دانلود کتاب بازارهای مالی و محصولات – بخش 1 کتاب 3 (FRM Part 1)

Banks are the cornerstone of the world’s financial system. The activities of banks in many countries can be subdivided into commercial banking and investment banking. Commercial banking involves the traditional activities of receiving deposits and making loans. These activities can be categorized as either retail or wholesale. Retail banking involves transacting with private individuals and small businesses. Wholesale banking involves transacting with large corporations. Loans and deposits are much larger in wholesale banking than in retail banking. As a result, the administrative costs per dollar of deposits (or loans) are lower. The spread between the rates paid on deposits and the rates charged on loans is lower for wholesale banking as well. Meanwhile, investment banking involves a variety of activities such as:
• Raising debt or equity capital for companies;
• Providing advice to companies on mergers, acquisitions, and financing decisions; and
• Acting as a broker-dealer for trading debt, equity, and other
securities. In some countries, the commercial banking and investment banking sectors are strictly separated. The U.S., for example, once limited the extent to which a single corporation could engage in both commercial and investment banking. Until the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999, investment banks were not allowed to take deposits and make loans while commercial banks were not allowed to arrange equity issuances for other companies. Following the financial crisis of 2007-2008, policymakers in some countries prohibited banks from putting depositors’ funds at risk by engaging in proprietary trading (often referred to as prop trading). This is the speculative trading that an investment bank does in the hope of increasing its profitability.