self Regulating Organizations to make sure that they comply with the security law To review the new securities registrations to find out whether they comply with the laws established by the Congress To protect the rights of the individual investors and at the same time manage the securities market place to eliminate any serious disruption in the US financial markets


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The executive body of SEC consists of five commissioners, comprising the Chairman appointed by the President of the US. This appointment is carried with the consent of the senate for five-year term of office. The executive body consists of no more than three commissioners from the same political party. The Commission has its headquarters in Washington Washington DC and operates regional offices around the country.

The mission of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient eff icient markets, and facilitate capital formation. f ormation.

Investing in bonds, equities, and other securities involve the risk of loss in value. Unlike the banking world where in federal depository insurance cover provides some guarantee to the depositors, in the securities market such guarantee is not available. Hence investors need to be careful in investing and government needs to protect the interests of investors by making appropriate laws. The laws and rules that govern the securities industry in the United States derive from a simple and straightforward concept: all investors, whether large institutions or private individuals, should have access to certain basic facts about an investment prior to buying it, and so long as they hold it. In order to achieve this, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) requires the public companies to disclose meaningful financial and other information information to the public. This provides a common pool of knowledge for all investors to use to judge for themselves whether to buy, sell, or hold a particular security. Only through the steady flow of timely, comprehensive, and accurate information can investors make sound investment decisions.

The result of this information flow is a far more active, efficient, and transparent capital market which facilitates the capital formation, that is so important to the nation's economy. To ensure that this objective is always being met, the SEC continually works with all major market participants, including the investors in the securities markets, to listen to their concerns and to learn from their experience.


52

What does SEC do?

The SEC oversees the key participants in the securities world, including securities exchanges, securities brokers and dealers, investment advisors, and mutual funds. Here the SEC is concerned primarily with promoting the disclosure of important market-related information, maintaining fair dealings, and protection against fraud.

Crucial to the SEC's effectiveness in each of these areas is its enforcement authority. Each year the SEC brings hundreds of civil enforcement actions against individuals and companies for violation of the securities laws. Typical infractions include insider trading, accounting fraud, and providing false or misleading information about securities and the companies that issue them.

One of the major sources of information on which the SEC relies to bring enforcement action is investors themselves -- another reason as to why educated and careful investors are so critical to the functioning of efficient markets. To help support investor education, the SEC offers the public a wealth of educational information on this Internet website, which also includes the EDGAR database of disclosure documents that public companies are required to file with the Commission 25.

Organization of the SEC The SEC consists of five presidentially-appointed Commissioners, four Divisions and 18 Offices. With approximately 3,100 staff, the SEC is small by federal agency standards. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the SEC has 11 regional and district offices throughout the country. The Commissioners

The Securities and Exchange Commission has five Commissioners who are appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the Senate. Their terms last 25

In the US, all companies, foreign and domestic, are required to file registration registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms electronically through EDGAR.


53

five years and are staggered so that one Commissioner's term ends on June 5 of each year. To ensure that the Commission remains non-partisan, no more than three Commissioners may belong to the same political party. The President also designates one of the Commissioners as Chairman, the SEC's top executive.

Some aspects covered in various laws Corporate Reporting - Following the registration of stocks with the SEC for public offer by

the companies, corporations must file annual reports and disclose periodic updates on the functioning of the corporation. Issuers must send the certain reports to the shareholders and all the information about the corporation is to be electronically filed with SEC website. Insider Trading - Insider trading refers to the misuse of confidential information about the

company that is not available to the general public. This is in the form of: buying or selling shares to make profits or avoid losses based on material non-public information informing non-public information to others so that they may buy or sell securities before such information is available to the public. The SEC has brought numerous civil actions to such practices and Section 16 of the Exchange Act requires that that such information information be furnished to the SEC.

Margin Trading – Market participants may purchase securities using borrowed money.

This is referred to margin trading. trading. This borrowing is subject subject to the limitations prescribed prescribed by the SEC. The objective of margin trading rules is to prevent excessive use of credit for purchase or carrying of securities. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is authorized to set these limits.


54

Registration with the SEC – The Act requires the following f ollowing entities to be registered to carry

out their business in the security markets. Brokers and dealers Transfer agents Clearing agencies Securities information processors

These entities must show that they are organized and comply with the provisions of the statue as well as rules and regulations of the SEC.

Financial Services Modernization Act 1999 removed the barriers for banks, brokers and insurance companies to merge and cross sell their products.

Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002 defines the rules and procedures for corporate

accountability with respect to financial statements and disclosures with the objective: “to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures made pursuant to the securities laws.” The law makes violations of these rules the same as a violation of the 1934 Act, and imposes the same penalties.

The SOX Act requires chief executive officers and chief financial officers to individually confirm their company’s financial statements. Corporate audit committees are particularly responsible for hiring, compensating and supervising the independent auditors and there are new requirements requirements with respect to the improved financial disclosures. SOX is applicable to all publicly traded firms listed on any US-based financial exchange, not considering their domicile. The Act stipulates the annual report of a publicly traded firm to consist an internal report that: Identifies the individual who is responsible to establish and maintain the internal control structure and procedures for financial reporting


55

Makes an assessment of the effectiveness of internal control structure and the financial reporting procedures Disclose all financial and non-financial reports Update investors with all the latest changes inside the organization both financial and non-financial Public certification of financial reports and internal controls by the CFO and CEO To report company c ompany securities trading within two business days CFOs and CEOs should certify that they are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure disclosure controls and procedures

The penalties are: Criminal penalties for records destruction, securities fraud and failure to report fraud A CFO or CEO who knowingly certifies non-complying financials shall be fined up to $1 million and imprisoned for 10 years Failure to maintain all audits or review papers for at least five years may result in jail terms of ten years. Jail term may go up to 20 years for destroying documents in federal or bankruptcy investigation investigation while penalty for securities fraud is 25 years

Financial Services Authority (FSA) Financial Services Authority (FSA) an independent body that regulates the financial services industry in the UK. It has been given a wide range of rule-making, investigatory and enforcement powers in order to meet its four statutory objectives:


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Objectives The Financial Services and Markets Act gives FSA four statutory objectives: market confidence: maintaining confidence in the financial system; public awareness: promoting public understanding of the financial system; consumer protection: securing the appropriate degree of protection for consumers; and the reduction of financial crime: reducing the extent to which it is possible for a business to be used for a purpose connected with financial crime.

The objectives also include: To provide for political and public accountability. The annual report contains an assessment of the extent to which these objectives are met. Scrutiny of the FSA by Parliamentary Committees Committees may focus on how to achieve the objectives. It carries out general functions functions e.g. rule-making, giving advice and guidance, and determining the general policy and principles.

The FSA is the single statutory regulator responsible for the authorization and regulation of: Deposit taking (by banks) Insurance Investment Business Mortgage advice General Insurance advice

Regulatory Approach The FSA has been the single regulator for financial services in the UK since December 2001, when the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) came into force. Since then , it has had a single Handbook Handbook of rules and guidance for all authorized financial financial firms carrying out business in the UK. The Government has increased the scope of the activities it regulates


57

since November 2004. This includes mortgage business, and since January 2005 general insurance activities are added. These significant extra responsibilities have resulted in a marked growth in the size of the organization.

In January 2000 FSA set out the proposed approach to regulation in a New Regulator for the New Millennium. The regulator stated that its overriding aim was "to maintain efficient, orderly and clean financial markets and help retail consumers achieve a fair deal". Its approach is based on a clear statement of the realistic aims and limits of regulation; it recognizes the proper responsibilities of consumers consumers and of firms' own management, management, as well as the impossibility and undesirability of removing all risk and failure from the financial system. Progress

The regulator issued three progress reports describing its continuing work in developing this operating framework. This includes a paper 'The Firm Risk Assessment Framework', which it published in February 2003, setting out what firms need to know about how risk assessment works and what it means for them. It now has over two years of working within its operating framework. Although this has proved to be a key tool for the regulator in discharging its regulatory duties, as might be expected FSA found it necessary to consider further refinements to it and to its overall approach towards risk.

FSA’s Handbook presents the standards expected from regulated firms and is a key vehicle for communicating those standards to the outside world. So it should reflect vision and values of the Authority. These include an approach to rule-making based as far as possible on high-level principles, rather than detailed prescription; a focus on senior management responsibility; responsibility; and acting in a proportionate and risk-based way.


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Recent Developments in Financial Services Industry Dematerialization In the past, securities were issued in the certificate form representing ownership of the security. As trading volumes soared, the processing of security certificates became difficult to handle through the manual process. Hence the form of securities was changed from paper form to electronic form called dematerialized form. Thus dematerialization is a process of eliminating physical certificates and keeping them only in electronic forms. Securities are initially immobilized 26 in a depository, and through dematerialization the securities become become paperless or take the electronic electronic form.

In US, it is a compulsory compulsory

requirement that before any security can be listed for trading, it must have been made depository-eligible i.e. it meets the criteria of depository and is available in dematerialized form.

Electronic Trading This refers to the trading platform that makes use of global distribution network. For example, NASDAQ uses a sophisticated computer and telecommunications network, which transmits real-time quotes and trade data to more than 2 million users in 83 countries. It is capable of trading all 6700 US securities listed on NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ on geographically diverse and resilient network. Electronic trading makes an exchange no longer be tied to a place. London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE) is the world’s leading electronic derivatives exchange. This was established in the year 1982 deals with the exchange traded derivatives. It offers wide range of derivative products. LIFFE CONNECT is the most advanced electronic trading platform which provides an opportunity to the

26

Immobilization Immobilization means placement of physical certificates in central securities depository so that the movement of such securities is reduced and d one through a book entry transfer only.


59

LIFFE’s customers to trade depending on their requirements. It is located in 421 sites in 23 countries worldwide.

Web Trading Web trading refers to trading of shares by the buyers and sellers using Internet services. Along with the online broker transactions web trading includes financial transaction processing. In other words, it supports traditional internet and the brokerage transaction process network.

Electronic Communications Networks Electronic Communications Networks (ECNs) are also known as fourth-market organizations designed to automatically execute buy and sell orders of investors’ by computers without the intervention of specialists or dealers. Instinet is the first ECN that continues to be the largest ECN even though several other ECNs have proliferated due to the rapid growth of trading volumes. They include Island, Archipelago, and Tradebook. Investors submit individual trade requests to ECN through online brokerage firms. Most stocks traded on ECN are NASDAQ securities. For a commission the ECNs attempt to match buy/sell orders and executes the market order trades.

Financial Messaging The dynamic nature of financial markets and institutions requires exchanging information with clients and counterparties efficiently. Financial Messaging involves combining all the financial service functions including buy sell orders, funds transfers, trade settlement instructions, and credit card information. It involves infrastructure for a unified standard that encompasses all phases of a trade or transaction lifecycle. For example, SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is a co-operative organisation created and owned by

banks that operate a network facilitating the exchange of payments and other financial messages between financial institutions throughout the world. It is used extensively for transmitting transmitting post-trade processing messages. Introduction & Overview of Securities Industry

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FIX

Financial Information eXchange (FIX) protocol is a technical specification for electronic communication of trade related messages. It came into being in 1992, as a bilateral communications framework for equity trading between Fidelity Investments and Salomon Brothers. Since then it has become an industry standard electronic protocol used for pretrade communications and trade execution. Thus market participants have a common global language for automated trading of securities. Member firms voluntarily develop the FIX protocol. The coordination of development of protocol is done through various committees, sub-committees. It is used by institutions, brokers, exchanges and ECNs.

Market Data Definition Language (MDDL)

Market Data Definition Language (MDDL) is an XML based interchange format and common data dictionary that allows entities to exchange market data by standardizing formats and definitions. In simple words, MDDL ensures that a common format is provided for market data in order to efficiently pass this data from one processing system to another thus MDDL provides a common understanding of market data content as terminology is standardized MDDL provides a generic format on the fields needed to describe Financial instruments, Corporate Events, Market Related Information.


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Shortening of Settlement Cycles A typical Settlement Cycle in US securities is on T + 3 basis. This means that the settlement i.e. exchange of securities and funds take place within three days of the trade. For trades done on Monday, settlement has to be completed by Thursday. There are two types of settlements. settlements. The trend not only in US but world over is shortening of settlement cycles. Thus systems are being developed developed so that the settlement settlement cycle reduces further to T + 2 or T + 1 as the case may be. In order to achieve this objective, Straight Through Processing (STP) helps, which provides seamless connectivity for the entire trade processing without manual intervention.

GLOSSARY Asset Class: An asset class is nothing but a specific category of assets or investments. The

assets within classes have similar features, are traded in similar market places and are subje ct to the same laws and regulations. Bankruptcy: Bankruptcy means the company is unable to meet its payment obligations, thus it may fail to make payments for raw materials it has purchased or salaries or interest on loans etc. Such a company needs to be liquidated i.e. its assets must be sold and liabilities (obligations) (obligations) must be paid off from proceeds to assets sold. Capital market: Markets dealing with instruments having maturities exceeding one-year are

often referred to as capital markets. Central counterparty function: It guarantees that the trade will take place without any

default. For example if the buyer of securities fails to make payment for his purchase, the seller is guaranteed money for the securities he has sold through Central Counter party.

Certificates of deposits (CDs): These are interest-bearing deposits at a commercial

bank or Saving and Loan Association.


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Commercial paper is a short-term debt instrument instrument issued by both financial and nonfinancial companies. Common Stock: Common stock represents ownership in a company and a claim (dividends)

on a portion of profits. Convertible Bonds – These instruments, when issued, are fixed income securities to be converted into equity shares after some time. Corporate bonds are similar to the other kinds of fixed income securities in that they promise to make specified payments at specified dates and provide legal remedies in the event of default. Custodian Banks: The securities securities in which they they invest invest

need to be kept safely and and

administered in the sense the record of buying and selling and the stock of securities need to be updated on a continuous basis. This service is called custody service which is provided by Custodian banks.

Day Trader: A day trader typically buys or sells securities during the day and does the reverse to close positions by the end of the day. Demand Deposits: These accounts do not earn any interest for keeping deposits but the

deposit holder can withdraw deposit any time he wants. Dematerialization: Dematerialization is a process of eliminating physical certificates and keeping them only in electronic form. Derivatives: Derivatives are financial instruments which derive their value from the v alue of

the underlying asset. Dividends are a part of profits that any company / investment institution pays out to the

shareholders. Electronic Communications Networks (ECNs) are also known as fourth-market

organizations designed to automatically execute b uy and sell orders of investors’ by computers without the intervention of specialists or dealers.


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Electronic Trading: This refers to the trading platform that makes use of g lobal distribution

network. Equity: Equity is a share in the ownership of a company. It represents a claim on the

company's assets and earnings. As one acquires more stock, the person’s ownership stake in the company becomes greater. Equity Index: By equity index means a weighted average price for a group of securities, which make that index. Equity Warrants: Warrants entitle the warrant holders to subscribe to equity shares at a particular price sometime in the future. Financial Markets: Financial markets facilitate the transfer of surplus funds from the

(savers/investors/lenders)) to those who are in need of funds (issuers/borrowers). (savers/investors/lenders Financial Messaging involves combining all the financial service functions including bu y

sell orders, funds transfers, trade settlement instructions, and credit card information. Financial Securities: Financial securities are issued by those who need capital and represent

the fact that such issuers have raised funds from inv estors. Financial Services Authority: It is an independent body that regulates the financial services

industry in the UK. Fixed Income Securities: Fixed income securities are securities which promise to pay a

fixed amount as a return to the investors. Forward Contract: A forward contract is a contract between the two parties which allows them to exchange the underlying asset at some future date at a price decided today. Full Service Firms: T hese broking firms offer a full range of services. They have large

research departments which offer client advice and research on securities. Immobilization: Immobilization means placement of physical certificates in central

securities depository so that the movement of such securities is reduced and done through a book entry transfer only. Individual Investors: Investors who make investment decisions on their own and invest

money in various securities directly.


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Insider Trading: Insider trading refers to the misuse of confidential information about the company that is not available to the general public. Investment Managers: The investment managers or asset managers actually take the

decisions to deploy collective investment funds in various investment products / securities. Issuers: Issuers include government, government sponsored-agencies and corporations that

desire to raise funds. They need to raise funds for a variety of purposes. Managed Investment Companies: They collect money from individual investors, business

corporations and other institutional investors and, in turn, give them mutual fund units, which are financial securities. Margin Trading: Market participants may purchase securities using borrowed mone y. This

is referred to margin trading. Money Market: The market is one where in securities with shorter maturities are traded and

issued is referred to as money markets. Mutual Fund: A mutual fund is a fund collected by Managed Investment Companies that is

invested in a diversified portfolio of securities. Net Asset Value: The price per share at which an investor can redeem shares is referred to as

the fund’s net asset value. It is the current cu rrent market value of all the fund’s assets, minus liabilities, divided by the total number of outstanding shares. Netting of Trade: Netting of trades is done as a part of clearing process. For example, broker buys 300 units of Security A for Client B during the day and sells 200 units of same security for Client C. In this case, the Clearing Corporation will arrive at a net buy position (300-200) for this broker. Netting reduces the number of transactions. Over-the-counter (OTC) market It is a market for stocks consists of dealers who buy or

sell stocks by negotiating through telephones and computer systems. Preferred stock: Preferred stock represents some degree of ownership in a company but

usually it does not come with the same voting rights. They have a combination of features of equity and debt. Price Discovery: “Price discovery” means that when securities are continuously transferred

between various investors, it helps arrive at the co rrect price at which the security should trade. Introduction & Overview of Securities Industry

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Primary Market: Primary market is the market in which securities are sold at the time of

their issuance. Processing of trade: It means preparing for clearing and settlement of securities and

actually settling the trades.

Professional Investors: This refers to all those individuals who have substantial substantial investment resources so that they can acquire professional professional money management services for their investment portfolio.

Rolling Settlement: The settlement takes place a given number of business days after the

date of the trade. For example, exa mple, if rolling settlement is T + 3, all the trades, no matter whether they are done on any of the week days, will be settled in three business days subsequent to the trading day. Savings accounts – These accounts pay a low rate of interest. These accounts are generally

very popular amongst individuals who park their surplus funds and withdraw whenever they want subject to certain restrictions. Secondary Market: Secondary market for financial securities, is a market where outstanding

securities i.e. securities which have already been issued by the issuer are traded. Secured Lending: Secured lending means that the loan given is secured against any asset

that borrower has. Self Regulating Organization: It is an exchange, association, a clearing agency or a

depository. They play an important role as exchanges, clearing agencies or depositories in trade processing, clearing and settlement. settlement.

Shareholding pattern: It is a summary of list of shareholders and the number of shares each

holder owns.


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Stock exchanges: They are the institutions which provide trading facilities to all interested

parties who trade through individuals or firms which are the trading members of stock exchanges.

Stock Pickers: Stock Pickers are those individuals who are of the opinion that they can choose individual stocks for long-term investment on their own. They do their own research and a nd pick the stocks accordingly. US Treasury bonds are another form of fixed f ixed income instruments with maturities maturities greater than 10 years at the time of issuance Underwriting Services: Underwriting Services mean whenever issuers issue securities,

underwriters ensure that any unsubscribed portion is subscribed to by the underwriters. This ensures that the issuer raises the amount which is required by him. Unsecured lending – These types of lending are not secured against any asset. Hence in the

event of default i.e. corporate not paying back the loan, the bank can not take charge of any asset and recover its dues. Web Trading: Web trading refers to trading of shares by the buyers and sellers using

Internet services.

Sample Questions: US Securities Markets - Introduction and Overview

Answers are marked in green


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1. Issuer A issues securities to investors which are not subsequently listed on an exchange. Hence we can say that the securities issued are a

non-negotiable

b

non-tradable

c

unlisted

d

Both b & c above

2. A large number of buyers and sellers trade in the securities at different prices in financial markets. Hence we can say that trading by large number of buyers and sellers helps in a

financial disintermediation

b

discovery of price for the securities

c

generation of profits for the issuer

d

none of the above

3. When an underwriting service for an issue of securities is carried out by a bank, it means that a.

Bank markets the issue to other investors

b.

Bank guarantees subscription to unsubscribed portion of the issue

c.

Bank decides the price at which the securities are to be offered to

investors d.

Bank helps in preparing prospectus for the issue

4. Identify from the following who is not a financial intermediary

5.

a

Broker/ Dealer

b

Banks

c

Government

d

Insurance Company

A corporation wants to raise capital for financing its project by issuing shares shares to

investors. If the corporation corporation raises funds by issuing issuing shares this will lead to -------- Introduction & Overview of Securities Industry

68

a

financial disintermediation

b

financial intermediation intermediation

c

financial securitization securitization

d

financial integration integration

6. Which of the following statements is true ? a

Mutual fund managers create managed investment companies to collect

funds from investors b

Managed investments companies are owned by investors who subscribe

to mutual funds created by managed investment companies c

Managed investment companies hire mutual fund managers to manage

the funds raised from mutual fund investors d

Mutual fund investors hire mutual fund managers to manage their fund

7. Mr X is an individual investor. investor. He visits the the stock exchange daily and sits in retail retail dealing room of his broker. He buys and sells securities very frequently for a very short period of time. He is likely to be called -----a

A professional investor

b

A stock picker

c

A mutual fund investor

d

A day trader

8. An insurance company is active in the security markets because _____________ a

it has to offer clearing services to the clients

b

it has to deploy funds collected by way of insurance premium

c

it has the responsibility responsibility of providing underwriting services to the issuers

d

it provides settlement services to its clients

9. US Federal Government Government needs funds for two years. Hence it should should issue --------------a

equity shares


69

b

treasury bills

c

fixed income securities

d

derivatives

10. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and Federal National Mortgage Association issue -------------------a

municipal debt

b

fixed income securities

c

bankers’ acceptances

d

mortgages

11. Which of the following statements is not true ? a

Commercial banks offer custody services

b

Commercial banks offer loans to broking firms

c

Commercial banks do not offer clearing services for US government

securities d

Commercial banks do not offer clearing services for equity shares

12. Which of the following does not compete with bank deposits in generating funds from investors? a

Mutual funds

b

Equity shares

c

Corporate fixed income securities

d

None of the above

13. As far as the fixed income security market is concerned, secondary market is one a. b. c.

where new fixed income securities are issued market in which only corporations can issue new fixed income securities where existing fixed income securities are traded


70

d.

None of the above

14. Which of the following is not a fixed income or debt security? a.

Government bonds

b.

Intel stock

c.

Corporate debt

d.

Municipal debt

15. For its employee retirement plan, ABC Corporation will set some amount aside each year to be invested in various securities. The management of such funds will be done by forming a separate legal entity in the form of ------a a

an investment bank

b b

a depository

c c

an institutional trust

d d

a subsidiary company

16. Investment managers can be structured as a

sole proprietorships

b

partnerships

c

corporations

d

All of the above

17. S & S Financial Services S ervices offers investment advice to its investors. It executes deals on behalf of its clients. The firm can be called a

A broker

b

A dealer

c

Both a & b above

d

A portfolio manager


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18. Identify from the following which is a benefit of investing in a mutual fund industry a

Diversification

b

Illiquidity

c

Professional investment management

d

Both A & C above

19. Money market mutual funds consists of securities of a.

Less than one year

b.

Above one year

c.

Exactly one year

d.

None of the above

20. The organization in the US that is responsible for setting up and implementing security markets related policies and regulating the same, is: a.

Federal Open Market Committee

b.

Federal Reserve System

c.

Securities Exchange Commission

d.

Exchange Commission

21. An institution offers advice to corporates on valuing companies so that some of them can be taken over / acquired by the companies seeking the advice. This institution is likely to be ---a

An investment bank

b

A trust bank

c

A Broker / dealer

d

Managed investment company

22. The rule making body governing over-the-counter brokerage industry is a.

National Association of Securities Development Development


72

b.


c.

International International Swaps and Derivatives Association

d.


23. Insider Trading Act deals with a.

Trading based on inside information of the firm

b.

Misuse of non-public information

c.

the extent to which a broker can finance purchase of securities for his clients

d.

Both A & B above

24. An equity research analyst, Mr X, employed by an investment bank seeks an advice of his friend Mr Y, who is working in corporate finance department of the same bank. Mr X especially checks with Mr Y before giving a sell recommendation on a stock of any company. Which of the following is true in this case? a

This is a normal industry practice

b

Mr X should check with Mr Y especially in case of sell recommendation, as the company may turn out to be client of investment bank

c

This gives rise to conflict of interest and there should be no interaction between Mr X and Mr Y on this matter

d

Mr Y should let the company know about sell recommendation if the company is client of an investment bank

25. Mr X is employed by an insurance company. He keeps a close watch on surpluses and deficits of cash and takes takes a decision where to invest invest surpluses and where where to generate funds to finance deficits in cash for the short term. term. He is likely to be ---a

Insurance manager

b

Treasury manager

c

Research analyst

d

Asset Manager


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26. Which of the following is true? a

Stock exchanges operate under the supervision of central banks of the

countries b

Investors can buy or sell securities directly through stock exchanges without

intermediation intermediation by brokers c

Stock exchanges form their own rules regarding listing of securities, allowing

membership etc. d

Both a & c above are true

27. Which of the following is true? a

In case of over-the-counter over-the-counter market, investors assemble near the counters

where shares are traded and trade in shares b

In case of over-the-counter over-the-counter market, investors trade in securities through a

network of computers c

New York Stock Exchange provides the facility for over-the-counter trading

d

None of the above

28. Netting of trades in securities is done by -----a

Clearing service providers

b

Settlement service providers

c

Stock exchanges

d

Brokers

29. Government securities and Mortgaged Backed securities are cleared in US by ------a

National Securities Clearing Corporation

b

Options Clearing Corporation

c


d

None of the above

30. Which of the following offer clearing services? a

International International Central Securities Depositories


74

b

Custodians

c

Fixed Income Clearing Corporation

d

Local custodian c ustodianss

31. Which of the following is not a settlement service provider? a

Global custodia c ustodian n

b

Transfer agents

c


d

Central Securities Depository

32. A firm keeps the record of shareholders of various companies and tracks the changes in shareholding patterns patterns of various companies. This firm is likely to be ---a

An investment bank

b

A custodian

c

A transfer agent

d

A broker/dealer

33. Settlement means exchange of funds and __________________ __________________ a

Interest

b

Securities

c

Dividend

d

Returns

34. A Central Securities Securities Depository Depository in US is a

Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation

b

Euroclear

c

Clearstream

d

State Street

35. Which of the following is true?


75

a.

Investors open account with depositories, which are in turn members of custodians, custodians, for keeping their shares in electronic form

b.

Investors open accounts with custodians, which are in turn members of depositories, for keeping their shares in electronic form

c.

Investors open accounts with custodians which which are in turn members of stock exchanges, for keeping their shares in electronic form

d.

Depositories allow trading in shares through them as they are the members of stock exchanges

36. Checking accounts in the banks are a

Interest bearing accounts

b

Non-interest bearing accounts

c

also called savings accounts

d

None of the above

37. ABC Corporation declares a divided of 20% of its net income. This dividend is collected from the company and paid to the shareholders by ---a. A commercial bank b. A custodian bank c. A trust bank d. A clearing service provider

38. A transfer of securities in the electronic form is done by book entry. This transfer is done by ---a. Depository b. Buying and selling brokers c. Custodian banks d. NASD

39. Which is not a function of an Investment manager?


76

a

Research and portfolio management

b

Trading for their own account or for the client portfolios when they have

discretionary authority c

Offering investment advice when they do not have discretion to invest on

their own d

Promising a fixed return to the investors

40. Treasury bills are issued issued at a _____________ _____________ a

Premium

b

Discount

c

Face value

d

None of the above

41. International Swaps & Derivatives Association Association -----a. is an association association of member member institutions institutions dealing in

exchange traded

derivatives b. is an association of member institutions dealing in privately negotiated

derivatives c. is an association of member institutions dealing in

over-the-counter over-the- counter

derivatives d. Both b & c

42. The clearing house house for equity derivatives derivatives in the US is ---a. Chicago Board Options Exchange b. International International Securities Exchange c. American Stock Exchange d. Options Clearing Corporation

43. National Securities Clearing Corporation ---- Introduction & Overview of Securities Industry

77

a. Does not provide central counterparty services to money market

instruments and debt b. Provides central counterparty services to money market instruments and

debt c. Provides clearing services to money market instruments and debt d. Both b & c above

44. Which of the following type type of a mutual fund is expected to be least volatile volatile in terms of returns provided to investors? a. Equity fund b. Bond fund c. Derivatives fund d. Money market mutual fund

45. Mutual funds in US are highly regulated by ------a. Association of Mutual Funds of US b. Securities Exchange Commission c. Federal Reserve Bank of US d. None of the above

46. Identify from the following which entity is not an Issuer of debt in the US a

States

b

U S Federal Government

c

Municipalities

d

None of the above

47. Student Loan Marketing Association ---a. is a government sponsored sponsored association b. is a private association association not sponsored sponsored by the government government c. facilitates purchase of student loans in secondary markets


78

d. both a & c above

48. Country A has a well developed banking system. Hence residents of this country put their savings mostly in banks which are considered safe. For risk loving investors, no risky investment opportunities are available. Similarly, for those who want to invest for long term, hardly any investment products are available. This can be a description of -----a. a well developed financial f inancial market b. an underdeveloped fixed income securities market c. an underdeveloped equity market d. Both b & c above

49. Which of the following can not be the issuer of equity shares? a. Stock exchange b. Local government c. Commercial Bank d. Both a & b above

50. Equity capital provides a ________ claim on assets of the issuer to the investor a

total

b

residual

c

preferential

d

None of the above

51. NASDAQ represents ---a. an over-the-counter market b. a market for f or listing shares of information information technology companies c. a market for fixed income securities d. a market where brokers assemble to trade in equities

52. Certificate of Deposit Deposit is ____________________ ____________________ Introduction & Overview of Securities Industry

79

a

a non-negotiable instrument

b

a negotiable instrument

c

is also called a time deposit

d

None of the above

53. Spot transaction involves exchange of two currencies for settlement as soon as practicable, typically in __________working __________working days Three

a b

One

c

Two

d

Five

54. Identify from the following which is not a function of a custodian bank? a.

Keeping track of income collection

b.

Safe keeping of securities

c.

Trading on behalf of customers

d.

Providing settlement service to customers

55. Equity shares shares can not be traded traded _____________. _____________. a

over-the-counter

b

on the floor of the Exchange

c

through a network of computers

d

None of the above

56. If financial markets are classified on the basis of issue and trading of securities, we can classify them as ---------a

Money and capital markets

b

Spot and forward markets

c

Primary and Secondary markets

d

Equity and Fixed Income markets


80

57. Convertible bonds are a

Money market securities

b

Equity shares

c

Fixed income securities with an option to convert into equity shares

d

Derivatives

58. Primary markets enable issuers to raise --a

Both equity and debt capital

b

Only equity

c

Only debt

d

None of the above

59. Underwriting is done by a a

Trust bank

b

Investment bank

c

Commercial bank

d

Custodian Bank

60. Mr X has invested in securities issued by a company. He is entitled for a fixed dividend. However he has not received the dividend for the last two years. He must be holding ---a.

Common stock

b.

Preferred stock

c.

Convertible bond

d.

None of the above

61. Mr X, Mr Y and Mr Z have invested is common stock, preferred stock and fixed income securities respectively issued by the same issuer. In terms of level of risks assumed by them, we can say that ----a.

All of them have the same level of risk since the issuer is same


81

b.

Mr Y has lowest level of risk amongst them

c.

Mr Z has highest level of risk amongst them

d.

Mr X has highest level of risk amongst them

62. Mr X, Mr Y and Mr Z have invested is common stock, preferred stock and fixed income securities respectively issued by the same issuer. In terms of returns expected by them, we can say that -a.

All of them have the same level of return expectations since the issuer is same

b.

Mr X has lowest level of return expectations amongst them

c.

Mr Z has lowest level of return expectations amongst them

d.

Mr Y has highest level of return expectations amongst them

63. Mr X, Mr Y and Mr Z have invested is common stock, preferred stock and fixed income securities respectively issued by the same issuer. Unfortunately the company in which they have invested in is being wound up. The proceeds from the sale of company’s assets will be distributed to them in the following priority. a

1st – Mr X, 2 nd – Mr Y, 3 rd – Mr Z

b

1st – Mr Z, 2 nd – Mr Y, 3 rd – Mr X

c

1st – Mr Y, 2 nd – Mr Z, 3 rd – Mr X

d

All of them will have same priority

64. Mr X, Mr Y and Mr Z have invested is common stock, preferred preferre d stock and fixed income securities respectively issued by the same issuer. This year the issuing company’s performance has been very good and earnings have doubled compared to the last year. Who will derive the maximum benefit of company’s good performance? a

Mr X

b

Mr Y

c

Mr Z

d

All of them equally


82

65. Which of the following is the dominant part of fixed income securities market in US? a

Municipal debt

b

Corporate debt

c

Treasury securities

d

Agency securities

66. Net Asset Value refers to a

value of a bond

b

value of a share

c

current market value of all the mutual fund’s assets minus liabilities divided

by the number of units d

None of the above

67. Under T+3 Settlements for trades done on Wednesday settlements have to be completed by_______________, by_______________, assuming there are no holidays in between

a

Monday

b

Thursday

c

Saturday

d

Friday

68. Brokers are considered considered as _________________ _________________ of the market market a

Sell-side

b

Buy-side

c

both the buy and sell side

d

None of the above

69. A person who invests his own capital and also trades on behalf of a client is known as a.

Broker

b.

Broker/Dealer


83

c.

Investment manager

d.

None of the above

70. These broking firms charge charge lower commissions commissions and execute deals for the clients and do not provide investment advice : ------------------a

full service firm

b

discount firm

c

online firms

d

None of the above

71. Dematerialization Dematerialization refers refers to a

Holding securities in physical form

b

Holding securities in electronic form

c

Safe keeping of securities

d

None of the above

72. Identify from the following which is not a function of a transfer agent a

Issuing and canceling certificates to reflect changes in ownership

b

Acting as an intermediary for the company

c

Handling lost, destroyed or stolen certificates

d

Handling safe custody of securities

73. Central Counter-party Counter-party function guarantees _______________ _______________ a

Returns to the investors

b

Transparency of the transactions transactions

c

Trading of securities

d

Settlement of securities

74. National Securities Clearing Corporation settles and clears trades on ___________basis ___________basis a

T+2


84

b

T+3

c

T+1

d

T+5

75. Preferred stock has the features of a

Equity

b

Debt

c

Both equity and debt

d

None of the above

76. Typical maturity of Fed Funds is chiefly____________ chiefly____________ a

Three days

b

Two days

c

Below 90 days

d

One day

77. _______________play _______________play a major role in issuance and underwriting of new securities in the primary market a

Trust banks

b

Commercial banks

c

Investment banks

d

Retail banks

78. Futures contracts contracts are _________________ _________________ a.

Standardized

b.

Non-standardized

c.

Traded on exchange

d.

Both (a) and (c)

79. Identify from the following which is not an investment option for a bond b ond fund Introduction & Overview of Securities Industry

85

a.

Stocks

b.

Bonds

c.

Treasury instruments

d.

Municipal debt

80. An investment manager who manages a money market mutual fund is exploring explorin g possibilities to invest in a number of securities as given below. Identify a security in which he can not invest as a money market mutual fund manager. a.

A commercial paper issued by ABC Corporation

b.

US Treasury Bills

c.

A fixed income security issued by ABC Corporation with a maturity of

two years d.

A municipal note maturing in 270 days

81. Which of the following is expected to be least volatile in terms of returns earned? ____________ a.

Bond fund

b.

Money market mutual fund

c.

Equity fund

d.

Derivatives fund

82. The average maturity of an instrument in a money market fund is lower than a.

270 days

b.

One year

c.

Three years

d.

Ten years

83. Derivatives are a.

traded only on exchanges

b.

traded only Over-the-counter Over-the-counter


86

c.

traded both on exchanges and over-the-counter

d.

not traded in the secondary market

84. Which of the following is true in case of options a.

The terms of options contracts are standardized.

b.

The terms of options contracts are customized to the requirements of

buyer and seller of options c.

The terms of the options contracts can be standardized or customized

depending upon where they are traded d.

None of the above

85. Separation of money and capital markets is based based on the _______________ _______________ a.

Type of instruments instruments

b.

Maturity of the instruments

c.

Return on the instruments

d.

Issue of the instruments instruments

86. Repurchase agreements are a part of a.

Equity markets

b.

Derivative markets

c.

Money markets

d.

Fixed income markets

87. Commercial paper a

is an unsecured paper

b

is a secured paper against assets of the issuer

c

can be both unsecured or secured paper

d

is secured by bank guarantee


87

88 . Equity warrants a

represent free equity shares allotted to the investors who invest in a

security issued by the issuer b

entitle the warrant holders to subscribe to equity shares in future at a

particular price

89.

c

can not be listed and traded on the exchange

d

Both b & c above

Mr X subscribes to a fixed income security issued by ABC Corporation. The issuer also allots him another instrument which entitles him to apply for one equity share per instrument instrument at a particular price. This instrument is likely to be -----

90.

91.

a

a debenture

b

a right equity share

c

an equity warrant

d

a put option on equity

Certificates of deposits are a

issued at discount and redeemed at face f ace value

b

issued at face value and redeemed at face value plus interest

c

issued at premium and redeemed at par

d

issued at discount and redeemed at premium

Mr X has subscribed to a commercial paper issued by ABC Corporation. The company defaults on the payment of commercial paper at maturity. Mr X along with other holders of commercial paper plan to take a charge of company’s plant and machinery and dispose it off to recover their dues. Which of the following is correct in this case? a

The holders of commercial paper can do so as this is normal industry

practice


88

b

The holders of commercial paper can do so if approved by Securities &

Exchange Commission c

The holders of commercial paper can not do so because commercial

papers are unsecured and no charge against specific asset is created d

None of the above

92. PQR Corporation is not a regular customer of ABC Inc. The former approaches ABC Inc. for purchase of machinery costing $ 1,000,000 and asks for a credit period of four months. To finance this and to get a security against the payment by PQR, ABC Inc ----a

can issue commercial paper

b

can draw a bill on PQR and get it accepted from a bank

c

can go for a working capital loan from a bank

d

None of the above

93. A bank wants to subscribe to a 13 week treasury bill issued by US Federal government through primary market market . It can do so every ----- . a

day

b

week

c

fortnight

d

month

94. Which of the following need not be registered with Securities and Exchange Commission? a

Broker / dealers

b

Transfer agents

c

Clearing agencies

d

None of the above


89

95. Mr X approaches his broker and requests to purchase purchase a few securities securities for him by providing finance to him. The broker informs Mr X that he has already exceeded his limit of borrowing for purchase of securities. This is as per the regulations regarding regarding --a

insider trading

b

Sarbanes-Oxley Act

c

margin trading

d

financial services modernization act

96. DTCC is a central securities depository of US. Physical certificates are placed with it so that the movement of such securities is reduced. This is called -------a

immobilization immobilization of securities

b

freezing of securities

c

blocking of securities

d

none of the above

97. Mr X is working as an equity analyst with a managed investment company which runs five mutual fund schemes. schemes. He is approached by Mr Y who is an analyst with a broking firm advising him to sell certain stocks. In this case, Mr X can be referred to as ------. a

sell side analyst

b

buy side analyst

c

fund manager

d

portfolio tracker

98. Protection of rights of the individual investors investors is done by ____________ ____________ a

Clearing Corporation

b

Securities Exchange Commission

c

Broking firm

d

NASD


90

99. Corporate bond has a

a legal remedy

b

a government guarantee

c

no legal remedy

d

None of the above

100. Financial messaging involves a

Sending credit card information information

b

Sending buy/ sell orders information

c

Sending funds transfers instructions instructions

d

All of the above

101. Unlisted securities ------a

can be traded over the counter

b

can not be traded between two parties

c

can not be classified as negotiable instruments

d

are primarily fixed income instruments instruments

102. Financial disintermediation disintermediation is -------a

a risk factor for banks

b

expected to give a boost to banking business

c

a risk factor for custodians

d

a risk factor for regulators

103. ABC Corporation came out with an IPO of $5.5 million. The issue price was kept in the range of $ 20 to $ 25. However, the issue did not receive a good response and was undersubscribed. This resulted in cancelling the issue. We can conclude from this ----a.

the investment banks that were engaged in underwriting the issue, did not do proper marketing of the issue

b.

there were a number of IPOs planned at the same time


91

c.

the institutional investors did not participate in the issue

d.

the issue was not underwritten

104. The state government of California may participate in the US securities industry as --a.

intermediary

b.

settlement service provider

c.

regulator

d.

issuer

105. Mr X has been tracking the stock market market for last 10 years. He tracks the movement of of stocks very regularly and selects the stocks for investment doing his own research. According to him, his average holding period of any stock is 2 to 3 years. He can be described as ----a

a day trader

b

a professional investor

c

a stock picker

d

none of the above

106. Mr Y does not believe on the ability of mutual fund managers to provide a very good return on investments. Hence he has employed two independent investment managers who conduct in-depth research, track daily movements in prices of securities and manage his funds. Mr Y is a -----

a.

a professional investor

b.

a stock picker

c.

a fund manager

d.

a day trader

107. A security issued two years back by US Federal government is maturing in 26 weeks. This security must be a ---- Introduction & Overview of Securities Industry

92

a

treasury bill

b

treasury note

c

treasury bond

d

municipal note

108. An investor wants wants to invest in equity equity shares. He wants to invest in equity shares directly, not through mutual funds. Which of the following arguments, that he makes, do you agree with? a.

I want to invest directly since Managed Investment Companies hire professional investment managers who demand fat salaries, making mutual funds a costly proposition.

b.

I can invest in whichever stocks I select and hence can achieve a better diversification.

c.

Since the mutual funds do not reveal important information, it is difficult to make a choice between various funds

d.

None of the above

109. Mr A is arguing with Mr B regarding risk return profile of various investments. investments. He has drawn the risk return profile as follows. Equity

Fixed Income Securities

Preferred Stock

Moderate Risk

Low Risk

Highest Risk

Do you agree with Mr A? Why or why not? a.

Yes I agree with him, since fixed income securities have a priority of claims over equity and preferred stock, while equity has priority over preferred stock

b.

No, I do not agree with him. Fixed income securities carry highest risk because they are not listed and hence it is difficult to trade them

c.

No, I do not agree with him. Preferred stock carries lowest risk since it has both the features of fixed income securities & equity. Fixed income securities rank next, followed by equity which carries highest risk.


93

d.

No, I do not agree, since equity is residual capital, it carries highest risk while fixed income securities and preferred stocks carry lowest and moderate risk respectively.

110. Smart Financial Services operates in fixed income markets. It provides a continuous buy sell quotes to its customers and transacts on its own account. The firm is –-------a.

a broker

b.

an investment bank

c.

a dealer

d.

a fixed income securities issuer

111. Mr A is a director in a construction company who actively participates in the management of the company. The company has performed very well and has bagged a number of large contracts. The company c ompany is expected to announce results of its operations on April 10th . Mr A buys shares of the company on April 8 th . He can be charged to have violated ------a

Sarbanes-Oxley Act

b

Financial Modernization Act

c

Insider Trading regulations regulations

d

None of the above

112. Mr A is a senior employee in the accounts department of a company who finalizes the accounts. The company announces the results of its operations on April 10 th . It has performed poorly in the recent quarter. Mr A sells shares of the company on April 11 th . Which of the following is correct? a.

Mr A has violated insider trading rules

b.

Mr A has not violated insider trading rules

c.

Mr A has acted on non-public information

d.

Mr A has violated Sarbanes – Oxley Act


94

113.

Mr X sells shares of a listed company to Mr Y. Since they know each other, Mr X

transferred transfer red the

shares to Mr Y’s account maintained at a local custodian and Mr Y

transferred funds funds to Mr X’s account. account. Which of the following following can be said about this transaction? a.

The transaction can not take place since a broker is required to execute

the transaction b.

Transaction can take place since the parties know each other and can be

executed over –the-counter c.

Transaction can not take place since it has to be executed on the floor of

the exchange d.

114.

None of the above

On April 5 th , clients of broker A have bought 500 shares of ABC Corporation while

clients of broker B have sold 700 shares of ABC Corporation. Going through these records, the stock exchange instructs broker B to give a delivery of 200 shares. This process is called --------

115.

a.

trade matching

b.

netting

c.

trade settlement

d.

trade allocation

Mr X has purchased a financial instrument. instrument. The value of that instrument varies with

equity shares of a company. This instrument is likely to be ------

116.

a

an equity warrant on company’s shares

b

a derivative instrument instrument on company’s share

c

a fixed income security issued by the same issuer

d

both a & b above

In case of option contracts, the buyer of the option has a

the obligation but not the right


95

117.

b

the right and the obligation

c

has the right but not the obligation

d

none of the above

Mr X has sold a fixed income security to Mr Y. Mr X has the securities ready to be

delivered. Till Mr Y pays, we can say that Mr X is taking ----a

a price risk

b

a market risk

c

a liquidity risk

d

a credit risk

118. Which of the following type of risks is not a part of market risk? a

Foreign exchange risk

b

Interest rate risk

c

Counterparty risk

d

Price risk

119. Mr A purchased certain fixed income securities three years back. He needs to sell these securities since he wants funding for his new car. However, these fixed income securities are not traded frequently and hence Mr A is finding it difficult to sell. He is facing a -----a

price risk

b

market risk

c

liquidity risk

d

counterparty risk

120. Mr X and Mr Y have invested in fixed income securities and equity shares respectively. Changes in interest rates in the country will affect ------a

returns for Mr Y more than that of Mr X

b

returns for Mr X more than that of Mr Y

c

only returns of Mr Y


96

d

returns for none of them

121. In the US, the regulations regulations about reporting by corporates are laid down by -----a

The US Federal government

b

Respective stock exchanges where the shares are traded

c

Financial Services Authority

d

Securities & Exchange Commission Commission

122. As per Sarbanes – Oxley Act, ------- are responsible for hiring, compensating and supervising independent auditors. a

Chief Executive Officers

b

Chief Financial Officers

c

Both a & b above

d

Corporate audit committee

123. Sarbanes – Oxley Act applies applies to -------a

All unlisted companies in US

b

All listed domestic companies in US

c

All listed companies in US, whether domestic or foreign f oreign

d

All listed foreign companies in US

124. East West Bank is a bank in UK which offers various types of deposits to investors. The bank must be regulated by ---a

Securities & Exchange Commission of UK

b

Financial Services Authority

c

London Stock Exchange

d

The Government of UK

125. An industry standard electronic protocol for pre trade communications used by institutions institutions and ECNs is ----- Introduction & Overview of Securities Industry

97

a

MDDL

b

SWIFT

c

FIX

d

None of the above

126. A portfolio of mutual fund fund is given below. Identify which type of mutual mutual fund it is likely to be ? Issuer

Security

US Federal Government

26 Week Treasury Bill

ABC Corporation

Commercial Paper

PQR Industries

Bankers’ Acceptance

XYZ Bank

Certificates of deposits a

Bond fund

b

Equity fund

c

Money market fund

d

Derivatives fund

127. A securities dealer tries to make money in the market by ---------a

charging a commission for the transaction

b

creating a spread between buying and selling prices

c

sharing profits with brokers

d

none of the above

128. Central counterparty counterparty services for municipal debt is provided by ----a

NSCC

b

OCC

c

FICC

d

DTC


98

129. Options on shares of ABC Corporation are listed on American Stock Exchange. These options are cleared by ----a

NSCC

b

OCC

c

FICC

d

DTC

130. Mr X subscribes to a commercial paper with the face value of $5000. Mr Y purchases a certificate of deposit of $ 5000 face value which pays 5% interest. Which of the following statements is true? a

The initial investment of Mr X is higher than that of Mr Y

b

Both of them start with an initial investment of $ 5000

c

The initial investment of Mr Y is higher than that of Mr X

d

Mr Y can not sale certificate of deposit to other investors while Mr X

can sell commercial paper to other investors

131. Mr P invests in debt securities and Mr Q invests in equity shares. Which of the following is true in this case? a

The possibility of capital gains is higher in case of Mr Q

b

Mr Q takes a lower risk than that of Mr P

c

The possibility of capital losses is higher in case of Mr P

d

Both a & c above

132. Which of the following is is not true in case of investment banks? banks? a

Investment banks do not offer broking services

b

Investment banks offer portfolio management services

c

Investment banks play an important role in underwriting the new

issues d

Both a & b


99

133. The brokers who trade in shares on stock exchanges are called ----a

clearing members

b

dealers

c

trading participants

d

trading members

134. Which of the following is is true in case of settlement service providers? providers? a

Banks are not a part of settlement service providers providers

b

Transfer of shares is done by a book entry by custodians

c

Transfer of shares is done by a book entry by depository

d

Transfer of shares is done by a book entry by transfer agents

135. Duplicate Financials is a broking house which buys and sells securities over-the-counter in US. The employees of the firm have followed fraudulent practices while dealing in securities. The firm is expecting some strict action against it. This action is likely to be taken by ----a

NASDAQ

b

NASD

c

Stock Exchanges

d

FSA

136. An investor in US purchased purchased certain securities on Friday. Friday. His broker has promised him the delivery of these securities as soon as the broker gets them i.e. on Monday. The settlement cycle in this case is on ---- basis. a

T+1

b

T+2

c

T+3

d

T+5


100

137. A company approaches a bank to purchase foreign exchange after a month from the company. This transaction should should be categorized as -------a

spot transaction

b

futures transaction

c

forward transaction

d

options transaction

138. A sell side analyst recommends buying of shares of ABC Corporation. He is likely to be employed at present by ----. a

Managed Investment Company

b

Mutual Fund

c

Broking firm

d

Stock exchange

139. ABC Corporation’s shares are listed on a stock exchange. They are generally traded once in a week. Hence, in this context, we can say that the investors holding the stock of this company suffer from ----a

price risk

b

market risk

c

liquidity risk

d

credit risk

140. Price of a company’s company’s share fell down by $10 during the day. The short sellers who took such positions in the stock in the morning are likely to have ------a

gained

b

lost

c

not experienced any losses or gains

d

not covered their positions


101

141. Mr X has purchased a house by taking a home loan. The house property is mortgaged with the institution from which this loan is taken. Which of the following institutions will be interested in purchasing such mortgages? a. Home Credit System b. Federal National Mortgage Association c. Student Loan Marketing Association d. Both a & b above 142. Which of the following is true in case of time deposits with banks? a. They offer a lower rate of interest compared to checking accounts b. They offer lower rate of interest compared to savings deposits deposits c. They are negotiable d. They offer higher rate of interest compared to savings deposits 143. A secured lending means ----------a. the borrower is not likely to default b. the borrower may default but the entire amount is recoverable c. the borrower may default but the loan is secured by a charge created on assets which can be disposed off in case of default d. lender is secured against interest rate fluctuations

144. For trade processing, ------ provides seamless connectivity for the entire trade processing without manual intervention. a. automated processing b. direct processing c. straight through processing d. accelerated processing

145. Mr X is developing an XML based generic format in order to describe financial instruments in standardized forms. This is likely to be ----a. MDDL


102

b. FIX c. SWIFT d. None of the above

146. Mr X purchases and sells a type of money market instrument on a daily basis. He can easily sell or buy a large quantity of this money market instrument in a short time. Which of the following is true in this context? a. This indicates heavy trading, hence the instrument instrument must be commercial c ommercial paper b. This indicates thin trading, hence the instrument must be commercial paper c. This indicates heavy trading, hence the instrument must be treasury bills d. This indicates thin trading, hence the instrument instrument must be treasury bills

147. If Primary markets markets are witnessing heavy activity, activity, we can say that ---------a. the trading in shares and fixed income securities is very heavy b. a large number of companies are listed c. a large number of companies are raising debt or equity capital d. market capitalization of individual companies is going up

148. Mr A sits at home and buys / sells securities through the internet. Hence we can conclude that -----a. he is engaged in electronic trading with no broker in between b. he is engaged in web trading with no broker in between c. he is engaged in web trading through an online broking firm d. he is engaged in electronic trading through online services of stock exchange


103

149. Securities belonging to same asset class --a. offer same returns b. have same liquidity c. have similar characteristics d. have same issuers

150. International Swaps and Derivatives Association -------a. issues derivative instruments b. promotes sound risk management practices among member institutions c. is a regulatory authority in US supervising privately negotiated derivatives industry d. supervises exchange traded derivatives


104

CM101 - D&B - Securities Overview

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