Glossary of finance policy terms
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The following is a glossary of finance policy terms. Each term on this page is accompanied by a brief definition. Some terms include links to more comprehensive definition pages; these terms are written in blue text.
Terms
- APR: Annual percentage rate, the total cost of a loan over a term of one year, expressed as a percentage of the original loan.[1]
- Bank holding company: A company that owns one or more banks through equity ownership.[1]
- Branch office: A location owned by a financial institution at which customers conduct business.[1]
- Broker: A person who buys and sells securities.[1]
- Commercial bank: An entity that provides financial services to individuals and businesses; commercial banks provide a variety of financial products and services, including savings accounts, checking accounts, and certificates of deposit.[2]
- Credit union: A financial entity similar to a commercial bank that is owned by its members.[3]
- Depository institution: A financial entity, such as a bank or credit union, that accepts deposits from individuals and pays interest on those deposits.[4]
- Dodd-Frank Act: A financial regulation act passed in 2010. The act created over 400 new financial regulations, as well as several new agencies responsible for financial regulation.[5]
- Exchange: A marketplace where buyers and sellers may exchange securities or futures.[1]
- Federal Reserve: The Federal Reserve System (Fed) is the United States central bank, formed in 1913.[6]
- Financial system: The network of financial entities that facilitates exchanges between lenders and borrowers.[7]
- Futures contract: Also called futures, futures contracts are agreements to buy or sell a commodity or commodities at some point in the future.[1]
- Glass-Steagall Act: Passed in 1933, the Glass-Steagall Act separated commercial and investment banking activity. This act was later repealed.[1]
- Investment banking: A form of banking that is, according to Investopedia, "related to the creation of capital for other companies, governments, and other entities. Investment banks underwrite new debt and equity securities for all types of corporations, aid in the sale of securities, and help to facilitate mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations and broker trades for both institutions and private investors."[8]
- Occupy Wall Street: A protest movement that began in September 2011 in New York City's financial district. Occupy protesters raised issues of social and wealth inequality, as well as complaints that the financial system and laws of the United States were designed to cause unfair results.[9]
- Quantitative easing: A process in which the central bank buys securities and other assets using money that did not exist previously. The process is used to lower interest rates and increase the money supply.[10]
- Securities: A security, according to Investopedia, "represents an ownership position in a publicly traded corporation (stock), a creditor relationship with a governmental body or a corporation (bond), or rights to ownership as represented by an option."[11]
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Congressional Research Service, "Who Regulates Whom and How? An Overview of U.S. Financial Regulatory Policy for Banking and Securities Markets," January 30, 2015
- ↑ Investopedia, "Commercial Bank," accessed October 18, 2016
- ↑ Investopedia, "Credit Union," accessed October 18, 2016
- ↑ Business Dictionary, "Depository institution," accessed October 18, 2016
- ↑ Government Publishing Office, "HR 4137," January 5, 2010
- ↑ FederalReserve.gov, "Mission," April 2, 2014
- ↑ Investopedia, "Financial System," accessed October 18, 2016
- ↑ Investopedia, "Investment Banking," accessed October 18, 2016
- ↑ The Atlantic, "The Triumph of Occupy Wall Street," June 10, 2015
- ↑ The Economist, "What is quantitative easing?" March 9, 2015
- ↑ Investopedia, "Security," accessed October 18, 2016
