Basic business entities represented on the global financial market:

1. enterprises;

2. population;

3. governments;

4. professional subjects.

All of these entities act on both the demand and supply sides. Either of them is either a net lender or a net borrower.

From an institutional point of view, the international financial market is a collection of banks, companies and individuals carrying out various transactions with financial instruments. Participants in the international financial market can be divided into groups according to various criteria.

Based on the goals and motives for carrying out transactions on the international financial market, participants in this market are divided into entrepreneurs, hedgers, speculators and arbitrageurs. Entrepreneurs include market participants who make transactions to ensure their operations in the real sector of the economy (selling foreign currency earnings, attracting loans for investment in fixed capital, etc.). Hedgers are participants in the international financial market who insure themselves against undesirable changes in exchange rates, interest rates, and securities quotes through the conclusion of forward transactions. Speculators are participants in the international financial market seeking to make a profit through changes in the value of financial instruments. They buy financial instruments if they expect their prices to rise, and sell them otherwise. Speculators help increase market liquidity, but distort the pricing mechanisms in the market. As a result of the operations of speculators, the demand for instruments whose price is rising and the supply of instruments whose price is decreasing increase. As a result, the volatility of international financial market prices increases. Participants in the international financial market who simultaneously carry out transactions in different segments of the international financial market and derive income from the difference in prices are called arbitrageurs. Arbitrageurs profit from the unevenness of the global financial market. By buying financial instruments in those market segments where the price is higher and selling in those segments where the price is lower, arbitrageurs contribute to the equalization of prices and ensuring the integrity and unity of the international financial market. Since price differences are typically small in modern financial markets, a characteristic feature of arbitrageurs' operations is exceptionally high transaction volumes.

Based on the nature of participation in the functioning of the international financial market, two groups of participants are distinguished: direct (professional) and indirect (non-professional). Professional market participants specialize in intermediary transactions. These include members of the exchange who enter into transactions at their own expense (dealers), as well as at the expense and on behalf of clients (brokers or brokers), the largest participants in over-the-counter trading systems, and organizers of trading in the over-the-counter market.

OR ( Professional financial market entities (financial intermediaries):

1) Institutions that serve the functioning of the market (including investment and dealer companies).

2) Intermediate borrowers (providing and associated with the direct flow of capital).)

Non-professional market participants do not have the opportunity to enter into transactions directly with each other and resort to the intermediation of professional participants.

Participants' access to the international financial market is limited. The main participants in this market are TNCs, TNB, governments, and international financial organizations. Participants from developing countries have limited opportunities to conduct transactions in the international financial market. They mainly use foreign direct investment, aid, loans from international financial organizations, or are forced to pay higher prices to international banks than participants from developed countries.

Transactions on the international financial market are characterized by relatively low diversification across currencies. The US dollar and euro are mainly used in international financial transactions. According to the European Commission, the US dollar accounts for 50% of international transactions, while the euro accounts for only 15-17%. According to the ECB, in international banking assets the US dollar accounts for 51%, the euro - 22%, and the Japanese yen - 13%.

The modern international financial market is characterized by simplified, standardized procedures for making transactions using the latest computer and information technologies. For example, international trade settlements are carried out through the SWIFT system, trading in the stock sector of the international financial market is carried out using information systems such as Reuters and Bloomberg.

Thus, the functioning of the international financial market consists of mobilizing temporarily free financial resources from a variety of sources at the global level; effective distribution of mobilized resources between participants in the international financial market; determining the most effective areas for investing financial resources in the international sphere; formation of prices for financial instruments that objectively reflect the relationship between supply and demand on the international financial market; accelerating the turnover of financial resources, contributing to the development of the world economy.

The development of the international financial market occurs in parallel with the development of world economic relations and world money. Analysis of the stages of development of the international financial market allows us to identify the characteristic patterns of this development. Firstly, the development of the international financial market was synchronous with the development of the international financial system and world money. Secondly, a necessary condition for the development of the international financial market was the removal of restrictions on various financial transactions. Thirdly, the international financial market in its entirety became possible and necessary only in conditions of a sharp increase in the riskiness of financial transactions, since it makes it possible to redistribute financial risks and reduce their level.

At the same time, operations to redistribute risks (transactions with derivatives) were outside the system of legal regulation and accelerated the process of isolation of the international financial market from the real sector of the world economy and international commodity markets. In addition, the international financial market in the form in which it emerged at the beginning of the 21st century has increased the growing instability of the entire world market system.

The main agents of the global financial market are:

Transnational banks,

Transnational companies,

Institutional investors.

Government bodies,

International organizations that place or provide their loans abroad.

Individuals also operate on global capital markets, but mostly indirectly, mainly through institutional investors.

Institutional investors include financial institutions such as pension funds and insurance companies (due to the significant amount of temporarily available funds, they are very active in the purchase of securities), as well as investment funds, especially mutual funds. The size of the assets of institutional investors is evidenced by the fact that in the United States it significantly exceeds the value of total GDP, and in the EU it approaches the value of total GDP. The overwhelming majority of these assets are invested in various securities, including those of foreign origin,

One of the main institutional investors in the world are mutual funds, especially American ones. By accumulating contributions from their shareholders, mainly individuals of average income, such funds in the United States have reached colossal sizes. By the beginning of 2008, the value of their assets was estimated to be close to 4 trillion. dollars, and about half of this amount was invested in shares, including foreign companies. The rapid growth of mutual funds is due to the transition of small investors from storing their savings primarily in the bank to placing them in a more profitable financial institution - a mutual fund. The latter, moreover, combines the advantages of a savings bank and investment banks (investment companies), which invest their clients' funds in a wide variety of securities. Some investment funds were created to work with foreign securities in general or with securities of individual countries and regions of the world.

World financial centers. The most active transfer of financial resources is carried out in the world. These include those places in the world where trade in financial assets between residents of different countries is particularly large. These are primarily New York and Chicago, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Zurich, Geneva, Luxembourg, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bahrain. In the future, current regional centers - Cape Town, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, etc. - may become global financial centers. Some offshore centers, primarily in the Caribbean - Panama, Bermuda, Bahamas, Cayman, Antilles and others, have already become global financial centers. islands.

Emerging (emerging) capital markets. This periphery includes developing countries and states with economies in transition. The capital markets of these countries are called emerging or emerging markets, in contrast to the capital markets in developed countries. The largest emerging capital markets, judging only by market capitalization of shares, are the markets of Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Russia in Europe, in Asia - India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines and especially China with Hong Kong, in Africa - South Africa, in Latin America - Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, Chile.

The size of these markets is small, but fluctuations in market conditions and other risks are significant. However, high levels of profitability and rapid growth rates make many of these markets attractive to foreign investors. In 2006, the net inflow of capital into these markets from abroad exceeded $200 billion per year, but in 2008–2009. it declined due to the financial crisis that gripped many of the emerging markets.

World foreign exchange market. In the practice of international trade and international capital flow, international technology transfer and international labor migration, there are various ways of transferring funds from one country to another: bank transfer, bank check, bill of exchange, documentary letter of credit, documentary draft, international factoring and forfaiting. In most cases, these settlements are carried out with the exchange of one currency for another (hence their name - currency settlement relations). Such an exchange usually occurs in the foreign exchange market.

At the same time, transactions for future currency exchange are often simultaneously concluded (using derivatives, i.e., financial derivative instruments such as currency futures, options, swaps for hedging purposes, i.e., reducing risks from possible changes in exchange rates. An increasingly large part The purpose of these transactions is simply to make a profit from them, and not to insure possible losses.Such transactions are called speculative.

The world's huge volumes of payments in foreign currencies and even larger volumes of speculative foreign exchange derivatives transactions mean that the size of the foreign exchange market is very large and continues to grow rapidly. The volume of transactions carried out here is approaching 1.5 trillion. dollars per day (in 2006 - 0.5 trillion dollars), and per year - to approximately 400 trillion. Doll.

Trading in currencies and currency derivatives takes place everywhere, but primarily in the world's financial centers. Judging by all types of currency exchange transactions, London will be in first place. Judging by currency futures trading, which is the most common currency exchange transaction, the largest volume of such transactions occurs in Chicago. In Russia, the bulk of foreign exchange transactions are carried out in Moscow, primarily on the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (MICEX).

Although in the world it is possible to exchange any one currency for another (albeit not always directly, but through a third currency), however, exchange operations gravitate towards several currencies of the world, which in this sense can be called key. This is primarily the US dollar, which accounts for about half of all currency transactions. A rival to the dollar may be the European currency euro, introduced into circulation in the EU in 1999 and which, since mid-2000, has completely replaced the national currencies of most EU member countries (11 out of 15), and is also beginning to partially replace the dollar in the gold and foreign exchange reserves of other countries. countries The position of the Japanese yen is more modest.

In addition to global key currencies, there are regional key currencies, i.e. having distribution in currency and settlement relations of only one region. In the CIS, such a regional key currency is the Russian ruble, in East and Southeast Asia it could be the Chinese yuan (although it has even more limited convertibility than the Russian ruble). But so far in these regions the American dollar prevails in mutual trade.

World derivatives market. Derivatives (financial derivatives) are those financial instruments that are based on other, simpler financial instruments - stocks, bonds, currencies. The most common types of derivatives are options (giving its owner the right to sell or buy certain shares), swaps (agreements to exchange cash payments over a certain period of time), futures (contracts for future delivery, including currencies, at a price fixed in the contract) .

The derivatives market is closely related to the foreign exchange market and is primarily based on the exchange of one currency for another or securities in one currency for others. Currently, the global financial derivatives market is estimated, based on the value of the securities rotating on it, at approximately 50 trillion. dollars. The bulk of this market is accounted for by currency futures and swaps, mainly short-term, although there are also long-term ones.

World credit market. Due to the very large size of this market, it is most often considered in parts, analyzing the global market for debt securities and the global market for bank loans.

Global debt securities market. This market primarily trades in securities such as bills and bonds (private and government). An example could be the Russian market for such securities. Although the overwhelming majority of it consists of bills of exchange from various non-state companies, they are not in demand among non-residents and therefore this segment of the Russian securities market has little participation in the activities of the global debt securities market. The picture is similar with bonds of Russian companies.

Government securities also occupy a prominent place in the global debt securities market, and among them, primarily American ones, as the most reliable (they account for about half of the entire global government securities market with a total volume of about 18 trillion dollars). Moreover, unlike developing countries and countries with transition economies, government securities markets in developed countries are stable due to the greater stability of the economies of these countries, their budgets and the size of gold and foreign exchange reserves, although in these markets there are ebbs and flows of “hot money”.

In the global debt securities market, foreign bonds are also issued for large amounts, usually in a single foreign country in its national currency, as, for example, the tsarist government did for decades in France.

Global market for bank loans. This market specializes in various financial loans, borrowings and credits. The borrowers on it are companies, banks, as well as governments of different countries (not only central, but also regional, and even municipalities). Lenders in this market are various financial and credit organizations, mainly banks, but not only (for example, trusts, funds). The market size is close to 40 trillion. Doll.

The concept of offshore centers. Territories where tax, currency and other benefits apply to those non-residents who base their accounts and companies in these territories, but carry out business transactions exclusively with other countries. These are predominantly island states, some of which have already become regional financial centers (Cyprus and others), countries located near global financial centers (Liechtenstein, Ireland, the Channel Islands and others, especially in the Caribbean), or some territories of countries - important participants in the global financial market (for example, certain US states and cantons of Switzerland provide offshore benefits to those companies that carry out business transactions on their territory exclusively with other countries). It is estimated that about 5 trillion is located in offshore centers. dollars of financial resources, including an estimated $300 billion of Russian origin (more precise estimates are impossible, since offshore centers attract foreign investors not only with tax and currency benefits, but also with their confidentiality regime).

World stock market. The global stock market is worth approximately 20 trillion. dollars. Here, as in other capital markets, developed countries dominate.

The issue of shares, as the main source of raising funds in the financial market, is not typical for all developed countries. Thus, in Germany, France and Italy, companies traditionally prefer to use bank loans for this purpose. Perhaps the majority of Russian companies are moving along this path. Therefore, the level of capitalization (the market value of shares in relation to the country’s GDP) often speaks not so much about the backwardness or advancement of the national stock market, but rather about the established approach of companies in this country to mobilizing resources in the financial market.

In the modern securities market (i.e., the stock market in a broad sense), not only stocks and debt securities are sold, but also new types of securities. Basically, this is a financial derivative such as depository receipts, i.e. certificates of ownership of shares in a company, issued to ensure that the shares themselves do not cross borders and are not subject to related restrictions.

Stock exchanges of the world. The largest stock exchanges in the world are New York and Chicago, Tokyo and Osaka, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, Milan. The London and Frankfurt stock exchanges, which announced the creation of a strategic alliance in 1998, can form an exchange that will compete in size with the New York stock exchange.

World market of insurance services. The size of this market is estimated at 2.5 trillion. dollars. This is the amount of annual insurance payments, the so-called premiums. Firms of different sizes operate in the global insurance market, but many of them are transnational. An example of a transnational insurance corporation can be the Russian Ingosstrakh with its foreign branches in seven foreign countries and nine neighboring countries, as well as representative offices and bureaus in many other countries. Some insurance companies are generally created to serve parent TNCs

Gold reserves. Financial assistance and external borrowing. External debt. Part of the world's financial resources ends up in reserves, while part is provided to foreign countries on commercial or preferential terms. Such borrowings from abroad, i.e. receipts of loan capital from there often lead to the emergence of a problem of external debt.

Official gold and foreign exchange reserves of the world. Individuals, companies, organizations and the state turn part of their financial resources into reserves, i.e. assets saved for possible future expenses. When analyzing the world economy, attention is paid primarily to reserves, which consist mainly of foreign currency and gold, and especially those that belong to the state. They are called official gold and foreign exchange reserves (foreign exchange reserves, official reserves, international reserves, reserve assets); they are held by the central bank, other financial authorities of the country and the IMF (as the country's contribution).

Official gold and foreign exchange reserves (GER) are intended to ensure the country's solvency for its international financial obligations, primarily in the field of currency and settlement relations. Another important task of gold and foreign exchange reserves is to influence the macroeconomic situation in one’s country, for which purpose the state sells and buys foreign currency on the domestic foreign exchange market. Such transactions are called foreign exchange interventions and are intended to change market demand and supply for national and foreign currencies and maintain/change their exchange rates on this basis.

There is a generally accepted minimum of official gold reserves - a three-month volume of imports of goods and services. In Russia, gold and foreign exchange reserves have fluctuated in the range of $400–500 billion in recent years.

About half of them are concentrated in developed countries, primarily in Japan (over $800 billion). Of the developing countries, Brazil and Mexico have the largest gold and currency reserves. China has one of the largest gold and currency reserves in the world - more than 2. trillion Doll.

About 30 thousand tons of pure gold make up such part of the gold reserves as monetary gold, i.e. gold in government vaults. This official gold reserve has been slowly declining in recent decades, as gold has been almost forced out of international monetary relations, although it remains a highly liquid commodity that can quickly be converted into any currency. If at the beginning of the century the world's gold and currency reserves consisted predominantly of gold, now it accounts for an insignificant part of the world's official gold and currency reserves. The United States traditionally has the largest gold reserves, however, it has decreased from 15 thousand tons in 1961 to approximately 6 thousand tons in recent years. Germany, France, and Switzerland have gold reserves of 2.5-3.5 thousand tons. In Japan and China it is much smaller - several hundred tons.

Russia's gold reserves have also decreased. If in 1913 it was 1338 tons, in 1953 - 2050, 1985 - 719.5 (USSR), then in the 90s. it fluctuated around 300 tons.

In the event of a shortage of financial resources in the country, including due to a negative balance of payments (that is, when the country transfers more funds abroad than it earns there), the state prefers not to spend its gold and foreign currency reserves, but to borrow loan capital abroad ( loans, credits, advances, grants). Such borrowings constitute a significant part of international capital flows. They are carried out on commercial or preferential terms. In the latter case, they talk about financial assistance (external assistance). It is resorted to mainly by developing countries and states with economies in transition, although the financial crisis of the late 90s. forced a new developed country, South Korea, to resort to such assistance.

The financial market is a system of economic and legal relations related to the purchase and sale or issue and circulation of financial assets.

The international financial market unites the national financial markets of countries and the international financial market, which differ from each other in the conditions of issue and the mechanism of circulation of financial assets.

The main purpose of the financial market is to ensure the redistribution between countries of accumulated free financial resources for the sustainable development of the world economy and obtaining a certain income from these operations.

The main function of the international financial market is to ensure international liquidity, i.e. the ability to quickly attract a sufficient amount of financial resources in various forms on favorable terms at the supranational level.

Operations on the international financial market can be roughly divided into two groups – credit and investment. Accordingly, two sectors can be distinguished: the credit sector and the securities sector, through which the investment process is carried out.

The international financial market is a very complex structured system, so it is proposed to present it in this form:

1. Depending on the period of completion of operations, the international financial market is divided into:

Market for cash (current “spot”) transactions (settlements for underlying assets occur no later than 2 banking days);

Market for futures agreements.

2. Depending on the location of the operations:

Centralized (exchange market presented);

Decentralized (over-the-counter) world market - decentralized trading, carried out primarily through dealing systems, international telecommunication systems, and by telephone.

The main segments of the international financial market are:

Currency market;

Bank loan market;

Securities market (stock market):

A) business securities market;

B) market for property titles;

Derivatives market;

Euromarket (includes all of the above segments).

The foreign exchange market is:

Subsystem of currency relations during transactions of purchase and sale of foreign currencies and payment documents in foreign currencies;

Institutional mechanism (a set of institutions and organizations - banks, currency exchanges, other financial institutions) that ensure the functioning of foreign exchange market mechanisms.

Currently, large regional foreign exchange markets have formed.

European (centers: London, Frankfurt am Main, Paris, Zurich).

American (centers: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Montreal).

Asian (centers: Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bahrain).

One of the components of the global financial market is the international debt market (loan capital market). This is a specific area of ​​market relations for the turnover of debt obligations, which guarantee the lender the right to repay the debt by the borrower.

The international debt market is conventionally divided into: the international credit market and the international debt securities market, on which financial instruments are traded that indicate debt relations between the lender and the borrower (bonds, commercial paper, notes, etc.).

A significant and dynamic segment of the international loan capital market is the syndicated loan market, the principle of which is the creation of syndicates and consortia for providing large bank loans.

The securities market occupies a special place in the structure of the modern investment market, which is due to the characteristics of securities as financial investment instruments.

The international securities market is a factor that facilitates access for various economic entities to the international market of free capital and accelerates the global process of economic rapprochement.

One of the most important indicators of the market is its capitalization - an indicator that reflects the market value of all companies that take part in stock market operations.

Rating places in the world classification of developed securities markets are located in the following sequence: USA, Japan, Great Britain, Germany, France, Canada, Switzerland, Italy, Australia. The markets of Latin America and Asia are developing rapidly.

The international securities market can be distinguished:

The primary securities market is the economic space through which a security passes from its issuer to its first buyer.

Secondary securities market - here already issued loans are sold and bought by various foreign investors. This market for a borrowed instrument develops where the demand of international investors for the risk of a given borrower exceeds the supply of its debt instruments offered by this borrower in the primary market.

The secondary securities market can be:

Organized (exchange);

Unorganized (over-the-counter).

Features of the OTC market:

Number of securities sellers;

Lack of a single exchange rate for identical securities;

Trade takes place in different places and at different times;

The absence of a single center that organizes trading and develops its methodology (unlike an exchange).

The derivatives market is a market for financial risk trading instruments whose prices are tied to another financial or real asset. Derivatives include: forwards, futures, options, swaps, etc.

The Euromarket is part of the world market for currencies and borrowed capital, where transactions are carried out in Eurocurrencies.

The Euromarket includes three components (Fig. 8.2).

Fig.8.2. Euromarket structure

Participants in the international financial market:

1. By the nature of participation in operations:

1) Direct participants - exchange members of the relevant derivatives markets who enter into agreements at their own expense or at the expense and on behalf of clients who are not members of the exchange.

2) Indirect participants - are not members of the exchange and, accordingly, must use the services of direct market participants (the largest market makers).

2. According to the purpose and motives for participation:

1) Hedgers are participants in the global financial market who use derivatives market instruments to insure various risks.

2) Speculators - enter into agreements solely for the purpose of making money on favorable exchange rate movements.

There are 2 main groups of speculators:

Traders;

Arbitrators.

3. By type of issuer:

International and transnational agencies (IBRD, EBRD);

National governments and sovereign borrowers;

Provincial and regional governments;

Quasi-Governmental Issuers;

Corporations, banks.

4. By country of origin:

The developed countries;

Developing countries;

International institutions;

Offshore centers.

5. By type of investor:

Private;

Institutional.

The global financial market redistributes free financial resources from lenders to borrowers at the supranational level. Several categories of economic agents take part in this process.

In addition to entities with temporarily free financial resources (lenders) and entities in need of borrowed funds (borrowers), participants in the global financial market include various types of financial intermediaries, as well as state and international organizations involved in regulating the processes of financing and investment. At the same time, lenders, borrowers and financial intermediaries in practice can be represented by several types of business entities, both commercial and government. For example, industrial and trading companies, individuals, states, local authorities and multinational organizations such as the World Bank or the European Investment Bank can act as creditors in world markets.

Similarly, international organizations, governments and local authorities of individual countries, and non-financial enterprises act as borrowers. It is easy to see that the same subjects, depending on the situation, can simultaneously or sequentially play different roles. For example, banks can lend to their clients, being financial intermediaries, they can facilitate the placement of bond loans of clients, and when issuing their own obligations or entering the interbank loan market, act as borrowers. Governments of countries can be both lenders and borrowers. Along with international organizations, they are also market regulators and supervisors.

Due to the particular complexity of transactions in foreign and international financial markets, financial intermediaries are present in almost all transactions. As in national markets, they transform financial assets purchased on the market, changing their characteristics and issuing their own liabilities, buying and selling financial assets both on behalf and at the expense of clients, and at their own expense. In addition, they facilitate the creation of financial assets by their clients and help them sell these financial assets to other participants in the financial market, and carry out trust management of client funds.

When operating in the global financial market, services provided by financial intermediaries to their clients, such as investment advice on the situation in foreign markets, assistance in making international payments and clearing for securities, and conducting foreign exchange transactions, are of particular importance. Financial intermediaries allow investors and issuers in the global financial market to reduce transaction and information costs, as well as reduce risks through international diversification of the structure of assets and liabilities. By anticipating customer wishes, financial intermediaries are one of the main sources of financial innovation in global markets.

In world practice, financial intermediaries are represented by several types of organizations: 1)

deposit-type organizations; 2)

contractual, savings organizations; 3)

investment funds; 4)

other types of financial institutions.

Deposit-type financial intermediaries include commercial and savings banks, credit unions, savings and loan associations, etc.

D., i.e. institutions that raise funds by placing their own obligations among individuals and legal entities, mainly in the form of deposits. The funds raised are used to issue consumer, mortgage and business loans. The widest range of operations is carried out by commercial banks. In contrast, savings institutions, primarily savings and loan associations and mutual savings banks, are specialized financial institutions. They use the funds received from savings accounts mainly for mortgage lending and small loans to individuals and businesses. Credit unions are small, not-for-profit consumer groups. The owners of these institutions are only their members. Credit unions' liabilities come from checking and savings accounts, and they invest their funds in short-term consumer loans. If quite recently credit unions limited their activities exclusively to the scale of the national financial market, then in recent years they have increasingly entered the global financial market, participating in a wide variety of operations.

Savings institutions operating on a contractual basis receive funds under long-term contractual agreements and place them on the capital market. Intermediaries of this type include insurance companies and pension funds. These institutions have a relatively steady flow of funds from insurance policyholders and pension fund account holders, so they invest most of their resources in long-term securities.

Investment funds are special organizations that issue their shares and sell them to investors. They place the funds accumulated in this way in other securities or on deposits in banks. Funds can be open or closed. An open-end fund is a joint-stock company that places its shares with the obligation to subsequently repurchase them at the request of the investor. In contrast, a closed-end fund does not have repurchase obligations when placing shares. Therefore, the investor can return the invested funds only by reselling the shares on the secondary market. Investment funds are a very convenient means of international investment for small and medium-sized investors who, due to the technical features of the global financial market, are deprived of the opportunity to independently enter them.

Other types of financial institutions include primarily investment companies, as well as business credit finance companies, which specialize in business lending and leasing transactions, and trade credit companies, which finance export-import transactions.

It should be noted that among all financial intermediaries in the global financial market, commercial banks occupy a special place. Along with the widest range of transactions carried out, they are leaders both in terms of assets they own and in terms of the volume of transactions concluded. In this regard, commercial banks are most strictly subject to government regulation. Their activities are closely monitored by international organizations. A significant role in the system of bodies designed to regulate the functioning of the global monetary and financial system is played by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

BIS). The BIS is an international organization whose purpose is to strengthen international monetary and financial cooperation. At the same time, it also serves as a bank for the central banks of the participating countries. The BIS provides the latter with the opportunity to conduct discussions on current issues in the functioning of the global monetary and financial system, carries out scientific research in the field of economics and financial policy, acts as a counterparty to transactions of central banks and represents their interests in international transactions. The BIS began its activities in Basel (Switzerland) in 1930 and is the oldest financial institution in the world. Fifty institutions have voting rights in the BIS [These include central banks or other financial regulators from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, United Kingdom, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Denmark, India, Ireland , Spain, Italy, Canada, China, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, USA, Thailand, Turkey, Finland, France, Croatia, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Estonia, Yugoslavia, South Africa, Japan, as well as the European Central Bank].

The quality of the financial research carried out by the BIS and the recommendations it formulates is so high that several influential international bodies have emerged under its auspices. For example, the most famous of them is the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. It provides a forum for discussions on pressing issues of regulation and supervision of the activities of financial institutions. This Committee coordinates international activities in this area and develops generally accepted standards for prudential supervision. The Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) is developing measures to improve the reliability of domestic and international payment and settlement systems. The Committee on the Global Financial System provides short-term monitoring and long-term analysis of the global financial market, from which it makes recommendations to improve the functioning of markets.

Depending on the goals pursued by participants in the global financial market, they can all be divided into four categories: investors, speculators, arbitrageurs and hedgers.

Investors place funds internationally for long periods. In their activities, they use fundamental forecasts of the situation on the global monetary and financial market. The criterion for choosing assets for them is to achieve an acceptable, in their opinion, income at a given level of risk. International investors take advantage of asset diversification not only by type of instrument, but also by different currencies and countries of issuers and borrowers. Therefore, along with reducing unsystematic risks, they are exposed to additional factors of uncertainty - currency, country and other risks.

Arbitration (from the Latin “arbitrare” - assessment) refers to a wide range of transactions with financial assets, consisting of the simultaneous opening of opposite (or different in terms of terms) positions in one or several interconnected segments of financial markets in order to obtain a guaranteed profit from differences in quotes. Arbitrage profits as a percentage are very small, so only large transactions are attractive. As a result, they are successfully carried out mainly by financial institutions. The financial instruments used for arbitrage are very diverse and their attractiveness for an arbitrageur is greater, the higher the liquidity of their market, which allows buying and selling a significant number of contracts at any time and within a short period of time. A necessary condition for arbitrage operations is the free flow of capital between different market segments (free convertibility of currencies, absence of currency restrictions, and restrictions on the implementation of certain types of activities for various types of agents, etc.). The prerequisite for carrying out the operations under consideration is the discrepancy between the quotations of financial assets in time and space under the influence of market forces.

If a market operator expects to make a profit due to differences in rates of the same asset in geographically different markets, then we are talking about spatial arbitrage, but if due to exchange rate fluctuations over a certain period of time, then this is time arbitrage. In recent decades, the development of computer technology and modern communications, an increase in the volume of transactions has led to the fact that differences in rates in different geographic markets began to arise less and less frequently, i.e. spatial arbitrage has given way to the leading role of temporal arbitrage.

Arbitrage in its purest form involves making a profit from the simultaneous opening of opposing positions without taking on market risks and making your own initial investments. Therefore, the main goal of this activity is to obtain additional profit without risk. However, there is another type of operation in which an arbitrageur who already has an open position (asset, debt, cash, etc.) tries to transform it in the most profitable way available to him. The operator invests its own funds in this transaction. Its goal is not to make a profit, but to reduce costs when forming and maintaining one’s position. Such activities are called quasi-arbitration.

Most monetary and financial markets have now reached or are gradually reaching maturity, so genuine price anomalies are usually small, short-lived and difficult to discern. As a result, to achieve profitability, arbitrageurs are forced to both increase the size of their operating positions and use increasingly complex strategies. Theoretically, arbitrage is a risk-free operation, since opposing positions are opened almost simultaneously and cancel each other out. However, even in the case of a balanced currency and interest rate position, there are some factors that introduce elements of uncertainty (i.e. risk) into the arbitrage outcome. Consequently, any arbitrage operations based on forecasts (for example, dynamics of exchange rates, interest rates) are not without risk. It is obvious that almost all the main types of operations that are the subject of activity of professional arbitrageurs at the present time are not completely protected from all risks, since the accuracy of the model conclusions cannot be absolute.

Speculators are participants in the financial market whose main goal is to make a profit due to the difference in the rates of financial instruments over time. Their activities involve conscious risk taking by maintaining open positions for a long time. A speculator sells (buys) assets in the hope that in the future it will be possible to close the position using a counter-transaction carried out at a more favorable rate. Large financial institutions are actively engaged in such operations, which brings them considerable income. Speculative transactions with exchange contracts can also be carried out by small enterprises and individuals. It's about buying when prices are expected to rise and selling when prices are expected to fall, making the best use of the leverage created by the margin and price volatility.

This type of activity can potentially bring huge losses. The most striking example is the bankruptcy of the oldest British bank, Baring Brothers, at the end of February 1995, provoked by the transactions of Nick Leeson, CEO of the bank's financial division in Singapore (Barings Futures), in high-risk index futures contracts. The bank's losses, according to some estimates, reached $1 billion. Therefore, when carrying out speculation, the accuracy of forecasts is of particular importance, because under certain conditions, speculation on exchange contracts can lead to the loss of larger amounts than were originally invested. At the same time, if the forecasts turn out to be correct, then the profitability of speculation will exceed the profitability of all other types of activities in the financial market.

Obviously, speculative operations vary in scale. The smallest positions are operated mainly by individual traders. More significant speculative transactions are carried out by banks, financial divisions of large industrial companies, and TNCs. There are known cases of large-scale speculation in the foreign exchange market, which even the foreign exchange interventions of central banks, which have reserves of billions of dollars per day, were unable to resist. An example is the sensational operation of the Quantum fund managed by J. Soros in September 1992, as a result of which England left the EMU, and the fund credited about $2 billion to its account. arrived.

Speculative transactions can also be classified according to their time horizon and mode of execution. The first group consists of position speculators (long term traders), who maintain open positions for a long period of time - several days or weeks, sometimes months. They rely on long-term forecasts based on analysis of fundamental economic indicators. Players of this type must be able to withdraw large sums of money from circulation for a long time. They thus take on enormous risks, but the gains that they can receive exceed the profitability of other operations. The second type includes speculators who observe trends of one day (day-to-day traders). These include scalpers - operators who play on changes in rates during one trading session, systematically closing positions at the end of each working day. With the help of small amounts of capital, they conclude a large number of direct and reverse transactions in a short period of time. This type of activity is mainly carried out by individual traders.

In everyday activities, speculation is difficult to distinguish from other types of transactions. All market participants periodically resort to active or passive speculation. Operators who do not cover (hedge) their future financial flows are engaged in passive speculation. Those who consciously fix a position based on forecasts are engaged in active speculation.

The fourth basic strategy for operations in the global financial market is hedging, i.e. protection against market risks. Any economic activity is always associated with risk. At the same time, the risks to which financial market participants are exposed are very diverse. For example, the BIS in its study lists about 30 types of risks faced in the 1980s. international banks. In the global financial market, the most important are the so-called market risks associated with changes in prices in money markets and capital markets, that is, currency, interest rate risks and the risk of changes in the market value of shares. Hedging involves transferring to a counterparty risks that the operator does not want to assume. The second party to a coverage transaction can be either hedgers who insure their positions in the opposite direction, or speculators or arbitrageurs.

In relation to risk, operators can choose one of three possible courses of action: 1)

The wait-and-see attitude is that no measures are deliberately taken to eliminate the risk, which in practice means passive speculation. Taking into account the amplitude of fluctuations in interest rates and exchange rates, the decision

the absence of any insurance does not always seem reasonable; 2)

100% coverage of all positions at risk, i.e. complete elimination of currency and interest rate risks, risk on shares and other securities without any attempts to speculate. The subsequent evolution of rates, rates, and quotes will not be able to worsen financial results, but the profit from their favorable change will also be lost. However, in practice it is impossible to fully harmonize the risk coverage instruments and the insured elements of the position. In addition, the costs of over-coverage may offset the expected profit from the operation; 3)

selective risk coverage based on an analysis of risks and losses, as well as a comparison of these losses with the costs of hedging. It seems to us that this is the most effective and economical behavior.

Since currency or interest rate risk is always inherent in an open position, to protect against it it is necessary to eliminate the open position itself. Thus, to cover a spot position in the derivatives market, they take a position opposite in direction. Then any negative fluctuation in the first position is compensated by the gain in coverage. The operator holding a long position (the lender) must be covered by the opposite equivalent position, i.e., a short position (the borrower) in the futures market. The latter, on the contrary, must be covered by the opposite equivalent long position.

For coverage to be effective, it is important to achieve equivalence between the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the hedging instruments and the characteristics of the position being insured. For example, you should monitor the coincidence of the sensitivity indicators of both elements of the transaction, i.e., when the interest rate changes, their value should change equally.

When hedging their transactions on the global financial market, participants can: -

or use a micro-hedging technique, which consists of hedging each transaction independently of the others. Its advantages include the ease of defining a position at the single asset level and the ability to find a more adequate relationship between hedging instruments and the position being insured. At the same time, micro-coverage makes it difficult to calculate the global risk position and can lead to the fact that resources and their use are separately covered, while they themselves compensate for each other’s risks. The coverage then turns out to be useless and expensive, and management is complicated by a large number of operations that require constant monitoring; -

or insure only the global currency or interest rate position, i.e., provide macro coverage, which should bring savings on the cost of the hedge. This technique involves constantly calculating the deviations between the asset and liability positions on the balance sheet and hedging only the resulting risk position. However, it is difficult to determine the macro position in real time due to its variability.

An important issue when deciding whether to hedge is its cost. The cost of a policy of systematic coverage, that is, eliminating every manifestation of risk, is not zero, but it is largely equal to the possible risk. In addition, the cost of coverage is predictable and certain, since it is fixed in advance, but the amount of possible losses is difficult to estimate. A more flexible selective coverage policy is to hedge based on available forecasts. When a favorable market change is expected, the position is not hedged and is deliberately left open to profit from this development. Conversely, if an unfavorable market change is predicted, the position is hedged. Success in this case depends entirely on the quality of the forecasts.

Test questions 1.

Who are the main participants in the global financial market? 2.

What types of financial intermediaries are distinguished according to international practice? 3.

The main agents of the global financial market are transnational banks, transnational companies and so-called institutional investors (see below). But government bodies and international organizations that place or provide their loans abroad also play a significant role. Individuals also operate on global capital markets, but mostly indirectly, mainly through institutional investors.

Institutional investors include financial institutions such as pension funds and insurance companies (due to the significant amount of temporarily available funds, they are very active in the purchase of securities), as well as investment funds, especially mutual funds. The size of the assets of institutional investors is indicated by the fact that in the USA it significantly exceeds the value of the total GDP, and in the EU it approaches the value of the total GDP. The overwhelming majority of these assets are invested in various securities, including those of foreign origin.

One of the main institutional investors in the world are mutual funds, especially American ones. By accumulating contributions from their shareholders, mainly individuals of average income, such funds in the United States have reached colossal sizes. By early 1998, their assets were estimated to be close to $4 trillion, and about half of this amount was invested in shares, including in foreign companies. The rapid growth of mutual funds is due to the transition of small investors from storing their savings primarily in the bank to placing them in a more profitable financial institution - a mutual fund. The latter also combines the advantages of a savings bank and investment banks (investment companies), which invest their clients' funds in a wide variety of securities.

World financial centers

The most active transfer of financial resources on a large scale occurs in the world's financial centers. These include primarily New York, Chicago, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Zurich, Geneva, Luxembourg, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bahrain and some offshore centers in the Caribbean - Panama, Bermuda, Bahamas, Cayman, Antilles, etc. islands.

4.7. Scientific resources of the world

Scientific resources of the world: main indicators

Share of R&D expenditures in GDP

R&D expenditure per capita

Share of budget allocations for R&D in total state budget expenditures

The number of specialists employed in science and scientific services and their share in the total population of a given country

Number of international prizes (primarily Nobel Prizes) for outstanding scientific achievements,

Citation index (frequency of references in works to the works of researchers of a given

Share of knowledge-intensive products in GDP and industrial output

According to the US National Science Foundation, knowledge-intensive industries include those in which the share of R&D expenditures is more than 3.5%, and the share of scientific personnel is at least 2.5%; Knowledge-intensive industries include aerospace, instrument making, electrical engineering, electronics, etc.

Share of this country in the global high technology market

(High technologies most often include the five most important areas of technological development: information technology; technologies based on the use of new materials; space technologies; nuclear technologies).

4.8. Entrepreneurial resources in the global economy

Entrepreneurial Resources

(entrepreneurial potential, entrepreneurial abilities, entrepreneurship) is the ability to effectively organize the interaction of other economic resources - labor, land, capital, knowledge - to carry out economic activities

In the field

Management

Activities

Firms

Conditions for the realization of entrepreneurial abilities high degree of liberalization of economic activity high efficiency of state institutions active state support for small and medium-sized businesses policy of promoting competition in the domestic market