FINMA 2105 - Chapter 2
FINMA 2105 - Chapter 2
FINMA 2105 - Chapter 2
Type of Intermediaries
Commercial Banks, Investment Banks, and the Shadow Banking System
Commercial banks are institutions that:
– provide savers with a secure place to invest their funds
– offer loans to individual and business borrowers
Matter of Fact
Consolidation in the U.S. Banking Industry:
– The U.S. banking industry has been going through a long period of consolidation.
– According to the FDIC, the number of commercial banks in the United States
declined from 11,463 in 1992 to 6,048 in 2013, a decline of 47%.
– The decline is concentrated among small, community banks, which larger
institutions have been acquiring at a rapid pace.
Transactions in short term marketable securities take place in the money market
while transactions in long-term securities take place in the capital market.
A private placement involves the sale of a new security directly to an investor or
group of investors.
Most firms, however, raise money through a public offering of securities, which is
the sale of either bonds or stocks to the general public.
The primary market is the financial market in which securities are initially issued; the
only market in which the issuer is directly involved in the transaction.
Secondary markets are financial markets in which preowned securities (those that
are not new issues) are traded.
FLOW OF FUNDS
Certificates of Deposits
Most money market transactions are made in marketable securities which are
short-term debt instruments, such as:
• U.S. Treasury bills issues by the federal government
• commercial paper issued by businesses
• negotiable certificates of deposit issued by financial institutions
Investors generally consider marketable securities to be among the least risky
investments available.
The international equivalent of the domestic (U.S.) money market is the
Eurocurrency market.
The Eurocurrency market is a market for short-term bank deposits denominated in
U.S. dollars or other marketable currencies.
The Eurocurrency market has grown rapidly mainly because it is unregulated and
because it meets the needs of international borrowers and lenders.
Nearly all Eurodollar deposits are time deposits.
THE CAPITAL MARKET (Long-Term Securities or Bonds)
The capital market is a market that enables suppliers and demanders of long-term
funds to make transactions.
The key capital market securities are bonds (long-term debt) and both common and
preferred stock (equity, or ownership).
– Bonds are long-term debt instruments used by businesses and government
to raise large sums of money, generally from a diverse group of lenders.
– Common stocks are units of ownership interest or equity in a corporation.
– Preferred stock is a special form of ownership that has features of both a
bond and common stock.
Broker markets are securities exchanges on which the two sides of a transaction, the buyer
and seller, are brought together to trade securities.
– Trading takes place on centralized trading floors of national exchanges, such as
NYSE Euronext, as well as regional exchanges.
Dealer markets, such as Nasdaq, are markets in which the buyer and seller are not brought
together directly but instead have their orders executed by securities dealers that “make
markets” in the given security.
– The dealer market has no centralized trading floors. Instead, it is made up of a
large number of market makers who are linked together via a mass-
telecommunications network.
As compensation for executing orders, market makers make money on the spread (bid price
– ask price).
Matter of Fact
According to the World Federation of Exchanges, in 2012:
1. NYSE Euronext is the largest stock market in the world, as measured by the total market
value of securities listed on that market. NYSE Euronext has listed securities worth more
than $14.1 trillion in the U.S. and $2.1 trillion in Europe.
2. The second largest exchange is Nasdaq, with listed securities valued at $4.6 trillion.
3. The Tokyo Stock Exchange has securities valued at $3.5 trillion.
4. The fourth largest exchange, the London Stock Exchange, has securities valued at $3.3
trillion.
Illustrations:
Focus on Ethics
The Ethics of Insider Trading
– Bryan Shaw received inside information on Herbalife and Skechers from Scott
London, a KPMG auditor. Using this information, Shaw made $1.3 million in trading
profits. He pleaded guilty to insider trading charges in 2013.
– Laws prohibiting insider trading were established in the United States in the 1930s.
These laws are designed to ensure that all investors have access to relevant
information on the same terms.
– Some market participants believe that insider trading should be permitted, arguing
that information about the trades of insiders would be useful information to the
market.
If efficiency is the goal of financial markets, is allowing or disallowing insider trading
more unethical?
Does allowing insider trading create an ethical dilemma for insiders?
• As the example shows, the use of debt financing can increase cash flow and EPS, and
decrease taxes paid.
• The tax deductibility of interest and other certain expenses reduces their actual (after-tax)
cost to the profitable firm.
• It is the non-deductibility of dividends paid that results in double taxation under the
corporate form of organization.
Merit Enterprise Corporation’s CEO would like to dramatically expand the company’s
production capacity. This would require the company to raise up to $4 billion in addition to
the $2 billion of excess cash that they have accumulated. Merit is currently a private
company and is considering two options for raising the much-needed capital.
Option 1 – Merit could approach JPMorgan Chase, a bank that had served Merit well for
many years with seasonal credit lines as well as medium-term loans. Lehn believed that
JPMorgan was unlikely to make a $4 billion loan to Merit on its own, but it could probably
gather a group of banks together to make a loan of this magnitude. However, the banks
would undoubtedly demand that Merit limit further borrowing and provide JPMorgan with
periodic financial disclosures so that they could monitor Merit’s financial condition as it
expanded its operations.
Option 2 – Merit could convert to public ownership, issuing stock to the public in the primary
market. With Merit’s excellent financial performance in recent years, Sara thought that its
stock could command a high price in the market and that many investors would want to
participate in any stock offering that Merit conducted.
a. Discuss the pros and cons of option 1, and prioritize your thoughts. What are the most
positive aspects of this option, and what are the biggest drawbacks?
b. Do the same for option 2.
c. Which option do you think Sara should recommend to the board and why?