This document provides an overview of financial markets and institutions. It begins by defining key terms like financial system and financial markets. It then describes the basic structure and functions of financial markets, including the main instruments traded in debt, equity, money, and capital markets. The document also outlines the primary roles and types of financial institutions, with a focus on financial intermediaries. It concludes by discussing some of the key reasons for regulating financial systems, such as increasing information for investors and ensuring the soundness of financial intermediaries.

1. 1
Financial markets
and Institutions
Required Reading: Mishkin, Chapter 1 and
Chapter 2

2. 2
CONTENTS
 FINANCIAL MARKETS
 FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
 FINANCIAL REGULATIONS

3. 3
AN OVERVIEW OF FINANCIAL
SYSTEM

4. 4
I. AN OVERVIEW OF FINANCIAL
MARKETS
 What is Financial Markets?
 Structure of Financial markets?
 Instruments traded in Financial markets?
 Functions of Financial markets

5. 5
What is Financial system?
Financial system (FS) – a framework for
describing set of markets, organisations, and
individuals that engage in the transaction of
financial instruments (securities), as well as
regulatory institutions.
- the basic role of FS is essentially channelling of
funds within the different units of the economy
– from surplus units to deficit units for
productive purposes.

6. 6
1. What is Financial Markets?
 Financial markets perform the essential function of
channeling funds from economic players that have saved
surplus funds to those that have a shortage of funds
 At any point in time in an economy, there are individuals or
organizations with excess amounts of funds, and others
with a lack of funds they need for example to consume or
to invest.
 Exchange between these two groups of agents is
settled in financial markets
 The first group is commonly referred to as lenders, the
second group is commonly referred to as the
borrowers of funds.

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I.1 What is Financial Markets?
We will start our discussion on financial markets with some
basic definitions:
 There exist two different forms of exchange in financial markets.
The first one is direct finance, in which lenders and borrowers
meet directly to exchange securities.
 Securities are claims on the borrower’s future income or assets.
Common examples are stock, bonds or foreign exchange
 The second type of financial trade occurs with the help of
financial intermediaries and is known as indirect finance. In this
scenario borrowers and lenders never meet directly, but lenders
provide funds to a financial intermediary such as a bank and
those intermediaries independently pass these funds on to
borrowers

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I.2 Structure of Financial Markets
Financial markets can be categorized as follows:
 Debt vs Equity markets
 Primary vs Secondary markets
 Exchange vs Over the Counter (OTC)
 Money vs Capital Markets

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Debt vs Equity
 Financial markets are split into debt and equity markets.
 Debt titles are the most commonly traded security. In these arrangements,
the issuer of the title (borrower) earns some initial amount of money
(such as the price of a bond) and the holder (lender) subsequently receives
a fixed amount of payments over a specified period of time, known as
the maturity of a debt title.
 Debt titles can be issued on short term (maturity < 1 yr.), long term
(maturity >10 yrs.) and intermediate terms (1 yr. < maturity < 10 yrs.).
 The holder of a debt title does not achieve ownership of the borrower’s
enterprise.
 Common debt titles are bonds or mortgages.

10. 10
Debt vs Equity
 Equity titles are somewhat different from bonds. The most common
equity title is (common) stock.
 First and foremost, an equity instruments makes its buyer (lender) an
owner of the borrower’s enterprise.
 Formally this entitles the holder of an equity instrument to earn a share of
the borrower’s enterprise’s income, but only some firms actually pay
(more or less) periodic payments to their equity holders known as
dividends. Often these titles, thus, are held primarily to be sold and
resold.
 Equity titles do not expire and their maturity is, thus, infinite. Hence
they are considered long term securities.

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PRIMARY MARKETS Vs SECONDERY MARKETS
Markets are divided into primary and secondary markets
 Primary markets are markets in which financial instruments are
newly issued by borrowers.
 Secondary markets are markets in which financial instruments
already in existence are traded among lenders.
 Secondary markets can be organized as exchanges, in which titles
are traded in a central location, such as a stock exchange, or
alternatively as over-the-counter markets in which titles are sold
in several locations.

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MONEY MARKETS VS CAPITAL MARKETS
Finally, we make a distinction between money and capital markets.
 Money markets are markets in which only short term debt titles
are traded.
 Capital markets are markets in which longer term debt and equity
instruments are traded.

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I.3 INSTRUMENTS TRADED
IN THE FINANCIAL MARKETS
 Principal Money Market Instruments (maturity < 1 yr.)
Source: Miskin

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I.3. INSTRUMENTS TRADED
IN THE FINANCIAL MARKETS (Cont)
INSTRUMENTS TRADED IN THE CAPITAL MARKETS
Source: Miskin

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I.3 INSTRUMENTS TRADED
IN THE FINANCIAL MARKETS
 Most commonly you will encounter:
 Corporate stocks are privately issued equity instruments, which
have a maturity of infinity by definition and, thus, are classified as
capital market instruments
 Corporate bonds are private debt instruments which have a
certain specified maturity. They tend to be long-run instruments
and are, hence, capital market instruments
 The short-run equivalent to corporate bonds are commercial
papers which are issued to satisfy short-run cash needs of private
enterprises.

16. 16
I.3 INSTRUMENTS TRADED
IN THE FINANCIAL MARKETS
 Most commonly you will encounter:
 On the government side, the most commonly used long-run debt
instruments are Treasury Bonds or T-Bonds. Their maturity exceeds ten
years.
 Short-run liquidity needs are satisfied by the issuance of Treasury Bills
or T-Bills, which are short-run debt titles with a maturity of less than one
year.

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Valuing a Bond
PV 
C1
(1 r)1

C2
(1 r)2
 ...
1,000  CN
(1 r)N
Price of a bond is the sum of the discounted future cash flows.

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Valuing a Bond
 What is the discount rate = market determined,
affected by perceived risk?
 As discount rates ↑ the price ↓
 Inverse relationship between price and yield

19. 19
Valuing a Bond
 Clearly higher rates lead to a fall in price
 Also note: Bond price → par
 as bond → maturity.

20. 20
Interest Rates
 Sensitivity of bond prices to interest rate changes?
 Longer dated bonds - more sensitive
 Lower coupon bonds - more sensitive

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What effects bond prices?
1. Interest rates
2. Coupon and Maturity
3. Credit ratings, (Moodys, S&P etc.)
4. Economic Environment
 Flight to quality?

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Functions of Financial markets
 Borrowing and Lending
 Financial markets channel funds from households, firms,
governments and foreigners that have saved surplus funds to those
who encounter a shortage of funds (for purposes of consumption
and investment)
 Price Determination
 Financial markets determine the prices of financial assets. The
secondary market herein plays an important role in determining the
prices for newly issued assets

23. 23
Functions of Financial markets
 Coordination and Provision of Information
 The exchange of funds is characterized by a high amount of incomplete
and asymmetric information. Financial markets collect and provide much
information to facilitate this exchange.
 Risk Sharing
 Trade in financial markets is partly motivated by the transfer of risk from
borrowers to lenders who use the obtained funds to invest

24. 24
Functions of Financial markets
 Liquidity
 The existence of financial markets enables the owners of assets to
buy and resell these assets. Generally this leads to an increase in
the liquidity of these financial instruments
 Efficiency
 The facilitation of financial transactions through financial markets
lead to a decrease in informational cost and transaction costs,
which from an economic point of view leads to an increase in
efficiency.

25. 25
II.FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
 What are Financial Institutions?
 Financial Institutions and their function
 Types of Financial Institutions

26. 26
II.1What are Financial Institutions ?
 Financial intermediaries are firms that collect the funds from lenders and
channel those funds to borrowers (Mishkin)
 Financial intermediaries are firms whose primary business is to provide
customers with financial products and services that can not be obtained
more efficiently by transacting directly in securities markets (Z.Bodie
&Merton)
 Any classification of financial institutions is ultimately somewhat
arbitrary, since financial markets are subject to high dynamics and
frequent innovation. Thus, we roughly use four categories:
 Brokers
 Dealers
 Investment banks
 Financial intermediaries
Engage in trade in securities
(direct finance)
Engage in financial asset
transformation (indirect
finance)

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II.1What are Financial Institutions? (Cont)
 Brokers are agents who match buyers with sellers for a desired
transaction.
 A broker does not take position in the assets she/he trades (i.e. does not
maintain inventories of those assets)
 Brokers charge commissions on buyers and/or sellers using their services
 Examples: Real estate brokers, stock brokers

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II.1What are Financial Institutions? (Cont)
 Like brokers, dealers match sellers and buyers of financial assets.
 Dealers, however, take position in their assets, their trading.
 As opposed to charging commission, dealers obtain their profits from
buying assets at low prices and selling them at high prices.
 A dealer’s profit margin, the so-called bid-ask spread is the difference
between the price at which a dealer offers to sell an asset (the asked
price) and the price at which a dealer offers to buy an asset (the bid
price)
 Examples: Dealers in U.S. government bonds, Nasdaq stock dealers

29. 29
II.1What are Financial Institutions? (Cont)
 Investment Banks
 Investment banks assist in the initial sale of newly issued securities (e.g.
IPOs)
 Investment banks are involved in a variety of services for their customers,
such as advice, sales assistance and underwriting of issuances
 Examples: Morgan-Stanley, Goldman Sachs, ...Lehman Brothers
..(Before Crisis 2008)

30. 30
II.1What are Financial Institutions? (Cont)
 Financial Intermediaries
 Financial intermediaries match sellers and buyers indirectly through the
process of financial asset transformation.
 As opposed to three above mentioned institutions. they buy a specific
kind of asset from borrowers –usually a long term loan contract – and
sell a different financial asset to savers –usually some sort of highly-
liquid short-run claim.
 Although securities markets receive a lot of media attention, financial
intermediaries are still the primary source of funding for businesses.
 Even in the United States and Canada, enterprises tend to obtain funds
through financial intermediaries rather than through securities
markets.
 Other than historic reasons, this prevalence results from a variety of
factors.

31. 31

32. 32
II.2 Function of Financial Intermediaries:
Indirect Finance
 Lower transaction costs
 Economies of scale
 Liquidity services
Since transaction costs are reduced, financial intermediaries are able to provide
customers with additional liquidity services, such as checking accounts which can be
used as methods of payment or deposits which can be liquidated any time while still
bearing some interest.
 Reduce Risk
 Risk Sharing (Asset Transformation)
 Diversification
 Through the process of asset transformation not only maturities, but also the risk
of an asset can change: A financial intermediary uses funds it acquires (e.g.
through deposits) and often turns them into a more risky asset (e.g. a larger loan).
The risk then is spread out between various borrowers and the financial
intermediary itself.
 The process of risk sharing is further augmented through diversification of assets
(portfolio-choice), which involves spreading out funds over a portfolio of assets

33. 33
II.2 Functions of Financial Intermediaries:
Indirect Finance
 Reduce Asymmetric Information
 Asymmetric Information in financial markets - one party often
does not know enough about the other party to make accurate
decisions.
 Adverse Selection (before the transaction)—more likely to
select risky borrower
 Moral Hazard (after the transaction)—less likely borrower will
repay loan
=> Financial intermediaries are important in the production of
information. They help reduce informational asymmetries
about some unobservable quality of the borrower for example
through screening, monitoring or rating of borrowers, Net
worth and collateral.

34. 34
II.2 Functions of Financial Intermediaries:
Indirect Finance
 Finally, some financial intermediaries specialize on services such as
management of payments for their customers or insurance contracts
against loss of supplied funds.
 Through all of these channels financial intermediaries increase market
efficiency from an economic point of view.

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II.3TYPES OF FINANCIAL
INTERMEDIARIES
 There are roughly three classes of financial intermediaries:
 Depository institutions accept deposits from savers and transform
them into loans (Commercial banks, savings and loan associations,
mutual savings banks and credit unions)
 Contractual savings institutions acquire funds at periodic intervals
on a contractual basis (insurance and pension funds)
 Investment intermediaries serve different forms of finance. They
include finance companies, mutual funds and money market
mutual funds.

36. 36
Financial
Intermed
iaries
Contractual
savings
Institutions
Investment
Intermedarie
s
Depository
Institutions
Commercial Bank
Mutual Funds (Investment Funds)
Finance Companies
Pension Funds
Credit Unions
Insurance Companies
Savings and Loans Associations (S&L)
Mutual Saving Banks
Money market Mutual Funds
Specialized Banks

37. 37

38. 38
III. FINANCIAL REGULATION
Why regulate financial markets?
 Financial markets are among the most regulated
markets in modern economies.
 The first reason for this extensive regulation is to
increase the information available to investors (and,
thus, to protect them).
 The second reason is to ensure the soundness of the
financial system.

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III. FINANCIAL REGULATION
1. Increasing information available to investors
 As mentioned above, asymmetric information can cause severe
problems in financial markets (Risk behavior, insider trades,....)
 Certain regulations are supposed to prohibit agents with superior
information from exploiting less informed agents.
 In the U.S. the stock-market crash of 1929 led to the
establishment of the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC), which requires companies involved in the issuance of
securities to disclose certain information relevant to their
stockholders. The SEC further prohibits insider trades

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III. FINANCIAL REGULATION
2. Ensuring the soundness of financial intermediaries
 Even more devastating consequences from asymmetric information
manifest themselves in collapses of the entire financial system – so
called financial panics.
 Financial panics occur if providers of funds on a large scale withdraw
their funds in a brief period of time from the financial system leading
to a collapse of the system. These panics can produce enormous damage
to an economy.
 Examples of some recent panics are the crises in the Asian Tiger states,
Argentina or Russia. The United States, while spared for most of the
second half of 20th century, has a long tradition of financial crises
throughout the 19th century up to the Great Depression.

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III. FINANCIAL REGULATION
3. Solutions for ensuring the soundness of financial
intermediaries
 Restrictions on entry
 Disclosure
 Restrictions on Assets and Activities
 Deposit Insurance
 Limits on Competition
 Restrictions on Interest Rates

42. 42
Financial regulation
Limits to Competition
 An argument of politics rather than economics is that overly hard
competition in the banking sector increases the risk of bank
failure. This belief has (especially in the past) led to some
restrictions in the commercial banking sectors
 In the U.S. private banks e.g. were prohibited to open branches in
different states
 The empirical evidence for the benefits of limiting competition is
weak and from an economic point of view it appears more as an
obstacle to risk diversification rather than a useful regulation

43. 43
Financial regulation
Restriction of interest rates
 The experience of the Great Depression in the U.S. has led to the
widespread belief that interest rate competition paid on deposits
might facilitate bank failure and to strong regulation of interest
rates on bank deposits
 Unlike most other developed economies, banks in the U.S. were
prohibited from paying any interest on deposits from 1933. Under
what is known as Regulation Q, the Federal Reserve System had the
power to set the maximum interest rates payable on savings deposits
until 1986.