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Definition
| The financial intermediary that offers the widest range of financial services-especially credit, savings, and payment services-and performs the widest range of financial functions of any business firm in the economy. |
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Definition
| Banking firms that serve predominantly cities and towns within the local market area and usually are small to moderate in asset size. |
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Definition
| The largest banks in the industry that offer their services from major financial centers across national and international boundaries. |
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Term
| Savings and Loan Associations |
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Definition
| Depository institutions that concentrate the majority of their assets in the home mortgage loan area and rely mainly on savings deposits as their principal source of funding. |
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Definition
| Nonprofit depository institutions that make loans to and accept deposits only from their members who must share a common bond (such as working for the same employer). |
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Definition
| Include payday lenders, pawn shops, and check-cashing outlets, offering small loans bearing high risk and high interest rates to cover the immediate financial needs of cash-short individuals and families. |
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Definition
| Collect liquid funds from individuals and institutions and invest these monies in quality securities of short duration. |
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Definition
| Investment companies that attract savings from the public and invest those funds in a pool of stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments, with each saver receiving a share of the earnings generated by the pool of financial instruments. |
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Term
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Definition
| Private partnerships that sell shares to only a limited group of investors in order to invest in a wide variety of assets and derivative instruments in the hope of achieving exceptional returns regardless of the direction the market subsequently moves. |
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Term
| Security Brokers and Dealers |
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Definition
| Financial firms engaged in buying and selling stocks, bonds, and other securities on behalf of their customers and providing underwriting services for new issues of stocks and debt securities as well as financial advice regarding market conditions and other financial matters. |
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Term
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Definition
| A financial firm that underwrites new stock and bond issues and provides financial advice to corporate and governmental clients. |
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Term
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Definition
| Financial institutions that extend credit to businesses and individuals, either through direct loans or through purchasing accounts receivable from their customers, and raising loanable funds principally through borrowing in the money and capital markets. |
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Term
| Financial holding companies (FHC) |
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Definition
| Corporations that control one or more financial institutions and, perhaps, other businesses as well; under the terms of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, banks, insurance companies, security dealers, and selected other financial firms may be acquired and brought under common ownership through a financial holding company organization. |
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Term
| Life and Property Casualty insurers |
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Definition
| Firms selling risk protection to their customers in an effort to offset financial losses related to death, ill health, negligence, storm damage, and other adverse events. |
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Term
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Definition
| Trading one form of currency for another in return for a fee; one of the first services offered when the banking industry began centuries ago. |
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Term
| Discounting Commercial Notes |
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Definition
| The process of making loans to local merchants who use IOUs received from their customers as collateral. |
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Term
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Definition
| Checking account services that permit depositors to write drafts in payment for goods and services that the depository institution involved must honor immediately upon presentation. |
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Term
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Definition
| interest-bearing funds left with a depository institution for a period of weeks, months, or years (with no minimum required maturity under U.S. regulations) |
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Definition
| Management of property and other valuables owned by a customer under a contract (the trust agreement) in which the bank serves as trustee and the customer becomes the trustor during a specified period of time. |
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Term
| Financial Advisory Services |
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Definition
| A range of services that may include investment advice, the preparation of tax returns, and help with recordkeeping; business customers often receive aid in checking on the credit standing of prospective customers unknown to them and assistance in evaluating marketing opportunities abroad. |
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Term
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Definition
| A service in which a financial firm agrees to handle cash collections and cash disbursements for a business firm and to invest any temporary cash surpluses in interest-bearing securities until those funds are needed. |
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Term
| Equipment Leasing Services |
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Definition
| The purchase of equipment on behalf of a customer in order to lease the equipment to that customer in return for a series of lease payments. |
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Term
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Definition
| Contracts that guarantee payment if the customer dies, becomes disabled, or suffers loss of property or earning power. |
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Definition
| Financial plans offered by various financial institutions that accumulate and manage the savings of customers until they reach retirement age. |
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Term
| Security Brokerage Services |
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Definition
| Offering customers a channel through which to buy or sell stocks, bonds, and other securities at relatively low transactions cost through a broker or dealer. |
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Term
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Definition
| A service provided by investment banks to corporate and governmental customers in which new securities issued by a customer are purchased by the investment bank and sold in the money and capital markets in the hope of earning a profitable spread. |
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Term
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Definition
| A financial firm that underwrites new stock and bond issues and provides financial advice to corporate and governmental clients. |
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Term
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Definition
| Banks that often provide not only all the consumer and commercial services a regular bank provides but also offer credit, investment, and consulting services in an attempt to satisfy all the financial service needs of their clients; usually these banks invest a substantial share of their own equity capital in a customer's commercial project. |
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Definition
| A loosening of the rules regarding business activity that are laid down by federal, state, or local units of government. |
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Definition
| The tightening of government rules that previously had been liberalized, generally making it more costly and difficult to provide financial services. |
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Term
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Definition
| Risks related to the volatility of economic and financial conditions affecting the stability of the entire global system. |
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