The global financial system (GFS) refers to those financial institutions and regulations that act on the international level, as opposed to those that act on a national or regional level. The main players are the global institutions, such as International Monetary Fund and Bank for International Settlements, national agencies and government departments, e.g. central banks and finance ministries, and private institutions acting on the global scale, e.g. banks and hedge funds. In Financial economics, a financial institution acts as an agent that provides financial services for its clients. ... The logo of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization that oversees the global financial system by monitoring exchange rates and balance of payments, as well as offering technical and financial assistance when asked. ... BIS Headquarters in Basel The Bank for International Settlements (or BIS) is an international organization of central banks which exists to foster cooperation among central banks and other agencies in pursuit of monetary and financial stability. It carries out its work through subcommittees, the secretariats it hosts, and through its... The term treasury was first used in classical times to describe the votive buildings erected to house gifts to the gods, such as the Siphnian Treasury in Delphi or the many buildings put up in Olympia, Greece by competing city-states, to impress each other during the Ancient Olympic Games. ... The First Provincial Bank of Taiwan in Taipei, Republic of China was formerly the central bank of Taiwan Province and issued the New Taiwan dollar. ... A hedge fund generally refers to a lightly regulated private investment fund sometimes characterized by unconventional strategies (e. ...

Deficiencies and reform of the GFS have been hotly discussed in recent years.

History

The history of financial institutions must be differentiated from economic history and history of money. In Europe, it starts with the first financiers and banks in the 1400–1600s in central and western Europe. The first global financiers the Fuggers (1487) in Germany; the first stock company in England (Russia Company 1553); the first foreign exchange market (The Royal Exchange 1566, England); the first stock exchange the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. Economic history is the study of economic change, and of economic phenomena in the past. ... An example of Money. ... Financier (IPA: /ˌfi nãn ˈsjei/) is an elegant term for a person who handles large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. ... The First Provincial Bank of Taiwan in Taipei, Republic of China was formerly the central bank of Taiwan Province and issued the New Taiwan dollar. ... Events and Trends Categories: 1400s ... Categories: 1600s ... The Fugger family was a historically prominent group of European bankers. ... Events Richard Fox becomes Bishop of Exeter. ... // Events June 26 - Christs Hospital in London gets a Royal Charter July 6 - Edward VI of England dies July 10 - Lady Jane Grey is proclaimed Queen of England - for the next nine days July 18 - Lord Mayor of London proclaims Queen Mary as the rightful Queen - Lady Jane Grey... The Royal Exchange in 1844. ... Events January 7 - Pius V becomes Pope Selim II succeeds Suleiman I as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Religious rioting in the Netherlands signifies the beginning of the Eighty Years War in the Netherlands. ... A bond from the Dutch East India Company, dating from 7 November 1623, for the amount of 2,400 florins The Amsterdam Stock Exchange (AEX) is a European stock exchange, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. ...

Milestones in the history of financial institutions are the Gold Standard (1871–1932), the founding of IMF, World Bank at Bretton Woods, and the abolishment of fixed exchange rates in 1973. This article is on the monetary principle. ... 1871 (MDCCCLXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... [[Bretton Woods]] can refer to: The resort town of Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. ... A fixed exchange rate, sometimes (less commonly) called a pegged exchange rate, is a type of exchange rate regime wherein a currencys value is matched to the value of another single currency (most often the US Dollar), to a basket of other currencies, or to another measure of value... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ...

Institutions

International institutions

The most prominent international institutions are the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO The flag of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the international organization entrusted with overseeing the global financial system by monitoring foreign exchange rates and balance of payments, as well as offering technical and financial assistance when asked. ... Logo of the World Bank The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, in Romance languages: BIRD), better known as the World Bank, is an international organization whose original mission was to finance the reconstruction of nations devastated by WWII. Now, its mission has expanded to fight poverty by means... For other uses of the initials WTO, see WTO (disambiguation). ...

• The International Monetary Fund (http://www.imf.org/) keeps account of international balance of payments accounts of member states. The IMF acts as a lender of last resort for members in financial distress, e.g. currency crisis, problems meeting balance of payment when in deficit and debt default. Membership is based on quotas, or the amount of money a country provides to the fund relative to the size of its role in the international trading system.

• The World Bank (http://www.worldbank.org/) aims to provide funding, take up credit risk or offer favorable terms to development projects mostly in developing countries that couldn't be obtained by the private sector.

• The World Trade Organization (http://www.wto.org/) settles trade disputes and negotiates international trade agreements in its rounds of talks (currently the Doha Round)

The logo of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization that oversees the global financial system by monitoring exchange rates and balance of payments, as well as offering technical and financial assistance when asked. ... The balance of payments is a measure of the payments that flow from one exports and imports of goods, services, and financial capital, as well financial transfers. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... A currency crisis (also known as a financial crisis) occurs when the value of a currency changes quickly, undermining its ability to serve as a medium of exchange or a store of value. ... In finance, default occurs when a debtor has not met its legal obligations according to the debt contract, e. ... Logo of the World Bank The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, in Romance languages: BIRD), better known as the World Bank, is an international organization whose original mission was to finance the reconstruction of nations devastated by WWII. Now, its mission has expanded to fight poverty by means... The goal of international development is to alleviate poverty among citizens of developing countries. ... WTO Logo The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international, multilateral organization, which sets the rules for the global trading system and resolves disputes between its member states, all of whom are signatories to its approximately 30 agreements. ... The Doha round of World Trade Organization negotiations aims to lower barriers to trade around the world, with a focus on making a more fair system of trade for developing countries. ...

Government institutions

Governments act in various ways as actors in the GFS: they pass the laws and regulations for financial markets and set the tax burden for private players, e.g. banks, funds and exchanges. They also participate actively through discretionary spending. They are closely tied (though in most countries independent of) to central banks that issue government debt, set interest rates and deposit requirements, and intervene in the foreign exchange market. In finance, financial markets facilitate: The raising of capital (in the capital markets); The transfer of risk (in the derivatives markets); and International trade (in the currency markets). ... This article or section seems not to be written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia entry. ... Government debt (also known as public debt or national debt) is money owed by any level of government; either central government, federal government, municipal government or local government. ... An interest rate is the price a borrower pays for the use of money he does not own, and the return a lender receives for deferring his consumption, by lending to the borrower. ... The foreign exchange (currency or forex or FX) market exists wherever one currency is traded for another. ...

Private participants

Players acting in the stock-, bond-, foreign exchange-, derivatives- and commodities-markets and investment banking are For other uses, see Stock (disambiguation). ... Within finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the issuer owes the holders a debt and is obliged to repay the principal and interest (the coupon). ... Foreign exchange has several meanings: In telecommunications, Foreign exchange service is a type of network service. ... A derivative is a generic term for specific types of investments from which payoffs over time are derived from the performance of assets (such as commodities, shares or bonds), interest rates, exchange rates, or indices (such as a stock market index, consumer price index (CPI) or an index of weather... The word commodity has a different meaning in business than in Marxian political economy. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

• Commercial banks
• Pension funds
• Hedge funds and Private Equity

The First Provincial Bank of Taiwan in Taipei, Republic of China was formerly the central bank of Taiwan Province and issued the New Taiwan dollar. ... A pension (also known as superannuation) is a retirement plan intended to provide a person with a secure income for life. ... A hedge fund generally refers to a lightly regulated private investment fund sometimes characterized by unconventional strategies (e. ... Private equity is a broad term that refers to any type of equity investment in an asset in which the equity is not freely tradable on a public stock market. ...

Legal frameworks and treatises

• Eurozone
• NAFTA
• Mercosur
• CIS

The Eurozone (also called Euro Area, Eurosystem or Euroland) is the subset of European Union member states which have adopted the euro, creating a currency union. ... Nafta or NAFTA may refer to: an acronym for the North American Free Trade Agreement an acronym for the New Zealand Australia Free Trade Agreement the town/Tokyo of Nafta, Tunisia This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Mercosur or Mercosul (Spanish: Mercado Común del Sur, Portuguese: Mercado Comum do Sul, English: Southern Common Market) is a customs union between Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela, founded in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción, which was later amended and updated by the 1994 Treaty of Ouro... Headquarters Minsk, Belarus Member states 11 member states 1 associate member Working language Russian Executive Secretary Vladimir Rushailo Formation December 21, 1991 Official website http://cis. ...

Major incidents

The most current incidents in the GFS are the Asian financial crisis, the following devaluations in Russia, Brazil and Argentina and the bursting of the Dot-Com bubble What follows is a list of over 250 Wikipedia articles on finance topics. ... The Asian financial crisis was a financial crisis that started in July 1997 in Thailand and affected currencies, stock markets, and other asset prices in several Asian countries, many considered East Asian Tigers. ... The stock market downturn of 2002 (some say stock market crash or the Internet bubble bursting) is the sharp drop in stock prices during 2002 in stock exchanges across the United States, Canada, Asia, and Europe. ...

Criticism, discussions and reform

Among the many critics of the GFS are:

• The ATTAC network
• Joseph Stiglitz
• George Soros

Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions for the Aid of Citizens (ATTAC - Association pour la Taxation des Transactions pour lAide aux Citoyens) is an activist organization for the establishment of a tax on exchange transactions. ... Joseph Stiglitz (born February 9, 1943) is an American economist, author and winner of Nobel Prize for economics ( 2001). ... George Soros George Soros (pronounced ) (born August 12, 1930 in Budapest, Hungary as György Schwartz) is a financial speculator, stock investor, convicted felon, liberal political activist, philanthropist and philosopher. ...

See also

• Trade bloc
• Finance
• Financial economics
• Globalization
• List of finance topics
• List of international trade topics