Crash of 2008/Related Articles

Definitions

• Agency cost [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Arbitrage [r]: transactions to take advantage of a price differences of a product in different markets by buying where it is cheap and selling where it is dear. The possibility of arbitrage often prevents the occurrence of price differences. ^[e]
• Basel I & Basel II [r]: international banking regulations put forth by the Basel Committee on Bank Supervision of the Bank for International Settlements requiring banks' minimum capital adequacy ratios to be related to the riskiness of their loans. ^[e]
• Building society [r]: UK mortgage lender, British counterpart of Savings and Loans. ^[e]
• Capital adequacy ratio [r]: The ratio of a bank's capital to its risk weighted credit exposures. May be defined in terms of tier 1 (core) or tier 2 capital. ^[e]
• CDO [r]: Collateralised Debt Obligation. A portfolio of corporate bonds, grouped into tranches that are ranked by estimated risk. ^[e]
• CDS [r]: Credit-Default Swap. An insurance agreement that guarantees protection against a bond default in return for a fee. ^[e]
• Central Bank [r]: A government agency that is responsible for monetary policy and the support of the banking system (for example the Federal Reserve Board and the Bank of England). Usually responsible for controlling a country's monetary policy and preserving the value of its currency. ^[e]
• CMO [r]: Collateralised Mortgage Obligation. A portfolio of mortgages, grouped into tranches that are ranked by estimated risk ^[e]
• Commercial paper [r]: unsecured debt_instruments that are issued by corporations to meet short term financing needs (usually repayable after 3 months). ^[e]
• Debt_instrument [r]: A formal obligation assumed by a borrower to replay the lender in accordance with the terms of an agreement, including bonds, debentures, promissory notes, leases and mortgages. ^[e]
• Derivative [r]: The rate of change of a function with respect to its argument. ^[e]
• Discount_rate [r]: (i) The percentage by which current value exceeds value in a year's time. (ii) The rate at which banks may borrow at their central bank's discount window. ^[e]
• Fannie Mae [r]: (Federal National Mortgage Association) US government-sponsored enterprise created to provide financial support to Savings and Loans. Privatised in 1968. ^[e]
• Financial_Intermediary [r]: A go-between organisation that obtains finance from investors (or savers) and lends it to corporations (or other borrowers). Financial intermediaries include banks, building societies (or savings and loans associations) , life insurance companies and credit unions. ^[e]
• Financial_regulator [r]: The United States Securities and Exchange Commission gives as its mission "to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation". Financial regulators in other countries have similar responsibilities. ^[e]
• Gearing: see Leverage
• Freddie Mac [r]: (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation) Fannie Mae clone created to provide competition to Fannie Mae. ^[e]
• Hedging [r]: Protecting against price changes by simultaneously buying(/selling) an asset and making a futures contract to sell(/buy) it. ^[e]
• Interbank market [r]: a market in which a group of banks lend to each other (for example, see LIBOR). ^[e]
• Leverage [r]: (i) The use of borrowing to increase the amount of money that is available for investment or consumption. (ii) A proportional measure of indebtedness, such as the ratio of a company's debt to its shareholders' equity (the same as British "gearing"), or the ratio of the indebtedness of a household to the net value of its assets (ie net of its debts). ^[e]
• LIBOR [r]: (London Interbank Offer Rate) the rate of interest at which a group of banks (16 banks from seven countries, including the United States, Switzerland and Germany) are willing to lend to each other for periods ranging from a day to a year . ^[e]
• Liquidity [r]: (i) The quantity of available assets in its possession that an organisation could rapidly exchange for cash (assets that cannot be exchanged for cash at a particular time are considered to be "illiquid" at that time); (ii) the funding that is unconditionally available to settle claims through monetary authorities (termed "official liquidity"). ^[e]
• Margin account [r]: an arrangement that enables customers to buy securities with money borrowed from a broker, subject to a minimum maintenance level related to the market values of the securities. ^[e]
• Margin call [r]: a demand for the additional securities required to maintain the minimum maintenance level of a margin account when security prices fall. ^[e]
• Money market [r]: A market for short-term debt instruments (generally of maturity after less than one year) such as certificates of deposit, commercial paper, and Treasury bills. ^[e]
• Moral hazard [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Option [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Portfolio insurance [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Prime rate [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Reserve ratio [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Random_walk [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Risk premium [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Savings and loans [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Securitisation [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Selling short [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Subprime lending [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Swap: see CDS
• Value at risk [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Wholesale banking [r]: Add brief definition or description