NOTES
Chapter 10: Notes on Financial Markets
Financial market is a link between savers and the borrowers; a financial market helps to establish a link between savers and the investors by mobilising funds between them.
Functions of Financial Market
- Mobilization of savings: It is an allocative function of financial market that it facilitates transfer of people's saving to investors.
- Price fixation: price is determined from the forces of demand and supply. The interaction between demand and supply helps to establish a price for financial asset.
- Provides liquidity to financial assets: shareholders can sell their share easily through mechanism of financial market.
- Reduce the cost of transactions: provides valuable information to buyers and sellers of financial assets & helps in saving time money and efforts.
Classification of market
- Capital market: refers to all organization institutions & instruments that provide long term funds. The instruments used in capital markets are equity, preference shares and debentures.
- Primary Market: primary market is the market, in which a security is sold for the first time. The securities issued are equity shares, preference shares, & Debentures.
Methods of issuing Securities in Primary Market:
- Initial public offer: If a company wants to issue capital to the public through the online system of the stock exchange has to enter in an agreement with a stock exchange, this is called an initial public offer.
- Offer through prospectus: This involves inviting subscription from the public through issue of prospectus. A prospectus is a document inviting deposits from the public for the subscription of any shares or debentures.
- Offer for sale: The securities are not issued directly to the public but are offered to the public for sale through stock brokers.
- Private placement: Under this method securities are allotted to institutional investors and some selected individuals.
- Right Issue: this is a special facility given to existing shareholders to subscribe to a new issue of shares according to the terms & conditions of the company.
- Secondary Market: The stock exchange is known as secondary market for securities; in this market existing securities can be traded.
- Money market: money market is a market for lending & borrowing of short term funds. It is the major source of finance for working capital. It includes institutes like RBI, commercial banks, etc.
Instruments of Money Market
- Call money: is used by banks, insurance company & financial companies. Under this bank lends cash for one or two days to other bank that are in shortage of cash. It is repayable on demand with maturity period of 1 to 15 days.
- Treasury Bills: are issued by RBI on behalf of the govt. of India for a period of 14 to 364 days. These bills are very popular as no interest is paid on these bills. Issued at a minimum amount of Rs. 25000 and are also called Zero coupon Bond.
- Trade Bills: are drawn by one business firm on other business firm, normal duration is 90 days. Such bills are freely transferable and can be easily discounted from banks.
- Commercial paper: is issued by the public/private sector companies with good reputation. It is an unsecured promissory note issued with fixed maturity period up to 12 months. It provides short term funds for seasonal & working capital needs.
- Certificate of Deposits: are unsecured, short term instruments issued by commercial banks & financial institutions during periods of tight liquidity when deposits growth of banks is slow & demand of credit is high.
Functions of Stock Exchange
- Ready marketability
- Valuation of Securities
- Capital Formation
- Safety of Investment
- Issue of New Securities
- Control on Company Management
Basis of difference |
NSEI |
OTCEI |
Size |
Paid up capital is Rs. 3 crores or more |
Paid up capital Rs. 30 lakhs or more |
Securities traded |
Equity shares, Debentures, treasury bills, etc. |
Equity shares, Debentures, etc. |
Objectives |
Establishing single stock exchange at national level |
Providing listing facility to small companies. |
Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI): is a corporate body having separate legal existence & perpetual succession.
Objectives of SEBI
- Protection of Investors
- Steady Flow of Savings
- Control over Brokers
- Transparency in transactions
- Fair Practices by Issuers
Functions of SEBI
- Regulating functions
- Developmental functions
- Protective functions