Financial instrument: Difference between revisions

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{{def|Financial instrument|/fɪˈnanʃ(ə)l ˈɪnstrʊm(ə)nt/|n|{{subtable|{{financial instruments}}}}}}
{{def|Financial instrument|/fɪˈnanʃ(ə)l ˈɪnstrʊm(ə)nt/|n|{{subtable|{{financial instruments}}}}}}
Colloquially, a contract which creates some kind of liabilities between two parties.
Colloquially, a contract which creates some kind of liabilities between two parties. They can, but need not, be [[Transferable securities|transferable]] or [[negotiable]], but the main feature of a financial instrument — its ''[[sine qua non]]'' — is that it cannot be [[Issuance|created]], [[paying agent|maintained]], [[investment manager|managed]], [[Custody|looked after]], [[Broker-dealer|transferred]], [[Securitisation|monetised]] or [[Redemption|redeemed]] — it cannot move or breathe, in other words — except through the agency of someone who will deduct a fee from the proceeds of your investment for the privilege.
 
===what ''isn’t'' a {{t|MiFID}} financial instrument===
===what ''isn’t'' a {{t|MiFID}} financial instrument===
A good place to look (if your interest level counts as “fiendish”) is the snappily titled ''Commission Delegated Regulation {{eureg|2017|565|EU}} of 25 April 2016 supplementing Directive {{eudirective|2014|65|EU}} of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards organisational requirements and operating conditions for investment firms and defined terms for the purposes of that Directive''.
A good place to look (if your interest level counts as “fiendish”) is the snappily titled ''Commission Delegated Regulation {{eureg|2017|565|EU}} of 25 April 2016 supplementing Directive {{eudirective|2014|65|EU}} of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards organisational requirements and operating conditions for investment firms and defined terms for the purposes of that Directive''.

Revision as of 18:23, 12 December 2020

The Jolly Contrarian’s Dictionary
The snippy guide to financial services lingo.™

Financial instruments

(1) Transferable securities;

(2) Money-market instruments;

(3) Units in collective investment undertakings;

(4) options, futures, swaps, forwards and any other derivative contracts relating to securities, currencies, interest rates or yields, emission allowances or other derivatives instruments, financial indices or financial measures which may be settled physically or in cash;

(5) options, futures, swaps, forwards and any other derivative contracts relating to commodities that must be settled in cash or may be settled in cash at the option of one of the parties other than by reason of default or other termination event;

(6) options, futures, swaps, forwards and any other derivative contracts relating to commodities that can be physically settled provided that they are traded on a regulated market, a MTF, or an OTF, except for wholesale energy products traded on an OTF that must be physically settled;

(7) options, futures, swaps, forwards and any other derivative contracts relating to commodities, that can be physically settled not otherwise mentioned in point 6 of this Section and not being for commercial purposes, which have the characteristics of other derivative financial instruments;

(8) Derivative instruments for the transfer of credit risk;

(9) Financial contracts for differences;

(10) options, futures, swaps, forwards and any other derivative contracts relating to climatic variables, freight rates or inflation rates or other official economic statistics that must be settled in cash or may be settled in cash at the option of one of the parties other than by reason of default or other termination event, as well as any other derivative contracts relating to assets, rights, obligations, indices and measures not otherwise mentioned in this Section, which have the characteristics of other derivative financial instruments, having regard to whether, inter alia, they are traded on a regulated market, OTF, or an MTF;

(11) Emission allowances consisting of any units recognised for compliance with the requirements of Directive 2003/87/EC (Emissions Trading Scheme).

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Financial instrument /fɪˈnanʃ(ə)l ˈɪnstrʊm(ə)nt/ (n.)
Colloquially, a contract which creates some kind of liabilities between two parties. They can, but need not, be transferable or negotiable, but the main feature of a financial instrument — its sine qua non — is that it cannot be created, maintained, managed, looked after, transferred, monetised or redeemed — it cannot move or breathe, in other words — except through the agency of someone who will deduct a fee from the proceeds of your investment for the privilege.

what isn’t a MiFID financial instrument

A good place to look (if your interest level counts as “fiendish”) is the snappily titled Commission Delegated Regulation 2017/565/EU (EUR Lex) of 25 April 2016 supplementing Directive 2014/65/EU (EUR Lex) of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards organisational requirements and operating conditions for investment firms and defined terms for the purposes of that Directive.

Spot FX isn’t: At any rate, it makes clear, at Article 10, that Spot FX is not a financial instrument.

Why aren’t debt securities traded on exchange?

Unlike shares which can trade on exchange, in organised trading facilities or over-the-counter, debt securities (bonds, notes, MTNs, certificates of deposit and so on) tend to trade only over-the-counter. They are not traded on exchange, and (while in bearer form) tend not to be traded in the secondary market nearly as often.

A given issuer tends to issue only one type of share (okay, maybe two - ordinary shares and preference shares). All of its ordinary shares are the same and are interchangeable (technically, they’re “fungible” with each other), meaning the same security is common across all venues in the market. That’s what gets listed, and it is (relatively) liquid.

By contrast, debt securitiess come in all kinds of shares and sizes. The same issuer might issue hundreds of different series with different economic characteristics, maturities and yields and features. Bonds of one series are not fungible with bonds of other series. Hence a given bond is generally far less liquid than an ordinary share of the same issuer. This, there are more issuers, and issues of bonds with different characteristics, which makes it difficult for bonds to be traded on exchanges. Another reason why bonds are traded over the counter is the difficulty in listing current prices.

See also