OVERVIEW OF THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM

Chapter #2 by; Sajad Ahmad

Money Market Instruments

Money market instruments are, short-term debt instruments with maturities less than one year. The principal money market instruments are: Treasury Bills Negotiable Bank Certificates of Deposit Commercial Paper Bankers Acceptances Repurchase Agreements

Three Basic Characteristics

1. They are usually sold in large denominations
2. They have low default risk

3. They mature in one year or less from their original issue date. Most of the instruments mature in less than 120 days

The Purpose of the Money Markets

The investors use the markets as an interim investment that provides a higher return than holding cash or money in banks.
The money markets provide means to invest idle funds and to reduce the opportunity cost.

What is an opportunity cost?

An opportunity cost represents what someone must give up in order to attain something else. For example, If a CD costs $15 and a cup costs $1, the opportunity cost for the CD is 15 cups. You must give up the purchasing power of 15 cups to buy one CD. or Opportunity cost is the cost incurred (sacrifice) by choosing one option over the next best alternative.

Money Market Participants

Da Afghanistan Bank
Commercial Banks Business Firms Individuals

Treasury Bills
Issued by the Government. Currently issued with maturities of 1, 3, and 6 months. Pay a fixed amount at maturity. Make no regular interest payments, but sell at a discount. Example: A Treasury bill that pays off $1000 at maturity 6 months from now sells for $950 today. The $50 difference between the purchase price and the amount paid at maturity is the interest on the loan. Are the safest of all money market instruments, since it is very unlikely that the Government will go bankrupt.

Negotiable Certificates of Deposit (CDs)

Issued by banks. Make regular interest payments until maturity. At maturity, return the original purchase price. Large CDs, with value over $100,000, trade on a secondary market. Negotiable means that the CD trades on a secondary market.

Commercial Paper
These are unsecured promissory notes, issued by corporations, that mature in no more than 270 days. Only the largest and most creditworthy corporations issue commercial paper Make no interest payments, but sell at a discount. Trade on a secondary market.

Bankers Acceptances
Bank draft (like a check) issued by a firm and payable at some future date. Stamped accepted by the firms bank, which then guarantees that it will be paid. Often arise in the process of international trade, to finance goods that have not yet been transferred from the seller to the buyer

Make no interest payments, but sell at a discount. Trade on a secondary market.

Repurchase Agreements
Repurchase Agreement is an agreement whereby the firm agrees to buy back the securities at a specified future date. Very short-term loans, with Treasury bills as collateral, between a non-bank corporation as the lender and a bank as the borrower. Most repos have a very short-term, the most common being for 3 to 14 days.

 Non-bank corporation buys the Treasury bill from the bank. Simultaneously, the bank agrees to repurchase the Treasury bill later at a slightly higher price. The difference between the original price and the repurchase price is the interest.

Capital Market Instruments

The securities baught and sold on Capital Market are called Capital Market Instruments. Or Long-term debt instruments, or equities. The principal capital market instruments are: Corporate Stocks

Mortgages (Residential, Commercial, and Farm)

Corporate Bonds US Government Securities (Intermediate and Long-Term) State and Local Government (Municipal) Bonds Bank Commercial and Consumer Loans

Corporate Stocks
Equity claims to the income and assets of corporations.

Mortgages (Residential, Commercial, and Farm)

intermediate-term debt Loans to individuals and firms used to purchase land, houses, and other structures. The land or structure then serves as collateral.

The mortgage market is the biggest debt market in the US.

Secondary markets for mortgages first developed in the 1970s and 1980s and are now quite large and active.

Corporate Bonds
Intermediate and long-term debt Instruments issued by corporations. Usually make regular interest payments twice per year. Return a fixed amount (face value) at maturity.

US Government Securities
Treasury Notes = Currently issued with maturities of 2, 5, and 10 years; hence intermediate-term debt instruments. Treasury Bonds = Before October 2001, issued with maturity of 30 years; hence long-term debt. In October 2001, the US Treasury stopped issuing 30-year bonds, making the 10-year

Make regular interest payments twice per year and return a fixed amount at maturity.

State and Local Government (Municipal) Bonds

Intermediate and long-term debt issued by state and local governments. Interest payments are exempt from federal income taxes, making municipal bonds especially attractive to some investors.

Commercial and Consumer Loans

Loans, originally made by banks, to businesses and households. Secondary markets for these loans are only now just developing.

Function of Financial Intermediaries: Indirect Finance

We now turn our attention to indirect finance.

Function of Financial Intermediaries : Indirect Finance Instead of savers lending/investing directly with borrowers, a financial intermediary (such as a bank) plays as the middleman:

the intermediary obtains funds from savers

the intermediary then makes loans/investments with borrowers

Function of Financial Intermediaries : Indirect Finance This process, called financial intermediation, is actually the primary means of moving funds from lenders to borrowers.

More important source of finance than securities markets (such as stocks)

Needed because of transactions costs, risk sharing, and asymmetric information.

Function of Financial Intermediaries : Indirect Finance

Transactions Costs:
The time and money spent in carrying out financial transactions is called transaction costs. Financial intermediaries help reduce transaction costs by taking advantage of economies of scale. What is Economies of scale? Economies of scale, refers to the cost advantages that a business obtains due to expansion.

Example: a bank can use the same loan contract again and again, thereby reducing the costs of making each individual loan.

Function of Financial Intermediaries : Indirect Finance

A financial intermediarys low transaction costs mean that it can provide its customers with liquidity services, services that make it easier for customers to conduct transactions
1.
2.

Banks provide depositors with checking accounts that enable them to pay their bills easily
Depositors can earn interest on checking and savings accounts and yet still convert them into goods and services whenever necessary

Global Perspective
Studies show that firms in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and other developed nations usually obtain funds from financial intermediaries, not directly from capital markets.

In Germany and Japan, financing from financial intermediaries exceeds capital market financing 10-fold.

Function of Financial Intermediaries : Indirect Finance

Risk Sharing and Diversification

Risk = uncertainty about the returns investors will receive on any particular asset.
By purchasing a large number of different assets issued by a wide range of borrowers, financial intermediaries use diversification to help with risk sharing. Example: by lending to a large number of different businesses, a bank might see a few of its loans go bad; but most of the loans will be repaid, making the overall return less risky. Here, again, the bank is taking advantage of economies of scale, since it would be difficult for a smaller investor to make a large number of loans.

Asymmetric Information
Another reason FIs exist is to reduce the impact of asymmetric information. One party lacks crucial information about another party, impacting decision-making. We usually discuss this problem along two fronts: adverse selection and moral hazard.

Asymmetric Information
Adverse Selection and Moral Hazard
Financial intermediaries also use their expertise to screen out bad credit risks and monitor borrowers. They thereby help solve two problems related to imperfect information in financial markets. Adverse Selection = refers to the problem that arises before a loan is made because borrowers who are bad credit risks tend to be those who most actively seek out loans. Financial intermediaries can help solve this problem by gathering information about potential borrowers and screening out bad credit risks.

Asymmetric Information
Moral Hazard = refers to the problem that arises after a loan is made because borrowers may use their funds irresponsibly. Financial intermediaries can help solve this problem by monitoring borrowers activities.

Asymmetric Information: Adverse Selection and Moral Hazard Financial intermediaries reduce adverse selection and moral hazard problems, enabling them to make profits. How they do this is the covered in many of the chapters to come.

Types of Financial Intermediaries

Types of Financial Intermediaries

Depository Institutions (Banks): Commercial Banks Savings and Loan Associations Mutual Savings Banks Credit Unions Contractual Savings Institutions Life Insurance Companies Fire and Casualty Insurance Companies Pension Funds Investment Intermediaries Finance Companies Mutual Funds Money Market Mutual Funds Investment Banks

Depository Institutions (Banks)

Depository Institutions (Banks): accept deposits and make loans. These include commercial banks and thrifts.

What is thrift?
An organization formed for the purpose of holding deposits for individuals. E.g Saving &Loan Associations, Mutual Savings Banks and Credit Unions Depository institutions as a group: Accept (issue) deposits, which then become their liabilities. Make loans, which then become their assets.

Depository Institutions (Banks)

Commercial banks
Sources of funds (liabilities): issue deposits
Checking deposits = provide check-writing privileges. Savings deposits = do not provide check-writing privileges, but allow funds to be withdrawn at any time.

Time deposits = require that funds be deposited for a fixed period of time, with penalty for early withdrawal.
Uses of funds (assets): make commercial, consumer, and mortgage loans, buy US Government and municipal bonds.

Depository Institutions (Banks) Savings and Loan Associations (S&Ls):

Sources of funds: issue deposits.

Uses of funds: make loans, mainly mortgage loans.

Depository Institutions (Banks) Mutual Savings Banks:

Like S&Ls, but structured as mutuals, meaning that the depositors own the bank. Sources of funds: issue deposits. Uses of funds: make loans, mainly mortgage loans.

Depository Institutions (Banks) Credit Unions:

Set up to serve small groups: union members, employees of a particular firm, etc. Sources of funds: issue deposits Uses of funds: make loans, mainly consumer loans.

Difference Commercial Banks and Thrifts

Collectively, savings and loan associations, mutual savings banks, and credit unions are called thrift institutions. The distinctions between commercial banks and thrift institutions are mainly historical and have blurred over the years. Example: before 1980, thrift institutions were not permitted to issue checking deposits. S&Ls and mutual savings banks were not allowed to make consumer loans, and credit unions were not allowed to make mortgage loans.

Contractual Savings Institutions (CSIs)

All CSIs acquire funds from clients at periodic intervals on a contractual basis and have fairly predictable future payout requirements.
Life Insurance Companies receive funds from policy premiums, can invest in less liquid corporate securities and mortgages, since actual benefit pay outs are close to those predicted by actuarial analysis Fire and Casualty Insurance Companies receive funds from policy premiums, must invest most in liquid government and corporate securities, since loss events are harder to predict

Contractual Savings Institutions (CSIs)

All CSIs acquire funds from clients at periodic intervals on a contractual basis and have fairly predictable future payout requirements.
Pension and Government Retirement Funds hosted by corporations and state and local governments acquire funds through employee and employer payroll contributions, invest in corporate securities, and provide retirement income via annuities

Investment Intermediaries
Finance Companies sell commercial paper (a short-term debt instrument) and issue bonds and stocks to raise funds to lend to consumers to buy durable goods, and to small businesses for operations Example: Ford Motor Credit sells commercial paper and bonds and uses the proceeds to make loans to people who buy Ford cars and trucks.

Investment Intermediaries
Mutual Funds acquire funds by selling shares to individual investors and use the proceeds to purchase large, diversified portfolios of stocks and bonds

Investment Intermediaries
Money Market Mutual Funds acquire funds by selling checkable deposit-like shares to individual investors and use the proceeds to purchase highly liquid and safe short-term money market instruments Investment Banks advise companies on securities to issue, underwriting security offerings, offer Merger and Acquisition (M&A) assistance, and act as dealers in security markets.

Regulatory Agencies

Regulation of Financial Markets

Main Reasons for Regulation
1. Increase Information to Investors 2. Ensure the Soundness of Financial Intermediaries

Regulation Reason: Increase Investor Information

Asymmetric information in financial markets means that investors may be subject to adverse selection and moral hazard problems that may hinder the efficient operation of financial markets and may also keep investors away from financial markets

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires corporations issuing securities to disclose certain information about their sales, assets, and earnings to the public and restricts trading by the largest stockholders (known as insiders) in the corporation

Regulation Reason: Increase Investor Information

Such government regulation can reduce adverse selection and moral hazard problems in financial markets and increase their efficiency by increasing the amount of information available to investors. Indeed, the SEC has been particularly active recently in pursuing illegal insider trading.

Regulation Reason: Ensure Soundness of Financial Intermediaries Providers of funds to financial intermediaries may not be able to assess whether the institutions holding their funds are sound or not. If they have doubts about the overall health of financial intermediaries, they may want to pull their funds out of both sound and unsound institutions, with the possible outcome of a financial panic. Such panics produces large losses for the public and causes serious damage to the economy.

Regulation Reason: Ensure Soundness of Financial Intermediaries (cont.) To protect the public and the economy from financial panics, the government has implemented six types of regulations:
Restrictions on Entry

Disclosure
Restrictions on Assets and Activities Deposit Insurance

Limits on Competition
Restrictions on Interest Rates

Regulation: Restriction on Entry

Restrictions on Entry
Regulators have created very tight regulations as to who is allowed to set up a financial intermediary Individuals or groups that want to establish a financial intermediary, such as a bank or an insurance company, must obtain a charter from the state or the federal government Only if they are upstanding citizens with impeccable (faultless) credentials and a large amount of initial funds will they be given a charter.

Regulation: Disclosure
Disclosure Requirements There are stringent reporting requirements for financial intermediaries
Their bookkeeping must follow certain strict principles, Their books are subject to periodic inspection, They must make certain information available to the public.

Regulation: Restriction on Assets and Activities

There are restrictions on what financial intermediaries are allowed to do and what assets they can hold Before you put your funds into a bank or some other such institution, you would want to know that your funds are safe and that the bank or other financial intermediary will be able to meet its obligations to you

Regulation: Restriction on Assets and Activities

One way of doing this is to restrict the financial intermediary from engaging in certain risky activities Another way is to restrict financial intermediaries from holding certain risky assets, or at least from holding a greater quantity of these risky assets than is prudent

Regulation: Deposit Insurance

The government can insure people depositors to a financial intermediary from any financial loss if the financial intermediary should fail The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures each depositor at a commercial bank or mutual savings bank up to a loss of $100,000 per account.

Regulation: Deposit Insurance

Similar government agencies exist for other depository institutions:
The National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) provides insurance for credit unions

Regulation: Past Limits on Competition

Although the evidence that unbridled (unchecked) competition among financial intermediaries promotes failures that will harm the public is extremely weak, it has not stopped the state and federal governments from imposing many restrictive regulations In the past, banks were not allowed to open up branches in other states, and in some states banks were restricted from opening additional locations

Regulation: Past Restrictions on Interest Rates

Competition has also been inhibited (prevented) by regulations that impose restrictions on interest rates that can be paid on deposits These regulations were instituted because of the widespread belief that unrestricted interest-rate competition helped encourage bank failures during the Great Depression Later evidence does not seem to support this view, and restrictions on interest rates have been abolished

Regulation Reason: Improve Monetary Control

Because banks play a very important role in determining the supply of money (which in turn affects many aspects of the economy), much regulation of these financial intermediaries is intended to improve control over the money supply

One such regulation is reserve requirements, which make it obligatory for all depository institutions to keep a certain fraction of their deposits in accounts with the DA AFGHANISTAN BANK , the central bank of Afghanistan. Reserve requirements help the Da Afghanistan Bank exercise more precise control over the money supply

Financial Regulation Abroad

Those countries with similar economic systems also implement financial regulation consistent with the U.S. model: Japan, Canada, and Western Europe
Financial reporting for corporations is required
Financial intermediaries are heavily regulated

However, U.S. banks are more regulated along dimensions of branching and services than their foreign counterparts.

Function of Financial Markets

Channels funds from person or business without investment opportunities (i.e., Lender-Savers) to one who has them (i.e., Borrower-Spenders) Improves economic efficiency

Financial Markets Funds Transferees

Lender-Savers 1. Households 2. Business firms 3. Government 4. Foreigners Borrower-Spenders 1. Business firms 2. Government 3. Households 4. Foreigners

Segments of Financial Markets

1. Direct Finance
Borrowers borrow directly from lenders in financial markets by selling financial instruments which are claims on the borrowers future income or assets

2. Indirect Finance
Borrowers borrow indirectly from lenders via financial intermediaries (established to source both loanable funds and loan opportunities) by issuing financial instruments which are claims on the borrowers future income or assets

Function of Financial Markets

Importance of Financial Markets

This is important. For example, if you save $1,000, but there are no financial markets, then you can earn no return on this might as well put the money under your mattress. However, if a carpenter could use that money to buy a new tool (increasing her productivity), then shed be willing to pay you some interest for the use of the funds.

Importance of Financial Markets

Financial markets are critical for producing an efficient allocation of capital, allowing funds to move from people who lack productive investment opportunities to people who have them. Financial markets also improve the wellbeing of consumers, allowing them to time their purchases better.

Structure of Financial Markets

It helps to define financial markets along a variety of dimensions....

Structure of Financial Markets

1. Debt Markets
Short-Term (maturity < 1 year) Long-Term (maturity > 1 year) Pay dividends, forever Represents an ownership claim in the firm

2. Equity Markets

Structure of Financial Markets

1. Primary Market
New security issues sold to initial buyers Typically involves an investment bank who underwrites the offering

2. Secondary Market
Securities previously issued are bought and sold Examples include the NYSE and Nasdaq Involves both brokers and dealers (do you know the difference?)

Brokers and Dealers

Brokers: facilitate secondary-market transactions by matching buyers with sellers.

Dealers:
facilitate secondary-market transactions by standing ready to buy and sell securities.

Structure of Financial Markets

Even though firms dont get any money, from the secondary market, it serves two important functions: Provide liquidity, making it easy to buy and sell the securities of the companies Establish a price for the securities

Structure of Financial Markets

We can further classify secondary markets as follows:

1.

Exchanges
Trades conducted in central locations (e.g., New York Stock Exchange)

2.

Over-the-Counter Markets
Dealers at different locations trade via computer and telephone networks.

Examples: NASDAQ (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System); US Government bond market.

Classifications of Financial Markets

We can also further classify markets by the maturity of the securities:
1. Money Market: Short-Term (maturity < 1 year) 2. Capital Market : Long-Term (maturity > 1 year) plus equities