Foundation Course in Banking

Foundation Course in Banking

 Foundation Course in Banking

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. BFS CONCEPTS 4
1.1. THE CONCEPT OF MONEY 5
1.2. FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS 13
1.3. FINANCIAL MARKETS 24
2. BANKING 33
2.1. INTRODUCTION TO BANKING 34
2.2. RETAIL BANKING 42
2.3. CONSUMER LENDING 54
2.4. COMMERCIAL AND WHOLESALE BANKING 67
2.5. CARDS AND PAYMENTS 101
2.6. INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT 112
2.7. INVESTMENT BANKING AND BROKERAGE 132
2.8. RISK MANAGEMENT 147
2.9. CUSTODY AND CLEARING 155
2.10. CORPORATE SERVICES 174
3. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 180
4. GLOSSARY 190
5. REFERENCES 198
 Foundation Course in Banking

1.1. THE CONCEPT OF MONEY

THE CONCEPT OF MONEY

DEFINING MONEY
“Money is a standardized unit of exchange”. The practical form of money is currency. It varies
across countries whereas money remains the same. For example, in India, the currency is the In-
dian Rupee (INR) and in the US, it is the US Dollar (USD).
Due to various economic factors, the value of each country’s currency is not equal. For example,
if the exchange rate between US Dollars (USD) and Indian Rupees (INR) is USD 1 = INR 46.70,
it implies that one U.S dollar is equivalent to 46.70 Indian Rupees. The USD is normally taken as
a benchmark against which to compare the value of each currency.

THE CONCEPT OF INTEREST: SIMPLE INTEREST AND COMPOUND INTEREST

Interest is the amount earned on money; there is such an earning because present consumption
of the lender is being sacrificed for the future; you are letting somebody else use the money for
present consumption. Using an analogy, interest is the ‘rent’ charged for delaying present con-
sumption of money. Interest rates are not constant and will vary depending on different economic
factors

Simple interest
Simple interest is calculated only on the beginning principal. Simple Interest = P*r*t/100 where: P
is the Principal or the initial amount you are initially borrowing or depositing, to earn or charge in -
terest on, r is the interest rate and t is the time period.

Example

If someone were to receive 5% interest on a beginning value of $100, the first year they would
get:
0.05*$100 = $5

If they continued to receive 5% interest on the original $100 amount, over five years the growth in
their investment would look like this:
Year 1: (5% of $100 = $5) + $100 = $105

Year 2: (5% of $100 = $5) + $105 = $110

Year 3: (5% of $100 = $5) + $110 = $115

Year 4: (5% of $100 = $5) + $115 = $120

 Foundation Course in Banking

Year 5: (5% of $100 = $5) + $120 = $125

Compound interest
With compound interest, interest is calculated not only on the beginning interest, but on any inter-
est accumulated with the initial principal in the meantime. Compound interest = [P*(1+r/100)^t –
P], where: P is the Principal or the initial amount you are initially borrowing or depositing, to earn
or charge interest on, r is the interest rate and t is the time period.

Example

If someone were to receive 5% compound interest on a beginning value of $100, the first year
they would get the same thing as if they were receiving simple interest on the $100, or $5. The
second year, though, their interest would be calculated on the beginning amount in year 2, which
would be $105. So their interest would be:
.05 x $105 = $5.25

If this were to continue for 5 years, the growth in the investment would look like this:
Year 1: (5% of $100.00 = $5.00) + $100.00 = $105.00

Year 2: (5% of $105.00 = $5.25) + $105.00 = $110.25

Year 3: (5% of $110.25 = $5.51) + $110.25 = $115.76

Year 4: (5% of $115.76 = $5.79) + $115.76 = $121.55

Year 5: (5% of $121.55 = $6.08) + $121.55 = $127.63

Note that in comparing growth graphs of simple and compound interest, investments with simple
interest grow in a linear fashion and compound interest results in geometric growth. So with com -
pound interest, the further in time and investment is held the more dramatic the growth becomes.

INFLATION
Inflation captures the rise in the cost of goods and services over a period of time. For example, if
Rs.100 today can buy 5 kg of groceries, the same amount of money can only buy 5/(1+I) kgs. Of
groceries next year, where I refers to the rate of inflation beyond today.
Thus, if the inflation rate is 5%, then everything else being equal (that is, same demand & supply
and other market conditions hold), next year, you can only buy 5/(1.05) worth of groceries.
 Foundation Course in Banking

A quantitative estimate of inflation in a particular economy can be calculated by measuring the ra -

tio of Consumer Price Indices or CPI of two consecutive years. That’s right, the CPI that you hear
of, is the weighted average price, of a predefined basket of basic goods. The % increase of the
CPI this year vs. the CPI of last year, gives the inflation, or rise in price of consumer goods, over
last year.
Inflation results in a decrease in the value of money over time. The link between the interest
rates, nominal and real, and inflation enables you to identify this impact.

Nominal Interest
Nominal rate of interest (N) refers to the stated interest rate in the economy. For example, if
counter-party demands 110 rupees after a year in return for 100 rupees lent today, the nominal
rate of interest is 10%. This, as you see, includes the inflation rate.

Example

You’ve lent out 100 rupees, at 10%, for one year. On maturity, you get a profit, so you think, of 10
rupees. But this sum of 110 rupees buys less than 110 rupees did a year ago, due to inflation!
Thus, the value of 110 rupees today is actually, or really, less than the value of 110 rupees a year
ago, and it is less by the inflation rate. Thus the real interest you earned is less than 10%.

Real rate of Interest

Real rate of interest (R) refers to the inflation-adjusted rate of interest. It is less than the nominal
rate of interest for economies having positive rate of inflation.
The relationship between the R (real rate of interest), N (nominal rate of interest) and I (rate of in-
flation) is as:
R= N-I
(This is a widely used approximation; the exact formula takes into account time value of inflation
etc.)
Why is it important to know the real rate of return? Take an example where a business is earning
a net profit of 7% per annum. But, inflation is also standing at 7%. So, real profit is actually at
zero.

Example

Nominal rate (N) = 10%, Inflation (I) = 5%

Therefore, real interest is:

R = N – I = 5%
Therefore, the real rate of return is not 10% but 5%.
 Foundation Course in Banking

TIME VALUE CONCEPT OF MONEY

Time value of money, which serves as the foundation for many concepts in finance, arises from
the concept of interest. Because of interest, money on hand now is worth more than the same
money available at a later point of time. To understand time value of money and related concepts
like Present value and future value, we need to understand the basic concepts of simple and
compound interest described above.

Future Value
Future Value is the value that a sum of money invested at compound interest will have after a
specified period.
The formula for Future Value is:
FV = PV*(1 + i)n
Where:
FV : Future Value at the end of n time periods
PV : Beginning value OR Present Value
i : Interest rate per unit time period
n : Number of time periods

Example

If one were to receive 5% per annum compounded interest on $100 for five years,

FV = $100*(1.05)5 = $127.63

Intra-year compounding
If a cash flow is compounded more frequently than annually, then intra-year compounding is be-
ing used. To adjust for intra-year compounding, an interest rate per compounding period must be
found as well as the total number of compounding periods.
The interest rate per compounding period is found by taking the annual rate and dividing it by the
number of times per year the cash flows are compounded. The total number of compounding pe-
riods is found by multiplying the number of years by the number of times per year cash flows are
compounded.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Example

Suppose someone were to invest $10,000 at 8% interest, compounded semiannually, and hold it
for five years.,

Interest rate for compounding period = 8%/2 = 4%

Number of compounding periods = 5*2 = 10
Thus, the future value FV = 10,000*(1+0.04)^10 = $14,802.44

Present value
Present Value is the current value of a future cash flow or of a series of future cash flows. It is
computed by the process of discounting the future cash flows at a predetermined rate of interest.
If $10,000 were to be received in a year, the present value of the amount would not be $10,000
because we do not have it in our hand now, in the present. To find the present value of the future
$10,000, we need to find out how much we would have to invest today in order to receive that
$10,000 in the future. To calculate present value, or the amount that we would have to invest to -
day, we must subtract the (hypothetical) accumulated interest from the $10,000. To achieve this,
we can discount the future amount ($10,000) by the interest rate for the period. The future value
equation given above can be rearranged to give the Present Value equation:
PV = FV / (1+I)^n

In the above example, if interest rate is 5%, the present value of the $10,000 which we will
receive after one year, would be:
PV = 10,000/(1+0.05) = $ 9,523.81

Net Present Value (NPV)

Net Present Value (NPV) is a concept often used to evaluate projects/investments using the Dis-
counted Cash Flow (DCF) method. The DCF method simply uses the time value concept and dis-
counts future cash flows by the applicable interest rate factor to arrive at the present value of the
cash flows. NPV for a project is calculated by estimating net future cash flows from the project,
discounting these cash flows at an appropriate discount rate to arrive at the present value of fu-
ture cash flows, and then subtracting the initial outlay on the project.
NPV of a project/investment = Discounted value of net cash inflows – Initial cost/investment. The
project/investment is viable if NPV is positive while it is not viable if NPV is negative.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Example

An investor has an opportunity to purchase a piece of property for $50,000 at the beginning of the
year. The after-tax net cash flows at the end of each year are forecast as follows:

Year Cash Flow

1 $9,000
2 8,500
3 8,000
4 8,000
5 8,000
6 8,000
7 8,000
8 7,000
9 4,500
10 51,000 (property sold at the end of the 10th year)

Assume that the required rate of return for similar investments is 15.00%.
NPV = - 50000 + 9000/(1+0.15)^1 + 8500/(1+0.15)^2 + ….. +51000/(1+0.15)^10 = $612.96

However, if we assume that the required rate of return is 16.00%,

NPV = - 50000 + 9000/(1+0.16)^1 + 8500/(1+0.16)^2 + ….. +51000/(1+0.16)^10 = ($1360.77)

Thus, it can be seen that the NPV is highly sensitive to required rate of return. NPV of a project:
 Increases with increase in future cash inflows for a given initial outlay
 Decreases with increase in initial outlay for a given set of future cash
inflows
 Decreases with increase in required rate of return

Internal Rate of Return (IRR)

Internal Rate of Return (IRR), also referred to as ‘Yield’ is often used in capital budgeting. It is
the implied interest rate that makes net present value of all cash flows equal zero.
 Foundation Course in Banking

In the previous example, the IRR is that value of required rate of return that makes the NPV
equals zero.

IRR = r, where
NPV = - 50000 + 9000/(1+r)^1 + 8500/(1+r)^2 + ….. +51000/(1+r)^10 = $0.00

IRR can be calculated using trial and error methods by using various values for r or using the IRR
formula directly in MS Excel. Here, IRR = 15.30%. In other terms, IRR is the rate of return at
which the project/investment becomes viable.
 Foundation Course in Banking

1.2. FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

RAISING CAPITAL
Corporations need capital to finance business operations. They raise money by issuing Securities
in the form of Equity and Debt. Equity represents ownership of the company and takes the form of
stock. Debt is funded by issuing Bonds, Debentures and various certificates. The use of debt is
also referred to as Leverage Financing. The ratio of debt/equity shows a potential investor the ex-
tent of a company’s leverage.
Investors choose between debt and equity securities based on their investment objectives. In-
come is the main objective for a debt investor. This income is paid in the form of Interest, usually
as semi-annual payments. Capital Appreciation (the increase in the value of a security over time)
is only a secondary consideration for debt investors. Conversely, equity investors are primarily
seeking Growth, or capital appreciation. Income is usually of lesser importance, and is received in
the form of Dividends.
Debt is considered senior to equity (i.e.) the interest on debt is paid before dividends on stock. It
also means that if the company ceases to do business and liquidate its assets, that the debt hold-
ers have a senior claim to those assets.

SECURITY
Security is a financial instrument that signifies ownership in a company (a stock), a creditor rela-
tionship with a corporation or government agency (a bond), or rights to ownership (an option). Fi-
nancial instruments can be classified into:
 Debt
 Equity
 Hybrids
 Derivatives

DEBT
Debt is money owed by one person or firm to another. Bonds, loans, and commercial paper are
all examples of debt.

Bond
An investor loans money to an entity (company or government) that needs funds for a specified
period of time at a specified interest rate. In exchange for the money, the entity will issue a certifi -
cate, or bond, that states the interest rate (coupon rate) to be paid and repayment date (maturity
date). Interest on bonds is usually paid every six months (semiannually).
Bonds are issued in three basic physical forms: Bearer Bonds, Registered As to Principal Only
and Fully Registered Bonds.
Bearer bonds are like cash since the bearer of the bond is presumed to be the owner. These
bonds are Unregistered because the owner’s name does not appear on the bond, and there is no
record of who is entitled to receive the interest payments. Attached to the bond are Coupons. The
bearer clips the coupons every six months and presents these coupons to the paying agent to re -
 Foundation Course in Banking

ceive their interest. Then, at the bond’s Maturity, the bearer presents the bond with the last
coupon attached to the paying agent, and receives their principal and last interest payment.
Bonds that are registered as to principal only have the owner’s name on the bond certificate, but
since the interest is not registered these bonds still have coupons attached.
Bonds that are issued today are most likely to be issued fully registered as to both interest and
principal. The transfer agent now sends interest payments to owners of record on the interest
Payable Date. Book Entry bonds are still fully registered, but there is no physical certificate and
the transfer agent keeps track of ownership. U.S. Government Negotiable securities (i.e., Trea-
sury Bills, Notes and Bonds) are issued book entry, with no certificate. The customer’s Confirma-
tion serves as proof of ownership.

Principal and Interest

Bondholders are primarily seeking income in the form of a semi-annual coupon payment. The an-
nual rate of return (also called Coupon, Fixed, Stated or Nominal Yield) is noted on the bond cer-
tificate and is fixed. The factors that influence the bond's initial coupon rate are prevailing eco-
nomic conditions (e.g., market interest rates) and the issuer's credit rating (the higher the credit
rating, the lower the coupon). Bonds that are In Default are not paying interest.

Example
 IBM can issue 10 year bonds with a coupon of 5.5%.
 Priceline can issue similar 10 year bonds at 8%
 The difference in coupon is due to their credit rating!

The principal or par or Face amount of the bond is what the investor has loaned to the issuer. The
relative "safety" of the principal depends on the issuer’s credit rating and the type of bond that
was issued.

Corporate bond
A bond issued by a corporation. Corporations generally issue three types of bonds: Secured
Bonds, Unsecured Bonds (Debentures), and Subordinated Debentures.
All corporate bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the issuer, but a secured bond is fur-
ther backed by specific assets that act as collateral for the bond.
In contrast, unsecured bonds are backed by the general assets of the corporation only. There are
three basic types of Secured Bonds:
Mortgage Bonds are secured by real estate owned by the issuer
Equipment Trust Certificates are secured by equipment owned and used in the issuers business
Collateral Trust Bonds are secured by a portfolio of non-issuer securities. (usually U.S. Government
securities)
Secured Bonds are considered to be Senior Debt Securities, and have a senior creditor status; they
are the first to be paid principal or interest and are thus the safest of an issuer’s securities. Unse-
cured Bonds include debentures and subordinated debentures. Debentures have a general credi-
tor status and will be paid only after all secured creditors have been satisfied. Subordinated
debentures have a subordinate creditor status and will be paid after all senior and general credi-
tors have first been satisfied.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Case Study
 Enron set up power plant at Dabhol, India
 The cost of the project (Phase 1) was USD 920 Million
 Funding
o Equity USD 285 mio
o Bank of America/ABN Amro USD 150 mio
o IDBI & Indian Banks USD 95 mio
o US Govt – OPIC USD 100 mio
o US Exim Bank USD 290 mio
 Enron US declared bankruptcy in 2002
 Enron India’s assets are mortgaged to various banks as above.
 Due to interest payments and depreciation, assets are worth considerably less than
USD 920 mio.
 Who will get their money back? And how much?

Municipal bond (Munis)

A bond issued by a municipality. These are generally tax free, but the interest rate is usually
lower than a taxable bond.

Treasury Securities
Treasury bills, notes, and bonds are marketable securities the U.S. government sells in order to
pay off maturing debt and raise the cash needed to run the federal government. When an investor
buys one of these securities, he/she is lending money to the U.S. government.
Treasury bills are short-term obligations issued for one year or less. They are sold at a discount
from face value and don't pay interest before maturity. The interest is the difference between the
purchase price of the bill and the amount that is paid to the investor at maturity (face value) or at
the time of sale prior to maturity.
Treasury notes and bonds bear a stated interest rate, and the owner receives semi-annual in-
terest payments. Treasury notes have a term of more than one year, but not more than 10
years.
Treasury bonds are issued by the U.S. Government. These are considered safe investments be-
cause they are backed by the taxing authority of the U.S. government, and the interest on Trea -
sury bonds is not subject to state income tax. T-bonds have maturities greater than ten years,
while notes and bills have lower maturities. Individually, they sometimes are called "T-bills," "T-
notes," and "T-bonds." They can be bought and sold in the secondary market at prevailing mar-
ket prices.
Savings Bonds are bonds issued by the Department of the Treasury, but they aren't are not mar-
ketable and the owner of a Savings Bond cannot transfer his security to someone else.

Zero coupon bonds - interest rate at maturity

Zeros generate no periodic interest payments but they are issued at a discount from face value.
The return is realized at maturity. Zeros sell at deep discounts from face value. The difference be-
tween the purchase price of the zero and its face value when redeemed is the investor's return.
Zeros can be purchased from private brokers and dealers, but not from the Federal Reserve or
any government agency.
 Foundation Course in Banking

The higher rate of return the bond offers, the more risky the investment. There have been in-
stances of companies failing to pay back the bond (default), so, to entice investors, most corpo-
rate bonds will offer a higher return than a government bond. It is important for investors to re -
search a bond just as they would a stock or mutual fund. The bond rating will help in deciphering
the default risk.

Commercial paper
An unsecured, short-term loan issued by a corporation, typically for financing accounts receivable
and inventories. It is usually issued at a discount to face value, reflecting prevailing market inter -
est rates. It is issued in the form of promissory notes, and sold by financial organizations as an al -
ternative to borrowing from banks or other institutions. The paper is usually sold to other compa-
nies which invest in short-term money market instruments.
Since commercial paper maturities don't exceed nine months and proceeds typically are used
only for current transactions, the notes are exempt from registration as securities with the United
States Securities and Exchange Commission. Financial companies account for nearly 75 percent
of the commercial paper outstanding in the market.
There are two methods of marketing commercial paper. The issuer can sell the paper directly to
the buyer or sell the paper to a dealer firm, which re-sells the paper in the market. The dealer
market for commercial paper involves large securities firms and subsidiaries of bank holding com-
panies. Direct issuers of commercial paper usually are financial companies which have frequent
and sizable borrowing needs, and find it more economical to place paper without the use of an in-
termediary. On average, direct issuers save a dealer fee of 1/8 of a percentage point. This sav -
ings compensates for the cost of maintaining a permanent sales staff to market the paper.
Interest rates on commercial paper often are lower than bank lending rates, and the differential,
when large enough, provides an advantage which makes issuing commercial paper an attractive
alternative to bank credit.
Commercial paper maturities range from 1 day to 270 days, but most commonly is issued for less
than 30 days. Paper usually is issued in denominations of $100,000 or more, although some
companies issue smaller denominations. Credit rating agencies like Standard & Poor rate the
CPs. Ratings are reviewed frequently and are determined by the issuer's financial condition, bank
lines of credit and timeliness of repayment. Unrated or lower rated paper also is sold in the mar -
ket.
Investors in the commercial paper market include private pension funds, money market mutual
funds, governmental units, bank trust departments, foreign banks and investment companies.
There is limited secondary market activity in commercial paper, since issuers can closely match
the maturity of the paper to the investors' needs. If the investor needs ready cash, the dealer or
issuer usually will buy back the paper prior to maturity.

EQUITY
Equity (Stock) is a security, representing an ownership interest. Equity refers to the value of the
funds contributed by the owners (the stockholders) plus the retained earnings (or losses).
 Foundation Course in Banking

Common stock
Common stock represents an ownership interest in a company. Owners of stock also have Lim-
ited Liability (i.e.) the maximum a shareholder can lose is their original investment. Most of the
stock traded in the markets today is common. An individual with a majority shareholding or con-
trolling interest controls a company's decisions and can appoint anyone he/she wishes to the
board of directors or to the management team.
Corporations seeking capital sell it to investors through a Primary Offering or an Initial Public Of-
fering (IPO). Before shares can be offered, or sold to the general public, they must first be regis-
tered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Once the shares have been sold to
investors, the shareholders are usually free to sell or trade their stock shares in the Secondary
Markets (such as the New York Stock Exchange – NYSE). From time to time, the Issuer may
choose to repurchase the stock they previously issued. Such repurchased stock shares are re -
ferred to as Treasury Stock, and the shares that remain trading in the secondary market are re-
ferred to as Shares Outstanding. Treasury Stock does not have voting rights and is not entitled to
any declared dividends. Corporations may use Treasury Stock to pay a stock dividend, to offer to
employees.

Stock Terminology
Public Offering Price (POP) – The price at which shares are offered to the public in a Primary Of-
fering. This price is fixed and must be maintained when Underwriters sell to customers.

Current Market Price – The price determined by Supply and Demand in the Secondary Markets.

Book Value – The theoretical liquidation value of a stock based on the company's Balance Sheet.

Par Value – An arbitrary price used to account for the shares in the firm’s balance sheet. This
value is meaningless for common shareholders, but is important to owners of Preferred Stock.

Example
When Cognizant Technology Solutions came out with its Initial Public Offering on NASDAQ in
June 1998, the Public Offering Price (POP) was set at $10 per share. The stock was split
twice, 2-for-1 in March-2000 and 3-for-1 again in April 2003. As of Dec 6, 2003, the Current
Market Price stood at $46.26. However, if the stock-splits are taken into consideration the
actual market price would stand at 6 times the Current Market Price at whopping $253.56!!

Preferred Stock
Preference shares carry a stated dividend and they do not usually have voting rights. Preferred
shareholders have priority over common stockholders on earnings and assets in the event of liq -
uidation. Preferred stock is issued with a fixed rate of return that is either a percent of par (always
assumed to be $100) or a dollar amount.
Although preferred stock is equity and represents ownership, preferred stock investors are pri-
marily seeking income. The market price of income seeking securities (such as preferred stock
 Foundation Course in Banking

and debt securities) fluctuates as market interest rates change. Price and yield are inversely re-
lated.
There are several different types of preferred stock including Straight, Cumulative, Convertible,
Callable, Participating and Variable. With straight preferred, the preference is for the current
year’s dividend only. Cumulative preferred is senior to straight preferred and has a first prefer-
ence for any dividends missed in previous periods.
Convertible preferred stock can be converted into shares of common stock either at a fixed
price or a fixed number of shares. It is essentially a mix of debt and equity, and most often used
as a means for a risky company to obtain capital when neither debt nor equity works. It offers
considerable opportunity for capital appreciation.
Non-convertible preferred stock remains outstanding in perpetuity and trades like stocks. Utili-
ties represent the best example of nonconvertible preferred stock issuers.

American Depository Receipts (ADR)

The purpose of an ADR is to facilitate the domestic trading of a foreign stock. An ADR is a receipt
for a specified number of foreign shares owned by an American bank. ADRs trade like shares, ei-
ther on a U.S. Exchange or Over the Counter. The owner of an ADR has voting rights and also
has the right to receive any declared dividends. An example would be Infosys ADRs that are
traded in NASDAQ.

HYBRIDS
Hybrids are securities, which combine the characteristics of equity and debt.

Convertible bonds
Convertible Bonds are instruments that can be converted into a specified number of shares of
stock after a specified number of days. However, till the time of conversion the bonds continue to
pay coupons.

Case Study
Tata Motors Ltd. (previously know as TELCO) recently issued convertible bond aggregating to
$100 million in the Luxemburg Stock Exchange. The effective interest rate paid on the issue
was just 4% which was much lower than what it would have to pay if it raised the money in
India, where it is based out of. The company would use this money to pay-back existing loans
borrowed at much higher interest rates.
 Why doesn’t every company raise money abroad if it has to pay lower interest rates? Will
there is
 Will there be any effect on existing Tata Motors share-holders due to the convertible
issue? If ‘Yes’, when will this be?

Warrants
 Foundation Course in Banking

Warrants are call options – variants of equity. They are usually offered as bonus or sweetener, at-
tached to another security and sold as a Unit. For example, a company is planning to issue
bonds, but the market dictates a 9% interest payment. The issuer does not want to pay 9%, so
they “sweeten” the bonds by adding warrants that give the holder the right to buy the issuers
stock at a given price over a given period of time. Warrants can be traded, exercised, or expire
worthless.

DERIVATIVES
A derivative is a product whose value is derived from the value of an underlying asset, index or
reference rate. The underlying asset can be equity, foreign exchange, commodity or any other
item. For example, if the settlement price of a derivative is based on the stock price, which
changes on a daily basis, then the derivative risks are also changing on a daily basis. Hence de-
rivative risks and positions must be monitored constantly.

Forward contract
A forward contract is an agreement to buy or sell an asset (of a specified quantity) at a certain fu -
ture time for a certain price. No cash is exchanged when the contract is entered into.

Futures contract
A futures contract is an agreement between two parties to buy or sell an asset at a certain time in
the future at a certain price. Index futures are all futures contracts where the underlying is the
stock index and helps a trader to take a view on the market as a whole.
Hedging involves protecting an existing asset position from future adverse price movements. In
order to hedge a position, a market player needs to take an equal and opposite position in the fu -
tures market to the one held in the cash market.
Arbitrage: An arbitrageur is basically risk averse. He enters into those contracts were he can
earn risk less profits. When markets are imperfect, buying in one market and simultaneously sell-
ing in other market gives risk less profit. Arbitrageurs are always in the look out for such imperfec-
tions.

Options
An option is a contract, which gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation to buy or sell shares
of the underlying security at a specific price on or before a specific date. There are two kinds of
options: Call Options and Put Options.
Call Options are options to buy a stock at a specific price on or before a certain date. Call op-
tions usually increase in value as the value of the underlying instrument rises. The price paid,
called the option premium, secures the investor the right to buy that certain stock at a specified
price. (Strike price) If he/she decides not to use the option to buy the stock, the only cost is the
option premium. For call options, the option is said to be in-the-money if the share price is above
the strike price.

Example
The Infosys stock price as of Dec 6 th, 2003 stood at Rs.5062. The cost of the Dec 24 th, 2003
expiring Call option with Strike Price of Rs.5200 on the Infosys Stock was Rs.90. This would
mean
Put that to
Options arebreak-even
options to the
sell person
a stock buying the Call
at a specific Option
price on or on the Infosys
before a certainstock,
date. the
Withstock
a Put
Option, the investor
price would have tocan "insure"
cross a stock
Rs.5290 as ofby fixing
Dec 24 ,a2003!!
th
selling price. If stock prices fall, the investor
 Foundation Course in Banking

can exercise the option and sell it at its "insured" price level. If stock prices go up, there is no
need to use the insurance, and the only cost is the premium. A put option is in-the-money when
the share price is below the strike price. The amount by which an option is in-the-money is re -
ferred to as intrinsic value.
The primary function of listed options is to allow investors ways to manage risk. Their price is de-
termined by factors like the underlying stock price, strike price, time remaining until expiration
(time value), and volatility. Because of all these factors, determining the premium of an option is
complicated.
Types of Options
There are two main types of options:
 American options can be exercised at any time between the date of
purchase and the expiration date. Most exchange-traded options are
of this type.
 European options can only be exercised at the end of their life.

Long-Term Options are options with holding period of one or more years, and they are called
LEAPS (Long-Term Equity Anticipation Securities). By providing opportunities to control and man-
age risk or even speculate, they are virtually identical to regular options. LEAPS, however, pro -
vide these opportunities for much longer periods of time. LEAPS are available on most widely-
held issues.
Exotic Options: The simple calls and puts are referred to as "plain vanilla" options. Non-stan-
dard options are called exotic options, which either are variations on the payoff profiles of the
plain vanilla options or are wholly different products with "optionality" embedded in them.
Open Interest is the number of options contracts that are open; these are contracts that have not
expired nor been exercised.

Swaps
Swaps are the exchange of cash flows or one security for another to change the maturity (bonds)
or quality of issues (stocks or bonds), or because investment objectives have changed. For ex-
ample, one firm may have a lower fixed interest rate, while another has access to a lower floating
interest rate. These firms could swap to take advantage of the lower rates.
Currency Swap involves the exchange of principal and interest in one currency for the same in
another currency.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Case Study
 The World Bank borrows funds internationally and loans those funds to developing coun-
tries. It charges its borrowers a cost plus rate and hence needs to borrow at the lowest
cost.
 In 1981 the US interest rate was at 17 percent, an extremely high rate due to the anti-in-
flation tight monetary policy of the Fed. In West Germany the corresponding rate was 12
percent and Switzerland 8 percent.
 IBM enjoyed a very good reputation in Switzerland, perceived as one of the best managed
US companies. In contrast, the World Bank suffered from bad image since it had used
several times the Swiss market to finance risky third world countries. Hence, World Bank
had to pay an extra 20 basis points (0.2%) compared to IBM
 In addition, the problem for the World Bank was that the Swiss government imposed a
limit on the amount World Bank could borrow in Switzerland. The World Bank had
borrowed its allowed limit in Switzerland and West Germany
 At the same time, the World Bank, with an AAA rating, was a well established name in the
US and could get a lower financing rate (compared to IBM) in the US Dollar bond market
because of the backing of the US, German, Japanese and other governments. It would
have to pay the Treasury rate + 40 basis points.
 IBM had large amounts of Swiss franc and German deutsche mark debt and thus had
debt payments to pay in Swiss francs and deutsche marks.
 World Bank borrowed dollars in the U.S. market and swapped the dollar repayment obli -
gation with IBM in exchange for taking over IBM's SFR and DEM loans.
 It became very advantageous for IBM and the World Bank to borrow in the market in
which their comparative advantage was the greatest and swap their respective fixed-rate
funding.

Forward Swap agreements are created through the synthesis of two different swaps, differing in
Case Study
duration, for the purpose of fulfilling the specific timeframe needs of an investor. Sometimes
 The
swaps don'tWorld Bank
perfectly borrows
match funds
the needs of internationally and
investors wishing loans certain
to hedge those funds to develop-
risks. For example, if
ing countries. It charges its borrowers a cost plus rate and hence needs
an investor wants to hedge for a five-year duration beginning one year from today, they to can
borrow
enter
at the
into both lowest cost.
a one-year and six-year swap, creating the forward swap that meets the requirements
In portfolio.
for their 1981 the US interest rate was at 17 percent, an extremely high rate due to the
anti-inflation
Swaptions tight
- An option to monetary policy
enter into an of the
interest rate Fed.
swap.In West
The Germany
contract thebuyer
gives the correspond-
the option
ing rate was 12 percent and Switzerland 8 percent.
to execute an interest rate swap on a future date, thereby locking in financing costs at a specified
IBM of
 rate
fixed enjoyed
interest.a The
veryseller
goodofreputation in Switzerland,
the swaption, perceived
usually a commercial or as one of the
investment best
bank, as-
sumesmanaged
the risk of US companies.
interest In contrast,
rate changes, in exchangethe for
World Bank
payment suffered
of a from bad image
swap premium.
since it had used several times the Swiss market to finance risky third world
countries. Hence, World Bank had to pay an extra 20 basis points (0.2%)
compared to IBM
 In addition, the problem for the World Bank was that the Swiss government
imposed a limit on the amount World Bank could borrow in Switzerland. The
World Bank had borrowed its allowed limit in Switzerland and West Germany
 At the same time, the World Bank, with an AAA rating, was a well established
name in the US and could get a lower financing rate (compared to IBM) in the US
Dollar bond market because of the backing of the US, German, Japanese and
other governments. It would have to pay the Treasury rate + 40 basis points.
 IBM had large amounts of Swiss franc and German deutsche mark debt and thus
had debt payments to pay in Swiss francs and deutsche marks.
 World Bank borrowed dollars in the U.S. market and swapped the dollar repay-
ment obligation with IBM in exchange for taking over IBM's SFR and DEM loans.
 It became very advantageous for IBM and the World Bank to borrow in the market
in which their comparative advantage was the greatest and swap their respective
fixed-rate funding.
 Foundation Course in Banking

1.3. FINANCIAL MARKETS

FINANCIAL MARKETS

WHAT ARE FINANCIAL MARKETS?

A financial transaction is one where a financial asset or instrument, such as cash, check, stock,
bond, etc are bought and sold. Financial Market is a place where the buyers and sellers for the fi-
nancial instruments come together and financial transactions take place.

TYPES OF FINANCIAL MARKETS

Primary Markets
Primary market is one where new financial instruments are issued for the first time. They provide
a standard institutionalized process to raise money. The public offerings are done through a
prospectus. A prospectus is a document that gives detailed information about the company, their
prospective plans, potential risks associated with the business plans and the financial instrument.

Secondary markets
Secondary Market is a place where primary market instruments, once issued, are bought and
sold. An investor may wish to sell the financial asset and encash the investment after some time
or the investor may wish to invest more, buy more of the same asset instead, the decision influ -
enced by a variety of possible reasons. They provide the investor with an easy way to buy or sell.

The Different Financial Markets

A financial market is known by the type of financial asset or instrument traded in it. So there are
as many types of financial markets as there are of instruments. Typical examples of financial mar-
kets are:
 Stock market
 Bond (or fixed income) market
 Money market
 Foreign exchange (Forex or FX for short) market (also called the cur-
rency market).
Stock and bond markets constitute the capital markets. Another big financial market is the deriv-
atives market.

CAPITAL MARKETS

Why businesses need capital?

All businesses need capital, to invest money upfront to produce and deliver the goods and ser -
vices. Office space, plant and machinery, network, servers and PCs, people, marketing, licenses
etc. are just some of the common items in which a company needs to invest before the business
can take off. Even after the business takes off, the cash or money generated from sales may not
be sufficient to finance expansion of capacity, infrastructure, and products / services range or to
 Foundation Course in Banking

diversify or expand geographically. Some financial services companies need to raise additional
capital periodically in order to satisfy capital adequacy norms.

What is the role of Capital Markets?

For businesses to thrive and grow, presence of vibrant and efficient capital markets is extremely
important. Capital markets have following functions:
1. Channeling funds from “savings pool” to “investment pool” - channeling funds from “those
who have money” to “those who need funds for business purpose”.
2. Providing liquidity to investors - i.e. making it easy for investors, to buy and sell financial as-
sets or instruments. Capital markets achieve this in a number of ways and it is particularly im-
portant for institutional investors who trade in large quantities. Illiquid markets do not allow
them to trade large quantities because the orders may simply not get executed completely or
may cause drastic fluctuations in price.
3. Providing multitude of investment options to investors – this is important because the risk pro-
file, investment criteria and preferences may differ for each investor. Unless there are many
investment options, the capital markets may fail to attract them, thus affecting the supply of
capital.
4. Providing efficient price discovery mechanism – efficient because the price is determined by
the market forces, i.e. it is a result of transparent negotiations among all buyers and sellers in
the market at any point. So the market price can be considered as a fair price for that instru-
ment.

STOCK MARKETS
Stock markets are the best known among all financial markets because of large participation of
the “retail investors”. The important stock exchanges are as follows:
 New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
 National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations
(NASDAQ)
 London Stock Exchange (LSE)
 Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE),
 National Stock Exchange of India (NSE)
Stock Exchanges provide a system that accepts orders from both buyers and sellers in all shares
that are traded on that particular exchange. Exchanges then follow a mechanism to automatically
match these trades based on the quoted price, time, quantity, and the order type, thus resulting in
trades. The market information is transparent and available real-time to all, making the trading ef-
ficient and reliable.
Earlier, before the proliferation of computers and networks, the trading usually took place in an
area called a “Trading Ring” or a “Pit” where all brokers would shout their quotes and find the
“counter-party”. The trading ring is now replaced in most exchanges by advanced computerized
and networked systems that allow online trading, so the members can log in from anywhere to
carry out trading. For example, BOLT of BSE and SuperDOT of NYSE.

What determines the share price and how does it change?

 Foundation Course in Banking

The share price is determined by the market forces, i.e. the demand and supply of shares at each
price. The demand and supply vary primarily as the perceived value of the stock for different in-
vestors varies. Investor will consider buying the stock if the market price is less than the per -
ceived value of the stock according to that investor and will consider selling if it is higher. A large
number of factors have a bearing on the perceived value. Some of them are:
 Performance of the company
 Performance of the industry to which it belongs
 State of the country’s economy where it operates as well as the
global economy
 Market sentiment or mood relating to the stock and on the market as
a whole
Apart from these, many other factors, including performance of other financial markets, affect the
demand and supply.

BOND MARKETS
As the name suggests, bonds are issued and traded in these markets. Government bonds consti -
tute the bulk of the bonds issued and traded in these markets. Bond markets are also sometimes
called Fixed Income markets. While some of the bonds are traded in exchanges, most of the
bond trading is conducted over-the-counter (OTC), i.e. by direct negotiations between dealers.
Lately there have been efforts to create computer-based market place for certain type of bonds.

Participants in the Bond Market

Since Government is the biggest issuer of bonds, the central bank of the country such as Federal
Reserve in US and Reserve Bank of India in India, is the biggest player in the bond market. Like
stock markets, one needs to be an authorized dealer of Govt. securities, to subscribe to the bond
issues. Typically, the Govt. bond issues are made by way of auctions, where the dealers bid for
the bonds and the price is fixed based on the bids received. The dealers then sell these bonds in
the secondary market or directly to third parties, typically institutions and companies.

If the interest rate is fixed for each bond, why do the bond prices fluctuate?
Bond prices fluctuate because the interest rates as well as the perceptions of investors on the di -
rection of interest rates change. Remember, bond pays interest at a fixed coupon rate determined
at the time of issue, irrespective of the prevailing market interest rate. Market interest rates are
benchmark interest rates, such as Treasury bill rates, which are subject to change because of
various factors such as inflation, monetary policy change, etc. So when the prevailing market in-
terest rates change, price of the bond (and not the coupon) adjusts, so that the effective yield for
a buyer at the time (if the bond is held to maturity) matches the market interest rate on other
bonds of equal tenure and credit rating (risk).
So when the market interest rates go up, prices of bonds fall and vice-versa. Thus, since price of
bonds changes when market interest rate changes, all bonds have an interest rate risk. If the
market interest rates shoot up, then the bond price is affected negatively and an investor who
bought the bond at a high price (when interest rates were low) stands to lose money or at least
makes lesser returns than expected, unless the bond is held to maturity.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Example
Bond Price calculation can be summed by an easy formula:

where B represents the price of the bond and CFk represents the kth cash flow which is made
up of coupon payments. The Cash Flow (CF) for the last year includes both the coupon
payment and the Principal.
 What would be the bond price for a 3-Year, Rs.100 principal, bond when the interest rate
(i) is 10% and the Coupon payments are Rs.5 annually?
 Would the bond price increase/decrease if the coupon is reduced? What would be happen
to bond price if the interest rates came down?

FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKET

Foreign exchange markets are where the foreign currencies are bought and sold. For example,
importers need foreign currency to pay for their imports. Government needs foreign currency to
pay for its imports such as defense equipment and to repay loans taken in foreign currency.
Foreign exchange rates express the value of one currency in terms of another. They involve a
fixed currency, which is the currency being priced and a variable currency, the currency used to
express the price of the fixed currency. For example, the price of a US Dollar can be expressed in
different currencies as: USD (US Dollar) 1 = Indian Rupee (INR) 46, USD 1 = Great Britain Pound
(GBP) 0.6125, USD 1 = Euro 0.8780 etc. In this example, USD is the fixed currency and INR,
GBP, Euro are the variable currencies.
US Dollar, British Sterling (Pound), Euro and Japanese Yen are the most traded currencies
worldwide, since maximum business transactions are carried out in these currencies.
The exchange rate at any time depends upon the demand – supply equation for the different cur-
rencies, which in turn depends upon the relative strength of the economies with respect to the
other major economies and trading partners.

Participants
Only authorized foreign exchange dealers can participate in the foreign exchange market. Any in -
dividual or company, who needs to sell or buy foreign currency, does so through an authorized
dealer. Currency trading is conducted in the over-the-counter (OTC) market.

The role of the Central Bank in the foreign exchange market

The central bank regulates the markets to ensure its smooth functioning. The degree of regulation
depends on the economic policies of the country. The central bank may also buy or sell their cur -
rency to meet unusual demand – supply mismatches in the markets.
The foreign exchange rate and transactions are closely monitored because the fluctuations in
forex markets affects the profitability of imports and exports of domestic companies as well as
 Foundation Course in Banking

profitability of investments made by foreign companies in that country. Regulators try to ensure
that the fluctuations are not caused by any factor other than the market forces.

Example
The Bank of Japan plays the role of central bank in Japan. It strictly monitors the exchange
rates to ensure that the importers/exporters are not hurt due to any exchange rate
fluctuations. Still, the USD/JPY, which is the second most traded currency pair in the world,
maintains a long-standing reputation of sharp increases in short-term volatilities.

MONEY MARKET
Money market is for short term financial instruments, usually a day to less than a year. The most
common instrument is a “repo”, short for repurchase agreement. A repo is a contract in which the
seller of securities, such as Treasury Bills, agrees to buy them back at a specified time and price.
Treasury bills of very short tenure, commercial paper, certificates of deposits etc. are also consid-
ered as money market instruments.
Since the tenure of the money market instruments is very short, they are generally considered
safe. In fact they are also called cash instruments. Repos especially, since they are backed by a
Govt. security, are considered virtually the safest instrument. Therefore the interest rates on re-
pos are the lowest among all financial instruments.
Money market instruments are typically used by banks, institutions and companies to park extra
cash for a short period or to meet the regulatory reserve requirements. For short-term cash re-
quirements, money market instruments are the best way to borrow.

Participants
Whereas in stock market the typical minimum investment is equivalent of the price of 1 share, the
minimum investment in bond and money markets runs into hundreds of thousands of Rupees or
Dollars. Hence the money market participants are mostly banks, institutions, companies and the
central bank. There are no formal exchanges for money market instruments and most of the trad-
ing takes place using proprietary systems or shared trading platforms connecting the participants.

REGULATION OF CAPITAL MARKETS

There are many reasons why the financial markets are regulated by governments:
 Since the capital markets are central to a thriving economy, Govern-
ments need to ensure their smooth functioning.
 Governments also need to protect small or retail investors’ interests
to ensure there is participation by a large number of investors, lead-
ing to more efficient capital markets.
 Governments need to ensure that the companies or issuers declare
all necessary information that may affect the security prices and that
the information is readily and easily available to all participants at the
same time.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Typically the government designates one or more agencies as regulator(s) and supervisor(s) for
the financial markets. Thus India has Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the
US has Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These regulatory bodies formulate rules
and norms for each activity and each category of participant. For example,
 Eligibility norms for a company to be allowed to issue stock or bonds,
 Rules regarding the amount of information that must be made avail-
able to prospective investors,
 Rules regarding the issue process,
 Rules regarding periodic declaration of financial statements, etc.
Regulators also monitor the capital market activity continuously to ensure that any breach of laws
or rules does not go unnoticed. To help this function, all members and issuers have to submit cer-
tain periodic reports to the regulator disclosing all relevant details on the transactions undertaken.

FINANCIAL MARKET SYSTEMS

The demands of the capital market transactions, the need for tracking and managing risks, the
pressure to reduce total transaction costs and the obligation to meet compliance requirements
make it imperative that the functions be automated using advanced computer systems. Some of
the major types of systems in capital market firms are briefly described below.

Trading Systems
The volume of transactions in capital markets demands advanced systems to ensure speed and
reliability. Due to proliferation of Internet technology, the trading systems are also now accessible
online allowing even more participants from any part of the world to transact, helping to increase
efficiency and liquidity. The trading systems can be divided into front-end order entry and back-
end order processing systems.
Order entry systems also offer functions such as order tracking, calculation of profit and loss
based on real-time price movements and various tools to calculate and display risk to the value of
investments due to price movement and other factors.
Back-office systems validate orders, route them to the exchange(s), receive messages and notifi-
cations from the exchanges, interface with external agencies such as clearing firm, generate
management, investor and compliance reports, keep track of member account balances etc.

Exchange systems
The core exchange system is the trading platform that accepts orders from members, displays
the price quotes and trades, matches buy and sell orders dynamically to fill as many orders as
possible and sends status messages and trade notifications to the parties involved in each trade.
In addition, exchanges need systems to monitor the transactions, generate reports on transac-
tions, keep track of member accounts, etc.

Portfolio Management Systems

These systems allow the investment managers to choose the instruments to invest in, based on
the requirements or inputs such as amount to be invested, expected returns, duration (or tenure)
of investment, risk tolerance etc. and analysis of price and other data on the instruments and is-
suers. The term “portfolio” refers to the basket of investments owned by an investor. A portfolio of
investments allows one to diversify risks over a limited number of instruments and issuers.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Accounting Systems
The accounting systems take care of present value calculations, profit & loss etc.- of investments
and funds and not the financial accounts of the firms.

SUMMARY
 Financial markets facilitate financial transactions, i.e. exchange of fi-
nancial assets such stocks, bonds, etc.
 Financial markets bring buyers and sellers in a financial instrument
together, thus reducing transaction costs, channeling funds, improv-
ing liquidity and provide a transparent price discovery mechanism.
 Each financial market is segmented into a Primary market, where
new instruments are issued and a Secondary market, where the pre-
viously issued instruments are bought and sold by investors.
 Stock markets, bond markets, money markets, foreign exchange
markets and derivatives markets are prominent examples of financial
markets.
 Shares (stock) of a company are issued and traded in the stock mar-
kets.
 Bond markets are where bonds such as treasury bonds, treasury
notes, corporate bonds, etc. are traded.
 Money markets, like bonds markets, are also fixed income markets.
Instruments traded in money markets have very short tenure.
 Foreign exchange markets trade in currencies.
 Derivatives markets trade derivatives, which are complex financial in-
struments, whose returns are based upon the returns from some
other financial asset called as the underlying asset.
 Price of any financial instrument depends basically on demand and
supply, which in turn depend upon multiple different factors for differ-
ent markets.
 Each financial instrument has a differing level of inherent risk associ-
ated with it. Money market instruments are considered the safest due
to their very short tenure.
 Regulators play a very important role in the development and viability
of financial markets. Regulators try to ensure that the markets func-
tion in a smooth, transparent manner, that there is sufficient and
timely disclosure of information, that the interest of small investors is
not compromised by the large investors, and so on, which is critical
for overall vibrancy, efficiency and growth of the market and the
economy.
 Foundation Course in Banking

1.4. INTRODUCTION TO BANKING

INTRODUCTION TO BANKING

WHAT IS A BANK?
The term ‘Bank’ is used generically to refer to any financial institution that is licensed to accept
deposits and issue credit through loans.
Banks are the backbone of any economy, as all monetary transactions end up touching banks.
The main functions of banks are to:
 Channelize Savings
 Provide credit facilities to borrower
 Provide investment avenues to investors
 Facilitate the trade and commerce dealings
 Provide financial backbone to support economic growth of the coun-
try
 Minimize Cash Transactions
 Provide Services

WHY DO WE NEED A BANK?

 They provide a return (pay interest) on our saving
 Safety of principal and interest
 Convenience of being able to write checks and use debit cards
 Raising funds when we need
From the business or economic point of view, however, banks are the primary source of finance.
Since the deposits of the small investors are protected, bank deposits are considered a low risk
investment avenue. Due to their access to a large source of funds at very low cost, owing largely
to the low interest rate on savings and term deposits, banks are in the best position to lend to
businesses and individuals at competitive interest rates.

WHAT IS THE CENTRAL BANK AND WHAT ARE ITS ROLES?

The Central bank of any country can be called the banker’s bank. It acts as a regulator for other
banks, while providing various facilities to facilitate their functioning. It also acts as the Govern-
ment’s bank. The Federal Reserve is the central bank of the United States, while Reserve Bank
of India is the central bank in India.
The main objective of a central bank is to provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more
stable monetary and financial system. They have the following responsibilities:
 Conducting the nation's monetary policy. Central banks define the
monetary policy and then take necessary actions to create an envi-
ronment to make those policies feasible. E.g. if the central bank
wants to maintain soft interest rate, they can reduce the CRR to
pump in more money in the economy.
 Foundation Course in Banking

 Supervising and regulating banking institutions and protecting the

rights of consumers
 Maintaining the stability of the financial system, i.e. stability of inter-
est rates and foreign exchange rate.
 Ensuring that the interest rates remain at such a level as to make
business viable
 Ensuring that sufficient funds are available for long term investment
to businesses as well as government, without causing inflation to rise
 Providing certain financial services to the government, the public, fi-
nancial institutions, and foreign official institutions
 Monitoring the foreign currency assets and liabilities and monitoring
the inflow and outflow of foreign currency

BANKS, ECONOMY AND AMOUNT OF MONEY

Banks facilitate the creation of money in the economy. The primary function of banks is to put ac-
count holders' money to use by lending it out to others who can then use it to buy homes, busi -
nesses etc.
Let’s look at an example as how banks do this. The amount of money that banks can lend is di -
rectly affected by the reserve requirement set by the Central Bank. That is, every bank needs to
maintain a certain percentage of its total deposits as cash, to ensure liquidity. This reserve re -
quirement is also known as the CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio). When a bank gets a deposit of $100,
assuming a reserve requirement of 10%, the bank can then lend out $90. That $90 goes back
into the economy, purchasing goods or services, and usually ends up deposited in another bank.
That bank can then lend out $81 of that $90 deposit, and that $81 goes into the economy to pur -
chase goods or services and ultimately is deposited into another bank that proceeds to lend out a
percentage of it. In this way, money grows and flows throughout the community in a much greater
amount than physically exists. This is also called multiplier effect. In the picture below, an initial
deposit of $100 has created a reserve of $27, and loan of $244. Thus, banks facilitate the invest-
ing/spending of money that multiply funds through circulation and this is known as “Money Multi -
plier” effect.
 Foundation Course in Banking

HOW DO BANKS MAKE MONEY?

Banks are like any other regulated business; the product they deal with is “Money”. So they bor-
row money from individual or businesses “who have money”, and lend it to those “who need
money”, by adding a mark up, to pay for expenses and profit. The difference between the rates,
which banks offer to depositors and lenders, is generally referred to as “Spread”. Understandably,
the spread in this business is low; hence increasing the turnover (volume) is the key to making
profit. Hence, in practice, banks offer a number of options – often termed as “products” - to both
investors and borrowers to meet their different requirements and preferences and thus increase
business. They also provide fee-based services such as managing cash for corporate clients, to
increase business and improve profit margin.

SERVICE OFFERINGS OF BANKS

Service offerings of banks are organized along following divisions:
 Corporate Banking
o Trade Finance
o Cash Management
 Retail Banking
o Electronic Banking
o Credit Card services
o Retail Lending – Personal Loans, Home Mortgages, Consumer Loans, Vehicle Loans
o Private Banking
o Asset Management
 Investment Banking
o Private Equity
o Corporate Advisory
o Capital Raising
o Proprietary Trading
o Emerging Markets
 Foundation Course in Banking

o Sales, Trading & Research

 Equity
 Fixed Income
 Derivatives

TOP 50 BANKS IN THE US BY ASSET SIZE

As of March 2004 ($ Million)
Si no. Company Name Total Assets Total Deposits
1 Citigroup, Inc. 1,317,877 499,189
2 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. 1,120,668 502,826
3 Bank of America Corporation 1,016,247 573,356
4 Wachovia Corporation 410,991 232,338
5 Wells Fargo & Company 397,354 248,369
6 U.S. Bancorp 192,093 118,964
7 SunTrust Banks, Inc. 148,283 96,661
8 National City Corporation 128,400 77,122
9 ABN AMRO North America Hold-
ing Company* 127,154 53,289
10 HSBC North America Inc.* 125,950 86,248
11 Citizens Financial Group, Inc.* 118,986 84,764
12 BB&T Corporation 94,282 64,125
13 Fifth Third Bancorp 93,732 55,250
14 State Street Corporation 92,896 53,512
15 Bank of New York Company, Inc. 92,693 55,961
16 KeyCorp 84,448 49,931
17 Regions Financial Corporation 80,275 54,170
18 PNC Financial Services Group,
Inc. 74,115 48,125
19 Merrill Lynch Bank USA* 66,643 53,208
20 MBNA Corporation* 59,126 31,861
21 Comerica Incorporated 54,468 43,523
22 SouthTrust Corporation 52,673 35,515
23 M&T Bank Corporation 50,832 33,341
24 AmSouth Bancorporation 47,415 31,545
25 UnionBanCal Corporation 46,102 39,006
26 BancWest Corporation* 43,814 30,794
27 Northern Trust Corporation 40,179 28,448
28 Bankmont Financial Corp.* 38,767 21,908
29 Popular, Inc. 38,102 18,603
30 Marshall & Ilsley Corporation 35,476 23,151
31 Mellon Financial Corporation 33,898 20,306
32 Huntington Bancshares Incorpo-
rated 33,875 20,935
33 Zions Bancorporation 29,790 21,486
34 Compass Bancshares, Inc. 27,481 16,524
35 First Horizon National Corporation 27,084 17,712
36 Banknorth Group, Inc. 26,880 17,958
37 North Fork Bancorporation, Inc. 26,178 19,164
 Foundation Course in Banking

Si no. Company Name Total Assets Total Deposits

38 Commerce Bancorp, Inc. 24,955 22,883
39 Capital One Bank 24,515 12,213
40 Synovus Financial Corp. 22,286 16,214
41 American Express Centurion
Bank 20,413 8,858
42 Associated Banc-Corp 19,254 12,375
43 RBC Centura Banks, Inc. 19,232 9,347
44 Discover Bank 19,107 13,490
45 Hibernia Corporation 18,717 14,882
46 TD Waterhouse Group, Inc. 17,007 9,630
47 Colonial BancGroup, Inc. 16,499 10,050
48 Webster Financial Corporation 15,090 8,638
49 Commerce Bancshares, Inc. 14,485 10,253
50 Merrill Lynch Bank & Trust Com-
pany 14,377 12,252

UNIVERSAL BANKING
The universal banking concept permits banks to provide commercial bank services, as well as in-
vestment bank services at the same time.
Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, created a Chinese wall between commercial banking and securities
businesses in US. That act was intended to address the perceived causes of bank failures during
the Great Depression of 1929.
Today, Glass-Steagall restrictions have become outdated and unnecessary. It has become clear
that promoting stability and best practices cannot be done through artificially separating these
business areas. Over the years, banks and securities firms have been forced to find various loop-
holes in the Glass-Steagall barriers. The restrictions undermined the ability of American banks to
compete with the other global banks which were not covered by such legislation.
Most of Glass-Steagall provisions have been repealed in the US in 1990s enabling the banks to
offer a full range of commercial and investment banking services to their customers.

Example
In the late 1990s, before legislation officially eradicated the Glass-Steagall Act’s restrictions,
the investment and commercial banking industries witnessed an abundance of commercial
banking firms making forays into the I-banking world. The mania reached a height in the
spring of 1998. In 1998, NationsBank bought Montgomery Securities, Société Génerale
bought Cowen & Co., First Union bought Wheat First and Bowles Hollowell Connor, Bank of
America bought Robertson Stephens (and then sold it to BankBoston), Deutsche Bank bought
Bankers Trust (which had bought Alex. Brown months before), and Citigroup was created in a
merger of Travelers Insurance and Citibank.
While some commercial banks have chosen to add I-banking capabilities through acquisitions,
some have tried to build their own investment banking business. J.P. Morgan stands as the
best example of a commercial bank that has entered the I-banking world through internal
growth. J.P. Morgan actually used to be both a securities firm and a commercial bank until
federal regulators forced the company to separate the divisions. The split resulted in J.P. Mor-
gan, the commercial bank, and Morgan Stanley, the investment bank. Today, J.P. Morgan has
slowly and steadily clawed its way back into the securities business, and Morgan Stanley has
merged with Dean Witter to create one of the biggest I-banks on the Street.
 Foundation Course in Banking

SUMMARY
 Banks are an integral part of any economy channelizing savings from
lenders to borrowers
 Bank deposits are low risk investments
 The Central bank is the “Bankers’ Bank” and it regulates other banks
in an economy.
 Central banks define a nation’s monetary policy
 A bank makes a profit by investing or lending money that is earning a
higher rate of interest than it pays to its depositors.
 A bank is required to keep a certain amount of "cash reserves" by
regulation to maintain liquidity, i.e. to ensure that the banking system
does not face a cash crunch due to higher withdrawals, which can
lead to panic among investors and a run on a bank.
 Banks create a “Money Multiplier” effect
 Banks are generally organized as corporate banking, investment
banking, retail banking, and private banking functions.
Universal banks provide commercial banking as well as investment bank services under one roof
 Foundation Course in Banking

1.5. RETAIL BANKING

RETAIL BANKING

RETAIL SERVICE

Banking Accounts
Banking account can classified as below based on their features, cost and usefulness.

Checking Accounts
 Quick, convenient and, frequent-access to the money.
 Checks are used to withdraw money, pay bills, purchasing, transfer
money to another accounts and many other common usage.
 Some banks pay interest while many do not.
 Institutions may impose fees on checking accounts, besides a
charge for the checks ordered. Any combination of the following
three ways can be used by the banks:
o Flat fee regardless of the balance maintained or number of transactions.
o Additional fee if average balance goes down below a specified amount.
o A fee for every transaction conducted.

Money Market Deposit Accounts

 An interest-bearing account with checks writing facility, called a
money market deposit account (MMDA).
 Pays a higher rate of interest than a checking or savings account
 MMDAs often require a higher minimum balance to start earning in-
terest
 Each month, numbers of transactions are limited to six transfers to
another account or to other people, and only three of these transfers
can be by check.
 Most institutions impose fees on MMDAs.

Savings Account
 Allows making withdrawals, but checks writing facility is not there.
 Number of withdrawals or transfers one can make on the account
each month is limited.
 Passbook savings – The pass book must be presented when you
make deposits and withdrawals
 Statement savings – Institution regularly mails a statement that
shows withdrawals and deposits for the account.
 Foundation Course in Banking

 Institutions may assess various fees on savings accounts, such as

minimum balance fees.
Time Deposits (Certificates of Deposit)
 Guaranteed rate of interest for a term or length of time specified by
the account holder.
 Once the term specified, one cannot withdraw the principal without
attracting penalties.
 One can withdraw the interest earned on the principal.
 The rate of interest is often higher than savings or any other account
 CDs renew automatically, so if not notified before maturity, CDs will
roll over for another term. Most of the institutions notify the account
holder before maturity.

Basic or No Frill Banking Accounts

 Checking accounts, but with a limit on the number of checks one can
write and the number of deposits and withdrawals one can make
 Interest is generally not paid.
 Fees is generally lower than checking accounts

Branch Banking

 A banking system in which there is a head office and interconnected

branches providing financial services in different parts of the country
 Today 70% of customers use more than one contact channel
o However, 51% of customers still prefer branch banking – branch loyalty
 Evidence from the trends of new branch openings
o 550 over three years at Bank of America
o 100 over five years at JPMorgan Chase
o 250 this year alone at Washington Mutual
 Branch networks have re-emerged as combined centers for advice-
based product sales and service, as well as more traditional banking
transactions
 Customers are looking for a full-service center for all their needs --
from banking products to brokerage services
 Branches are being transformed from transaction processing centers
into customer-centric, financial sales and service centers
 This transformation is helping Banks to achieve bottom line business
benefits like
o Increased customer profitability
o Retention of most profitable customers
o Increased branch revenue
o Increased staff productivity
o Reduced operational costs
 Foundation Course in Banking

 A typical Retail branch at a Bank provides two primary functions

o Teller Operations - Accept and process customer transactions at the teller win-
dow
o Sales and customer service Operations - Tasks, such as new account opening,
account maintenance and product sales
Teller Operations
 Teller functionality
o Cash advances
o Consumer /mortgage loan payments
o Currency and coin orders
o Deposits, including commercial deposits
o Fee collection
o Foreign currency exchange
o Payments
o Stop payments
o Transfers
o Wire transfers
o Withdrawals

Sales and Customer Service

 Sales and Service Platform Functions
o Account and contact histories
o Bank information and fee schedules
o Campaign management
o Complaint reporting and tracking
o Customer contact and event tracking and management
o Customer profile and relationships
o Decision tracking
o Lead generators
o Marketing and sales planners
o Profiling
o Referral processing
Multi-branch banking
It is a special facility that allows a customer to operate his SB or Current Account through a
network of branches of the bank where he has an account. All Multi Branch Banking account
holders are eligible for Multi City Cheque (Pay At par Cheque) facilities.
 Multi-branch banking functions
o Under this service, the customer of one branch is able to transact on her ac-
count, from any other networked branch of the Bank.
o Typical services provided through “Multi Branch Banking” include
o Cash Deposits
 Foundation Course in Banking

o Cash Payments
o Transfer of funds
o Balance Inquiry
o Marking Stop Payment of a Check
ATM Banking
Banking enabled through a terminal used to make transactions without a human teller. In recent
years it has become one of the most popular banking media.
 ATM growth was 9.3 percent per year from 1983 to 1995 but in-
creased to 15.5 percent from 1996 to 2002
o Off-premise ATMs account for nearly 60 percent of total U.S. ATMs
 Access to ATM by means of a card, typically a dual ATM/debit card
 Transaction directly linked to the consumer’s bank account - amount
debited against the funds in that account
 Typical Services
o Cash withdrawal – Limit per day restricted by respective bank guidelines
o Money Transfer between accounts
o Cash/ Check Deposits
o Utility Bill Payments
o Balance enquiry /Account Statements
Types of ATMs
 Proprietary System
o Operated by a financial institution that purchases or leases ATMs,
o Acquires the necessary software or develops it in-house, installs the system and
markets it, and issues cards of its own design
 Shared / Regional System
o A network that comes into being when customers of one or more financial institu-
tions have access to transaction services at ATMs owned or operated by other fi-
nancial institutions.
 National / International System
o A network which enables an ATM machine in New York to connect with another
in Los Angeles. Through service agreements with regional and proprietary net-
works, national networks link ATM machines coast to coast.

ATM Systems

Shared/Regional National/International
Proprietary Systems
Systems Systems

Money Transfer
 Cheques/Checks
o Bearer Checks
o Account Payee Checks
o Travelers’ Checks
 Foundation Course in Banking

o Bankers Checks
 Debit Cards
 Demand Drafts
 Automated Clearing House (ACH)
 Standing Instructions
 Electronic Transfer

ELECTRONIC BANKING
Electronic banking, also known as electronic fund transfer (EFT), uses computer and electronic
technology as a substitute for checks and other paper transactions. EFTs are initiated through de-
vices like ATM cards or codes that let one to access your account. Many financial institutions use
ATM or debit cards and Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) for this purpose. ‡‡
The federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFT Act) covers most (not all) electronic customer
transactions. The Act does not cover “stored value” cards like prepaid telephone cards, mass
transit passes, and some gift cards. These "stored-value" cards, as well as transactions using
them, may not be covered by the EFT Act.

ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFERS

EFT offers the following services to the customers:

Automated Teller Machines (ATMs)

ATMs are electronic terminals that let customers bank almost any time. The customer generally
inserts an ATM card and enters his/her PIN to withdraw cash, make deposits, or transfer funds
between accounts, Some financial institutions and ATM owners charge a fee, particularly to cus-
tomers who don't have accounts with them or on transactions at remote locations.

Direct Deposit
Customers can authorize specific deposits, such as paychecks and Social Security checks, to
their account on a regular basis.

Direct Debits/Electronic Bills Presentment

Customers can pre-authorize direct withdrawals (ECS under Indian context) so that recurring
bills, such as insurance premiums, mortgages, and utility bills, are paid automatically.

Pay-by-Phone Systems
They let customers call their financial institution with instructions to pay certain bills or to transfer
funds between accounts. For such transactions, customers need to have an explicit agreement
with their banks.

‡‡
Excerpted from Federal Trade Commission website http://www.ftc.gov
 Foundation Course in Banking

Personal Computer Banking

Customers do many banking transactions through their personal computer. For example, cus-
tomers can view their account balance, request transfers between accounts, and pay bills elec-
tronically.

Point-of-Sale Transfers
Customers can pay for their purchases with a debit card, which also may also double up as the
ATM card. Debit card purchase transfers money - fairly quickly - from the customer’s bank ac-
count to the store's account. So the customer should have the required funds in his/her account
before the use of debit card.

Electronic Check Conversion

ECC converts a paper check into an electronic payment at the point of sale or elsewhere. In a
store, the customer can present a check to a store cashier. The check can be processed through
an electronic system that captures the banking information and the amount of the check. Once
the check is processed, the customer signs a receipt authorizing the store to present the check to
the bank electronically and deposit the funds into the store’s account. The customer gets a re-
ceipt of the electronic transaction and the check is returned to the customer. It should be voided
or marked by the merchant so that it can't be used again.

EFT REGULATIONS

Disclosures
The documents (usually fine print) supplied by the issuer of the “access device” cover the legal
rights and responsibilities regarding an EFT account. Before using EFT services, the institution
must tell the customer the following information:
 A summary of customer’s liability for unauthorized transfers.
 The telephone number and address of the person to be notified in
the event of an unauthorized transfer, a list of the institution's "busi-
ness days", and the number of days to report suspected unautho-
rized transfers.
 The type of transfers, fees for transfers, and any limits on the fre-
quency and dollar amount of transfers.
 A summary of right to receive documentation of transfers, to stop
payment on a pre-authorized transfer, and the procedures to follow
to stop payment.
 Procedures to report an error on a receipt for an EFT or periodic
statement and to request more information about a transfer listed on
the statement, and the number of days to report.
 A summary of the institution's liability if it fails to make or stop certain
transactions.
 Circumstances under which the institution will disclose information to
third parties concerning customer’s account.
 Charges for using ATMs where the customer does not have an ac-
count.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Receipts and Statements

The customers are entitled for terminal receipts and periodic statements. Customers are entitled
to a terminal receipt when they initiate an electronic transfer, whether it is an ATM or a point-of-
sale electronic transfer. The receipt must show the amount and date of the transfer, and its type,
such as "from savings to checking."

No terminal receipts would be issued for regularly occurring electronic payments that are pre-au-
thorized, like insurance premiums, mortgages, or utility bills. Instead, these transfers will appear
on your periodic statement.
Customers are also entitled to a periodic statement for each statement cycle in which an elec-
tronic transfer is made. The statement must show the amount of any transfer, the date of credit or
debit to their account, the type of transfer and type of account(s) to or from which funds were
transferred, and the address and telephone number for inquiries.

Errors
Customers have 60 days from the date a statement is received to notify errors to the bank. The
best way is to notify the financial institution by way of a certified letter, return receipt requested.
Under US federal law, the institution has no obligation to conduct an investigation if the customer
missed out the 60-day deadline.
The financial institution has 10 business days to investigate the error. The institution has to com-
municate the results of its investigation within three business days after completion and must cor-
rect the error within one business day after detecting the error. If the institution needs more time,
it may take up to 45 days to complete the investigation - but only if the money in dispute is re -
turned to the customer’s account with due notification of the credit. At the end of the investigation,
if no error has been found, the institution may take the money back after sending a written expla-
nation.

Lost or Stolen ATM or Debit Cards

Unlike a credit card, if someone loses the ATM or debit card, customer can lose much more. If
the customer reports the loss of an ATM or debit card to the card issuer before it's used without
his/her permission, he/she can't be held responsible for any unauthorized withdrawals.
If unauthorized use occurs before reporting, the liability of the customer varies depending on the
delay in reporting the loss to the card issuer.
 Within two business days – Liability limited to $50 for unauthorized
use.
 Between 2 - 60 days – Liability limited to $500 because of an unau-
thorized transfer.
 If the loss is not reported within 60 days, the liability has no limits.
If the customer failed to notify the institution within the time periods allowed because of extenuat-
ing circumstances, such as lengthy travel or illness, the issuer must reasonably extend the notifi-
cation period. In addition, if state law or the individual contract imposes lower liability limits, those
lower limits apply instead of the EFT act limits.

Limited Stop-Payment Privileges

The EFT Act does not give the right to the customer to stop payment. If a purchase is defective or
an order is not delivered, it's up to the customer to resolve the problem with the seller.
 Foundation Course in Banking

The customer can stop payment only for regular payments out of his/her account to third parties,
such as insurance companies. The institution has to be notified at least three business days be-
fore the scheduled transfer.
Although federal law provides only limited rights to stop payment, individual financial institutions
may offer more rights or state laws may require them.

ELECTRONIC BILLING PRESENTATION AND PAYMENT

Introduction
Electronic Billing Presentation and Payment (EBPP) is the use of electronic means, such as email
or a short message, for rending a bill.
Advantages

The advantage of EBPP over traditional means is primarily the savings to the operator in terms of
the cost to produce, distribute, and collect bills.

Use in Mobile Communications

EBPP may be used in lieu of a standard paper bill as a means to reduce operational costs. Some
operators may view EBPP as an alternative to prepay as some operators view prepay service
strictly as an alternative to traditional billing, but it usually has most value as an alternative mech-
anism for billing post-paid customers. However, EBPP can also be used simply as an informa-
tional tool to inform the customer of charges levied against the account.

Billing and Charging to Third Parties

EBPP is an efficient mechanism to bill or inform third parties of charges. For example, the father
of a son in college may want to know how much the child is spending on mobile phone service
prior to the bill becoming to high.

Paying the Bill

Some EBPP systems require software for payment while others require only standard browser
software for accesses a web site for secure payment. Alternatively, the billing arrangement can
be made in advance for funds to be automatically debited from a customer’s account with a finan-
cial institution. However, the more attractive model for most will be to have control over when the
bill is actually paid, rather than have it be paid at a predetermined date.

Future of EBPP

EBPP is expected to become an increasingly attractive alternative as mobile operators continue

to search for ways to reduce operational costs. However, the extent to which EBPP is proliferated
will depend entirely on user acceptance and diligence to actually pay for bills in a timely and
(preferably) electronic fashion.
 Foundation Course in Banking

FEDWIRE
Fedwire is an electronic transfer system developed and maintained by the Federal Reserve Sys -
tem. The system connects Federal Reserve Banks and Branches, the Treasury and other govern-
ment agencies, and more than 9,000 on-line and off-line depository institutions and thus plays a
key role in US payments mechanism. The system is available on-line depository institutions with
computers or terminals that communicate directly with the Fedwire network. These users origi-
nate over 99 percent of total funds transfers. The remaining customers have off-line access to
Fedwire for a limited number of transactions.
Fedwire transfers U.S. government and agency securities in book-entry form. It plays a significant
role in the conduct of monetary policy and the government securities market by increasing the ef -
ficiency of Federal Reserve open market operations and helping to keep the market for govern-
ment securities liquid.
Depository institutions use Fedwire mainly to move balances to correspondent banks and to send
funds to other institutions on behalf of customers. Transfers on behalf of bank customers include
funds used in the purchase or sale of government securities, deposits, and other large, time-sen -
sitive payments.
Fedwire and CHIPS, a private-sector funds transfer network specializing in international transac-
tions, handle most large-dollar transfers. In 2000, some 108 million funds transfers with a total
value of $380 trillion were made over Fedwire -- an average of $3.5 million per transaction.
All Fedwire transfers are completed on the day they are initiated, generally in a matter of minutes.
They are guaranteed to be final by the Fed as soon as the receiving institution is notified of the
credit to its account.
Until 1980, Fedwire services were offered free to Federal Reserve member commercial banks.
However, the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 required the
pricing of Fed services, including funds and securities transfers, and gave nonmember depository
institutions direct access to the transfer system. To encourage private-sector competition, the law
requires the Fed's fees to reflect the full cost of providing the services, including an implicit cost
for capital and profitability.

How Fedwire Works

Transfers over Fedwire require relatively few bookkeeping entries. Suppose an individual or a pri-
vate or government organization asks a bank to transfer funds. If the banks of the sender and re -
ceiver are in different Federal Reserve districts, the sending bank debits the sender's account and
asks its local Reserve Bank to send a transfer order to the Reserve Bank serving the receiver's
bank. The two Reserve Banks settle with each other through the Inter-district Settlement Fund, a
bookkeeping system that records Federal Reserve inter-district transactions. Finally, the receiving
bank notifies the recipient of the transfer and credits its account. Once the transfer is received, it
is final and the receiver may use the funds immediately. If the sending and receiving banks are in
the same Federal Reserve district, the transaction is similar, but all of the processing and ac-
counting are done by one Reserve Bank.

OTHER TRANSFER SYSTEMS

Clearing House Interbank Payment System (CHIPS) is a private sector funds transfer network
mainly for international transactions. CHIPS transfers are settled on a net basis at the end of the
day, using Fedwire funds transfers to and from a special settlement account on the books of the
New York Fed.
 Foundation Course in Banking

In addition to Fedwire, the Federal Reserve Banks provide net settlement services for participants
in private-sector payments systems, such as check clearing houses, automated clearing house
associations (ACH), and private electronic funds transfer systems that normally process a large
number of transactions among member institutions. Net settlement involves posting net debit
and net credit entries provided by such organizations to the accounts that the appropriate
depository institutions maintain at the Federal Reserve.
An automated clearing house processes and delivers electronic debit and credit payments among
participants.

SUMMARY
 Retail banking is banking services provided for individuals. Common
services include –
o Branch Banking
o Customer Care
o Teller Services
o Deposit and Loan Products
o Online Banking
o Financial Advisory
 ATM banking has become increasingly popular over the last few
decades
 There are many types of Banking Accounts
o Checking Accounts
o Money Market Deposit Accounts
o Savings Account
o Time Deposits (Certificates of Deposit)
o Basic or No Frill Banking Accounts
 Electronic banking, also known as electronic fund transfer (EFT),
uses computer and electronic technology as a substitute for checks
and other paper transactions.
 EFT’s are initiated through devices like ATM cards or codes that let
one to access your account. Many financial institutions use ATM or
debit cards and Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) for this
purpose.
 The federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFT Act) covers most (not
all) electronic customer transactions.
 EFT offers the following services to the customers:
o Automated Teller Machines (ATMs)
o Direct Deposit
o Direct Debits/Electronic Bills Presentment
o Pay-by-Phone Systems
o Personal Computer Banking
o Point-of-Sale Transfers
o Electronic Check Conversion
 Foundation Course in Banking

 EBPP is an upcoming mode of transaction involving the use of elec-

tronic means, such as email or a short message, for rending a bill.
 FedWire is an electronic transfer system developed and maintained
by the Federal Reserve System. The system connects Federal Re-
serve Banks and Branches, the Treasury and other government
agencies, and depository institutions and thus plays a key role in US
payments mechanism
 Clearing House Interbank Payment System (CHIPS) is a private
sector funds transfer network mainly for international transactions.
CHIPS transfers are settled on a net basis at the end of the day,
using Fedwire funds transfers to and from a special settlement ac-
count on the books of the New York Fed.
 Foundation Course in Banking

1.6. CONSUMER LENDING

RETAIL LENDING
Retail Lending is one of the most important functions performed by a bank. It encompasses the
following:
 Personal loans, consumer loans
 Asset based loans - auto loans, home loans
 Open ended loans
 Lease, Hire Purchase
 Credit cards

Personal Loans / Consumer Loans

Personal loans are amount borrowed by individuals to cover their personal expenses. The details
of such expenses are never of any interest to the lenders.
 The financer is not interested in the intention of the loan.
 No security
 Short term loans
 Rate of interest is very steep.
 Ideally should be used only in case of an emergency
 All banks/finance companies offer these loans
 Loan amount is directly linked to borrower’s repayment capacity.

Asset Based Loans

Such loans are amount borrowed by individuals to buy some asset, which is hypothecated to the
lender. Thus the lender is fully aware of the purpose of the loan. The interest rate charged is
lower than personal loans because the loan is secured by the hypothecation of the asset to the
lender.

Two main types – auto loans, housing loans

 Interest rate is lower as compared to Personal loans
 Hypothecation of the Asset to the financer.
 Repayment through EMI’s.
 Thumb rules for calculation of Maximum loan amount
a. Not greater than 3 times the yearly income OR
b. The EMI should be less than 60 pct of the gross monthly income.

Loan against Securities

 Overdraft facility can be availed against pledge of equity Shares, Mu-
tual Fund units.
 Drawing power is usually 60-70 % of the value of the pledged instru-
ments.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Open Ended Loans- secured

Open ended loan allow the borrower to borrow additional amount subject to the maximum amount
less then a set value.
 Similar to overdraft facilities provided by banks.
 Interest is calculated on the daily outstanding balance.
 Usually a card (similar to a Credit Card) is issued by the lending insti-
tution.
 The lending institution has tie-ups with various merchant establish-
ments.
 Also allow you to withdraw Cash.
 Important Terms;
c. Limit (L) – max outstanding allowed
d. Margin (M) – percentage of limit that can be drawn
e. Asset value (AV) – value of underlying asset
f. Drawing Power (DP) - lower of L and (1-M)*AV
 Example:
Limit =$ 1000; Margin = 30%; Asset Value (initial) = $1000

Date Asset Value (AV) Drawing Power (DP)

1st Jan 2004 $1000 $700

1st Feb 2004 $1600 $1000

1st Mar 2004 $2000 $1000

1st Apr 2004 $500 $350

Lease / Hire Purchase

Lease is a long-term rental agreement for the asset, while Hire Purchase is allows the user to
own the asset after all the payments have been made to the lender.

Lease
 Two main types – operating, financial
 The Financier owns the asset.
 Depreciation is claimed by the financier.
 Tax deduction can be claimed for the full value of the rental paid.
 Financier takes care of maintenance, insurance etc.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Hire Purchase
 The asset is owned by the financier.
 Depreciation can be claimed by the borrower.
 Tax deduction can be claimed only to the extent of the interest re-
payment.

Retail Lending Cycle

1. Loan application management and processing

 Receipt of loan/card application
 Application Processing
o Duplicate check
o Negative list check
o Document Verification
o Calculate loan eligibility, IRR, processing fees
o Credit scoring
o Field Investigation
o Credit Approval
 Disbursement
o Cheque issuance
o Credit to account
o Payment to third party
 Formulating the repayment schedule.
2. Loan repayments and termination
 Post-Dated Cheques
o PDC’s are collected & their information captured.
o Cheques are presented in clearing on due dates
o Bounced/ hold cheques are marked for further action.
 Salary deductions
o Employer wise receipt batches are created.
o Employer cheque details are captured
o Payment receipt is marked for corresponding employees.
 Direct receipts
o Cash/Cheque information is captured
o Cheques are cleared in batches.
 Auto payments / Direct debits
o Bank wise receivable batches are created.
o Short receipts are marked.
o Release receipt batch to mark receipts
 Foundation Course in Banking

 Kinds of repayments
o EMI – same installment amount
o Fixed Principal – constant principal, decreasing interest amt
o Step-up – principal amount increases in steps
o Step-down – principal amount decreases in steps
o Balloon – notional amount initially, large last payment
o Bullet – interest payment initially, entire principal at one shot
o Random – schedule & amount of installments undecided
o Special products – combination of above

3. Delinquencies identification and collections

 Case Processing
o Categorization of cases based on predefined rules
o Allocation of cases to collectors
 Standard Cases
o Collector follow-up (desk/field)
o Repayment by customer
o Cheque issuance
 Exception Cases (death/fraud etc.)
o Initiate process based on case specifics (legal/other means)
o Track/follow up the case developments till repayment
o Case closed

Submit Proposal Scrutinize OK Appraisal

Repayment NO Follow-up/Action
Decision

Monitoring OK

Disbursement Compliance Conditions for borrower

Interest Rates
Fixed Rate of Interest
The rate of interest applicable is guaranteed not to change during the fixed rate period . Borrower
& bank protected from adverse interest rate movements.

Floating Rate of Interest

 Foundation Course in Banking

The rate of interest is linked to one of the rates prevailing in the market, for example it can be
linked to PLR (Prime Lending Rate) or LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate). Borrower
benefits from falling int. rate, exposed to upward movement of int. rate.
Important terms are; Cap, floor, collar, benchmark/base/anchor rate, mark-up/spread rate,
reset date & frequency

Cap
Interest rate 

Current rate
Spread

Collar

Base rate

Floor

Collateral
An asset than can be repossessed by the lender if the borrower defaults. They are of the follow-
ing types
 Primary (same asset for which finance is taken)
 Secondary (asset backing the loan different)

Charge Types
 Pledge – gold, bank has possession
 Hypothecation – vehicle, borrower has possession
 Lien – against bank deposits
 Assignment – insurance policies, rights get transferred to bank
 Shares - periodic drawing power calculation
 Mortgage – immovable property

MORTGAGES
A loan secured by the collateral of some specified real estate property that obliges the borrower
to make a predetermined series of payments. If the borrower doesn’t keep up the loan repay-
ments, the lender can repossess the real estate property and sell it in order to get the money
back.
 Foundation Course in Banking

The rate of interest applicable is lower than personal loans and comparable to other asset based
loans.
To compare the cost of different Mortgages deals one should look at the APR – Annual Percent-
age Rates. All firms that quote an APR must calculate it in a standard way, so one can compare
like with like. The APR for a loan is a single figure, which takes into account:
 The amount of interest you are charged
 When and how often the interest must be paid
 Other charges – for example, an arrangement fee or compulsory
payment protection insurance – if they must be bought from the
lender as a condition of the loan
 When and how often these charges must be paid

Kinds of Mortgages
Mortgages can be classified based on the interest rates deals:

Interest Rate Deal How it works

Standard variable The payments go up and down as the mortgage rate changes.
rate

Same as a standard variable rate loan - but one receive a substantial

Standard variable
cash sum (Example 3–5% of the amount borrowed) when you take up
rate with cash back
the loan.

Similar to a standard variable rate mortgage but the interest rate is

Base rate tracker guaranteed to be a set amount above the base rate and alters in line
with changes in that rate.

The payments are set at a certain level for a set period of time – for
example, one year, two years, or five years. At the end of the period,
Fixed interest rate
one is usually charged the lender’s standard variable rate (or
sometimes a new fixed rate is offered).

The payments are variable, but they are set at less than that lender’s
Discounted interest
going rate for a fixed period of time. At the end of the period, one is
rate
charged the lender’s standard variable rate.

The payments go up and down as the mortgage rate changes but are
guaranteed not to go above a set level (the ‘cap’) during the period of
the deal.
Capped rate
Sometimes, they cannot fall below a set minimum level either (the
‘collar’ or ‘floor’). At the end of the period, one is charged the lender’s
standard variable rate.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Repayment Methods
Repayment mortgage
 Monthly payments over the agreed number of years (Called the
mortgage ‘term’) goes partly towards the interest and partly towards
the principal.
 If all the monthly payments agreed with the lender are made, the
whole loan will be repaid by the end of the term.
 Monthly payments could increase if interest rates rise.

Interest-only mortgage
 The monthly payments to the lender cover only the interest on the
loan. They do not pay off any amount one has borrowed.
 One usually makes separate payments into a savings scheme each
month to build up a lump sum, which is then used to pay off the
whole amount one has borrowed, in one go at the end of the mort-
gage term or sooner.
 This involves some investment risk in building up a sum of money to
repay the loan.
 It is one’s responsibility to save enough money to repay the loan at
the end of its term.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Endowment mortgage
 To repay an interest-only loan, one can take an endowment policy,
which is designed to end at the same time as the mortgage.
 The money one pays into an endowment policy is invested in stocks
and shares and other investments. At the end of a set number of
years (the policy ‘term’), the policy ‘matures’ and one gets a lump
sum, which is used to repay the mortgage loan.
 An endowment policy provides life insurance and sometimes other
insurance benefits too.

Interest-only mortgage combined with stakeholder pension

 Alongside an interest-only loan, one can make payments into a per-
sonal or stakeholder pension. When one start to take the pension
(between age 50 and 75), one can take part of the pension fund as a
tax-free lump sum, which is used to pay off the mortgage loan.

Important US Institutions in Mortgage Market

Freddie Mac, Ginnie Maes & Fannie Mae

Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA or Fannie Mae), Government National Mort-
gage Association (GNMA or Ginnie Mae) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation
(FHLMC or Freddie Mac) are all "secondary market lenders".
Banks issue loans/mortgages with some collateral for security. These loans/mortgages are
bought by the “secondary market lenders” from the banks thus freeing them to turn around and is-
sue mortgage to new customers.
Their core business consists of mortgage loan securitization. They buy mortgages from
banks and pool them into bonds to be sold or held. These companies guarantee the credit-
worthiness of these bonds, but not the interest-rate risk. They hedge their own exposure to in-
terest-rate risk through derivative contracts.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Often many retail lenders actually receive their funds from a secondary market lender. These sec-
ondary lenders have assisted the national mortgage market by allowing money to move easily
from state-to-state. The movement of loan funds helps to avoid a situation where mortgages are
only available in certain areas or states. Also, the secondary lenders have established regulations
and guidelines that help the general public.

AUTO LOANS
Auto Loans is basically lending to the individual customers for a two or four wheeler or their
personal use. The following section describes the multiple mechanisms by which the financing for
auto loans is normally done.

Types of Financing Mechanism

 Direct Lending: The Bank or the finance company directly lends to
the buyer or the borrower in this case. A number of lending institu -
tions are offering such loans on their websites.
 Dealer financing: This is a type of loan available through the dealer.
The lending and repayments are done by/to the dealer. Basically the
dealer tells the customer how much down payment and monthly In-
stallment is to be paid against the vehicle. The effective cost to the
customer most of the times is generally more than the original price.
 Leasing : Vehicle/ Auto lease is a contract between the borrower and
a auto leasing company. The borrower agrees to pay the leasing
company for the use of the vehicle for a certain amount of time, usu-
ally 24 to 36 months. During that time the borrower agrees to make
monthly lease payments, keep the car in good repair, insure the car
and not drive the car more miles that stipulated in the contract.
The Key entities in a lease agreement are the lessee or the lessor.
Lessee or the borrower: The party to whom the vehicle is leased. In a consumer lease, the lessee
is the consumer. The lessee is required to make payments and to meet other obligations
specified in the lease agreement.
Lessor or the lender or the lending institution is the original owner of the vehicle or property being
leased
The lease can be closed ended or open ended as defined below:
 Closed end lease - A lease agreement that establishes a non-nego-
tiable residual value for the leased auto and fee amounts due at the
end of the lease term.
 Open End lease - A lease term that requires the lessee to pay the
difference between residual value and fair market value at the end of
the lease term if the fair market value is lower
In a lease, the factors such as the ownership, up front costs and monthly payments as against the
direct lending are:
 Ownership: You do not own the vehicle. You get to use it but must
return it at the end of the lease unless you choose to buy it.
 Up-front costs: Up-front costs may include the first month's payment,
a refundable security deposit, a capitalized cost reduction (like a
 Foundation Course in Banking

down payment), taxes, registration and other fees, and other

charges.
 Monthly payments: Monthly lease payments are usually lower than
monthly loan payments because you are paying only for the vehicle's
depreciation during the lease term, plus rent charges (like interest),
taxes, and fees.
The Key Entities in an Auto Loan system are:

 Borrower: is the one who needs to use/own the automobile and ap-
proaches a dealer/lender for getting financing for the same
 Dealer: Typically a franchisee of the manufacturer, involved in selling
and delivery of the vehicle to the buyer
 Lender: Provides capital to the borrower for buying the vehicle. This
can be the bank or the dealer or any financing institution.
 Credit bureau: Tracks and maintains credit history of borrowers and
forward it to lenders during new application processing. This is used
for deciding whether the loan should be provided to a customer or
not.
 Appraiser: Assesses and establishes the fair market value of a collat-
eral offered as underlying security to the credit asked for.
 Insurer: The Insurance company insures the vehicle owner against
specific liabilities caused to and from the vehicle during the course of
its use upon the payment of a premium and signing of a contract
 Loan servicer: is the one who provides various services during the
life cycle of a loan starting from loan origination to loan closure.

STUDENT LOANS
Student Loans are Loans availed by eligible students to pursue graduate and post graduate
studies in US Schools/Colleges/Universities. These loans are usually provided by banks, Credit
Unions and other financial institutions which are guaranteed by state sponsored Guarantors
Types of Student Loans
Students Loans offered can be categorized broadly into two types:

 Federally sponsored loans – These loans are federally insured and

provide protection against default. The department of Education
guarantees upto 98% and even 100% in some cases
 Non-federally sponsored loans – These are insured by the private
sector and have no government backing. The guarantee in this case
is only from the private insurers or from the reserves pledged to se-
curitization
Federally sponsored loans are of two types
 Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP)- These loans are
made by financial institutions primarily with a floating rate that is ad-
justed once a year. The interest rate is capped at 8.25% and the Fed
subsidizes the difference between the actual loan rate and the rate
 Foundation Course in Banking

cap through Special Allowance Payments(SAP). The rates are usu-

ally specified by indexing them to the US Treasury bill rates.
 Federal Direct Loan (FDLP)- where the department of Education di-
rectly provides the loans
FFELP or the Federal Family Education Loan Program can further be divided into three types
 Federal Stafford –Federal Stafford loans are the most common
source of education loan funds in the US. This is available to both
graduate and undergraduate students. This loan could be either sub-
sidized or unsubsidizedby the federal government. The interest rate
is a floating rate that is indexed to the 91 day T-Bill and is capped at
8.25%. Sample rates of during the year 2003-04 were
o 2.82% in school, grace and deferment
o 3.42% in repayment and forbearance

 Federal PLUS - PLUS loans are availed by the parents of a full- or

half-time undergraduate student .This requires a credit check and
hence the parent must have a good credit history and should have
been a citizen or permanent resident of US. The loans don’t require
any collateral and the interest payments are tax deductible.

 Consolidation loans - A consolidation loan involves two or more ex-

isting federally sponsored loans into one single loan. The interest
rate for this is determined by the weighted average of the loan rates
prevailing at that time and capped at 8.25%

There are three principal advantages

 Convenience – By combining loans the borrower is able to focus on
repaying one single loan than handle multiple loans
 Interest rate – In a low rate scenario the borrower can reduce his
cost of borrowing by taking a new loan at the low prevailing low rates
 Repayment – The repayment period is extended to 30 years and this
reduces the installment to paid each month
 Foundation Course in Banking

The Key Entities in the Student Loan System are Federal government, Schools, Lenders Ser-
vicers and guarantors and the borrower.

 Federal government: Sponsors and authorizes funds for grants and

loan programs.
 School: The school is certified by the department of education as an
eligible school to participate in the FFELP or FDLP loan programs.
Schools are responsible for determining borrower’s eligibility, recom-
mends and certifies loan amounts, monitors the enrollment status
 Lenders : are the institutions approved by the DOE for voluntary par-
ticipation in any or all of the FFELP student loan programs. Typical
lenders are usually Banks, credit unions, S&L institutions, insurance
companies and other institutions.
 Servicer: is an entity who collects payments on a loan and performs
other administrative tasks associated with maintaining a loan portfo-
lio. The normal functions include disburse loans funds, monitor loans
while the borrowers are in school, collect payments, process defer-
ments and forbearances, respond to borrower inquiries and ensuring
regulatory compliance.
 Guarantor is a state agency, which guarantees or insures the loan
and is a not-for-profit agency. It protects the lenders against loss
due to borrower default, death of borrower, total and permanent dis-
ability, bankruptcy, closed school, and ineligible borrower.
 Borrower : is the student who avails of the loan.
 Foundation Course in Banking

SUMMARY
 The loans given to retail customer come under Consumer Lending.
There are four major types of Consumer Lending –
o Personal loans
o Mortgages
o Auto Loans
o Student Loans
 Personal loans normally have the highest interest rates charge while
mortgages have the lowest.
 Retail lending cycle includes -
o Loan application management and processing
o Loan repayments and termination
o Delinquencies identification and collections

 Types of interest rates

o Fixed interest rate
o Flexible interest rate
o Hybrid interest rates

 Mortgages are Loans given to consumers for the purpose of pur-

chase, construction or repair of real estate.
 Auto loans are loans financed for vehicles for personal use
 Student loans are loans provided to eligible students to pursue grad-
uate and post graduate studies in US Schools/Colleges/Universities
 Foundation Course in Banking

1.7. COMMERCIAL AND WHOLESALE BANKING

CORPORATE LENDING

CORPORATE LENDING
Corporate Lending refers to various forms of loans extended by banks to corporate bodies like
proprietorship, partnership, private limited companies or public limited companies. Banks lend to
such entities on the strength of their balance sheet and business cash flows. Corporate loans are
provided by banks for various purposes like new projects, capacity expansion or plant moderniza-
tion, daily cash flow requirements (working capital) etc. Depending on the nature of the require-
ment, loans may be long-term or short-term in nature.
Loans can be either secured or unsecured in nature. In case of secured loans, if the corporate
defaults on payment of principal or interest on the loan, the bank can take possession of the se -
curity and sell off the same to meet principal or interest payment on the loan. Security is usually in
the form of land, buildings, plant and machinery, physical stock of the raw material, goods for sale
etc.

CORPORATE LENDING PROCESS

The following is the typical stages in a corporate lending process:

 Corporate approaches the relationship manager of the bank with a
request for a loan. The corporate provides details like: past financial
statements, details of the loan requirement, cash flow projection for
the period of the loan, details of the security being provided etc. De-
pending on the loan type and bank requirements, various other infor-
mation would need to be provided by the corporate.
 The concerned division of the bank prepares the detailed analysis of
the corporate financial statements. A detailed study is also done on
the corporate’s products, market segment, competitors etc to ascer-
tain the strength of the corporate’s business. A report is prepared to
capture the above details.
 Based on the above report, the concerned division of the bank as-
signs a rating to the corporate. The rating captures various factors
like strength of business, financial state of the corporate, ability to
repay the loan based on cash flow projections, promoter background
etc.
 A committee of the bank evaluates the loan proposal and decides to
sanction/reject the same.
 Once sanctioned, the bank provides a sanction letter to the corporate
providing details of the loan terms and conditions.
 After the corporate accepts the same, a loan agreement is signed
between the bank and the corporate. The loan agreement captures
various conditions of the loan like repayment mode, repayment pe-
riod, interest payable, security provided, other conditions etc. The
loan becomes ‘committed’ at this stage.
 Foundation Course in Banking

 The bank disburses the required amount under the loan committed.
This amount is called the ‘disbursed amount’ under the loan. Give
the money

Interest is usually paid on the disbursed amount of the loan. In some cases, a nominal interest if
also payable on the committed amount of the loan. Also, in most cases, the corporate would have
to pay a certain amount as processing fees for the loan. This would cover the bank’s overhead
costs in the loan process.

CORPORATE CREDIT RATING

Before sanctioning a loan to a corporate, the bank does a detailed assessment of its financials
and business strength as discussed in the earlier section. This process ends with the bank as -
signing a rating to the corporate for the loan facility.
Ratings are usually specified in alphanumeric terminologies. Rating levels might vary from AAA
(highest), AA+, AA- to default ratings like D. Rating terminologies might vary across banks and
across various loan tenures. The rating level specifies a certain probability of default of the loan. It
also takes in to account the protection offered by the security of the loan.
For corporates with higher ratings, banks provide loans at lower interest rates and vice versa. In
most cases, banks do a rating process for each of its corporate clients at the end of say, every
year or every quarter. This helps banks to continuously track the financials and market position of
the corporate.

Credit enhancements
Credit enhancement is a mechanism used to increase the original rating of a loan for a corporate.
Credit enhancements can be in the form of pledge of shares, cash collateral, corporate or bank
guarantees etc.

Example:
A corporate rated BB (low rating) requires a loan of USD 5.0 million from a bank. To enhance the
loan rating and thus reduce interest payable on the loan, the promoters pledges their share
holding in the company with the bank. Thus, whenever there is a default on repayment of the
loan, the bank has the right to sell the shares in the market. Based on the historic volatility of the
shares and the current market value of USD 6.0 mn, the bank upgrades the rating of the loan to
BBB+.

TYPES OF LOANS

Term loans
These loans can either be short term loans or long term loans.
Long-term loans are extended for purposes like new projects, capacity expansion or plant mod-
ernization. These loans are usually repayable over a 2-7 year period after an initial moratorium
period (period during which loan repayments are not required) to help the corporate complete im-
plementation of the project before revenue generation takes place.

Example
 Foundation Course in Banking

On April 15, 2004, AT&T borrows a term loan of USD 200 million from Citibank for funding
their IT modernization project across the nation. The loan is repayable in 16 quarterly
installments starting April 15, 2005, after an initial moratorium of 4 quarters. The interest
payable would be LIBOR+0.5% payable quarterly. The loans would be secured by AT&T
equipment at their HQ, worth USD 300 mn.

Short term loans are extended usually for meeting working capital requirements. The loans can
be repayable in various tenures starting from a week to as long as 1 year. The loans are either re-
payable in fixed installments or in one bullet installment at the end of the period. In some cases,
short term loans are backed by promissory notes which are legal instruments that guarantee
payment of a certain amount on a specified due date.

Corporate bonds
Corporate bonds are used for the same purpose as term loans, but the loan is backed by a trans-
ferable instrument which guarantees payment from the corporate as per specified conditions.
Thus, corporate bonds are tradable and banks can sell them to a third party who receives the
right to get payments from the corporate. Bonds are rated depending on the rating of the corpo -
rate and depending on the rating, the market demands varying amounts of interest. A certain
class of bonds called junk bonds is issued by corporates with very low credit ratings and carries
very high rates of interest.

Working Capital
For any business, there would be current assets in the form of cash, receivables, raw material in-
ventory, goods for sale inventory etc while there would be current liabilities in the form of
payables and other short term liabilities. Part of the current assets would be funded through cur-
rent liabilities while the rest would have to be funded through a mixture of short term and long
term loans. As per norms, 25% of the working capital gap would have to be funded by long term
sources like equity or term loans while the rest 75% can be funded through short term loans and
overdraft limits.
Banks conduct a detailed assessment of the current assets and liabilities for a corporate and ar-
rive at a suitable working capital limit. For purpose of calculating limits, banks typically include
only receivables which are less than 6 months old. Also within the specified limit, banks keep re-
viewing the current asset and current liability position of a company to arrive at the drawing power
for each month. Corporates are allowed to borrow up to the working capital limit or the drawing
power, whichever is lower.
Overdraft limits are extended to help the corporate manage the day-to-day cash flow needs of the
business. The bank makes available a certain sum of money for a period of time (say, USD 20.0
million for a period of 1 year). There would be a separate account called the overdraft account
created to monitor withdrawals under this loan. Whenever the corporate has a deficit in its main
business account, it can draw money from the overdraft account (up to the limit of USD 20.0 mil-
lion). It can also put back money in the overdraft account as and when they have surpluses in the
business account. Interest is calculated by the bank on the various end-of-day deficits in the over-
draft account and is usually payable by the corporate at the end of every month.

Lines of credit
These are short term loans sanctioned for a fixed validity period, allowing the corporate to draw
the loan as and when required within the validity period and repay the loan after a certain period
(repayment period). Interest is either repayable in certain intervals or in one bullet installment at
 Foundation Course in Banking

the end of the repayment period. In many cases, the lines of credit are of a revolving nature. The
same is explained via the example provided below:

Example
Citibank sanctions a line of credit of USD 10.0 mn to AT&T, valid for a period of 3 years. Within
the 3 year period, AT&T can borrow any amount at any point of time, such that the cumulative
outstanding is below USD 10.0 mn on any date. Each of these borrowals are repayable with
interest at the end of 30 days from the date of borrowal. Since AT&T can thus ‘revolve’ the limit
any number of times within the specified limit and validity period, these are called revolving lines
of credit.

Bill discounting
Bill discounting is another form of working capital financing. A bill (Bill of Exchange) is a financial
instrument by which one party promises to pay the other party a certain amount of money on a
specified due date. This is transferable and the final holder of the bill holds the right to receive the
payment from the concerned party. The corporate would have bills of exchange which are drawn
on their dealers, which entitle the corporate to receive certain amounts of money from the dealer
after a pre-defined credit period. The corporate can then transfer the bill to the bank and get a
discounted amount upfront. The bank collects the interest on the bill amount for the specified pe -
riod upfront in this process called bill discounting. On the due date, the bank collects the payment
from the concerned party directly.

Commercial Paper
Commercial Paper (CPs as commonly known) is an instrument by which a corporate borrows
money from banks for short periods of time. A CP binds the corporate to make a payment equal
to the face value of the CP to the issuing bank on a specified due date. In this sense, a CP is like
a short term unsecured loan. However, a CP is tradable in the market – the bank can sell the CP
to a third party. For this reason, banks charge lesser interest on CPs than normal short term
loans. However, since CPs are unsecured and are to be tradable in the market, banks provide CP
lending to only highly rated corporates.

Leasing
Leasing is another form of bank financing. In leasing, the bank purchases real estate, equipment,
or other fixed assets on behalf of the corporate and grants use of the same for a specified time to
the corporate in exchange for payment, usually in the form of rent. The owner of the leased prop -
erty is called the lessor, the user the lessee. Lease payments (which include principal and interest
payments usually) can be shown by corporates as operating expenses and hence leases are
used by some corporates as a substitute for loans to get better tax benefits.

Supplier and dealer loans

These are short term loans provided by banks to suppliers and dealers of large companies.
These loans usually have conditions which ensure that there is sufficient support from the corpo-
rate in case the supplier or a dealer defaults. Thus, using the support from the corporate, the sup -
pliers/dealers can borrow money from the bank at a lower rate of interest than otherwise possible.
Such loans help the corporates to develop a stronger base of suppliers and dealers, which often
helps them in improving their business.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Asset Securitisation loans

Asset Securitisation loans are loans which are backed by specified future cash flows or other as -
sets of the corporate. These loans help corporates to release excess cash flows from existing re-
ceivables or future receivables.

Example
Citibank provides a loan of USD 250.0 mn to Royal Dutch Shell, securitizing cash flows from
future monthly sale of oil explored from its specified offshore rig. In this case, there would be a
mechanism to ensure that money from monthly sale of oil explored from the specified rig for the
period of the loan would be used to service payment of interest and principal of the loan to
Citibank. Citibank would do a detailed assessment of oil exploration potential, study oil prices and
ensure proper cash flow trapping mechanisms before disbursing the loan to Royal Dutch Shell.

CLASSIFICATION OF LOANS BY THE BANK

1. Classification of Drawn Loans

Loans are classified and accounted for as follows:

Accrual—Loans that management has the intent and the ability to hold for the foreseeable future
or until maturity/loan payoff. Accrual loans are reported on the balance sheet at the principal
amount outstanding, net of charge-offs, allowance for loan losses, unearned income, and any net
deferred loan fees.
Held-for-sale—Loan or loan portfolios that management intends to sell or securitize.
Trading—Loans where management has the ability and intent to trade or make markets (i.e.,
sell/hedge the credit risk.) Loans held for trading purposes are included in Trading Assets and are
carried at fair value, with the gains and losses included in Trading Revenue provided that the cri-
teria outlined in this policy are met.

2. Classification of Undrawn Loan Commitments

Loan commitments are generally classified as accrual and recorded off-balance sheet.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Differences between loan and commitment are as follows; -

Loans are reflected in the asset side of the bank’s balance sheet. Commitments are
‘off-balance sheet’ items and are reflected in the contingent asset side of the balance
sheet.
 The amount of the loan that is disbursed is credited to the account of the borrower. In
case of a commitment, there is no disbursement or credit to a borrower’s account.
 The fee charged on a loan is a function of the disbursed amount. The fee charged on
commitment is a function of the amount of commitment that is not utilized.

CREDIT DERIVATIVES

Credit derivatives are financial contracts that transfer credit risk from one party to another, facili-
tating greater efficiency in the pricing and distribution of credit risk among market players.

Example
The holder of a debt security issued by XYZ Corp. enters into a contract with a derivatives dealer
whereby he will make periodic payments to the dealer in exchange for a lump sum payment in the
event of default by XYZ Corp. during the term of the derivatives contract. As a result of such a
contract, the investor has effectively transferred the risk of default by XYZ Corp. to the dealer. In
market parlance, the corporate bond investor in this example is the buyer of protection, the dealer
is the protection seller, and the issuer of the corporate bond is called the reference entity.

Uses of Credit Derivatives

Like any other derivative instrument, credit derivatives can be used either to take on more risk or
to avoid (hedge) it. A market player who is exposed to the credit risk of a given corporation can
hedge such an exposure by buying protection in the credit derivatives market. Likewise, an in-
vestor may be willing to take on that credit risk by selling protection and thus enhance the ex-
pected return on his portfolio.

Credit derivatives can be used to create positions that can otherwise not easily be established in
the cash market. For instance, consider an investor who has a negative view on the future
prospects of a given corporation. One strategy for such an investor would be to short the bonds
issued by the corporation, but the corporate repo market for taking short positions in corporates is
not well developed. Instead, the investor can buy protection by way of credit default swap. If the
corporation defaults, the investor is able to buy the defaulted debt for its recovery value in the
open market and sell it to its credit derivatives counterparty for its face value.

Banks use credit derivatives both to diversify their credit risk exposures and to free up capital
from regulatory constraints. As an example, consider a bank that wants to diminish its exposure
to a given client, but does not want to incur the costs of transferring loans made to that client to
another bank. The bank can, without having to notify its client, buy protection against default by
the client in the credit derivatives market: Even though the loans remain on the bank's books, the
 Foundation Course in Banking

associated credit risk has been transferred to the bank's counterparty in the credit derivative con -
tract.
The above example can also be used to illustrate banks' usage of credit derivatives to reduce
their regulatory capital requirements. Under current Basle standards, for a corporate borrower,
the bank is generally required to hold 8 percent of its exposure as a regulatory capital reserve.
However, if its credit derivatives counterparty happens to be a bank located in an OECD country,
and the bank can demonstrate that the credit risk associated with the loans has been effectively
transferred to the OECD bank, then the bank's regulatory capital charge falls from 8 percent to
1.6 percent.

Example

Let us visualize a bank, say Bank A which has specialized itself in lending to the office equip -
ment segment. Out of experience of years, this bank has acquired a specialized knowledge of
the equipment industry. There is another bank, Bank B, which is, say, specialized in the cotton
textiles industry. Both these banks are specialized in their own segments, but both suffer from
risks of portfolio concentration. Bank A is concentrated in the office equipment segment and
bank B is focused on the textiles segment. Understandably, both the banks should diversify
their portfolios to be safer.

One obvious option for both of them is: Bank A should invest in an unrelated portfolio, say tex-
tiles. And Bank B should invest in a portfolio in which it has not invested still, say, office equip -
ment. Doing so would involve inefficiency for both the banks: as Bank A does not know
enough of the textiles segment as bank A does not know anything of the office equipment
segment.

Here, credit derivatives offer an easy solution: both the banks, without transferring their portfo-
lio or reducing their portfolio concentration, could buy into the risks of each other. So bank B
buys a part of the risks of the portfolio that is held by Bank A, and vice versa, for a fee. Both
continue to hold their portfolios, but both are now diversified. Both have diversified their risks.

Types of Credit Derivatives

Credit derivatives can be classified in two main groups: Single name instruments are those that
involve protection against default by a single reference entity. Multi-name credit derivatives are
contracts that are contingent on default events in a pool of reference units.
 Foundation Course in Banking

TREASURY SERVICES

The Treasury Services department is concerned with managing the financial risks of the
bank. Hence, the treasurer's job is to understand the nature of these risks, the way they interact
with the business, and to minimize or to offset them. In many cases, the treasury services depart-
ment also provides cash management solutions for customers of the bank. The Treasury services
department of a bank performs the following functions:
 Managing the cash position of the bank, managing liquidity and as-
sociated risks
 Forex services: provides forex services to corporates, enters in to
deals with multiple counterparties to maintain a risk-managed posi-
tion for the bank.
 Risk management services: provides risk management products like
swaps, options etc to corporates and enters in to multiple deals with
various counterparties to maintain a risk-managed position for the
bank.
 Conducts research on various market factors, monitors interest rate
and economic scenario etc
 Cash Management services for corporates – managing collections
and payments
Typically, the treasury has a front office desk which enters in to trades (in forex, money markets,
equity, treasury securities etc) with various market participants and a middle office/back office
desk which monitors positions and provides operational support.
Most large investment banks provide Treasury Services to their clients. Treasury domain in-
cludes
 Fixed Income : An investment that provides a return in the form of
fixed periodic payments and eventual return of principle at maturity.
Unlike a variable-income security where payments change based on
some underlying measure, such as short-term interest rates, fixed-in-
come securities payments are known in advance.
 Money Markets : The money market is a subsection of the fixed in-
come market. The difference between the money market and the
fixed income market is that the money market specializes in very
short-term debt securities (debt that matures in less than one year).
Money market investments are also called cash investments be-
cause of their short maturities. Some of the popular money market
instruments include Certificates of Deposit (CD), Commercial Paper
(CP), Treasury Bills (T-Bills)
 Foreign Exchange : The market for buying and selling of currencies
is called the Foreign Exchange market (FX ). It is a 24 hour non-stop
market. Some of the major Currency traded include – The US Dol-
lar (USD), The Japanese Yen (JPY), The Euro (EUR), The Great
Britain Pound (GBP), The Swiss Frank (CHF). FX rates express the
value of one currency in terms of another currency. They involve
o The commodity currency - the currency being priced, usually 1 unit or a fixed amount of
currency.
o The terms currency - the currency used to express the price of the commodity, in vary-
ing amounts of
 Foundation Course in Banking

 OTC Derivatives : Over the counter (OTC) markets are a form of

Secondary markets. World over Secondary markets are classified
as Listed and OTC. Listed markets typically are exchanges where a
security is listed and traded. A decentralized market of securities not
listed on a exchange where market participants trade over the tele-
phone, facsimile or electronic network instead of a physical trading
floor or electronic order matching systems. There is no central ex-
change or meeting place for this market. Typically Currency instru-
ments are traded OTC. A derivative contract derives its value based
on the value of some basic underlying. The underlying may be any
instrument like a bond, a stock or a market index, currency or inter-
est rates. Some of the instruments traded OTC include
o Forward Rate Agreement (FRA) - A contract that determines the rate of interest, or cur-
rency exchange rate, to be paid, or received, on an obligation beginning at a some future
start date. It is also referred to as Future Rate Agreement.
o Interest Rate Swap (IRS) - A deal between banks or companies where borrowers switch
floating-rate loans for fixed rate loans in another country. These can be either the same
or different currencies. The motive may be the competitive advantage of one company to
have access to lower fixed rates than another company. The other company may be
competitively placed to have access to lower floating rates. A swap would be beneficial
to both. The swap is measured by its notional principal.
 FX Options : Forex Options give the holder the right to buy or sell a
currency in terms of another currency at a particular rate on a partic-
ular date or within a period of time. The option to buy is called as a
Call Option and the option to sell is called as a Put Option.
 Equity Options – These are similar to FX options the only difference
is the underlying. The underlying in case of Equity Options are
stocks or stock market indices. When the underlying is a stock mar-
ket index the term used is Index Option and the term used to refer
options on individual stocks is Stock Option
 Credit Derivatives - Privately held negotiable bilateral contracts that
allow users to manage their exposure to credit risk. Credit Deriva-
tives are financial assets like forward contracts, swaps, and options
for which the price is driven by the credit risk of economic agents
(private investors or governments). For example, a bank concerned
that one of its customers may not be able to repay a loan can protect
itself against loss by transferring the credit risk to another party while
keeping the loan on its books.

Functions of the Treasury Manager

 Ensure availability of funds – An integrated treasury typically would

include debt market, money market and forex transactions. Treasury
manager needs to ensure that adequate funds are available to cover
the settlement obligations of the said transactions.
 Manage all foreign currency transactions for the bank
 Manage various risks:
o Liquidity – Risk of asset and liability cash flow mismatch. A bank may not have adequate
funds for the settlement of its transactions or to pay its customers because of mis-
matches in the tenor of its receivables
 Foundation Course in Banking

o Interest rate – Risk due to volatility of interest rates. A bank may have borrowed at float-
ing rates of interest and lent at fixed rate of interest and the interest rates moves up
o Currency – Risk due to volatility in exchange rates. A bank may have its payment obliga -
tions in a currency say USD and the rate to purchase the said currency goes up
 Commodity – Risk due to volatility in commodity prices. A bank may
have an obligation to deliver a commodity in the future and the price
of the commodity moves up
 Cash Management Services - CMS is a service provided by banks to
its corporate clients for a fee to reduce the float on collections and to
ease the bulk payment transactions of the client. The three elements
of CMS are:
o Receivables Management –Helps the company to manage collection of its sale proceeds
from remote upcountry regions
o Payables Management – Helps the company to manage its payments to its regular sup -
pliers without keeping numerous bank accounts for various locations and then reconciles
them periodically in a highly manual / paper-based environment
o Liquidity Management – Helps the company by ensuring direct and instant access to its
bank accounts. It should not happen that a company has excess funds in one bank ac-
count and it needs to pay through another bank account where there are no funds
 Managing Liquidity & Interest Rate risks
o Asset Liability Management – A bank’s assets and liabilities need to necessarily match.
If they don’t the bank may have liquidity problems which would endanger its solvency.
The long term assets should not be financed by short term sources of funds. The bank
would not be able to serve its lenders if the timings of its inflows do not match its out -
flows. A bank typically uses mathematical tools like Duration, Gap Analysis to find out
mismatches and take corrective actions

Example

 A bank borrows USD 100MM at 3.00% for one year

 The bank uses this borrowed money to lend to a highly-rated borrower for 5 years at 3.20%.

For simplicity, assume interest rates are annually compounded and all interest accumulates to the
maturity of the respective obligations. The net transaction appears profitable—the bank is earning
a 20 basis point spread—but it entails considerable risk.

At the end of one year, the bank will have to find new financing for the loan, which will have 4
more years before it matures. Assume interest rates are at 4.00% at the end of the first year.

 The Bank will now have to pay a higher rate of interest (4.00%) on the new financing than the
fixed 3.20 it is earning on its loan. It is going to be earning 3.20% on its loan and paying
4.00% on its financing.
The problem in this simple example was caused by a maturity mismatch between assets and lia -
bilities. As long as interest rates experienced only modest fluctuations, losses due to asset-liabil -
ity mismatches are small or trivial. However, in a period of volatile interest rates, the mismatches
would become serious.
 Foundation Course in Banking

The treasury asset-liability management (ALM) group assesses asset-liability risk and all banks
have ALM committees comprised of senior managers to address the risk. Techniques for assess -
ing asset-liability risk came to include gap analysis, duration analysis and scenario analysis. Gap
analysis looks at amount of assets and liabilities in various maturity buckets while Dura -
tion analysis looks at weighted average maturity of cash flows to compare assets and lia -
bilities. Since liquidity management is closely linked to asset-liability management, assessment
and management of liquidity risk is also a function of ALM departments and ALM committees.
ALM strategies often include securitization, which allows firms to directly address asset-liability
risk by removing assets or liabilities from their balance sheets. This not only eliminates asset-lia -
bility risk; it also frees up the balance sheet for new business.

 Interest rate risk management

o Manage risks due to volatility of interest rates - Demand and supply of money go on
changing from time to time making interests rates volatile. A bank may have accepted
deposits at a fixed rate of interest historically. However current market rates may be
lower when it wishes to lend. The bank’s portfolio value of investments in bonds and
treasury also varies inversely with the interest rates. A higher interest rate diminishes the
value of a bank’s portfolio and vice versa. Instruments like interest rate swaps and cur -
rency swaps help to address Interest Rate risks
Causes of interest rate risk
The causes of interest rate risk might vary:
 Repricing risk: The primary form of interest rate risk arises from tim-
ing differences in the maturity (for fixed rate) and repricing (for float -
ing rate) of bank assets, liabilities and off-balance-sheet (OBS) posi-
tions. For instance, a bank that funded a long-term fixed rate loan
with a short-term deposit could face a decline in both the future in-
come arising from the position and its underlying value if interest
rates increase.

 Yield curve risk: Yield curve risk arises when unanticipated shifts of
the yield curve (a plot of investment yields against maturity periods)
have adverse effects on a bank's income or underlying economic
value. Yield curves can shift parallel or change in steepness, posing
different risks. For instance, the underlying economic value of a long
position in 10-year government bonds hedged by a short position in
5-year government notes could decline sharply if the yield curve
steepens, even if the position is hedged against parallel movements
in the yield curve.

 Basis risk: Basis risk arises from imperfect correlation in the adjust-
ment of the rates earned and paid on different instruments with oth-
erwise similar repricing characteristics. For example, a strategy of
funding a one year loan that reprices monthly based on the one
month U.S. Treasury Bill rate, with a one-year deposit that reprices
monthly based on one month Libor, exposes the institution to the risk
that the spread between the two index rates may change unexpect-
edly.

 Optionality: An additional and increasingly important source of inter-

est rate risk arises from the options embedded in many bank assets,
 Foundation Course in Banking

liabilities and OBS portfolios. Options may be stand alone instru-

ments such as exchange-traded options and over-the-counter (OTC)
contracts, or they may be embedded within otherwise standard in-
struments. They include various types of bonds and notes with call or
put provisions, loans which give borrowers the right to prepay bal-
ances, and various types of non-maturity deposit instruments which
give depositors the right to withdraw funds at any time, often without
any penalties. If not adequately managed, the asymmetrical payoff
characteristics of instruments with optionality features can pose sig-
nificant risk particularly to those who sell them, since the options
held, both explicit and embedded, are generally exercised to the ad-
vantage of the holder and the disadvantage of the seller.

Managing interest rate risk

Bank treasuries measure interest rate sensitivity of securities (assets or liabilities) through Dura-
tion analysis. Duration is a mathematical concept which can be used to measure the sensitivity of
a financial instrument’s price to changes in interest rate. On the basis of duration analysis, banks
can increase/decrease holdings of long term and short term securities in response to anticipated
changes in interest rate.
Banks also use derivative instruments like interest rate swaps and options to manage interest
rate risks (A derivative is a generic term often used to categorize a wide variety of financial instru-
ments whose value “depends on” or is “derived from” the value of an underlying asset, reference
rate or index). Some of them are:
o Interest Rate Swap: An agreement to exchange net future cash flows. In its
commonest form, the fixed-floating swap, one counterparty pays a fixed rate and
the other pays a floating rate based on a reference rate, such as Libor. There is
no exchange of principal. The interest rate payments are made on an agreed no-
tional amount.
o Forward Rate Agreement (FRA): A FRA allows purchasers / sellers to fix the in-
terest rate for a specified period in advance. One party pays fixed, the other an
agreed variable rate. Maturities are generally out to two years and are priced off
the underlying yield curve. The transaction is done in respect of an agreed nomi-
nal amount and only the difference between contracted and actual rates is paid.
o Interest Rate Guarantee: An option on a forward rate agreement (FRA), also
known as a FRAtion. Purchasers have the right, but not the obligation, to pur-
chase a FRA at a predetermined strike. Caps and Floors are strips of interest
rate guarantees.
o Swaption: An option to enter an interest rate swap. A payer swaption gives the
purchaser the right to pay fixed (receive floating), a receiver swaption gives the
purchaser the right to receive fixed (pay floating).

 Forex Management – Similar to interest rates, the forex rates of

countries who have not pegged their currencies vary from time to
time. This exposes its market participants to risk of adverse move-
ments of exchange rates. FX Forwards and Forex Options provide
a means of reducing exchange rate risks by entering into contracts at
fixed rates thereby making the outcome predictable

Foreign exchange is essentially about exchanging one currency for another. Forex rates between
two currencies at any point of time are influenced by a variety of factors like state of the economy,
 Foundation Course in Banking

interest rates & inflation rate, exchange rate systems (fixed/floating), temporary demand-supply
mismatches, foreign trade position etc.
Foreign exchange exposures for a financial entity arise from many different activities. A company
which borrows money in a foreign currency is at risk when the local currency depreciates vis-à-vis
the foreign currency. An exporter who sells its product in foreign currency has the risk that if the
value of that foreign currency falls then the revenues in the exporter's home currency will be
lower. An importer who buys goods priced in foreign currency has the risk that the foreign cur -
rency will appreciate thereby making the cost in local currency greater than expected. Generally
the aim of foreign exchange risk management is to stabilise the cash flows and reduce uncer-
tainty from financial forecasts.
Since a bank is usually a counter party to the above transactions, it faces similar forex Risk when
the reverse happens.

Basics of forex
Currencies are quoted in one of the two ways:
 Direct Quotation (1 USD = INR 45.26) &
 Indirect Quotation (INR 100 = USD 2.21).
‘Direct’ or ‘Indirect’ are always vis-à-vis the US dollar perceptive. In practice, all currencies except
the British Pound are quoted in the direct quotation method. Since rates for all currencies are
quoted vis-à-vis the US dollar, cross currency rates (example: INR/Euro) would be obtained by
combining the two primary currency quotes vis-à-vis the US dollar.
Also, quotes usually have two parts: the bid rate (rate at which the bank will purchase US dollars
against home currency in case of direct quotes) and the ask rate (rate at which the bank will sell
US dollars against home currency in case of direct quotes). The bid rate will always be lesser
than the ask rate to cover for operational charges and profit margins of the banks. Examples are:
 INR/USD quote: 45.26/.36 (here, 0.01 is the smallest count, referred
to as one ‘pip’)
 EUR/USD quote: 1.2458/.2461 (here, 0.0001 is the smallest count,
referred to as one ‘pip’)
While the derived cross currency rate would be:
INR/Euro quote: (45.26*1.2461)/ (45.36*1.2458) = 56.40/.51

Foreign currency deals in a particular currency necessary have to be settled in the home nation of
the currency. Hence, banks taking part in international transactions need to maintain accounts in
various countries to enable transacting in those currencies. These accounts are of multiple types:
 Nostro (Our/my account with you): Current account maintained by
one bank with another bank abroad in the latter’s home currency
 Vostro (Their account with me/us): Current account maintained in the
home currency by one bank in the name of another bank based
abroad
Typically, banks have vostro/nostro accounts with multiple foreign banks.

Spot and Forward Foreign Exchange Contracts

 Foundation Course in Banking

The most basics tools of forex risk management are 'spot' and 'forward' contracts. These are con-
tracts between end users and financial institutions that specify the terms of an exchange of two
currencies. In any forex contract there are a number of variables that need to be agreed upon and
they are:
 The currencies to be bought and sold - in every contract there are
two currencies the one that is bought and the one that is sold
 The amount of currency to be bought or sold
 The date at which the contract matures
 The rate at which the exchange of currencies will occur
The exchange rates advertised either in the newspapers (and that mentioned above) or on the
various information services assume a deal with a maturity of two business days ahead - a deal
done on this basis is called a spot deal. In a spot transaction the currency that is bought will be
receivable in two days whilst the currency that is sold will be payable in two days. This applies to
all major currencies with the exception of the Canadian Dollar.
Most market participants want to exchange the currencies at a time other than two days in ad -
vance but would like to know the rate of exchange now. This is done through a forward contract
to exchange the currencies at a specified exchange rate at a specified date. In determining the
rate of exchange in six months time there are two components:
 the current spot rate
 the forward rate adjustment
The spot rate is simply the current market rate as determined by supply and demand. The for -
ward rate adjustment is a slightly more complicated calculation that involves the interest rates of
the currencies involved.
Forward rate (Local currency/USD) = Spot rate *(1+ interest rate in US) / (1+ local interest
rate), with interest rates adjusted for the period of the forward rate. The concept behind this equa-
tion is that if you defer the value date of a spot transaction each party will have the funds that they
would have paid to invest. The difference between a forex spot rate and the forward rate for a
particular tenure is called the forward premium for that tenure. Currencies can have forward pre -
miums or forward discounts vis-à-vis the US dollar.
Forex risk can also be covered through forex future contracts. Futures are exactly similar to for-
wards, except for the fact that these deals are brokered through an exchange, non-customizable
(only standard deals available) and hence, not prone to counter-party risk.

Bifurcation of All major markets (Equities, Bond, FX, Derivatives)

 Small and Larger Orders – Equity markets are characterized by
smaller orders as compared to the markets for other financial instru-
ments because of more retail participation
 Liquidity – Exchange traded instruments are more liquid
 Investor Profile – Equity markets have a more retail investor profile
as compared to markets for other financial instruments
 Routing – Deals in the Equity markets are routed to multiple desti-
nations where as deals in forex as well as debt markets are
“matched” internally
 Public v/s Private - Markets for equities are listed whereas certain
Derivatives are OTC
 Foundation Course in Banking

Treasury applications segments & vendors

Treasury Management Systems – Inter-bank

Cross-Asset Trading and Risk
 Sungard / Front Arena - FRONT ARENA is the definitive integrated
solution for sales, trading and risk management, operations and dis-
tribution across multiple asset classes. Its rich functionality enables
traders to make critical decisions with assurance. It is flexible across
a range of business areas gives which gives traders a competitive
edge in trading activities.
 Summit - Summit is a core solution for treasury management for
both financial and corporate institutions. Summit’s trading applica-
tions interact with operations and risk management platforms to pro-
vide a straight-through-processing solution. This allows front to back
management of all products within four primary business areas viz
Treasury, Fixed Income, Derivatives and Commercial lending
 Calypso - Calypso Technologies the world’s leading software
provider of credit derivatives, cross
asset trading, risk management, and processing. It offers a front-to-
back office system that allows traders flexibility to plug in their own
products.
 Wall Street Systems - Wall Street Systems delivers single-server,
enterprise-wide solutions to the world's leading financial institutions
and corporations The Wall Street System financial trading and trea-
sury engine provides a multi-entity, multi-currency, multi-asset class
environment which supports all front, middle and back office opera-
tions.

Treasury Sales – Bank to Customer

Single-bank platform
 Cognotec – Cognotec is the world's leading provider of automated
trading solutions to financial enterprises across the globe. They pro-
vide forex dealing solutions. They have partnered with world-leading
technology providers, multi-bank platforms and industry organiza-
tions.
 Integral - Integral is at the forefront of the eFX market in developing
new, highly innovative products. Integral is the provider of integrated
electronic trading systems, offering intuitive and innovative products
that automate and streamline the entire trading cycle.
Multi-bank platform
 Reuters RET - Reuters Electronic Trading provides a comprehen-
sive FX and money markets trading solution for banks.. It includes
Automated Dealing, an internet based FX and money market auto-
mated dealing capability, to enable the Bank's dealing room to price,
execute, confirm and manage FX and money market trading.
 Foundation Course in Banking

CASH MANAGEMENT

Cash Management Service (CMS) is a service provided by banks to its clients for a fee to re-
duce the float on collections and to ease the bulk payment transactions of the client. Large Cor-
porations like GM or Ford need to manage cash well since they have:
 Payments to multiple parties at various locations – Payments need to
be made to suppliers across the country. Typically these have sup-
pliers across the country to reduce dependence on one or a few sup-
pliers
 Collections from multiple parties at various locations - How does a
company collect its sale proceeds from remote upcountry regions?
 Multiple banking accounts at various locations
o Ensure local deficits and surpluses are managed – A corporate may be paying its em-
ployees salaries out of one bank account whereas it may be banking its receivables in
another bank account another location leading to surpluses and deficits in their bank ac -
counts
o Ensure net surplus is invested properly – If a corporate is unable to identify surpluses, a
corporate may risk keeping money idle leading to loss of interest income if it does not
prudently invest its net surpluses leading to
o Reduce operational costs associated with payments & collections – A CMS would help
optimize wasted operational cost on payments and collections
 Cash Management solutions help corporations:
o Devise an effective account & investment strategy to manage surpluses and deficits –
Pooling, Netting, Zero-balance structures
o Automate collections and payments process flows
o Outsource collections and payments administration & reconciliation

Example
Consider a consumer goods company in Mid-west US, with dealerships spread through 12 states.
The company has a manufacturing facility in Michigan and 4 depots, one each in Ohio, Michigan,
Illinois and Texas. The company transports goods to the 4 depots which serves the respective
local dealers and in some cases dealers in neighboring states. All the depots are treated as
independent cost centers, with sales from respective regions and salaries and general expenses
for these regions marked to the depot concerned. Collections from dealers in various locations
are managed by local sales teams, one team for each state. The company wants to:
 Ensure daily monitoring of collections from various states
 Sweep all local collections daily to a central bank account at Michigan
 Ensure that local accounts do not remain in debit when the central account is in credit.
 Provide facility for temporary intra-day overdraft for the local accounts
 Ensure that surplus money in the central account is invested in an optimal fashion while al -
lowing sufficient liquidity
 All payments from local accounts above $10,000 require an approval from the CFO sitting in
Michigan
 Foundation Course in Banking

This is a typical case where the company needs the services of a bank to manage its cash collec -
tions and payments. The company needs both cash management facilities and MIS of collections
and payments that can allow it to track revenue and expenses in the manner required.
Companies rarely fail because they are insolvent. They do fail because they are illiquid. Compa-
nies must focus on precise working capital management as a critical component of treasury strat-
egy. Companies require:
 rich information, to parallel the company’s cash flow cycle
 global cash concentration, through pooling mechanisms
 automated internal funding mechanisms for deficit positions
 Investment options to match individual profiles for liquidity, risk and
return.

Some of the offerings in Cash Management Services are -

Payment / Disbursement Offerings
 Payment service for corporations/retail customers
o Banks process payments on behalf of corporations – CMS provides its customers the
payment processing services which help corporations to reduce administrative hassles
and costs in doing so.
o Instruments - Checks/demand drafts/ Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) help in processing
payments
 Payment Initiation
o Manual instruction – Banks can act on manual instructions given by the corporations to
their bankers for processing payments. They typically take the form of cheques or drafts
o Floppy/Electronic media instructions – A list of beneficiaries and the corresponding
amounts are given in either a floppy or an other electronic media to their banks in the re-
quired formats which are used by the banks for processing payments
o Electronic banking applications – Electronic applications like ECS / EFT or individual
bank specific software packages can be made use of by corporations to effect transfers
 Bulk payments
CMS is very beneficial for processing repetitive / bulk payments in the nature listed below.
Economies of scale and reduction of administrative and related costs can be gained by cor-
porations
o Payroll processing
o Dividend warrants
o Redemptions

Collections Services
 Collect funds around the globe – CMS provides accurate and timely
collection of receivables worldwide
 Funds are credited to the cash management account
o Local collections – Refer to collections from suppliers / debtors who issue local cheques
o Outstation collections - Refer to collections from customers not in the base location of
the corporation
 Foundation Course in Banking

Banks have responded to the call for evolved cash management concepts. Accelerating accounts
receivable and streamlining accounts payable via a single banking system interface provide the
stepping stone to achieve optimal cash flow management. Some banks also provide aligned cash
management with liquidity and investment offerings. They do so by:
 developing optimal account structures
 applying cash concentration techniques like pooling and sweeping
 providing investment vehicles to maximize cash flows
 implementing foreign exchange and interest rate exposure netting
systems
 Establishing regional treasury and shared service centers.

The final objective of most of these cash management solutions is to effectively outsource the
corporate’s receivables and payables process and ensure the best possible liquidity and short
term investment management strategy. Moreover, increasingly, cash management (both pay-
ments and collections) are moving over to a web-based environment where the corporate can
manage his receivables, payables and liquidity position online. In many cases, there is almost-
complete integration between the bank and the company’s supply chain/ERP system which man-
ages collection and payments data internally. Some of the common methods used for cash man -
agement are described below.
Cheque Collections – Lock Box service
There are possibilities for optimizing and streamlining a company’s incoming payment flows. The
most common collection mechanism is a Cheques lock box service – a collecting service which
enables companies to collect and settle cheques locally (In a typical case, each of the corporate’s
debtors would send cheques along with accepted invoices to a designated post box, hence the
lock box name). Banks undertake to collect cheques at various pre-defined locations on behalf of
the customer, send them for clearing and credit the amount s to a specified customer account.
Once the cheques are collected by the bank through person, courier or delivered by the company
representative:
 the cheques are sorted and batched
 post dated cheques are kept for processing on the value date
 the image of the cheques and the remittance advices are captured
and sent to the corporate
 cheques are sent for clearing, if required
 realized cheques are tallied and amounts credited to the corporate’s
bank account
 the information on cheques collected is transmitted to the corporate
for electronic reconciliation
In enhanced versions of this facility, the bank manage the receivable books of the corporate -
managing collections, monitoring receivables ageing and providing reconciled collection reports
which can be directly uploaded to corporate information/supply chain systems.

Zero balance structure - Pooling

Pooling allows a company or several companies belonging to the same group profit from efficient
liquidity management, centralized treasury and credit-line management and optimization of inter-
est results. Banks offer both domestic and cross border zero balancing whereby all value bal-
 Foundation Course in Banking

ances of a set of 'participating' accounts are centralized at the end of each day in one central ac -
count. Thus the participating accounts will not bear any credit or debit interest, and all balances
are concentrated in the central account enabling optimal management of your cash position.

Netting
Netting is the fundamental method for centralising and offsetting intra company and third party
payments. Netting not only significantly reduces payment flows and costs, but also provides in -
valuable management information. Banks offer both domestic and cross-border netting solutions.

Clearing services
Banks offer clearing services to other banks. In such cases, a bank with strong local branch cov-
erage offers to participate in clearing arrangements on behalf of other banks with no physical
presence at these locations. Also clubbed under correspondent banking services, this facility pri-
marily helps use the branch networks of various banks on a complimentary basis.

New Act - Check 21

The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (Check 21) was signed into law on October 28,
2003, and became effective on October 28, 2004. The law facilitates check truncation by cre -
ating a new negotiable instrument called a substitute check, which permits banks to truncate
original checks, to process check information electronically, and to deliver substitute checks
to banks that want to continue receiving paper checks. A substitute check is the legal equiva -
lent of the original check and includes all the information contained on the original check. The
law does not require banks to accept checks in electronic form nor does it require banks to
use the new authority granted by the Act to create substitute checks.
o Electronic transmission of cheques by Check imaging - Banks find that exchanging elec -
tronic images of checks with other banks is faster and more efficient than physically
transporting paper checks. To address this need, Check 21 allows a bank to create and
send a substitute check that is made from an electronic image of the original check.
o Faster / efficient cheque realization – Since the electronic image of the cheque can be
quickly transmitted electronically, time required for transporting the physical paper
cheques is greatly reduced thereby effecting faster cheque realizations

DEVELOPMENTS IN TREASURY & CASH MANAGEMENT

Asset Securitisation
Financial institutions and banks need to raise fresh capital to fund continuous asset growth and
portfolio management. This has become a major challenge for many financial institutions and
banks due to tough capital market conditions and other market related factors. Asset securitisa-
tion can offer an alternative cost efficient financing tool, enabling them to better manage liquidity
and funding requirements.
Asset securitisation transactions have one basic concept: the identification and isolation of a sep -
arable pool of assets that generate revenue streams independently from the originating entity.
The securities issued on these assets are then sold to investors who base their returns exclu-
sively on the underlying assets’ performance. The structure is illustrated below:
 Foundation Course in Banking

All these entities need not be present in every transaction. The number of entities depends on the
complexity of the transaction. An example would help understand the concept better.

Example

Bank of America (Originator) has 5000 home loans totaling more than $600 million. The individual
loans are of various credit profiles and various repayment periods. Bank of America is con -
strained by lack of funds and wishes to sell off its loans to raise money. Thus, it decides to ‘sell’
about 2000 home loans totaling $200 million. The steps followed are shown below:

 Bank of America conducts an internal study of the portfolio and ascertains that the average
maturity of the pool of loans is about 12 years and the average credit rating would be AA-. It
realizes that historically 10% of the total home loan owners default. So it would only realize
$180 million instead of $200 million.

 Bank of America wants to enhance the rating so that it can ‘sell’ the loans at a better price. It
decides to provide a cash security of $10 million (Credit enhancement) in the scenario of any
repayment default by home loan borrowers.

 Bank of America appoints Credit rating agency X which analyses the pool of loans, and taking
into account the cash security provided rates it AA+.

 Bank of America ‘sells’ the pool of housing loans amounting to $200 million to a independent
firm, Plexus SPV Ltd.

 Backed by these home loan’s future cash flows, Plexus SPV Ltd. issues debt certificates for
$200 million to investors. Plexus pays back the investors the money from the repayments
done by the home loan borrowers.

 Plexus SPV Ltd. pays $198 million to Bank of America after deducting service charges to
cover operational costs.

 From now on, all EMI repayments on these home loans made by retail investors would flow
through Plexus SPV Ltd and then reaches the investors.
 Foundation Course in Banking

The above example captures the gist of any securitisation transaction, but there are a lot of struc-
turing issues and legal and regulatory challenges involved in any such transaction.
Fannie Mae and Ginnie Mae are examples of institutions specializing in securitisation transac-
tions of mortgage loans for US banks. They help US banks in having enough fresh funds for
home loan disbursements.

Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS)

The current payment system involves settlement of payments on a ‘settlement day’ and interest is
invariably computed to accrue on a daily basis. Even in the wholesale markets for foreign ex-
change and money markets contracts, ‘spot’ transactions mean two-business days. Settlement
for clearing cheques presented to the clearing houses takes place on a netting basis at a particu-
lar time either same day or on the next day. This system gives rise to risks such as credit risk, liq -
uidity risk, legal risk, operational risk and systemic risk.

RTGS is a system provides online settlement of payments between financial institutions. In this
system payment instructions between banks are processed and settled individually and continu-
ously throughout the day. This is in contrast to net settlements where payment instructions are
processed throughout the day but inter-bank settlement takes place only afterwards typically at
the end of the day. Participant banks will have to maintain a dedicated RTGS settlement account
with the central bank for outward and inward RTGS payments.

RTGS systems do not create credit risk for the receiving participant because they settle each
payment individually, as soon as it is accepted by the system for settlement.
RTGS system can require relatively large amounts of intraday liquidity because participants need
sufficient liquidity to cover their outgoing payments.

Continuous Linked Settlement (CLS)

The average daily turnover in global forex transactions stand at almost USD 2 trillion, with partici -
pants in the market spread across various geographies and time zones. However, the difference
in time zones and hence lack of synchronization of transactions has resulted in considerable
amount of systematic risk. Typically, one leg of a forex trade is affected at one point of time and
there would be a delay before the other leg is executed because of time-zone differences. In such
a situation, there is a heightened risk of one party defaulting.
CLS eliminates this ‘temporal’ settlement risk, making same-day settlement both possible and fi-
nal. This is made possible by leveraging on the fact that there are significant overlaps between
the main time zones. CLS provides a specific time window in which various settlement time zones
can interact and pass settlement messages. The CLS system consists of the following entities:
 CLS Bank: The CLS bank is the central node for the CLS system.
CLS Bank is owned by nearly 70 of the world’s largest financial
groups throughout the US, Europe and Asia Pacific, who are respon-
sible for more than half the value transferred in the world's FX mar-
ket.

 Settlement Members: They are shareholders of the CLS bank, who

can each submit settlement instructions directly to CLS Bank and re-
ceive information on the status of their instructions. Each Settlement
Member has a multi-currency account with CLS Bank, with the ability
to move funds. Settlement Members have direct access and input
deals on their own behalf and on behalf of their customers. They can
 Foundation Course in Banking

provide a branded CLS service to their third-party customers as part

of their agreement with CLS Bank.

 User Members: User Members can submit settlement instructions

for themselves and their customers. However, User Members do not
have an account with CLS Bank. Instead they are sponsored by a
Settlement Member who acts on their behalf. Each instruction sub-
mitted by a user member must be authorized by a designated Settle-
ment Member. The instruction is then eligible for settlement through
the Settlement Member's account.

 Third parties: Third parties are customers of settlement and user

members and have no direct access to CLS. Settlement or user
members must handle all instructions and financial flows, which are
consolidated in CLS.

 Nostro agents: These agents receive payment instructions from

Settlement Members and provide time-sensitive fund transfers to
Settlement Members' accounts at CLS Bank. They receive funds
from CLS Bank, User Members, third parties and others for credit to
the Settlement Member account.

The benefits of the CLS system are many:

 Traders can expand their FX business with counterparty banks with-
out increasing limits.
 Treasury managers have more certainty about intraday and end-of-
day cash positions.
 Global settlement can rationalize nostro accounts and leverage
multi-currency accounts.
 The volume and overall value of payments is reduced, as are cash-
clearing costs.
 Costly errors are minimized and any problems can be resolved fast.

Automated Clearing House facilities (ACH)

ACH transactions are electronic clearing transactions in which information about debits and cred-
its are passed across the clearing system through electronic data files rather than physical instru-
ments like cheques, drafts etc. ACH electronic transactions are distinguished from wire transfers
in that they are high volume, regularly scheduled, usually between the same parties, and are initi-
ated via specifically formatted electronic files. Such transactions must usually be initiated one to
two days prior to the settlement date, since they are batch processed and not for immediate pay -
ment. The most common ACH payment applications are:
 Direct deposit of payroll, where the bank debits the corporate ac-
count and credits employee accounts on the basis of a electronic file
transmitted/provided by the corporate
 Foundation Course in Banking

 Corporate Disbursement Service, where the bank debits a client's

account to initiate payments to vendors on their behalf
 Corporate Collection Service, where the bank enables it’s clients to
collect payments and remittance data from vendors or trading part-
ners.
 Collection of consumer payments over the telephone, through the In-
ternet or via check-to-ACH conversion.
 ACH Accounts Receivable Check Conversion enables converting
checks collected at a lockbox or remittance-processing center to
ACH electronic debits, speeding payment collections and improving
funds availability.
These services allow the customer to increase transaction speed and improve accuracy and ease
of reconciliation by electronic means and avoidance of physical instruments and clearing delays.
ACH has been an area of very strong growth, with over 8.5 billion transactions being effected
through this route in 2002. However, several security issues remain to be resolved in this area.

TRADE FINANCE

The main objective of trade finance is to facilitate transactions. There are many financing options
available to facilitate international trade such as pre-shipment finance to produce or purchase a
product, and post-shipment finance of the receivables.

PRE SHIPMENT LOANS

Banks provide Pre-shipment finance - working capital for purchase of raw materials, processing
and packaging of the export commodities.

POST SHIPMENT LOANS

Post-shipment financing assists exporters to bridge their liquidity needs where exports are made
under deferred payment basis. A typical example of post-shipment financing is bills discounting.

Bills discounting facility serves to provide liquidity to an exporter by advancing him/her a portion
of the face value of a trade bill drawn by the exporter, accepted by the buyer and endorsed to the
Bank.

In competitive supply situations, favorable terms of payment often ensure that the order is
won. An exporter usually wants to get paid as quickly as possible and an importer will want to pay
as late as possible – preferably after they have sold the goods. Trade finance is often required to
bridge these two disparate objectives.

Question
Pre-shipment finance is liquidated only through realizations of export bills or amounts received
through export incentives. Pre shipment finance should not normally remain outstanding be-
yond the original stipulated shipment date. In case it remains outstanding, can the non-ad-
justed amount be then transferred as post shipment finance?
 Foundation Course in Banking

FACTORS IN CHOOSING THE MODE OF FINANCING

 Costs: The cost of different financing methods can vary, both in
terms of interest rates and fees. These costs will impact the viability
of a transaction
 Time Frame: Depending on the need, short, medium and long-term
finance facilities may be available. The different possibilities should
be explored with the finance provider prior to concluding a transac-
tion. Long-term requirements should also be considered to ensure
fees are not being paid out on a revolving facility that could be saved
by using a different financing structure
 Risk Factors: The nature of the product or service, the buyers’
credit rating and country/political risks can all affect the security of a
trading transaction. In some cases it will be necessary to obtain ex-
port insurance or a confirmed letter of credit. Increased risks will nor-
mally correspond to increased cost in a transaction and will normally
make the funding of a particular transaction, harder to obtain
 Government Guarantee Programs: These can sometimes be ob-
tained where there is some question over the exporter’s ability to
perform or where increased credit is needed. If obtained, these may
enable a lender to provide more finance than their usual underwriting
limits would permit.
 Exporters’ Funds: If the exporter has sufficient resources, he/she
may be able to extend credit without the need for third party financ-
ing. However, an established trade finance provider, offers other
benefits like expert credit verification and risk assessment as well as
an international network of offices and staff to ensure that the trans -
action is completed safely and satisfactorily

BILL OF LADING
A bill of lading or BOL is:
 A contract between a carrier and a shipper for the transportation of
goods.
 A receipt issued by a carrier to a shipper for goods received for
transportation.
 Evidence of title to the goods in case of a dispute.
The BOL grants the carrier the right to sub-contract its obligations on any terms and would bind a
shipper even if it meant that the shipper's goods could be detained and sold by the sub-contrac -
tor.

CREDIT CHECK
Insuring payment starts long before a contract is signed. The seller, or his representative, per-
forms ‘due diligence’ or a reasonable assessment of the risks posed by the potential buyer. The
sources of information include:
 Chambers of commerce, Business Bureaus or their equivalents
 Foundation Course in Banking

 Credit rating services such as TRW and Dun & Bradstreet which
have international affiliates
 Trade associations and trade promotion organizations
 Freight forwarders, brokers, and banks
 Direct references from the buyer

PAYMENT METHODS
Once acceptable risks have been determined then the most appropriate payment method can be
selected. The most common payment methods are described below:
 Cash in advance
 Letter of credit
 Documentary collection
 Open account or credit
 Counter-trade or Barter
 Foundation Course in Banking

CASH IN ADVANCE

Cash in advance is risk-free except for potential non-delivery of the goods by the seller. It is usu -
ally a wire transfer or a check. Although an international wire transfer is more expensive, it is of -
ten preferred because it is speedy and does not bear the danger of the check not being honored.
The check can be at a disadvantage if the exchange rate has changed significantly by the time it
arrives, clears and is credited. On the other hand, the check can make it easier to shop for a bet -
ter exchange rate between different financial institutions.
For wire transfers the seller must provide clear routing instructions in writing to the buyer or the
buyer’s agent. These include:
 Full name, address, telephone, and telex of the seller’s bank
 Bank’s SWIFT and/or ABA numbers
 Seller’s full name, address, telephone, type of bank account, and ac-
count number.

COMMERCIAL LETTER OF CREDIT

The letter of credit (LC) allows the buyer and Seller to contract a trusted intermediary (a bank)
that will guarantee full payment to the seller provided that he has shipped the goods and com -
plied with the terms of the agreement.

Features
 The LC serves to evenly distribute risk between buyer and seller.
The seller is assured of payment when the conditions of the LC are
met and the buyer is reasonably assured of receiving the goods or-
dered. This is a common form of payment, especially when the con-
tracting parties are unfamiliar with each other.

 Since banks deal with documents and not with products, they must
pay an LC if the documents are presented by the seller in full compli-
ance with the terms, even if the buyer never receives the goods.
Goods lost during shipment or embargoed are some examples. Iraq
for example, never received goods that were shipped before its em-
bargo but the LCs had to be paid anyway.

 LCs are typically irrevocable, which means that once the LC is estab-
lished it cannot be changed without the consent of both parties.
Therefore the seller, especially when inexperienced, ought to present
the agreement for an LC to an experienced bank or freight forwarder
so that they can verify if the LC is legitimate and if all the terms can
be reasonably met. A trusted bank, other than the issuing or buyer’s
bank can guarantee the authenticity of the document for a fee.

Disadvantages
 If there are discrepancies in the timing, documents or other require-
ments of the LC the buyer can reject the shipment. A rejected ship-
ment means that the seller must quickly find a new buyer, usually at
a lower price, or pay for the shipment to be returned or disposed.
 Foundation Course in Banking

 One of the most costly forms of payment guarantee – Usual cost is

0.5% to 1%. Sometimes, the costs can go up to 5 percent of the total
value.
 LCs take time to draw up and usually tie up the buyer’s working capi-
tal or credit line from the date it is accepted until final payment, rejec-
tion for noncompliance, expiration or cancellation (requiring the ap-
proval of both parties)
 The terms of an LC are very specific and binding. Statistics show
that approximately 50% of submissions for LC payment are rejected
for failure to comply with terms. For example, if one of the required
documents is incomplete or delivered late, then payment will be with-
held even if all other conditions are fulfilled and the shipment re-
ceived in perfect order. The buyer can sometimes approve the re-
lease of payment if a condition is not fulfilled; but changing terms af-
ter the fact is costly, time consuming and sometimes impossible.

The mechanism
Usually, four parties are involved in any transaction using an LC:

1. Buyer or Applicant
The buyer applies to his bank for the issuance of an LC. If the buyer does not have a credit
arrangement with this issuing bank then he must pay in cash or other negotiable securities.

2. Issuing bank
The issuing or applicant’s bank issues the LC in favor of the beneficiary (Seller) and routes
the document to the beneficiary’s bank. The applicant’s bank later verifies that all the terms,
conditions, and documents comply with the LC, and pays the seller through his bank.

3. Beneficiary’s bank
The seller’s or beneficiary’s bank verifies that the LC is authentic and notifies the beneficiary.
It, or another trusted bank, can act as an advising bank. The advising bank is used as a
trusted bridge between the applicant’s bank and the beneficiary’s bank when they do not
have an active relationship. It also forwards the beneficiary’s proof of performance and
documentation back to the issuing bank. However, the advising bank has no liability for
payment of the LC. The beneficiary, or his bank, can ask an advising bank to confirm the LC.
The confirming bank charges a fee to ensure that the beneficiary is paid when he is in
compliance with the terms and conditions of the LC.

4. Beneficiary or Seller
The beneficiary must ensure that the order is prepared according to specifications and
shipped on time. He must also gather and present the full set of accurate documents, as
required by the LC, to the bank.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Letter Of Credit Diagram§§

1. Buyer and seller agree on a commercial transaction.

2. Buyer applies for a letter of credit.
3. Issuing bank issues the letter of credit (LC)
4. Advising bank advises seller than an LC has been opened in his or her favor. Seller sends
merchandise and documents to the freight forwarder.
5. Seller sends copies of documents to the buyer.
6. Freight forwarder sends merchandise to the buyer’s agent (customs broker).
7. Freight forwarder sends documents to the advising bank.
8. Issuing bank arranges for advising bank to make payment.
9. Advising bank makes payment available to the seller.
10. Advising bank sends documents to the issuing bank.
11. Buyer pays or takes loan from the issuing bank.
12. Issuing bank sends bill of lading and other documents to the customs broker.
13. Customs broker forwards merchandise to the buyer.

§§
Letter of Credit Diagram and the 14 steps have been reproduced from www.web.worldbank.org
 Foundation Course in Banking

Letters of credit can be flexible. Some LC variations include: Revolving, Negotiable, Straight, Red
Clause, Transferable, and Restricted. But perhaps the safest type of letter of credit from the
seller’s point of view, is the Standby letter of credit.

Example
An Asian Buyer from a Swedish Exporting company stated when he convinced the Ex-
porter to sell to them on open account terms. The Asian Buyer obtained 60 days credit,
which was to be calculated from the date of the invoice. The value of the order was USD
100, 000 and the goods were dispatched and invoiced by the Swedish Exporter on the 15th
July 2003.
The payment from Asia was due on the 14th Sept 2003. The payment eventually arrived on
the 21st Nov 2003, over two months late. The delay in payment cost the Exporter USD 1700
as it resulted in his account being overdrawn by this amount for 68 days at 9% per annum.

What if confirmed Letter of Credit had been required?

If Swedish Exporter had insisted on receiving a confirmed Letter of Credit through Allied Swedish
Banks plc. The following costs (approximations) would have applied:

Confirmation Fee USD $250

Acceptance Commission (@ 1.5% pa for 60 days) USD $250
Negotiation / Payment Fee USD $150
Out of Pocket Expenses (estimate) USD $60
Total Letter of Credit Cost USD $710
Interest Cost as a result of late payment USD ($1,700)
Benefit of using Letter of Credit USD $990

Advantages of Letter of Credit

 A Guarantee of payment on the due date from Allied Swedish Banks.
(Provided the terms and conditions of the Letter of Credit were com-
plied with).
 A definitive date for the receipt of funds, particularly important for de-
vising proper currency hedging strategies.
 The opportunity to receive the payment in advance of the due date
through non-recourse discounting of the receivable.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Also note that the costs incurred in chasing the debt from the Asian buyer has not been ac -
counted for the Irish Exporter. In addition if the Exporter had sold his foreign currency receivable
on a forward basis to his bank for the original due date, they may have incurred a further cost in
canceling or rearranging the forward contract. Letters of Credit provide real and tangible benefits
to companies. In this case the Swedish exporter only lost US$ 1700. Of course if the Asian buyer
had not paid at all they would have lost the whole USD 100,000
The standby LC is like a bank guarantee. It is not used as the primary payment method but as a
fail safe method or guarantee for long-term projects. This LC promises payment only if the buyer
fails to make an arranged payment or fail to meet pre-determined terms and conditions. Should
the buyer default, the seller must then apply to the bank for payment - a relatively simple process
without complicated documentation. Since the standby LC can remain valid for years (Evergreen
Clause) it eliminates the cost of separate LCs for each transaction with a regular client.
Back to Back LC allows a seller to use the LC received from his buyer as collateral with the bank
to open his own LC to buy inputs necessary to fill his buyer’s order.

DOCUMENTARY COLLECTION
The seller sends a draft for payment with the related shipping documents through bank channels
to the buyer’s bank. The bank releases the documents to the buyer upon receipt of payment or
promise of payment. The banks involved in facilitating this collection process have no responsibil-
ity to pay the seller should the buyer default unless the draft bears the aval (ad valutem) of the
buyer’s bank. It is generally safer for exporters to require that bills of lading be “made out to ship-
per’s order and endorsed in blank” to allow them and the banks more flexible control of the mer -
chandise.
Documentary collection carries the risk that the buyer will not or cannot pay for the goods upon
receipt of the draft and documents. If this occurs it is the burden of the seller to locate a new
buyer or pay for return shipment. Documentary collections are viable only for ocean shipments,
as the bill of lading for ocean freight is a valid title to the goods and is a negotiable document
whereas the comparable airway bill is not negotiable as an ownership title.

Drafts
A draft (sometimes called a bill of exchange) is a written order by one party directing a second
party to pay a third party. Drafts are negotiable instruments that facilitate international payments
through respected intermediaries such as banks but do not involve the intermediaries in guaran-
teeing performance. Such drafts offer more flexibility than LCs and are transferable from one
party to another. There are two basic types of drafts: sight drafts and time drafts.

Sight Draft
After making the shipment the seller sends a sight draft, through his bank to the buyer’s bank, ac-
companied by agreed documentation such as the original bill of lading, invoice, certificate of ori -
gin, phyto-sanitary certificate, etc. The buyer is then expected to pay the draft when he sees it
and thereby receive the documentation that gives him ownership title to the goods that were
shipped. There are no guarantees made about the goods other than the information about quanti-
ties, date of shipment, etc. which appears in the documentation. The buyer can refuse to accept
the draft thereby leaving the seller in the unpleasant position of having shipped goods to a desti-
nation without a buyer. There is no recourse with the banks since their responsibility ends with
the exchange of money for documents.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Time Drafts/Bankers' acceptances

Bankers' acceptances are negotiable instruments (time drafts) drawn to finance the export, im-
port, domestic shipment or storage of goods. It demands payment after a specified time or on a
certain date after the buyer accepts the draft and receives the goods. A bankers' acceptance is
"accepted" when a bank writes on the draft its agreement to pay it at maturity. A bank may accept
the draft for either the drawer or the holder.
An ordinary acceptance is a draft or bill of exchange order to pay a specified amount of money at
a specified time. A draft may be drawn on individuals, businesses or financial institutions.
An acceptance doesn't reduce a bank's lending capacity. The bank can raise funds by selling the
acceptance. Nevertheless, the acceptance is an outstanding liability of the bank and is subject to
the reserve requirement unless it is of a type eligible for discount by the Federal Reserve Bank.

Example

Banker’s Acceptances sell at a discount from the face value:

Face value of Bankers Acceptance $1,000,000

Minus 2% per annum commission for one year -$20,000

Amount received by exporter in one year $980,000

HYBRID METHODS
In practice, international payment methods tend to be quite flexible and varied. Frequently, trad-
ing partners will use a combination of payment methods. For example: the seller may require that
50% payment be made in advance using a wire transfer and that the remaining 50% be made by
documentary collection and a sight draft.

OPEN ACCOUNT
Open account means that payment is left open to an agreed-upon future date . It is one of the
most common methods of payment in international trade and many large companies will only buy
on open account. Payment is usually made by wire transfer or check. This can be a very risky
method for the seller, unless he has a long and favorable relationship with the buyer or the buyer
has an excellent credit rating. Still, there are no guarantees and collecting delinquent payments is
difficult and costly in foreign countries especially considering that this method utilizes few legally
binding documents. Contracts, invoices, and shipping documents will only be useful in securing
payment from a recalcitrant buyer when his country’s legal system recognizes them and allows
for reasonable settlement of such disputes.

OTHER PAYMENT METHODS

Consignment
The consignment method requires that the seller ship the goods to the buyer, broker or distributor
but not receive payment until the goods are sold or transferred to another buyer. Sometimes even
 Foundation Course in Banking

the price is not pre-fixed and while the seller can verify market prices for the sale date or hire an
inspector to verify the standard and condition of the product, he ultimately has very little recourse.

Credit Card
Some banks offer buyers special lines of credit that are accessible via credit card to facilitate
even substantial purchases. It is convenient for both parties - but the seller should confirm the
bank charges and also bear in mind that the laws that govern domestic credit card transactions
differ from those govern international use.

Counter-trade and Barter

Counter-trade or barter is most often used when the buyer lacks access to convertible currency or
finds that rates are unfavorable or can exchange for products or services desirable to the seller.
Counter-trade indicates that the buyer will compensate the seller in a manner other than transfer
or money or products.

Factoring
Factoring is a discounting method without recourse. It is an outright sale of export accounts re-
ceivable to a third party, (the factor) who assumes the credit risk. The factor may be a factoring
house or a department of a bank. The advantage to the exporter is the removal of contingent lia-
bilities from its balance sheet, improved cash flow and elimination of bad debt risk.
Factoring is for short-term receivables (under 90 days) and is more related to receivables against
commodity sales.

Forfaiting
The exporter sells accounts receivables to a forfaiter on a “non-recourse discount” basis, and
the exporter effectively passes all risks associated with the foreign debt to the forfaiter. The for -
faiter may be a forfaiting house or a department of a bank. The benefits are same as factoring -
maximize cash flow and eliminate the payment risk. It is a flexible finance tool that can be used in
short, medium and long-term contracts.
Forfaiting can be for receivables against which payments are due over a longer term, over 90
days and even up to 5 years.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Example
An Asian Importer wants to purchase machinery that he is unwilling or unable to pay for in
cash until that machinery begins to generate income.
At the same time, the exporter wants immediate payment in full in order to meet his on-going
business commitments
Forfaiting solution works as follows
1. Commercial contracts are negotiated subject to finance;
2. The importer arranges for an Irrevocable Letter of Credit to be issued or for a series of
Promissory Notes or Bills of Exchange to be drawn in favour of the exporter which the
importer arranges to have guaranteed by his local bank;
3. The exporter contacts the discounting bank (the forfaiter) for a rate of discount which
is then agreed;
4. The goods are shipped;
5. The notes or bills are sent with shipping documentation and invoices to the
discounting bank via the exporter (who endorses the notes or bills "without recourse"
to the order of the discounting bank);
6. The discounting bank purchases the guaranteed notes or bills from the exporter at the
agreed rate.

Result: the exporter receives payment in full immediately after shipping (against
presentation of satisfactory documentation to the forfaiter); the importer gets his goods
and can pay for them in installments over time; and the forfaiter has title to an asset which
he may retain as an investment.

FOREIGN CREDIT INSURANCE UNDERWRITERS AND BROKERS

The purpose of foreign credit insurance is to insure repayment of export credit against nonpay-
ment due to political and/or commercial causes. It insures commercial risks of nonpayment by im-
porters because of insolvency or other business factors and political risks of war, expropriation,
confiscation, currency inconvertibility, civil commotion, or cancellation of import permits.

THE BANKERS ASSOCIATION FOR FOREIGN TRADE (BAFT)

The Bankers Association for Foreign Trade (BAFT) is a collection of banking institutions, dedi-
cated to promoting American exports, international trade, and finance and investment between
U.S. firms and their trading partners. BAFT has set up a trade finance database with a grant from
the U.S. Department of Commerce. The database serves as an essential resource for assisting
exporters seeking trade finance and banks that provide financial services.
 Foundation Course in Banking

INTERNATIONAL PAYMENT INSTRUMENTS COMPARISON CHART***

***
The above “International Payments Comparison Chart” is reproduced from US Department of
Agriculture website - www.ams.usda.gov/ Pub.
 Foundation Course in Banking

1.8. CARDS AND PAYMENTS

CREDIT CARDS

The U.S. payments industry has undergone a significant shift in recent years. Check usage is de-
clining while the adoption of electronic payment forms is growing. During calendar year 2003,
44.5 billion electronic payments were originated in the United States with a value of $27.4 trillion.
This represents a CAGR of 3.8% since 2000, which is twice the real GDP growth (1.9%).
Non-cash Payment instruments in the US can be classified as follows:
Check-based Payments
Until recently, checks were the most used payment instrument in the US. Towards the end of
2004, Cards-based payment instruments have overtaken them. Their popularity has been due to
their ease of use at the point of sale, for bill payments, and for person-to-person payments. The
latest development in this payment instrument is the introduction of Check 21 Act, which is re-
lated to the truncation of checks to electronic form. A recent study by Federal Reserve indicates
that while checks paid decreased by over 5 billion from 2000 to 2003, the number of electronic
payment transactions increased by over 13 billion. It is estimated that before the end of the
decade credit cards and debit cards will individually exceed the number of paid checks.
Cards-based Payments
Debit

Debit cards enable the holder to make purchases and to charge those purchases directly to a cur-
rent account at the bank issuing the payment card. Debit cards are either on-line (PIN-based) or
off-line (Signature-based). On-line debit cards have been available for several decades and have
seen tremendous growth since the early 1990’s. Off-line debit cards are a more recent innovation
and consumers are increasingly using them at merchant locations that accept bankcards. Of all
cards-based payments, debit has seen the highest growth.
ATM

Financial institutions issue ATM cards to consumers to provide on-line access to account informa-
tion and to allow consumers to make withdrawals and deposits at ATMs. Many financial institu-
tions now offer ATM cards that can also be used as debit cards for POS transactions at participat-
ing retailers.
Credit

These include general-purpose credit cards and private-label credit cards (discussed later). Com-
pared to other electronic payment instruments, credit cards have shown a relatively moderate
growth since 2000.
Chip Cards

These cards have the capability to store funds electronically in an embedded chip, which updates
the funds available data as transactions are made. While Prepaid cards are best known for their
use as a gift card, they are increasingly used for payroll, incentives, insurance, refunds and other
purposes. Some stored value cards may also be smart cards if they contain an integrated mi -
crochip. The integrated chip can store value and perform other functions, such as consumer au-
thentication, health care programs, government-funded benefits programs, transportation ser-
vices, etc. The chip might also contain consumer preferences and loyalty program information for
marketing purposes.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Automated Clearing House (ACH)

An ACH transaction is a batch-processed, value-dated electronic funds transfer between originat-
ing and receiving financial institutions. ACH payments are used in a variety of payment environ -
ments. Originally, consumers primarily used the ACH for paycheck direct deposit. Now, they in-
creasingly use the ACH for bill payments (often referred to as direct payments), corporate pay-
ments (business-to-business), and government payments (e.g., tax refunds), and electronic
check presentment. There are two national ACH operators – Electronic Payment Networks, a pri-
vate processor with a 30% market share while the rest of the market is served by the Federal Re -
serve Banks.
Emerging Payments
Online Bill Pay (EBPP, EIPP)

Online services that enable customers to receive, review, and execute payment of their bills over
the Internet.
Person-to-Person Payments (P2P)

On-line P2P payments, or e-mail payments, use existing retail payment networks to provide an
electronically initiated transfer of value from one individual to another.
Internet Currencies / Digital Cash / e-Wallets

Similar to P2P payments, individuals can transfer electronic cash value to other individuals or
businesses. Most electronic cash applications exist on the Internet. Consumers can use the cash
payment instruments for purchases at retailers’ Web sites or they can transfer cash to other indi -
viduals through e-mail. Individuals use a credit card or signature-based debit card number to pre-
fund the Web certificate or electronic account, and recipients redeem the value with the Issuer.
Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT)

Electronic system that allows a recipient to authorize transfer of his/her government benefits from
a Federal account to a retailer account to pay for products received. EBT is currently used to is-
sue food stamps and other benefits in the US.
Generic Framework for Payment Instruments
The diagram below depicts the common model on which most payment systems are based..
Four Corner Payment System Model

Payer Payee
Present Non-cash Payment instrument

Goods / Services

Network

Financial Institution Financial Institution

or Third party or Third party
Solid line indicates flow of information

While the flow of funds, information, and data are different, in most cases, the set of participants
are similar. The initiator of the payment (payer) is typically a consumer and the recipient of the
payment (payee), typically a merchant. The payer and the payee are shown to have a relation -
 Foundation Course in Banking

ship with their respective financial institutions. The payment network routes the transactions be-
tween the financial institutions
Credit Card Market Overview
Credit card activities in the US represent more than 25 billion individual transactions purchasing
$1.7 trillion dollars in products and services equaling more than 10% of GDP. There are 1.2 billion
credit cards (including store and gas credit cards) in circulation in the US held by over 160 million
individuals. The average household possesses 14.27 credit cards with an average household
credit balance of $9,450 in 2003†††. Credit card fees paid by consumers exceed $15 billion.
A Credit card is a type of a payment card product. A payment card product is a set of entitle-
ments. It allows the client to access the features the provider (e.g., financial institution) attaches
to the card.
A sample of possible payment card entitlements is shown below:
Access Convenience Affordability
Credit Worldwide acceptance Interest rate
Deposits 24 hour availability Fees
Merchants Portability Benefits
ATMs Monthly statements Payment terms
To create an actual payment card product, these entitlements are grouped together to appeal to a
target segment – consumer or business. A card is issued to a cardholder and usually displays
cardholder name, account number, expiration date, location acceptance logos (e.g., Visa/Master-
Card) and issuing organization. Most cards are plastic with a magnetic stripe. Some of the new
cards contain chips that store information such as additional customer information and stored
value. A card usually is linked to some type of financial account (e.g., credit card to a credit line
and a debit card to a checking/savings account).
Credit Cards

A credit card indicates that the holder has been granted a line of credit enabling the cardholder to
make purchases and/or draw cash up to a pre-arranged amount. Interest is charged on the
amount of the unpaid credit balance and cardholders are often charged an annual user fee.
The dominant payment card types that are in use at this time in developed banking environments
are those employing the use of “magnetic stripe” technology. Part of the reason for this is the rel-
atively lower cost of Points-of-Sale (POS) terminals and the formation of well-established specifi-
cations that allows these magnetic-stripe cards to be used in virtually any card-based POS device
worldwide. The production costs of the stripe card are also low. Additionally, administrative sup-
port requirements are well developed.
However, smart cards, introduced a decade ago, are making significant inroads in some countries
where, in addition to, regulated pilots being undertaken some significant schemes are already in
place. These plastic cards, which are embedded with a computer chip, offer a number of signifi -
cant benefits to financial institutions, retailers, and cardholders—ranging from improved security
to a host of innovative new features.
But while smart card usage has been rapidly increasing thanks to a diverse set of applications
from wireless telephones to loyalty programs, the predicted mass migration of payment applica-
tions from conventional magnetic-stripe cards to smart cards has not yet materialized. One of the
biggest hurdles, until now, has been the lack of universally accepted specifications for smart card
based payments; however, consensus on EMV (Europay / MasterCard / Visa) specifications for
smart cards is now set to change this situation and smart cards are poised to challenge the 2+
billion magnetic-stripe cards in circulation around the globe.

†††
Source: Nilson Report
 Foundation Course in Banking

Credit Card Market – Major Business Entities and their Activities

Issuer: Holds contractual agreements with and issues cards to cardholders. The key
activities of an issuer can be represented in the following manner –

Acquirer: Does business with merchants enabling them to accept credit cards. Acquirers buy
(acquire) the merchant's sales slips and credit the tickets' value to the merchant's account.
Acquirer’s key activities can be summarized as –

Due to high factors such as high volumes and low profit margins, most US banks have sold
their acquirer businesses to non-banking entities that specialize in this field. Following are the
Income and Expense sources in an Acquirer business –
 Income:
 Merchant discount (1–4% of transaction value)
 Processing fees ($ 0.20 – $ 0.40 per transaction)
 Foundation Course in Banking

 Monthly minimum fees

 Customer service fees
 POS Equipment sales/service
 Expense:
 Interchange fees paid to Issuer
 ISO/MSP fees
 Data processing & Communications expenses
 Risk Management
 Losses on Merchant Chargebacks & Fraud
Processor (Third Party Entities): Provides credit card processing, billing, reporting and
settlement, and operational services to the Issuer/Acquirer. The Card Processing market is a
highly concentrated market with players like First Data and TSYS processing more than half
of all US card transactions. The two main services that the Third Party Processors offer are
Issuing Services and Acquiring Services -
 Issuing services
 Functions: Most activities of card Issuers
 Income = Transaction Processing fees + Software Licensing & Maintenance
 Expense = Data processing & Communications expense
 Acquiring services
 Functions: Most activities of card Acquirers
 Income = Merchant fees + Processing fees + ISO/MSP fees
 Expense = Data processing & Communications expense + Losses on
Chargebacks + Depreciation
Independent Sales Organization (ISO): An outside company (not MasterCard/VISA
member, non-bank) that offers merchant accounts and may process credit card transactions
for a transaction fee. ISOs enter into a contract with Acquiring banks to offer bankcard
acquiring services, through registered or unregistered sales agents or employees
Association: An organization owned by members, which services and obtains processing
services for members. Members include commercial/retail banks, credit unions etc. Following
are few main characteristics of Association -
 License members (Issuers, Acquirers) to issue & accept payment cards
 However, associations themselves do NOT issue cards / set card fees / set credit
limits / set interest rates, or solicit merchants / set discount rates
 Serve as the nerve center connecting the issuing & acquiring sides
 Provide the interchange systems to transfer data and funds between members
(transaction processing – VisaNet, BankNet)
 Offer a variety of product programs and services to improve member profitability and
minimize member risk
 E.g. ‘Verified by Visa’, SET
 Implement rules and regulations that govern the interchange of transactions between
members
 Undertake brand advertising and promotional campaigns
 Foundation Course in Banking

A card Association -

Provide These Functions Do Not Provide These Functions

 Recommend, monitor & provide support services  Issue cards

o Bylaws  Set credit limits
o Operating rules & regulations  Set card fees
 Brand advertising & promotional campaigns  Set interest rates
 Authorization & settlement systems  Solicit merchants
 Security/Risk management  Set discount rates
 Assessment & fee based services
 Develop new products & services

Merchant: A retailer, or any other person, firm, or corporation that, according to a Merchant
Agreement, agrees to accept credit cards, debit cards, or both, when properly presented.
Cardholder: The person to whom a financial transaction card is issued or an additional
person authorized to use the card
The following diagram depicts typical activities in transaction processing using a card
involving all the entities described above -
 Foundation Course in Banking

The following table shows lists the description of the various entities involved in a Credit card pro-
cessing

Entity Description
This is a bank / financial institution that issues a credit product
Issuing Bank
Cardholder portfolio account is created when a credit application is ap-
Cardholder
proved.
Account
This defines the processing rules for all the accounts under a business
Business Portfolio
venture of the same card offering type. This entity may hold billing rules,
Account
auth limits, collection strategies, and other properties that can be defined
at this level. Examples of Business portfolio account may include Chase
Visa Classic, Chase Visa Gold, etc
Identifies the different card types that the Credit system supports. Exam-
Card Product
ples may be proprietary cards, Visa, MasterCard
Authorization engines are used to authorize credit transactions. The autho-
Authorization
rization engine uses the account information, merchant information, and
Engine
other related information to approve / decline / refer an authorization trans-
action. There can be more than one authorization engines for a business
portfolio.
Provides credit scores that are used by Issuers to process card applica-
Credit Bureau
tions
Third party to whom Issuer outsources the cardholder collection activities
Collection Agency
An outside company with which the Issuer contracts to provide cardholder
Issuer Processor
transaction processing activities.
Bank designated by the Issuer to receive the Issuer’s daily net settlement
Issuer Clearing
advisement. The clearing bank (may be the Issuer itself) will also conduct
Bank
funds transfer activities with the net settlement bank and maintain the Is-
suer’s clearing account.
This is a bank / financial institution that acquires merchant transactions
Acquirer
Bank designated by Acquirer to receive the Acquirer’s daily net settlement
Acquirer Clearing
advisement. The clearing bank (may be the Acquirer itself) will also con-
Bank
duct funds transfer activities with the net settlement bank and maintain the
Acquirer’s clearing account.
An outside company with whom the Acquirer contracts to provide mer-
Acquirer Processor
chant processing services
A merchant account is created when a merchant application is approved.
Merchant Account
A merchant account is necessary for a merchant to accept payment by
credit card
Contains presentments and other financial messages that need to be
Clearing file
matched with corresponding authorizations
 Foundation Course in Banking

This file is for enabling member settlement

Funding file

Transaction Types

Entity Transaction Type Remarks

 Purchase
Cardholder Triggered by the cardholder.
 Authorization/Verification
transactions  Preauthorization Authorization/Verification is the default
 Merchandise return transaction type. If no type is indicated
when submitting transactions to the
gateway, the gateway will assume that the
transaction is of the type
 Reversal
System This transaction is an action on a previous
Generated transaction and is used to cancel the
Transactions previous transaction and ensure it does not
get sent for settlement.
 Adjustment
Exception Used to correct errors that occur at point of
 Chargeback & Charge-
Transactions back Reversal transaction or in a participant’s system
 Representment

 Administrative
Others These are routine transactional activities to
 Network
 Reconciliation ensure completion of the various activities
 File Maintenance involved in a transaction processing cycle
 Fee transactions

Chargeback & Chargeback Reversals –

At any time (currently limited to 60 days after statement date), cardholder may contact the Issuer
to question whether a transaction is legitimate and request a copy of the transaction from the
merchant. If the cardholder does not receive a copy of transaction, she may request a charge -
back – a financial reversal of the transaction. Even if the retrieval request is fulfilled, cardholder
still may request the Issuer to initiate a chargeback. However, if the merchant disputes the
chargeback, the disputed transaction is dealt with through a defined dispute process. Following
diagram depicts the process of chargeback and chargeback reversal
 Foundation Course in Banking

Major Players
The following table shows some of the leading US card organizations and their respective roles in
the Credit card industry:
Leading US Market Card Organizations

Banks Non-Banks Association /

Organization
 Citigroup  First Data Corp (Processor)  Visa
(Issuer) (Card Associa-
 TSYS (Processor) tion, Proces-
 MBNA America sor)
(Issuer)  Vital (Acquirer & Processor)
 American Express (Acquirer, Card Or-  MasterCard
 JPMorgan Chase / (Card Associa-
Bank One ganization & Issuer)
tion, Proces-
(Acquirer & Issuer)  Discover (Acquirer, Card Organization sor)
 Bank of America (Ac- & Issuer)
 JCB (Card As-
quirer & Issuer)  Diners Club (Card Organization & Is- sociation)
 Capital One suer)
(Issuer)  Equifax (Processor)
 Wells Fargo  Sears ( Acquirer, Card Organization &
(Acquirer & Issuer) Issuer)
 Wachovia  GE Card Services (Processor)
(Issuer)
 US Government (Acquirer & Issuer)
 Foundation Course in Banking

SUMMARY
 Cards are one of the most widely used mechanisms for transactions
world wide. There are several types of cards used –
o Debit cards
o ATM cards
o Credit cards
o Chip cards
o Smart cards
 ACH enables batch-processed, value-dated electronic funds transfer
between originating and receiving financial institutions.
 Emerging payments systems are –
o Online Bill Payment (EBPP, EIPP)
o Person to Person Payments (P2P)
o Internet currencies, digital cash, e-Wallet
o Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT)
 There are various entities involved in the credit card transaction pro-
cessing cycle -
o Issuer
o Acquirer
o Third party Processor
o Independent Sales organization
o Association
o Merchant
o Card holder
 Chargeback and Chargeback reversals are legitimate ways to cancel
the credit card transactions within a limited time frame
 Foundation Course in Banking

1.9. INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

PRIVATE BANKING / WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Private Banking covers banking services, including lending and investment management, Private
banking primarily is a credit service, and is less dependent on accepting deposits than retail
banking.
The Federal Reserve Supervisory Letter defines private banking as personalized services such
as money management, financial advice, and investment services for high net worth clients.
Although high net worth is not defined, it is generally taken at a household income of at
least $100,000 or net worth greater than $500,000. Larger private banks often require even
higher thresholds - Several now require their new clients to have at least $1 million of investable
assets. As per the World Wealth Report 2001 by Merrill Lynch / Cap Gemini, there are currently
over 7.2 million millionaires in the world with a combined asset base exceeding US$ 27 trillion
which is projected to grow to over US$ 45 trillion by the end of 2005.

CLIENT SERVICES
A typical private banking division of a large bank would offer the following financial services to its
Private clients:

Investment Management and Advice

A client relationship Manager understands the client’s liquidity, capital and investment needs. He
strives to develop an integrated approach to manage client investments and capital markets trad-
ing. Access to specialist advice and extensive research is a key feature of private banking.
Self-directed or non-discretionary: This is largely investment advisory in which the bank offers
investment recommendations based on the Client’s approval. The client may choose to ignore
this.
Discretionary: In this case, the bank’s portfolio managers make investment decisions on behalf
of the customer.

Risk Management
Strives to reduce exposures for its clients across the world through a variety of hedging tools, tak -
ing positions in derivative markets etc

Liquidity
Management of a Client’s liquidity (cash etc) needs through short-tem credit facilities, flexible
cash management services etc. An exclusive cash management service with "sweep" facility is a
Private Banking feature. The sweep automatically transfers excess funds over a pre-determined
limit out of your current account into a higher yielding reserve account, optimizing your return on
short-term cash. Funds are on call so they remain easy to access.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Structured Lending
Provides tailored lending to provide long-term liquidity to clients, or investment capital

Enhanced banking facilities

Private clients enjoy a variety of exclusive banking services such as:
 Insurance
 Foreign exchange transactions
 Automatic credit entitlements etc

Issuer Capital formation

Providing clients with access to investment banking and other institutional services
Private Bankers are high-end relationship managers, as well as money managers and advisors.
Private clients trade in larger volumes, the fees and commissions are larger.
Changes in the regulatory environment have redefined the competitive landscape of wealth man -
agement by allowing involvement of banks in insurance activities. A successful wealth manager
must harness and deploy not just the standard activities of equity and fixed income investment
management, but a plethora of other products and services: tax and estate planning, insurance
products, 401(k) rollovers, and more.
Most private banks segregate their clients based on net worth, investible assets, age etc. For ex-
ample, one classification could be between young affluent and retired affluent.
Private banking clients typically demand higher returns on their investment, and as a result banks
offering these services are heavily dependent on efficient Portfolio Analysis and Asset Allocation
techniques to achieve this. The consequent investment in technology is also very high.
Private banking is a fee-driven business. Banks offering these services charge anything between
1-4 % for their service, depending on the nature of the service rendered. Return on equity for
banks offering these services could be as high as 25%.

COMMON PRIVATE BANKING PRODUCTS

Personal Investment Companies (PICs)

A PIC is a shell company set up by a Private Bank’s offshore division (e.g. trust division) for a
client, usually in a tax haven like the Cayman Islands. The PIC has its own legal entity and the
investor enjoys confidentiality as well as tax benefits. There is substantial startup fee involved for
these, and banks charge annual administration fees.

Payable Through Account (PTA)

PTAs are transaction deposit accounts that allow banks in one country to offer their foreign clients
of a foreign bank, such services as check-writing. The foreign bank in this case plays the role of a
correspondent bank. These accounts usually have a high transaction volume and attract dollar
deposits from the foreign customers.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Hedge Funds
This is a private investment partnership, and is usually run by Private Banks. Hedge funds are
highly speculative and they use a variety of techniques such as leverage, short-selling, and use of
derivatives. Several hedge funds also utilize some form of arbitrage, such as those where they
can take advantage of movements expected to occur in the stock price of two companies under-
going a merger or other similar event. In most cases, investors in a hedge fund need to be duly
accredited.

How have average hedge fund returns performed vis-a-vis market levels?
“Multibillion dollar Quantum Fund managed by the legendary George Soros, for instance,
boasted compound annual returns exceeding 30% for more than a decade.”
“Off Shore Hedge Funds: Survival and Performance: 1989-1995," a study by Yale and NYU
Stern economists, indicates that, during that six-year period, the average annual return for
offshore hedge funds was 13.6%, whereas the average annual gain for the S&P 500 was
16.5%. Even worse, the rate of closure for funds rose to over 20% per year, so choosing a
long-term hedge fund is trickier even than choosing a stock investment.
Are hedge funds not immune to risk?
Led by Wall Street trader John Meriwether and a team of finance wizards and Ph.Ds, Long
Term Capital Management imploded in the late 1990s. It nearly sank the global financial
system and had to be bailed out by Wall Street's biggest banks. In 2000 George Soros shut
down his Quantum Fund after sustaining stupendous losses.

WHO OFFERS PRIVATE BANKING SERVICES?

Most Banks have separate divisions offering dedicated private banking services. There may be
Edge Corporations or Foreign subsidiaries of large national banks as well, which offer these ser -
vices.
The large European banks like UBS, Credit Suisse are industry leaders. There are a number of
standalone Private Banks as well. In banks such as Mellon and Bank One, Private Banking takes
place in the Trust or Investment Management division. Many banks offer Private Client Ser-
vices (PCS) to clients in other countries as well, through foreign subsidiaries, or even affiliated
banks.

WHY GROW PRIVATE BANKING BUSINESS?

 Most private banks target return on equity of at least 25% which is
considerably higher than that of the average commercial bank.
 Opportunities for off-balance sheet income are an additional incen-
tive. Unlike depository accounts, securities and other instruments
held in the clients’ investment accounts are not reflected on the bal-
ance sheet of the institution because they belong to the client.
 However, the institution can earn substantial fees for managing client
assets or performing other cash management and custodial services.
To grow, private banks need to lure new wealthy investors away
 Foundation Course in Banking

from direct investing or from investing with major mutual funds such
as Fidelity or Merrill Lynch.

CORE FUNCTIONS IN PRIVATE BANKING

 Sales and Marketing / Client Prospecting
 Client Management, Servicing and delivery
 Financial Planning
 Portfolio Analysis and Optimization
 Market Activities
 Research
 Compliance controls.

PRIVATE BANKING WORKFLOW

The high-level process flow for private banking is shown below. The roles and responsibilities of
the various players are outlined below:
 Client Representative:
 Servicing specialist
 Middle office
 Back office
Foundation Course in Banking
 Foundation Course in Banking

The diagram below shows the various departments in the Private Banking division of a bank.
 Foundation Course in Banking

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

Investment Management can be defined as the process of managing money, which includes in-
vestments such as real estate, financial instruments such as stock, mutual fund, bonds or equip-
ment that has monetary value that could be realized if sold. Very often, terms such as money
management, asset management etc. are used interchangeably.

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT GOALS

Investment Management aims at the following goals:
 Manage investors money efficiently and cost effectively
 Generate superior investment returns
 Investing Goal Ultimate objective is to deliver equity type returns
with lesser volatility risk and achieve capital preservation

In achieving the above goals, an Investment Manager uses the following approaches/principles:
 Asset Mix is the primary determinant of portfolio return, optimum
portfolios are designed using asset allocation tools
 International Diversification - Investment in world wide stocks re-
duces risk and improves returns
 Screens/Filters - Variety of quantitative and qualitative screens to
identify candidate investments, interviews with fund managers prior
to investing and continuous due diligence.
 Capital preservation - Preserve the wealth of investors and ensure
erosion free investment
 Alternative Investments - Investing in hedge fund and futures to
have strong returns. These assets generally earn returns consistent
with those of equities. By combining alternative investments with eq-
uities, the asset manager can generate superior returns while reduc-
ing the ups and downs of the portfolio.

Investment management services are usually offered by firms that specialize in managing an in-
vestor’s money. These firms employ individuals known as portfolio managers who are responsi-
ble for taking the decision on which type of assets to invest it to best suit the investors needs.

THE INVESTMENT PROCESS

Making investment decisions is not an easy task and requires specialized skills and services and
involves a number of business processes.

The diagram below depicts some of the key steps/process involved in the investment manage-
ment life-cycle.
 Foundation Course in Banking

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT CYCLE

 Foundation Course in Banking

RESEARCH
Research is one of the primary inputs towards deciding what kind of asset or financial instrument
to invest in. It involves performing a variety of qualitative and quantitative analysis to determine
the ideal portfolio mix. His includes an in depth analysis about the institution issuing the instru -
ment, estimating future growth, industry analysis, trend analysis of historical prices etc. Some of
the pre-requisites for performing meaningful research to aid investment decision making are as
follows:

Research team
The first step is to put together a dedicated research team. It is critical that the team members not
only understand the financial market dynamics but also have knowledge on Model building and
Econometrics. The success of the research team is usually evaluated relative to a benchmark re-
turn.

Data
The research team must have easy access to a variety of data. The collection and maintenance
of the database is very important. Tactical decisions need to be made quickly as new data keeps
pouring in. It is best to invest in a database system that takes the new data and automatically
runs the quantitative analyses.

Computing
While most top-down data management exercises can be handled within Excel, the bottom up
projects are not feasible within a spreadsheet. The bottom-up projects may include up to 10,000
securities along with vectors of attributes for each security.

ASSET ALLOCATION

Passive Approach
The portfolio manager has to decide on the mix of assets that maximizes the after-tax returns
subject to the risk and cash flow constraints. Thus the investor’s characteristics determine the
right mix for the portfolio. In coming up with the mix, the asset manager uses diversification
strategies; asset classes tend to be influenced differently by macro economic events such as re -
cessions or inflation. Diversifying across asset classes will yield better trade offs between risk and
return than investing in any one risk class. The same observation can be made about expanding
portfolios to include both domestic and foreign assets.

Active Approach
Portfolio managers often deviate from the passive mix by using “Market timing”. To the extent that
portfolio managers believe that they can determine which markets are likely to go up more than
expected and which less than expected, they will alter the active-passive mix accordingly. Thus, a
portfolio manager who believes that the stock market is over valued and is ripe for a correction,
while real estate is under valued, may reduce the proportion of the portfolio that is allocated to eq-
uities and increase the proportion allocated to real estate. Market strategists at all of the major in -
vestment firms influence the asset allocation decision.
 Foundation Course in Banking

There have been fewer successful market timers than successful stock pickers. This can be at -
tributed to the fact that it is far more difficult to gain a differential advantage at market timing than
it is at stock selection. For instance, it is unlikely that one can acquire an informational advantage
over other investors at timing markets. But it is still possible, with sufficient research and private
information, to get an informational advantage at picking stocks. Market timers contend that they
can take existing information and use it more creatively or in better models to arrive at predictions
for markets, but such approaches can be easily imitated.

APPROACHES TO ASSET ALLOCATION

Fund managers generally adopt an individual investment management style. The following are
the two quantitative approaches to tactical global asset management:

Top Down Approach

The "top down" investor begins by looking at the “big picture” - economy or broad trends in soci-
ety to identify individual countries and then sectors that will benefit from the prevailing conditions.
For example, a "top down" investor might say that since the huge baby-boomer generation is ag-
ing and moving toward retirement, companies that provide products and services to older people
should benefit from that trend. This might lead to buying pharmaceutical stocks or health care
shares or, stocks of insurers that provide retirement annuities.
A "top down" investor may also make investments based on what he or she thinks lies ahead for
the economy. So, for example, if a "top down" investor believed that a resurgent economy might
re-ignite inflation fears, then he or she might consider buying gold or natural resource stocks, or
jettisoning long-term bonds in favor of Treasury bills. So a "top down" investor starts with a con-
cept and then looks for stocks that are compatible with it.

Then they work systematically down from this very broad perspective translating these top-down
views into more specific economic and market forecasts. This is an analytical process; trying to
identify those profound structural changes in global economies and societies, seeing what effects
are likely to filter down and in time affect the value of ordinary investments.
An illustrative model of “top down” approach will look as follows:
 Build country-by-country forecasting models based on benchmark re-
turn
 Validation of models
 Forecast out of sample returns
 Sort country returns
 Invest in portfolio of highest expected return countries
 Information in both the volatility and correlation is used in determin-
ing optimal portfolio weights

"Hedge" strategies are also possible. This involves taking long positions in the highest expected
returns countries and short positions in the lowest expected returns countries.

Bottom Up Approach
 Foundation Course in Banking

The idea is to select individual securities. From a variety of methods, forecasted winners are pur-
chased and forecasted losers are sold. “Bottom up" investor would try to find investments that are
attractive because of something particular to them -- i.e., their terrific growth potential, say, or the
fact that their assets are selling for less than their intrinsic worth. So an investor who practices the
"bottom up" approach might screen through a long list of stocks to find ones that look like a buy
on the basis of their fundamentals.

PORTFOLIO EXECUTION
There are many individual strategies that may show promise in terms of beating the market. How -
ever, very few portfolio managers actually accomplish the same objective. One very important
reason is the failure on the part of most studies to factor in both the difficulties and the costs as -
sociated with executing strategies.

There are three dimensions to portfolio execution:

Cost of execution
There are three components to this cost.
Bid-ask spread, which leads investors to buy at a high price and sell at a lower price . For low-
priced stocks, this cost can be as high as 20% of the price of the stock.
Price impact that investors have when they trade, pushing the price up as they buy and down as
they sell. In illiquid markets, this cost can be significant especially for large trades.
Tax impact associated with trading, which becomes a factor when we consider the objective in
portfolio management is maximizing after-tax returns.
When considered in aggregate, the trading costs will work out to be high. The trading costs will
vary widely across different investment strategies, depending upon the trading frequency and ur-
gency associated with each strategy.

Trading speed
The need to trade fast and the desire to keep transactions costs low will come into conflict. In-
vestors who are willing to accept trades spread out over longer periods will generally be able to
have much lower trading costs than investors who need to trade quickly. Long term value in-
vestors will be less affected by trading costs than short term investors trading on information.

Portfolio Risk Management

Portfolio risk characteristics change over time and it is the portfolio manager’s job to keep the
portfolio risk at desired levels at minimum costs. The derivatives markets provide portfolio man-
agers with additional tools that can be used to hedge risk and add to returns over time.

INVESTMENT PHILOSOPHIES
Portfolio Managers follow different investment philosophies. Some examples are:

Passive Diversification
 Foundation Course in Banking

Some Portfolio Managers believe that markets are efficient; even if they are inefficient, the cost of
exploiting the inefficiency is more the returns that can be earned. Hence, they are willing to ac-
cept market returns. They try to construct portfolios that resemble the market index, often index-
ing to broadest possible indices.

Passive Value Investing

Markets systematically undervalue certain companies. Portfolio Managers identify such compa-
nies with parameters like low PE, High dividend yield, low Price to Book Value, low Price/Re-
placement Value etc. The leading examples are the likes of Peter Lynch and Warren Buffet. Such
Portfolio Managers have long time horizons, low turnover (i.e.) buying and selling, and transac-
tions costs

Momentum Investing
Markets tend to stay in trends: if prices have gone up (down) quickly, they will tend to keep going
up (down). Portfolio Managers who subscribe to this school, use price momentum indicators, rela-
tive strength indicators and charts. They have short time horizons and speedy execution styles.

Market Timing
It is possible to forecast the direction of markets (i.e. to time markets) using identified variables
like market timing models/indicators. Such Portfolio Managers usually take large bets on the mar -
ket (in either direction), attempt tactical Asset Allocation in sectors, and use Hedge funds (selling
overvalued and buying undervalued asset classes). An example would be George Soros and his
Quantum Fund.

Contrarian Investing
Markets tend to correct themselves; if prices have gone up (down) quickly, they will tend to go
down (up). If investors are too bullish (bearish), stocks are more likely to go down (up). Such
Portfolio Managers have usually short time horizons, are willing to hold unpopular investments
and use specialist short sales.

Example: In the middle of March this year, the war with Iraq was just starting. The SARS epi-
demic was raging across Asia. Travellers, whether for business or pleasure, were staying at
home in fear of terrorism – whether in the guise of chemical or biological warfare, or old fash-
ioned high explosives. The airline, tourism, and hotel industries were warning of the worst
conditions in living memory. The FTSE 100 index fell to an eight-year low of 3,300.

The contrarians, meanwhile, were rubbing their hands with glee.

Guess what? If you had invested then, at the pit of misery you would have made 27 per cent
in around three months to the middle of June.

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT VARIANTS

 Foundation Course in Banking

Although we have seen the generic definition and a typical investment management process flow
there are a number of variants in investment management that have evolved over the years to
address specific needs of Investors. This section focuses on some of the investment options that
are available to investors.

INSTITUTIONAL ASSET MANAGEMENT

Institutional money managers are independent financial advisory firms organized and licensed
under the Security and Exchange Commission or Banking Laws' oversight agency of the country.
Institutional Asset Management service can be both Advisory or Fund handling and investing on
behalf of the customer.
Institutional money managers are distinguished by the fact that:
 They are under greater regulatory scrutiny from both state and fed-
eral authorities
 They provide exclusive service to their clientele who are typically in-
stitutions having portfolios in excess of several million dollars.
 They are very selective in the clientele they service and first do an in-
dependent analysis of that client's financial needs, goals, objectives,
and risk tolerance.
 They charge competitive fees due to the fact that their clients entrust
millions of dollars to them for investing. Accordingly they are under
greater scrutiny to provide attractive performance returns.

All major international banks offer asset management services. Some key players include:
 Morgan Stanley
 Bankers Trust
 Boston Partners
 Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO)

MUTUAL FUNDS
A mutual fund is a fund that pools together money from many investors and invests it on behalf of
the group, in accordance with a stated set of objectives. Mutual funds raise the money by selling
shares of the fund to investors that includes individuals and institutions, much like any other com-
pany can sell stock in itself to the public. These funds take the proceeds of the money from the
sale of the shares and invest it in other instruments like bonds, stocks etc. In return for the money
they give to the fund when purchasing shares, shareholders receive an equity position in the fund
and, in effect, in each of its underlying securities. For most mutual funds, shareholders are free to
sell their shares at any time, although the price of a share in a mutual fund will fluctuate daily, de -
pending upon the performance of the securities held by the fund.
Now you must be wondering that why do people buy mutual funds when they can directly buy the
instruments that these mutual funds invest in. after all what is the need of having a middleman?
There are numerous reasons for investing in the mutual fund. They are:
 Diversification: With a mutual fund one can diversify the investment both across companies
and across asset classes. When some assets are falling in price, others are likely to be rising,
so diversification results in less risk than if you purchased just one or two investments.
 Liquidity: Most mutual funds are liquid and it is easy to sell the share of a mutual fund.
 Foundation Course in Banking

 Low Investment Minimums: One doesn’t need to be wealthy to invest in mutual funds. Most
mutual funds will allow you to buy into the fund with as little $1,000 or $2,000.
 Convenience: When you own a mutual fund, you don't need to worry about tracking the
dozens of different securities in which the fund invests; rather, all you need to do is to keep
track of the fund's performance.
 Low Transaction Costs: Mutual funds are able to keep transaction costs low because they
benefit from reduced brokerage commissions for buying and selling large quantities of invest-
ments at a single time.
 Regulation: Mutual funds are regulated stringently by the government. Thus this reduces the
risk for the end investor.
 Professional Management: Mutual funds are managed by a team of professionals, which usu-
ally includes one mutual fund manager and several analysts.
So mutual funds are full of benefits. Now you must be wondering if the mutual fund what the dis-
advantages of mutual funds are. There are plenty of disadvantages:
 Fees and Expenses: Most mutual funds charge management and operating fees that pay for
the fund's management expenses (usually around 1.0% to 1.5% per year). Moreover a few
mutual funds charge high sales commissions.
 Poor Performance: Mutual funds do not guarantee a fixed or high return. On an average more
than half of the mutual funds fail to do better than the market returns.
 Loss of Control: The mutual fund managers are the people who decide upon the strategy to
invest. Thus the investor loses the control of his money to the fund manager.
 Inefficiency of Cash Reserves: Normally a Mutual fund maintains a large cash reserve to pro-
vide protection against simultaneous withdrawals. This provides investors with liquidity, but
due to the large cash reserve the mutual funds do not invest all cash in asset and thus pro-
vide investor with lowered returns.

Types of mutual funds

Mutual funds come in many varieties. For example, there are index funds, stock funds, bond
funds, money market funds.
Index funds
"Index fund" describes a type of mutual fund or Unit Investment Trust (UIT) whose investment ob-
jective typically is to achieve the same return as a particular market index, such as the S&P 500
Composite Stock Price Index, the Russell 2000 Index, or the Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index.
Stock funds
"Stock fund" and "equity fund" describe a type of investment company (mutual fund, closed-end
fund, Unit Investment Trust (UIT)) that invests primarily in stocks or "equities". The types of
stocks in which a stock fund will invest will depend upon the fund’s investment objectives, poli-
cies, and strategies. For example, one stock fund may invest in mostly established, "blue chip"
companies that pay regular dividends whereas another stock fund may invest in newer, technol-
ogy companies that pay no dividends but that may have more potential for growth.
Bond funds
"Bond fund" and "income fund" are terms used to describe a type of investment company (mutual
fund, closed-end fund, or Unit Investment Trust (UIT)) that invests primarily in bonds or other
types of debt securities. The securities that bond funds hold will vary in terms of risk, return, dura-
tion, volatility, and other features.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Money market funds

A money market fund is a type of mutual fund that is required by law to invest in low-risk securi -
ties. These funds have relatively low risks compared to other mutual funds and pay dividends that
generally reflect short-term interest rates. Unlike a "money market deposit account" at a bank,
money market funds are not federally insured.
Money market funds typically invest in government securities, certificates of deposits, commercial
paper of companies, and other highly liquid and low-risk securities. While investor losses in
money market funds have been rare, they are possible.

Net Asset Value

Net asset value," or "NAV," of an investment company or a mutual fund is the company/fund’s to-
tal assets minus its total liabilities. For example, if an investment company has securities and
other assets worth $100 million and has liabilities of $10 million, the investment company’s NAV
will be $90 million. Because an investment company’s assets and liabilities change daily, NAV will
also change daily. NAV might be $90 million one day, $100 million the next, and $80 million the
day after.
The investment company/fund calculates the NAV of a single share (or the "per share NAV") by
dividing its NAV by the number of shares that are outstanding.

Some of the leading companies that offer mutual funds are:

 Fidelity Investments
 Vangaurd
 ING Direct
 Mellon

SEPARATELY MANAGED ACCOUNTS

A separately managed account is a portfolio of securities owned directly by the investor and man -
aged by professional money manager in lieu of an asset-based fee. SMA or the separately man-
aged accounts provides the individual investors the same quality of service as offered to institu-
tional investors.
Separately managed accounts help investors build and manage their wealth by focusing on the
investor's individual investment goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance. To determine these, a risk
profile questionnaire is used. Clients receive a personalized Investment Policy Statement that
outlines goals and the investment vehicles necessary to help achieve them. From there, the fi-
nancial consultant chooses an asset allocation strategy that is used as a road map to achieve ob-
jectives. The financial consultant then recommends the investment managers best suited to man-
age the overall portfolio. Lastly, ongoing monitoring and review of the portfolio takes place at both
the financial consultant and investment manager level.
Key Features
The key features of SMA are -:
 Direct ownership: The portfolio is held in a personal account rather than held as a part of
fund, thereby giving direct control to the investors.
 Exclusivity: The arrangement gives exclusivity to the investor as investment preference, ob-
jectives and tax liability are not necessarily shared across a pool of investors
 Foundation Course in Banking

 Customization: The security to be held and the investment pattern can be customized to indi-
vidual needs. e.g. a customer may not want to invest in those companies that are in tobacco
business. The portfolio can be customized to cater to his individual needs and preferences.
 Tax advantages: In the case of traditional mutual funds, individual taxes are not an issue.
However, in case of SMA tax advantages to investor results from tax loss harvesting strategy

Advantages and Disadvantages

 Separately managed accounts provide the client with the following benefits:
 The investors get access to top Investment managers at an affordable rate that they would
have been difficult otherwise.
 The fee structure is asset based and not commission based which offer a significant value to
the customer.
 The client is relieved of portfolio management functionality and he can concentrate on other
matters.
 The client gets better tax planning because of the tax-harvesting element in SMA.
 The transactions and the operations are more transparent to the customer as compared to
traditional mutual fund.
 The client gets customized reports about his portfolio.

Disadvantages
 There is no requirement for the reporting of the holding and there is no specific governing
regulation unlike the mutual funds
 There is no board in case of SMA, one hires the manager to manage the asset and there is
no board to sue if something goes wrong
 Closing an SMA would require moving the individual’s security to another manager, which is
a complicated and time consuming exercise.
 It is difficult to find an appropriate comparable to benchmark the performance of SMA.

Difference between SMA and Mutual Funds

The key difference between a mutual fund and an SMA is that an SMA offers investors a custom -
ized approach to investing, rather than a generic product. Usually, the process begins with an as-
sessment by an adviser of the individual’s financial needs and goals. The adviser can then rec-
ommend a variety of portfolio strategy options, which are customized to meet each investor’s
needs. Once the strategy has been agreed, a professional portfolio manager buys and sells
stocks and bonds in the portfolio on the investor’s behalf. The financial adviser then keeps a
close eye on the portfolio’s performance.
As the portfolio is tailored to meet both long- and short-term cash needs, an SMA, unlike a mutual
fund, can take into account personal investment preferences, such as not investing in particular
stocks for personal, social or environmental reasons. For e.g. an investor may specify that his/her
portfolio should not contain any stock belonging to TOBACCO companies.
Also unlike mutual funds, the investor has direct ownership of the stocks and bonds within the
portfolio. This can facilitate tax management strategies.

Some of the leading investment managers offering SMA services are:

 Foundation Course in Banking

 Merrill Lynch Investment Management

 Brandes Investment Partners
 Nuveen Investments
 Alliance Capital
 Morgan Stanley Investment Management

HEDGE FUNDS
Hedge funds are very similar to mutual funds except that they are targeted at High Networth indi -
viduals as explained in the previous chapter. Hedge funds are exempt from many of the rules
and regulations governing other mutual fund which allows them to accomplish aggressive invest-
ing goals. They are restricted by law to no more than 100 investors per fund, and as a result most
hedge funds set extremely high minimum investment amounts, ranging anywhere from $250,000
to over $1 million. As with traditional mutual funds, investors in hedge funds pay a management
fee; however, hedge funds also collect a percentage of the profits (usually 20%).

PENSION FUNDS (401k, IRA)

Pension funds are the funds launched to meet retirement savings of individuals so as to provide a
steady income to them after retirement. Since conservation of income is of utmost importance for
a pension fund their investment strategy focuses on long term, safer instruments. Investment in
pension funds also offers tax benefits.
 Foundation Course in Banking

SUMMARY
 Private Banking covers personalized services such as money man-
agement, financial advice, and investment services for high net worth
clients. High net worth is generally taken at a household income of at
least $100,000 or net worth greater than $500,000. Larger private
banks often require even higher thresholds of at least $1 million of in-
vestable assets
A typical private banking division of a large bank would offer financial
services like:
o Investment Management and Advice
o Risk Management
o Liquidity Management
o Structured Lending
o Enhanced banking facilities
o Issuer Capital formation
 Core functions in private banking include the following:
o Sales and Marketing / Client Prospecting
o Client Management, Servicing and delivery
o Financial Planning
o Portfolio Analysis and Optimization
o Market Activities
o Research
o Compliance controls
 Private Banking Front Office covers functions like Sales & Client
prospecting, Contact Management, Account Aggregation and Finan-
cial Advisory services.
 Private Banking Middle/Back Office covers functions like Asset Allo-
cation, Research, Portfolio Analysis, Risk Management, Trade Pro-
cessing, Compliance and Documentation

 Investment Management aims at managing investors’ money effi-
ciently and cost effectively to generate superior investment returns.
The ultimate objective is to deliver equity type returns with lesser
volatility risk and achieve capital preservation
 An Asset Manager uses the following approaches/principles:
o Asset Mix
o International Diversification
o Screens/Filters
o Capital preservation
o Alternative Investments
 Asset Allocation can be done passively or actively.
o Passive Approach - The portfolio manager has to decide on the mix of assets that
maximizes the after-tax returns subject to the risk and cash flow constraints. Thus the
investor’s characteristics determine the right mix for the portfolio.
 Foundation Course in Banking

o Active Approach - Portfolio managers often deviate from the passive mix by using
“Market timing”. To the extent that portfolio managers believe that they can determine
which markets are likely to go up more than expected and which less than expected,
they will alter the active-passive mix accordingly.
 Fund managers generally adopt an individual "investment philoso-
phy" which
overlays their investment management style. The following are the
two quantitative approaches to tactical global asset management.
 The "top down" investor begins by looking at the “big picture” - econ-
omy or broad trends in society to identify individual countries and
then sectors that will benefit from the prevailing conditions.
 The “bottom up” investor selects individual securities. From a variety
of methods, forecasted winners are purchased and forecasted losers
are sold. “Bottom up" investor would try to find investments that are
attractive because of something special to the security.
 Portfolio Managers follow different investment philosophies. Some
examples are:
o Passive Diversification
o Passive Value Investing
o Momentum Investing
o Market Timing
o Contrarian Investing
 There are several variants of investment management that have
manifested in terms of firms offering products to suit specific needs
of investors. Some of them are
o Institutional Asset Management
o Mutual Funds
o Separately Managed Accounts
o Hedge Funds
o Pension Funds
 Foundation Course in Banking

1.10. INVESTMENT BANKING AND BROKERAGE

INVESTMENT BANKING

Investment Banks assist clients in raising money in order to grow and expand their businesses.
Their activities include:
 Originating and managing issues of securities
 Underwriting
 Market Making
 Principal buying or selling securities on a spread basis

The top-tier investment banks are:

 Goldman Sachs
 Merrill Lynch
 Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
 Credit Suisse First Boston
 UBS
 Salomon Smith Barney
 J.P. Morgan
 Lehman Brothers
Generally, the breakdown of an investment bank includes the following areas:

CORPORATE FINANCE
The bread and butter of a traditional investment bank, corporate finance generally performs two
different functions:
 Mergers and acquisitions advisory - Banks assist in negotiating and
structuring a merger between two companies. If, for example, a com-
pany wants to buy another firm, then an investment bank will help fi-
nalize the purchase price, structure the deal, and generally ensure a
smooth transaction.
 Underwriting - The process by which investment bankers raise in-
vestment capital from investors on behalf of corporations and gov-
ernments that are issuing securities (both equity and debt).An Under-
writer guarantees that the capital issue will be subscribed to the ex-
tent of his underwritten amount. He will make good of any shortfall.

SALES
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Salespeople take the form of: 1) the classic retail broker, 2) the institutional salesperson, or 3) the
private client service representative. Brokers develop relationships with individual investors and
sell stocks and stock advice.
Institutional salespeople develop business relationships with large institutional investors. Institu-
tional investors are those who manage large groups of assets, for example pension funds or mu-
tual funds.

Private Client Service (PCS) representatives lie somewhere between retail brokers and institu-
tional salespeople, providing brokerage and money management services for high net worth indi-
viduals.
Salespeople make money through commissions on trades made through their firms.

TRADING
Traders facilitate the buying and selling of stock, bonds, or other securities such as currencies, ei-
ther by carrying an inventory of securities for sale or by executing a given trade for a client.
Traders deal with transactions large and small and provide liquidity (the ability to buy and sell se -
curities) for the market. (This is often called making a market.) Traders make money by purchas-
ing securities and selling them at a slightly higher price. This price differential is called the "bid
ask spread."

RESEARCH
Research analysts follow stocks and bonds and make recommendations on whether to buy, sell,
or hold those securities. Stock analysts typically focus on one industry and will cover up to 20
companies' stocks at any given time. Some research analysts work on the fixed income side and
will cover a particular segment, such as high yield bonds or U.S. Treasury bonds.
Corporate finance bankers rely on research analysts to be experts in the industry in which they
are working. Salespeople within the I-bank utilize research published by analysts to convince their
clients to buy or sell securities through their firm.
Reputed research analysts can generate substantial corporate finance business as well as sub-
stantial trading activity, and thus are an integral part of any investment bank.

SYNDICATE
The hub of the investment banking wheel, syndicate provides a vital link between salespeople
and corporate finance. Syndicate exists to facilitate the placing of securities in a public offering, a
knock-down drag-out affair between and among buyers of offerings and the investment banks
managing the process. In a corporate or municipal debt deal, syndicate also determines the allo-
cation of bonds.

INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERINGS

An initial public offering (IPO) is the process by which a private company transforms itself into a
public company. The company offers, for the first time, shares of its equity (ownership) to the in -
vesting public. These shares subsequently trade on a public stock exchange like the New York
Stock Exchange (NYSE) or the Nasdaq. The primary reason for going through the rigors of an
IPO is to raise cash to fund the growth of a company. Often, the owners of a company may sim -
ply wish to cash out either partially or entirely by selling their ownership in the firm in the offering.
Thus, the owners will sell shares in the IPO and get cash for their equity in the firm.
 Foundation Course in Banking

The IPO process consists of these three major phases:

Hiring the Managers

This choosing of an investment bank is often referred to as a "beauty contest." Typically, this
process involves meeting and interviewing investment bankers from different firms, discussing the
firm's reasons for going public, and ultimately nailing down a valuation. In making a valuation, I-
bankers, pitch to the company wishing to go public what they believe the firm is worth, and there -
fore how much stock it can realistically sell. Perhaps understandably, companies often choose
the bank that provides the highest valuation during this beauty contest phase instead of the best-
qualified manager. Almost all IPO candidates select two or more investment banks to manage the
IPO process.

Due Diligence and Drafting

This phase involves understanding the company's business as well as possible scenarios (called
due diligence), and then filing the legal documents as required by the SEC. The SEC legal form
used by a company issuing new public securities is called the S-1 (or prospectus) and Lawyers,
accountants, I-bankers, and of course company management must all toil to complete the S-1 in
a timely manner.

Marketing
Once the SEC has approved the prospectus, the company embarks on a road show to sell the
deal. A road show involves flying the company's management coast to coast (and often to Eu-
rope) to visit institutional investors potentially interested in buying shares in the offering. Typical
road shows last from two to three weeks, and involve meeting literally hundreds of investors, who
listen to the company's presentations, and then ask scrutinizing questions. Often, money man-
agers decide whether or not to invest thousands of dollars in a company within just a few minutes
of a presentation. The marketing phase ends abruptly with the placement of the stock, which re-
sults in a new security trading in the market.

Successful IPOs trade up on their first day (increase in share price), and tend to succeed over the
course of the next few quarters.

THE CHINESE WALL

Between corporate finance and research, firms build what is known as a Chinese Wall separating
research analysts from both bankers and Sales & Trading. Often, bankers are privy to inside in-
formation at a company because of ongoing or potential M&A business, or because they know
that a public company is in registration to file a follow-on offering. Either transaction is considered
material non-public information and research analysts, privy to such information cannot change
ratings or mention it, as doing so would effectively enable clients to benefit from inside informa -
tion at the expense of existing shareholders. When it comes to certain information, a Chinese
Wall also separates salespeople and traders from research analysts. The reason should be obvi-
ous. Analyst reports often move stock prices - sometimes dramatically.
Thus, a salesperson with access to research information prior to it being published would give
clients an unfair advantage over other investors. Research analysts even disguise the name of

Insiders of the company cannot sell any shares for a specified period of time, this is
known as the _______? (Holding Period, Lockup Period, Buy & Hold Period)
 Foundation Course in Banking

the company on a report until immediately before it is published. This way, if the report falls into
the wrong hands, the information remains somewhat confidential.

UNDERWRITING

An Underwriter is a broker/dealer or an investment bank. He guarantees that the capital issue will
be subscribed to the extent of his underwritten amount. He will make good of any shortfall. The
contract between the issuer and the Lead or Managing Underwriter is the Underwriting Agreement.
The agreement states the terms and conditions of the offering, such as, the Underwriting Spread
(the amount the underwriters make on sales), the Public Offering Price (POP), and the amount of
proceeds from the offering that will go to the issuer.

Three different levels of broker/dealers handle the underwriting process:

Managing Underwriters - The Manager (lead underwriter) is the broker/dealer awarded the is-
sue, who generally handles the relationship with the issuer and oversees the underwriting
process.

Syndicate - To share the risk, and more efficiently distribute the offering to the public, broker/
dealers will join together in a Joint Trading Account. The syndicate profits by selling the securities
and earning a Spread (i.e., the POP less the amount paid to the issuer). Syndicate members
share the risk and are responsible for any unsold securities.

Selling Group - comprises of broker/dealers chosen to assist the syndicate in marketing the is-
sue in a broker (agency) capacity. Selling Group firms are not members of the syndicate, and are
not at risk for the securities. All broker/dealers involved in the underwriting of non-exempt securi-
ties must be NASD member firms.

Underwriters earn 3 types of Underwriting Spread:

 Manager's fee - The lead underwriter receives this fee on all securi-
ties sold.
 Underwriter's Allowance is the total spread minus the Manager's
fee. This fee is shared by syndicate members based on the type of
syndicate account.
 Concession - It is typically the largest part of the spread and is paid
to the broker/dealer that actually took the client’s order.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Types of Underwriting

There are two basic types of commitments made by underwriters to issuers:

1. Firm commitment - The issue is purchased from the issuer, marked-up and sold to the pub-
lic. The underwriter here is acting as a dealer and is at risk for the unsold securities; whatever
securities are not sold will remain in the underwriter’s inventory. Standby Underwriting is al-
ways used in a subsequent primary offering of stock that is preceded by a subscription or pre-
emptive rights offering. During the rights offering, the underwriter “stands by”. After the rights
offering period has ended and all rights have been either exercised or expired, the underwrit-
ers must take any unsubscribed securities on a firm commitment basis.

2. Best-efforts underwriting - The underwriters act as agents or brokers for the issuer, and at -
tempt to sell all the securities in the market. The best efforts underwriter is not at risk, and any
unsold securities remain with the issuer. Two sub-types of best efforts are All-or-None and
Mini-max. An all-or-none underwriting may be canceled by the issuer if the entire issue is not
sold in a given time period. A mini-max underwriting requires a minimum amount to be sold. If
the underwriter sells the minimum, they may then attempt to sell the maximum (usually being
the entire issue). However, if the minimum is not sold, the issuer may cancel the underwriting.

What is an agreement in which the underwriter is legally bound only to attempt to sell the
securities in a public offering for the firm?
When the investment banker bears the risk of not being able to sell a new security at the
established price, what is this is known as?
On the day that a lock-up period expires, the market value of the stock will most likely
________. (Increase/decrease/remain same.)

SECONDARY MARKET TRADING

The trading of outstanding issues takes place in the Secondary Markets. The secondary markets
are broken down into four market types:
1. Listed Market – Exchanges where an Auction method is used at a physical location. Special-
ists provide liquidity on the floor of an exchange. (Eg) The New York Stock Exchange
(NYSE)

2. Over-the-Counter Market (OTC, Second Market, Unlisted) – A negotiated market without a

physical location where transactions are done via telecommunications. Broker/dealers acting
as Market Makers provide the liquidity.

3. Third Market – Where listed securities are traded OTC (over-the-counter), and broker/deal-
ers acting as market markers offer an alternative to trading on the exchange itself. An exam-
ple would be a broker/dealer that maintained an inventory of IBM stock (which trades on the
NYSE), and buys and sells that stock to other brokers and customers using a negotiated,
over-the-counter method of trading.
 Foundation Course in Banking

4. Fourth Market – The Instinet, a system for direct over-the-counter institutional trading that
bypasses broker/dealers and thus reduces the cost of large institutional Block Trades.
All the stock exchanges are registered with the SEC, and they have a “self regulation” mecha-
nism. The Maloney Act of1938 enabled the NASD to be the SRO for the second, third and fourth
markets.

THE FLOOR OF THE EXCHANGE

NYSE (partially) and London are the only major exchanges which still use a trading floor. When
an investor customer calls their broker to place a trade, the following sequence of activities hap-
pen:
 Brokerage Firm checks the customer's account for cash balance, re-
strictions etc
 Enter the order in its Order Match System. The rep notifies the bro-
ker/dealer’s Order or Wire Room to execute the trade.
 The Order room then wires the order to the Commission House Broker
(CHB), an employee of the broker/dealer who trades on the floor of the
exchange for that broker/dealer.
 The CHB makes their way over to the respective Trading Post.
 At the post, the CHB encounters other folks who want to trade IBM
stock.
 Transaction Report Is sent to the originating brokerage firms (buy-
ing and selling). A market order through SuperDot to the specialist
takes an average 15 seconds to complete.
 Reports are also sent to Consolidated Tape Displays world-wide,
and to the Clearing operations.
 Post Trade Processing Matching of buyers and sellers -- the Com-
parison process -- takes place almost immediately.
 This is followed by a 3-day Clearing and Settlement cycle at which
time transfer of ownership (shares for dollars or vice versa) is com-
pleted via electronic record keeping in the Depository.
 Brokerage Firm The transaction is processed electronically, credit-
ing or debiting the customer's account for the number of shares
bought or sold.
 Investor Receives a trade confirmation from his/her firm. If shares
were purchased, the investor submits payment. If shares were sold,
the investor's account is credited with the proceeds.

Specialist
Specialists conduct the auction as a broker or dealer and maintain a fair and orderly market by
matching up buyers and sellers. The specialist is not an employee of the exchange and may
trade for their own account, as well as trading as an agent for CHB orders.

Broker Dealer
Executes orders for others Executes orders for themselves
 Foundation Course in Banking

Acts as an Agent Acts as a Principal (i.e., a market maker)

Charges Commission Charges Mark-up and Mark-down

An individual firm could act as a broker on one trade and a dealer on another. When acting as a
broker, the firm is taking customer orders and acting as their agent to buy or sell the security. For
this service, the broker charges a commission. A firm acting as a dealer is the actual buyer or
seller, taking the other side of a trade. The price at which market makers will buy or sell a particu -
lar security is known as the Bid or Ask Price.

Market Maker
 Provide continuous bid and offer prices within a prescribed percent-
age spread for shares designated to them
 4 to 40 (or more) market makers for a particular stock depending on
the average daily volume.
 Play an important role in the secondary market as catalysts, particu-
larly for enhancing stock liquidity

Registered Representatives
 An individual who has passed the NASD's registration process and is
licensed to work in the securities industry
 Usually a brokerage firm employee acting as an account executive
for clients
 Sell to the public; they do not work on exchange floors

Order Types (Based on Price)

There are four basic order types.

1. Market Orders is executed at once, "at the market." A market order guarantees execution,
but does not guarantee a price. The final price is determined by supply and demand.

2. Limit Orders - Some investors may want to buy or sell, but only at a specific price. A Limit or-
der is executed at a set price or better and will not be executed if that price is not met. For ex-
ample, a customer owns XYZ stock, which is currently trading at $50/share. They would like
to sell the stock, but only if they can get a price of $55 or more. The investors would place a
Sell Limit at $55/share, an order that will be executed only if a price of $55 or better is avail -
able. Similarly an investor who seeks to buy, but only at a certain price or better, might enter
a Buy Limit at $45/share.

3. Stop order - If the market price hits or passes through the stop price (Trigger), a market or -
der is Elected. For example, an investor bought stock at $50/share. The investor wants the
price of the stock to go up, but wishes to limit the losses if the stock price falls . Such an in-
vestor might place a Sell Stop order at $45, and now if the market price falls to $45 or below,
the stop is triggered and a market order is elected. Another example might be a Technical
Trader who believes that if the stock goes up to a certain price, it is signaling the beginning of
a Bullish run. This investor might enter a Buy Stop at $51, for example. Now, if the stock rises
to $51 or above, a market order is triggered to buy the stock. A potential problem with a stop
 Foundation Course in Banking

order is that it triggers a market order, which does not guarantee a purchase or sale price. A
stop order must be triggered (activated or elected) before execution as a market order.

4. Stop Limit order - If the investors placed an order for $51 Stop, $52 Limit, the order would
be elected at $51, but would not be filled (executed) unless a price of $52 or better was avail-
able. Now, the investor has eliminated the risk of buying the stock without guaranteeing the
price. A stop limit order, once triggered, becomes a limit order.

5. Do-not-reduce Order - Indicates that the order price should not be adjusted in the case of a
stock split or a dividend payout.

A sell limit order can be filled at a lower price than your limit e.g. your sell limit is at 21.07 & you
can be filled at 21.06? True/False
If you want to limit your risk on a long position you can place a sell stop order? True/false
If the market is currently bid 15.00 & offered at 15.01 you are guaranteed of buying at 15.01 if
you place a market order? True/False

Order Types (Based on Time)

Day Order – The order is valid till end of day and if it is unfilled at days end, it gets cancelled.
Open Order or Good Till Cancelled (GTC) – The order can remain open for up to six months. It
is the responsibility of the registered representative to cancel at the customer’s direction. In addi-
tion, at the end of April and the end of October, all GTC orders must be reconfirmed or elimi -
nated.

Order Types (Based on Volume)

Fill or Kill (FOK) – The order must be immediately filled in one trade or canceled completely.
All or None (AON) - The entire order must be filled or canceled completely, but unlike FOK, AON
can remain good till cancelled.
Immediate or Cancel (IOC) must immediately be filled for as much of the order as possible in
one trade, with the remainder being cancelled.
Market Not Held order – The floor broker has the discretion concerning time and price. A key
point is that Market Not Held orders are never on the Specialist's Book.

THE OVER-THE-COUNTER (OTC) MARKET

Unlike listed securities that trade on an exchange, unlisted securities trade Over the Counter
(OTC). Most securities actually trade OTC, since U.S. government, Municipal and most corporate
securities trade OTC. Since there is no specialist book and no post to record transactions, OTC
price information is either published periodically in paper form, disseminated over telephone lines,
or displayed real-time electronically.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Liquidity in the OTC market is provided by Market Makers (i.e., broker/dealers who maintain an
inventory of a particular stock, and buy and sell the stock from and to customers).

The largest system for displaying OTC market quotes is Nasdaq (The NASD’s Automated Quota-
tion system). Broker/Dealers subscribe to various levels of the Nasdaq system depending on their
functional needs. Level 1 service (i.e., the Inside Quote or Representative Quote) is the highest bid
and lowest ask prices of all market makers, and is used by registered reps. Level 2 service is for
traders, and lists all market makers' firm quotes on price and size. Level 3 service also displays all
quotes, and is used by market makers to enter quotes.

The quotes look like the following:

Bid Ask
Dealer A 9 9.5
Dealer B 8.75 9.25
Dealer C 9.1 9.8
Dealer D 9 9.5

If you were selling stock, to whom would you sell? Dealer C has the highest bid of 9.1, while a
buyer would go to Dealer B who has the lowest ask of 9.25. The inside quote, therefore, would be
9.1 – 9.25, the highest bid and the lowest ask.

HOW DOES A BROKERAGE FIRM LOOK LIKE?

A brokerage firm has the following departments:
 Sales
 New Accounts
 Order Room
 Purchase and Sales
 Cashiering
 Margin
 Corporate Actions
 Accounting
 Compliance

Sales
Sales team is responsible for canvassing business. They are staffed with Account Executives/Ac-
count Managers who solicit business from retail and wholesale customers.

New Accounts
 Foundation Course in Banking

New Account department is responsible for receiving customer account opening applications and
documenting the customer data. They are the custodians for various documents like New account
form, Signature cards, Margin Agreements, Lending Agreements and Option Trading Agree-
ments. Only when the required documents are received, the account can legally operate.

New accounts can be of one of the following types:

 Individual Cash Account – Only cash transactions are permitted. No
margin trading is permitted.
 Margin Account
 Joint Account
 Power of Attorney Accounts

Order Room
Orders are taken by dealers in order room and they are executed in the best possible manner.
Every order has detailed instructions like:
 Buy/Sell
 Quantity
 Limit/Market
 Security details etc.

We have covered the different order types in the earlier pages.

 Foundation Course in Banking

The relationships among the various departments can be pictorially represented as below:

Sales Name Accounts (Name & Address)

Account executive • Open Accounts
(Home or Branch office • Executing Changes

Reports Order Tickets

Order Room
OTC Market Exchanges
• Execution recording
Execution • Confirming GTC orders
Reports • Pending Orders
Contra Brokers

Purchase & Sales (P&S)

Confirmation
Clearing Corp • Recording Clients
(CNS) • Figuration (including accrued interest)
• Comparison (reconcilement)
• Booking

Depository
Cashiers Margin
• Receive & Deliver • Account Maintenance
Banks • Vaulting • Sales support
• Bank Loan • Issue checks
• Stock Loan/borrow • Items due
• Transfer • Extensions
• Reorganization • Close – Outs
Brokerages • Delivery of securities

Transfer Stock Record Accounting

Agent • Account numbering & coding • Bookkeeping
• Audits • Daily cash record
• Security Movements • Adjusted trail balance
• Trail Balance
• P & L Statement

Dividend Proxy
• Cash Dividends • Proxy voting
• Stock splits • Information flow to customers
• Due bills
• Bond Interest
 Foundation Course in Banking

Purchase and Sales

This department is responsible for the following activities:
 Recording the trade with a unique number using codes and tickets.
 Figuration to calculate the monetary value of the transaction
 Reconciliation of customer trades with counter-party transactions
 Customer Confirmation in a legally binding form.

Margin
Margin or Credit Department monitors the status of the customer accounts. As explained in the
previous pages, they are also responsible for margin calls. The typical activities of this depart -
ment are:
 Account Maintenance
 Sales Support
 Clearing Checks
 Items pending (Money due, stocks due)
 Closing out

Cashiering
They are responsible for movement of securities and funds within the brokerage firm. They take
care of the following functions:
 Receiving and delivering
 Vaulting
 Hypothecations
 Security Transfers
 Stock Lending

Corporate Action
Corporate Action refers to dividend declarations, stock splits etc. The Corporate Action depart-
ment makes sure that the rightful owners (as on the Record Date) receive the dividends, Splits
etc.

Accounting
The Accounting department records, processes and balances the movement of money in the bro-
kerage firm. They produce the Daily Cash Records and Trial Balance, Balance Sheet and Profit &
Loss statements on a periodic basis.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Compliance
The Brokerage firms are regulated by SEC, by state regulatory agencies and industry wide Self
Regulatory Organizations. The compliance department is responsible for ensuring that all the
rules and regulations are complied with and reported on time.

They also make sure that the newer regulations like Anti Money Laundering Act are implemented
inside the firm.

Questions
1. All of these are different types of brokerage accounts except?
a) Margin Account b) Cash Account c) IRA Account d) Nostro Account
2. A market order that executes after a specified price level has been reached is called?
a) Market Order b) Stop Order c) Fill or Kill Order d) Day Order
3. A brokerage or analyst report will contain all of the following except?
a) a detailed description of the company, and its industry.
b) an opinionated thesis on why the analyst believes the company will succeed or
fail.
c) a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold the company.
d) a target price or performance prediction for the stock in a year.
e) a track record of the analyst writing the report.

MARKET INDICES
Index of market prices of a particular group of stocks.

Index Types
Value Weighted Index is a stock index in which each stock affects the index in proportion to its
market value. Examples include Nasdaq Composite Index, S&P 500, Hang Seng Index, and
EAFE Index. They are also called capitalization weighted index.
Price Weighted Index is a stock index in which each stock affects the index in proportion to its
price per share. (Eg) Dow Jones Industrial Average

Key Market Indices

The important markets and the indices used are presented below:

US Diversified market Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow)

 Foundation Course in Banking

US Technology NASDAQ 100

UK (London) Financial Times Stock Exchange Index (FTSE)
Germany (Frankfurt) DAX
France (Paris) CAC
Switzerland (Zurich) SMI
Japan (Tokyo) Nikkei
Hong Kong Hang Seng
Singapore Strait Times Index (STI)

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)

The Dow is made up of 30 large companies from various industries. The stocks in the following
chart comprise the index.

3M Alcoa
AlliedSignal American Express
AT&T Boeing
Caterpillar Chevron
Citigroup Coca-Cola
DuPont Eastman Kodak
Exxon General Electric
General Motors Goodyear
Hewlett-Packard IBM
International Paper J.P. Morgan
Johnson & Johnson McDonald
Merck Philip Morris
Procter & Gamble Sears
Union Carbide United Technology
Wal-Mart Walt Disney
 Foundation Course in Banking

1.11. RISK MANAGEMENT

RISK MANAGEMENT

A ship is safe in the harbor…But that is not what ships are built for!

Risk is any element of the operating environment that can cause loss or failure. Risks are difficult
to define and they keep changing constantly. For example, if we ask two derivative traders to
identify the biggest risks faced by them, we may get different answers.
Let us look at an example of an Export Oriented Unit. Most or all of their revenue is earned in for -
eign exchange where as costs are in domestic currency. Expenses like cost of raw material,
salaries, are paid out in Indian Rupees. If rupee appreciates significantly, the exporter’s profits
may be significantly affected. This is summarized with a numerical example in the following table:

Scenario 1 Scenario 2
INR/USD 50 45
Revenues in USD 100 million 100 million
Revenues in INR 5000 million 4500 million
Costs 4000 million 4000 million
Net Profit 1000 million 500 million
A 10% appreciation in rupee resulted in a 50% drop in profits. This is a case of exchange rate
risk. Of course, in times of dollar appreciation, the firm will end up making pots of money!

THE RISK REWARD PRINCIPLE

The higher the risk you take, the higher is the potential reward and the lower the risk, the
lower is the potential reward. The lower the credit rating of the borrower, the higher is the risk
of lending money but higher also is the interest rate that can be charged! Note that the word used
here is “potential reward”. There is no set formula to say how much reward will justify a certain
amount of risk. Also, sometimes the reward may depend upon the person’s or the organization’s
ability to take advantage. However, the risk-reward principle should be the guiding principle while
deciding on a risk management strategy.
 Foundation Course in Banking

THREE PILLARS OF RISK MANAGEMENT

Define
What are the risks?

Measure Manage
How to estimate the risk? Set tolerance limits and act

DEFINING RISKS
The following are some of the possible risk types.

Credit risk is the possibility of loss as a result of default, such as when a customer defaults on a
loan, or more generally, any type of financial contract.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Liquidity risk is the possibility that a firm will be unable to generate funds to meet contractual
obligations as they fall due.
Operational risk is the possibility of loss resulting from errors in instructing payments or settling
transactions.
Legal risk is the possibility of loss when a contract cannot be enforced -- for example, because
the customer had no authority to enter into the contract or the contract turns out to be unenforce-
able in a bankruptcy.
Market risk is the possibility of loss over a given period of time related to uncertain movements in
market factors, such as interest rates, currencies, equities, and commodities.

MEASURING RISKS
Once the risks have been identified, the next step is to choose the quantitative and qualitative
measures of those risks. Risk is essentially measured in terms of the following factors:
a. The probability of an unfavorable event occurring (expressed as a number between 0 and 1)
b. The estimated monetary impact on organization because of the event
The unfavorable events differ for different types of risk. For example, in case of market risk, future
events refer to market scenarios. These scenarios impact each portfolio prices differently depend-
ing on its composition.
Risk measurement is a combination of management, quantitative analysis and information tech-
nology. Serious technology investment is required for accurate measurement and reporting.
One of the commonly used methodologies for market risk is “Value At Risk”

Value at Risk (VaR)

Value at Risk is an estimate of the worst expected loss on a portfolio under normal market condi -
tions over a specific time interval at a given confidence level. It is also a forecast of a given per-
centile, usually in the lower tail, of the distribution of returns on a portfolio over some period. VaR
answers the question: how much one can lose.
Another way of expressing this is that VaR is the lowest quantile of the potential losses that can
occur within a given portfolio during a specified time period. For an internal risk management
model, the typical number is around 5%. Suppose that a portfolio manager has a daily VaR equal
to $1 million at 1%. This means that there is only one chance in 100 that a daily loss bigger than
$1 million occurs under normal market conditions.
Suppose portfolio manager manages a portfolio which consists of a single asset. The return of
the asset is normally distributed with annual mean return 10% and annual standard deviation
30%. The value of the portfolio today is $100 million. We want to answer various simple questions
about the end-of-year distribution of portfolio value:
1. What is the distribution of the end-of-year portfolio value?
2. What is the probability of a loss of more than $20 million dollars by year end?
3. With 1% probability what is the maximum loss at the end of the year? This is the VaR at 1%.

Value-at-Risk (VaR) is an integrated way to deal with different markets and different risks and to
combine all of the factors into a single number which is a good indicator of the overall risk level.
 Foundation Course in Banking

VaR Calculation
A generic step-wise approach to calculate would be:
 Get price data for you portfolio holdings.
 Convert price data in to log return data. (Log Return: u i = ln (Si / Si-1)
where Si is the price of the asset on day i)
 Calculate standard deviations of each instrument or each proxy.
 Calculate preferred confidence level. 99% = 2.33 * standard devia-
tion.
 Multiply position holdings by their respective Standard Deviation at a
99% confidence level. This results in a position VaR at a 99% confi-
dence level.

Example VaR Calculation

Assume that you have a holding in IBM Stock worth $10 million. You have calculated the
standard deviation (SD) of change over one day in IBM is $ 0.20.

Therefore for the entire position, SD of change over 1 day = $200,000

The SD of change over 10 days = $200,000 * √(10) = $632,456

The 99% VaR over 10 days = 2.33 * 632,456 = $1,473,621

A. Monte-Carlo Simulation
It is a simulation technique. First, some assumptions about the distribution of changes in market
prices and rates (for example, by assuming they are normally distributed) are made, followed by
data collection to estimate the parameters of the distribution. The Monte Carlo then uses those
assumptions to give successive sets of possible future realizations of changes in those rates. For
each set, the portfolio is revalued. When done, you've got a set of portfolio revaluations corre -
sponding to the set of possible realizations of rates. From that distribution you take the 99th per-
centile loss as the VaR.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Example Monte-Carlo Simulation

Monte-Carlo simulation is a computation process that utilizes random numbers to derive an
outcome. So instead of having fixed inputs, probability distributions are assigned to some or
all of the inputs. This will generate a probability distribution for the output after the simulation
is ran. Here is an example.

A firm that sells product X under a pure/perfect competition market* wants to know the
probability distribution for the profit of this product and the probability that the firm will loss
money when marketing it.
The equation for the profit is: TP = TR - TC = (Q*P) - (Q*VC+FC)

Assumptions:
 The Quantity Demanded (Q) fluctuates between 8,000 and 12,000 units
 All other similar Output factors are also simulated to reflect the change.

A simple simulation worksheet is prepared to with 50000 iterations for Q. It shows the profit
number (with frequency) under various scenarios of quantity sold. This translates into a near
Normal Curve with a Mean and Standard Deviation.

Using the required confidence interval from the normal curve and the standard deviation, a
VaR limit is generated from this distribution.
 Foundation Course in Banking

B. Historical Simulation
Like Monte Carlo, it is a simulation technique, but it skips the step of making assumptions about
the distribution of changes in market prices and rates. Instead, it assumes that whatever the real -
izations of those changes in prices and rates were in the past is the best indicator for the future.
It takes those actual changes, applies them to the current set of rates and then uses those to
revalue the portfolio. When done, you've got a set of portfolio revaluations corresponding to the
set of possible realizations of rates. From that distribution, we can calculate the standard devia-
tion and take the 99th percentile loss as the VaR.
C. Variance-Covariance method
This is a very simplified and speedy approach to VaR computation. It is so, because it assumes a
particular distribution for both the changes in market prices and rates and the changes in portfolio
value. It incorporates the covariance matrix (correlation effects between each asset classes) pri-
marily developed by JP Morgan Risk Management Advisory Group in 1996. It is often called Risk
Metrics Methodology. It is reasonably good method for portfolio with no option type products.
Thus far, it is the computationally fastest method known today. But this method is not suited for
portfolio with major option type financial products.

MANAGING RISKS
There are multiple strategies to manage risks. Some of the commonly followed ones are:
1. Diversification
2. Hedging or Insurance
3. Setting Risk Limits
4. Ignore the risk!
All the above strategies will reduce the risk – but may not eliminate them. The top management
will determine its risk policy (i.e.) its appetite for risk. The Risk Manager in a bank will be respon -
sible for identifying the risks, setting up tolerance limits, measuring the risk on a day to day basis
and take action whenever the limits are breached.
 Foundation Course in Banking

SUMMARY
 Risk, defined as the deviation from expectation, is an extremely im-
portant concept for financial services industry.
 The nature of banking business gives rise to many different risks in
this business. Credit risk, Liquidity risk, Operational risk, Legal risk,
Market risk are some examples.
 Risk management is a 3-step process: Defining, Measuring and
Managing risks. Risk is measured in terms of the probability and the
potential monetary impact should the adverse event occur.
 Risk measurement is a combination of management, quantitative
analysis and information technology. Serious technology investment
is required for accurate measurement and reporting. One of the com-
monly used methodologies for market risk is “Value at Risk”
 There are multiple ways of managing risks. Rejecting credit if the
credit rating is bad is one operational measure to avoid high risk. Di-
versification spreads the total risk to the business over multiple mar-
kets, thus reducing the impact of risk from any one market on the
overall business. Another way to reduce risk is to transfer or trade
the risk, for example by buying insurance.
 However, any risk reduction measure has its own cost. Therefore,
one has to achieve a balance between the cost of risk management
and the benefit of those risk reduction measures.
 Risk managers aim to reduce the risk to a manageable and known
level through various risk reduction measures. They use risk man-
agement systems to track and analyze the risks.
 A good risk management system not only calculates the risk based
on a set of parameters, but also allows the risk managers to drill
down the risk to lowest components, carry out sensitivity, what-if
analyses, generates customizable reports and sends alerts automati-
cally when the risk crosses a defined tolerance limit.
 The Risk Manager in a bank will be responsible for identifying the
risks, setting up tolerance limits, measuring the risk on a day to day
basis and take action whenever the limits are breached.
 Foundation Course in Banking

1.12. CUSTODY AND CLEARING

Custody Services

INTRODUCTION
The custody service business evolved from safekeeping and settlement services provided by
banks to its customers for a fee. Banks, as a custodian originally provided only basic safekeeping
services to their customers. The banks routinely settled trades and processed income for their
own investments. Their customers kept and took their securities out of safekeeping to settle
trades or for bond maturities. As time evolved, the banks realized that their expertise in securities
processing and their image as a safe repository would be valuable to their customers and they
began to promote their securities processing ability as an enhanced value-added service.

Services offered by Custodians

Services provided by a bank custodian are typically the settlement, safekeeping, and reporting of
customers’ marketable securities and cash. A custody relationship is contractual, and services
performed for a customer may vary.

Users of Custody Services

Institutional investors, money managers and broker/dealers are the primary customers for custo-
dians and other market participants for the efficient handling of their worldwide securities portfo-
lios.

Assets held Under Custody

Custodians hold a range of assets on behalf of their customers. These include equities, govern -
ment bonds, corporate bonds, other debt instruments, mutual fund investments, warrants and de-
rivatives.

Business Drivers of Custody Services

The following are the key drivers in the growth of custody services:
 The wide range of financial instruments and the emerging markets
spreading across geographies resulted in growing interest of in-
vestors. The potential benefits associated with the investments re-
sulted in growth of custody services.
 The increasing use of global custodians to replace their own net-
works of local custodians by Investment managers and banks.
 The state withdrawing from its role of primary pension provider,
causing citizens to invest in defined contribution pensions and mu-
tual funds in record numbers - with custody banks serving the pen-
sion funds and mutual funds, their money managers and the banks
acting for high net worth individuals.
 Foundation Course in Banking

 The introduction of floating exchange rates and lifting of exchange

controls in many major economies resulted in rapid development of
the market for international debt instruments.
 The specialist fund managers running dedicated portfolios of foreign
equities have increased in recent time.
 The gradual increase in equities and cross-border investments.

Securities Marketplace
Securities marketplace is a mechanism for bringing together those seeking investment and those
seeking capital. These entities can be individual or institutional .The securities market can be
classified as primary market and secondary market. For the purpose of the discussion we would
concentrate on secondary market and its working mechanism.

1.1.1 Market Constituents

Investors
An investor is an entity that owns a financial asset. In general there are two types of investor, the
individual and the institutional investor.

 Individual Investor

 Institutional Investor
o Mutual Fund Managers
o Pension Funds
o Insurance companies
o Hedge Funds

Brokers
Broker is an intermediary who executes customer orders for a pre-defined commission. A "bro-
ker" who specializes in stocks, bonds, commodities act as an agent and must be registered with
the exchange where the securities are traded. The brokers can be classified based on the types
of the services offered.

Dealers
Dealer is an entity who is ready and willing to buy a security for its own account (at its bid price)
or sell from its own account (at its ask price). They are individual or firms acting as a principal in a
securities transaction.

Custodians
A custodian is responsible for safekeeping the documentary evidence of the title to property like
share certificates etc. The title to the custodian’s property remains vested with the original holder,
or in their nominee(s), or custodian trustee, as the case may be. Based on confirmation from cus-
 Foundation Course in Banking

tomers, clearing corporation assigns the obligation of settlement upon the custodian. In general
the services provided by the custodians are classified in two main areas:
 Holding of Securities and Cash
 Movement of securities and/or cash
Clearing Corporation
Clearing Corporation is responsible for post-trade activities of a stock exchange. Its responsible
for clearing and settlement and risk management of trades. The list of activities performed by a
clearinghouse is:

 Clearing of trades
 Determining obligations of members,
 Arranging for pay-in of funds/securities,
 Receiving funds/securities,
 Processing for shortages in funds/securities,
 Arranging for pay-out of funds/securities to members,
 Guaranteeing settlement.

Examples of important clearing corporations across the globe are National Stock Clearing Corpo-
ration in USA (NSCC), Sega Intersettle in Switzerland, Clearstream & Euroclear of European
Union and so on.

Depository
The depository can be either domestic or international securities and depending upon that they
are known as either National Central Securities Depository or International Central Securities De-
positories (ICSDs).

Country Depository ab- Depository Full Name

breviation
India NSDL National Securities Deposi-
tory Ltd
USA DTC Depository Trust Company
UK CREST Crest
Japan JASDEC Japan Securities Depository
Center
Hong Kong CCASS Central Clearing and settle-
ment system

Clearing Banks

Clearing banks are a key link between the custodians and Clearing Corporation for funds settle-
ment. Every custodian maintains a dedicated settlement account with one of the clearing banks.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Based on his obligation as determined through Clearing Corporation, the clearing member makes
funds available in the clearing account for the pay-in and receives funds in case of a payout. In
most of the cases the custodians act as a clearing bank also.

1.1.2 Securities Market

Primary Market: It is a market for new security issue. In this market the securities are directly
purchased from the issuer. For e.g. an investor directly buying security issued by IBM.

Secondary Market: A market in which an investor purchases a security from another investor
rather than the issuer. We can divide the secondary market into wholesale and retail parts. The
wholesale market is the market in which professionals, including institutional investors, trade with
one another. Transactions are usually large. The retail market is the market in which the
individual investor buys and sells securities.The principal OTC market is the National Association
of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ). The wholesale market for corporate
equities is conducted on a number of exchanges as well as over the counter (OTC). The New
York Stock Exchange (NYSE) dominates. Other U.S. exchanges include the American Stock
Exchange (AMEX), also in New York City, and five regional exchanges – the Midwest, Pacific,
Philadelphia-Baltimore-Washington,
Some other Markets are:-
 Dealer Markets
 Auction Markets
 Hybrid Markets

Safekeeping

A bank is responsible for maintaining the safety of custody assets held in physical form at one of
the custodian’s premises, a sub-custodian facility, or an outside depository. The banks may hold
assets either off-premises or on –premises

On-Premises
The banks hold the securities/assets in physical form in its vault. The securities (e.g., jewelry, art,
coins) are kept in physical form by the bank .The banks also holds the securities, which are not
maintained in the book entry form.

The banks providing the safekeeping services needs to follow certain norms related to the secu-
rity and movement of securities. The bank provides security devices consistent with applicable
law and sound custodial management. The bank ensures appropriate lighting, alarms, and other
physical security controls. The banks ensure that assets are out of the only vault when it receives
or delivers the assets following purchases, sales, deposits, distributions, corporate actions or ma-
turities.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Off-Premises
The evolution of depository has resulted in vast majority of custodial assets being held in book
entry form. Custodians reconcile changes in the depository’s position each day as a change in
the position occurs, as well as completing a full-position reconcilement at least monthly. Deposi-
tory position changes are generally the results of trade settlements, free deliveries (assets trans -
ferred off the depository position when no cash is received), and free receipts (assets being de-
posited or transferred to the depository position for new accounts when no cash is paid out).

TRADING AND SETTLEMENT

1.1.3 Trade Initiation

The trade process is initiated in a variety of ways in which a customer decides either to buy or sell
securities. The customer goes to either a Broker/ Dealer or a bank’s trading desk through its in -
vestment manager. The bank in turn would coordinate with a broker who has access to the ex-
change. The client sends across his order details through communication network. The client or-
der contains standard features like:

 Buy or Sell
 Specific Quantity
 Specific Security

The brokers typically record the order if the order has been placed through a broker or otherwise
the trader directly maintains the details of the order.

1.1.4 Order Management

The order is placed by the client usually through a telecommunication network and is normally
passed to either the exchange floor or to over the counter-trading desk. The order management
process consists of Entering orders, order modification, order cancellation. The order capture
process is done through appropriate trade entry applications. The process is to capture the order
details i.e. identification of the security to be traded, the quantity, limit price, order duration and
exchanges. The client places the order and specify the Operation i.e. either buy/sell, Quantity,
Security Name and the Price. The order condition can be attached to the timing; price and quan -
tity of the order, which is considered when the broker executes/match the trade .The client’s also
modify/ cancel the order if the order has not been processed.

Order Types
There are two basic types of order: market orders and limit orders.
 Market orders are instructions to buy or sell stock at the best avail-
able price. They are the most common types of orders.
 Limit orders tell your broker to buy or sell stock at the limit price or
better. The limit price is a price you set when placing the order. For a
given purchase, it is the most you will pay; for a given sale, it is the
minimum you will accept. You can also place a limit order to buy
 Foundation Course in Banking

along with one to sell. For example, if XYZ Corporation is currently

trading at $42 per share, you can place a limit order to buy 100
shares of XYZ at 40 or better (less) and to sell 100 shares XYZ at 45
or better (more).
Order Conditions
A buyer/seller can specify order conditions with which the trade is to be executed. These are the
conditions that are typically an upper limit in buy price, a lower limit in sell price, stop loss trade
orders, quantity conditions and time criteria.
 Time Conditions
 Quantity Conditions
 Price Conditions
 Market
 Stop orders

Order Books

An order book is a placeholder for every order entered into the system. As and when valid orders
are entered or received by the trading system, they are first numbered, time stamped and then
scanned for a potential match. If a match is not found, then the orders are stored in the books as
per the price/time priority. Price priority means that if two orders are entered into the system, the
order having the best price gets the higher priority. Time priority means if two orders having the
same price is entered, the order that is entered first gets the higher priority. Best price for a sell
order is the lowest price and for a buy order, it is the highest price

Order Matching
The buy and sell orders are matched based on the matching priority. The best sell order is the
order with the lowest price and a best buy order is the order with the highest price. The un -
matched orders are queued in the system by the following priority:

STOP LOSS MATCHING

All stop loss orders entered are stored in the stop loss book. These orders can contain two prices.
 Trigger Price. It is the price at which the order gets triggered from the
stop loss book.
 Limit Price. It is the price for orders after the orders get triggered
from the stop loss book. If the limit price is not specified, the trigger
price is taken as the limit price for the order. The stop loss orders are
prioritised in the stop loss book with the most likely order to trigger
first and the least likely to trigger last. The priority is same as that of
the regular lot book.
 The stop loss condition is met under the following circumstances:

Sell Order - A sell order in the stop loss book gets triggered when the last traded price in the nor -
mal market reaches or falls below the trigger price of the order.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Buy Order - A buy order in the stop loss book gets triggered when the last traded price in the nor-
mal market reaches or exceeds the trigger price of the order. When a stop loss order with IOC
condition is there, the order is released in the market after it is triggered. Once triggered, the or-
der scans the counter order book for a suitable match to result in a trade or else is cancelled by
the system.
1.1.5 Trade Execution
The trade execution is carried out on a stock exchange after an order is placed. Order modifica-
tion and/or order cancellation is required to handle any abnormality. An order in entered into the
trading system by the brokers and they specify the information regarding the trade details. The
trade details typically contain information like security Name, Quantity, Price, Order Duration etc.
The order is entered into the order book and gets executed as per the time and price condition as
specified in the order. The order matching for the execution takes place in the stock exchange.
The order modification and order cancellation takes place before the order gets executed i.e. if
the order is there in the order books of the exchange and is waiting to be executed the request for
order modification is entertained by the stock exchange. The stock exchange prepares a NOE
(Note of Execution) with the trade details and sends it across to the Broker/ Dealer and to the
clearing corporation giving details of the trade. The date the trade is executed is known as the
Trade Date, and is referred as ”T“ or T+0.

The order execution process for a customer sell order (individual investor placing order through a
broker) goes through the following cycle:

 Customer places a sell order through the Internet or to the account

executive of the brokerage group.
 The account executive sends the order to its corresponding floor bro-
ker or to its trading desk.
 The order execution takes place on the floor of the exchange such
as on NYSE, AMEX etc.
 The exchange sends a Notification of sell to the Firm’s representa-
tive on the exchange as well as the trading desk of the brokerage
group..
 The Firm’s representative on the exchange floor send a notification
of the sell to the floor broker which is then matched with the counter
party broker.

The trade execution results in identifying the following trade components:

 Trade Date
 Trade Time
 Value Date
 Operation
 Quantity
 Security
 Price
 Foundation Course in Banking

1.1.6 Trade Enrichment

The process of trade enrichment involves the selection, calculation and attachment to a trade of
relevant information necessary for efficiently servicing the clients. The trade components, which
require enrichment, are:
 Calculation of cash value: The cash value calculation is done keep-
ing the trade components in consideration.
 Counter party Trade confirmation requirement: The trade details
needs to be enriched to determine if the counter party needs the
trade confirmation and if at all it needs the trade confirmation, the for-
mat in which the confirmation would be send across to them.
 Selection of custodian details: The client might have multiple ac-
counts with multiple or single custodian. The investor would send the
custodian details at which the settlement would take place. The trade
details are enriched with the account number of the custodian, which
will handle the cash/ securities settlement.
 Method of Transaction reporting: The transaction reporting depends
upon the security group as well as the country in which the transac-
tion has occurred. For e.g. the UK equities may require one method
of reporting whereas the international bonds would require another
method.

1.1.7 Trade Validation

Trade validation is a process of checking the data contained in the fully enriched trade, in order to
reduce the possibility of erroneous information being sent to the client (in case of institutional
client) also the wrong trade related information can lead to delay in the settlement or even in set -
tlement failure. The basic trade related information that are validated are following:
 Trade Date
 Trade Time
 Value Date
 Operation
 Quantity
 Security
 Price
 Trade Cash Value
Methods of Trade Validation: The validation of trade can be effected manually or automatically
according to the availability of the system.
 Manual Trade Validation
 Automatic Trade Validation

1.1.8 Trade Clearing

Clearing process signifies the execution of individual obligations with respect to a buyer and
seller. Once the terms of a securities transaction have been confirmed, the respective obligations
of the buyer and seller are established and agreed. This process is known as clearance and de-
 Foundation Course in Banking

termines exactly what the counter parties to the trade expect to receive. Clearance is a service
normally provided by a Clearing Corporation (CC).

Clearance can be carried out on a gross or net basis. When clearance is carried out on a gross
basis, the respective obligations of the buyer and seller are calculated individually on a trade-by-
trade basis. When clearance is carried out on a net basis, the mutual obligations of the buyer and
seller are offset yielding a single obligation between the two counter parties. Accordingly, clear-
ance on a net basis reduces substantially the number of securities/payment transfers that require
to be made between the buyer and seller and limits the credit-risk exposure of both counter par-
ties.
NETTING PROCESS

The Settlement process for the securities is expensive as moving securities and money involves
costs. Since a given trader may engage in dozens or even hundreds of trades each day, these
costs soon add up. One way to reduce these costs is through netting.

For example, suppose you sold the shares to Smith because you expected the price of GE to fall
Say an hour later the price does fall to 75 and you buy the shares back at that price. By coinci-
dence, you buy them from Smith. You and Smith could save a lot of transaction costs if you net-
ted the two transactions – your earlier sale and your later repurchase. Net, Smith owes you
10,000 x ($80 - $75) = $50,000. if Smith just pays you this amount, no securities and a lot less
money need change hands.

You could extend this idea beyond just netting pairs of specific transactions to a general bilateral
netting arrangement with Smith. You could keep a running tab of your trading in GE shares over
a period of time, and just settle your net position at the end of the period. You could save even
more if you engaged in multi-issue netting – netting your trade in all securities.
Continuous Net Settlement
The Continuous Net Settlement (CNS) System is an automated book-entry accounting system
that centralizes the settlement of compared security transactions and maintains an orderly flow of
security and money balances. Throughout the CNS processing cycles, the system generates re-
ports that provide participants with a complete record of security and money movements and re -
lated information. CNS provides clearance for equities, corporate bonds, Unit Investment Trusts
and municipal bonds that are eligible at The Depository Trust Company (DTC). DTC is an insti-
tution that provides depository services in US.

Clearing Process

The process of clearing is explained in the following example:

A deal is struck between with Smith and you on Monday. That night your back-office people and
Smith’s each send electronic notification of the trade to the computer of the National Securities
Clearing Corporation (NSCC).
 Foundation Course in Banking

The NSCC computer checks the two “confirms” against each other. If they match, the trade is
“compared”. NSCC confirms to each of you on Tuesday morning, with instructions for settlement
the same Thursday. If the trade does not compare, you are both notified and you can sort things
out and resubmit the trade before the settlement date.

On Wednesday, the day before the settlement, NSCC interposes itself between the two parties to
the transaction. That is, instead of the original deal between you and Smith, there are now two
deals – one between you and NSCC and the other between NSCC and Smith. You now have a
deal to sell 10,000 shares of GE to NSCC at 80, and Smith has a del to buy them from NSCC at
the same price. You receive a notice to deliver the shares to NSCC; Smith receives a notice to
make payment. By interposing itself in this way, NSCC is guaranteeing settlement to both of you.
Whether or not Smith pays up, you will get your money on time. Whether or not you deliver the
shares, Smith will get 10,000 shares of GE on Thursday.

The automated comparison is an important function of the clearing corporation because it en-
ables the participant to ensure that the trade details agree with those of counter party prior to set -
tlement.

1.1.9 Trade Affirmation/Confirmation

The trade affirmation/confirmation process occurs when a depository forwards the selling broker’s
confirmation of the transaction to the buyer’s custodian. The custodian reviews the trade instruc-
tions from the depository and matches the information to instructions for the trade received from
its customer. If the instructions match, the custodian affirms the trade. If the instructions do not
match, then the custodian will ”DK” (don’t know, or reject) the trade or will instruct the selling bro -
ker how to handle the mismatch. The affirmation/confirmation process is generally completed by
T+1 in a normal T+3 settlement cycle. On day T+2, depositories send settlement instructions to
the custodian bank after affirmation and prior to settlement date. The instructions contain the de-
tails of the trade that has been affirmed and agreed to by the parties in the trade. Custodians will
match the settlement instructions to their records and prepare instructions to send funds or ex -
pect funds from the depository on T+3 of the settlement cycle.

The following media is used for the transmission of trade confirmation/affirmation

 Fax:
 Telex
 S.W.I.F.T
 e-mail
 Paper

1.1.10 Trade Settlement Failure

Trade settlement is the act of buyer and seller exchanging securities and cash on or after the
value date in accordance to the contractual agreement. Settlement is successful when the seller
is able to deliver the securities and buyer is able to pay the cash it owns to the seller. In some
cases the settlement fails primarily because the seller was awaiting the delivery of securities from
its purchase and therefore could not deliver the securities to the buyer.
 Foundation Course in Banking

It is mandatory now days to settle trade on the value date and whenever there is a settlement fail -
ure the authority imposes penalties to the party concerned.

Causes of Settlement Failure

 Non–Matching settlement instruction
 Insufficient Securities
 Insufficient Cash
1.1.11 Trade Settlement
Trade settlement is the act of buyer and seller exchanging securities and cash on or after the
value date in accordance to the contractual agreement. Settlement is successful when the seller
is able to deliver the securities and buyer is able to pay the cash it owns to the seller. There are
different settlement methods depending upon the payment mechanism, security types etc.
In most of the markets the settlement is done on a rolling basis. In a Rolling Settlement, all trades
outstanding at end of the day have to be settled, which means that the buyer has to make pay -
ments for securities purchased and seller has to deliver the securities sold. For instance, USA
and UK follow a T+3 system which means that a transaction entered into on Day 1 has to be set-
tled on the Day 1 + 3 working days, when funds pay in or securities pay out takes place.

SETTLEMENT TYPES
The settlement process has evolved over the period. Traditionally the settlement used to take
place with the physical delivery of the shares, but with advent of Certificate Immobilization the
Book Entry settlement system has evolved.

 Physical Settlement
 Book Entry Settlement

SETTLEMENT PERIOD
The settlement period is the time between the execution of the trade and the settlement of trade.
It is time allowed before the securities sold must be delivered to the buyer. The settlement peri -
ods depend upon the type of the securities traded. Appendix C has the list of the settlement pe -
riod for different types of security.

SETTLEMENT PROCESS
Trade settlement occurs when securities and money are exchanged to complete the trade. Settle-
ment occurs on T+3 in a T+3 settlement cycle. Settlement of a securities transaction involves the
delivery of the securities and the payment of funds between the buyer and seller. The payment of
funds is effected in the settlement system via a banking/payments system. A depository typically
carries out the delivery of securities. A trade is not declared settled until both (funds and securi-
ties) transfers are final.
 Foundation Course in Banking

1.1.12 Trade Accounting & Reconciliation

Trade accounting and Reconciliation is the internal control process used by custodians to man-
age trade transactions. In this process, the custodian determines that the customer’s account has
the necessary securities on hand to deliver for sales, that the customer’s account has adequate
cash or forecasted cash for purchases. It maintains the records of trades internally and tries to
match it with outside world. It tries to match the positions by comparing positions of trades (Open
and settled both).

1.1.13 Risks associated with Trading & Settlement

There are multiple risk associated with the trade execution process .The following example dis-
cusses the risk associated with the trading process from the point of view of a broker associated
with a exchange.
As a broker on the floor of the Stock Exchange and you have just agreed with Smith, another bro -
ker, to sell him 10,000 shares of GE at 80. To execute this transaction, you need to transfer own -
ership of the shares to Smith, and Smith needs to transfer the cash to you. In reality, once you
and Smith agree on the terms, execution is handed over to others in the “back office”. The length
of the process varies from market to market.
 Principal Risk
 Replacement Risk
 Liquidity Risk
 Operational Risk
 Systemic Risk

1.1.14 Work Flows Of Trading and Settlement

The following example discusses how a typical equity trade takes place:
 Foundation Course in Banking

Trade Date (T):

Step 1: The transaction begins with the investor wishing to invest in equity. He contacts his broker
(buy side) with an order to buy and similarly an investor contacts his broker (sell side) to sell the
securities.
Step 2: The brokers place trade request on the exchange.
Step 3: The trade execution takes place in the exchange as per the conditions specified in the or -
der. The exchange prepares a NOE (Notice of Execution) and sends out to the Brokers and the
clearing corporation.
Step 4: The clearing corporation receives the matched instruction i.e. the trade details (quantity,
price etc) from the exchange. The trade details are entered into the Continuous net settlement
system to obtain the net positions for a broker at the end of the day. The clearing corporation pre-
pares a contract sheet with end of day positions for broker and sends it across to the depository.
Step 5: The Brokers sends a confirmation to the client about the trade details and the clients in
turn inform their custodians about the receipt/delivery of shares.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Trade Date +1/2 (T+1/2)

Step 1: The broker receives trade details from the clearing corporation and it enriches it with the
fees, commission and other tax related details and send across the confirmation to the client.
Step 2: The client prepares an Affirmation order and sends it across to the custodians about the
possible pay in/out of securities and funds.
Step 3: The clearing corporation prepares a final pay in/pay out details based on the affirmation
received from the client and send it across to the depository.
Step 4: The custodians also confirm with the depository about the pay in/ pay out details about
the funds and securities.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Trade date + 3(T+3)

Step 1: Pay In of securities: Clearing corporation advises depository to debit account of sell side
custodian and credit its account and the depository does it
Step 2:Pay in of funds (Clearing corporation advises clearing banks to debit account of buy side
custodian and credit its account and the clearing bank does it)
Step 3:Pay Out of securities (Clearing corporation advises depository to credit account of buy
side custodian and debit its account and depository does it)
Step 4: Pay Out of funds (Clearing corporation advises clearing banks to credit account of sell
side custodian and debit its account and clearing banks does it)
Step 5: The custodian 1 confirms the receipt of shares to the buying client.
Step 6: The custodian 2 confirms the delivery of shares to the selling client.

ASSET SERVICING

Asset servicing is a ”core“ ongoing service provided by custodians. This service includes collect-
ing dividends and interest payments, processing corporate actions and applying for tax relief from
foreign governments on behalf of customers.
 Foundation Course in Banking

1.1.15 Corporate Actions

A corporate action is an event related to capital reorganization or restructure affecting a share -
holder. Custodians are responsible for monitoring corporate actions for the securities they hold
under custody. Once the Custodian gets notified of a corporate action, it identifies the accounts
that hold the security. If the account holder has a specified time to decide whether to accept the
corporate action, the customer should be promptly contacted. The custodians have a process to
monitor the corporate action to ensure that the customer has given a complete response by the
due date. When a customer’s instructions are received, the custodian sends the instructions to
the company for execution. The custodian monitors the status of the action to ensures timely set -
tlement. The custodian’s procedures for corporate actions also include documentation of all cus-
tomer directions.

1.1.15.1 Business Process of Corporate Action Processing

Receiving Corporate Action: The information regarding the corporate action is received from a
number of external sources. As the same corporate action data is supplied by many different
sources, a hierarchy of sources is maintained to prioritize the obtained data.
Maintaining Corporate Action: The Corporate actions are classified as either mandatory or volun -
tary
 Mandatory Actions
It is a type of corporate action wherewith the shareholders are not given the option to conditional-
ize their tender. e.g. stock splits, mergers and acquisitions, liquidations, bankruptcies, reorganiza-
tions, redemption’s, bonus issues etc

 Voluntary action
It is a type of corporate action wherewith the shareholders are given the option to conditionalize
their tender. They include rights offers, tender offer, purchase order, exchange order etc.
Notification of Corporate Action: The notification is generated for the client of Voluntary and
Mandatory Corporate Actions. The notification process ensures that the client receives the infor-
mation of the corporate action. Maintaining Response of Corporate Action: The corporate action
response is maintained for voluntary corporate action responses against expiration dates on a
daily basis until the client responds with instructions.

Processing of Corporate Action :In this stage the Processing of corporate action is done to update
the records of the banks. As per the feedback received from the client in case of voluntary ac -
tions, the records for the client are updated in the records of the banks. A similar method is fol-
lowed for the mandatory types of corporate action.

1.1.16 Income Processing

Custodians are responsible for collecting income payments received from the assets held under
custody. The income payments typically take the form of dividends on equity securities and inter -
est on bonds and cash equivalents. Custodians calculate the projected payments and inform the
customers accordingly in advance. This enables the customers to plan investment decisions and
use the proceeds effectively. The bank’s internal controls for income collection also include an in-
come map procedure that details each client’s expected income from a particular security.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Contractual income payments are posted to the customer’s account on the date they are due
rather than the date they are received by the custodian whereas the actual income payments are
posted to the customer’s account on the date they are received by the custodian

1.1.16.1 Business process of Income Processing

Receiving Corporate Announcement: The custodians are dependent on external vendors to re-
ceive corporate action information. These vendors are specialized in providing information across
the globe. Some of the common vendor feeds used are from JJ Kenny, DTC, Telekurs, and
Reuters etc. The information collected is announcements regarding interest (coupon) payments
for registered bonds, dividend payment for equities, income payment for ADR securities, mutual
funds, private placement securities etc.
Generating Payment Obligation: A payment obligation is liability owned by a client. The payment
obligation for a client is generated from the data regarding the corporate announcement. The pay-
ment obligation is generated for the pending payments that are due to the client. Also the cash
projection for the client depending upon corporate announcements is calculated.
Account Maintenance: Details regarding the trade are tracked and the corresponding account is
updated. The trade details are maintained and the details regarding the transaction are captured
and recorded.
Payment Settlement: The payment settlement stage encompasses entire process of Payment re-
ceipt, payment reconciliation, and payment reversal

1.1.17 Proxy Voting

Custodians provide proxy-voting service to clients who want to exercise their rights as sharehold-
ers of a company during the general meetings. If personal attendance is not possible, the share-
holder may appoint a representative to attend the meeting and vote by proxy. A custodian helps
investor to exercise their votes by providing a proxy voting service for all manner of general meet -
ings wherever this service is available.
1.1.17.1 Business Process Involved in Proxy Services

Receiving Corporate Announcement: The corporate announcement regarding the agenda of Gen-
eral Body Meeting or Extraordinary General Body Meeting is captured from external vendors.
Notification to Client: The custodians notify the clients about the proxy services by providing the
details of the corporate announcement.
Maintaining Response of Client: The client’s response to the corporate announcement is main-
tained on a daily basis until the client responds with instructions. The client response is typically
obtained from either email, fax etc. The response is typically like receiving client authorization to
represent him at the meeting and vote on his behalf.

1.1.18 Tax Processing

Custodians provide services to minimize foreign withholding taxes or reclaim taxes withheld for
their customers. The tax treaties between countries often reduce withholding taxes and exempt
capital gains from taxes. The purpose of tax treaties is to reduce the possibility of double taxation
on income earned in foreign countries. In addition, some countries provide reduced tax withhold -
 Foundation Course in Banking

ing rates for certain types of investments (government bonds, for example) or for certain types of
investors (investors exempt from taxation in their home country, for example). Tax treaty benefits
may provide for reduced withholding tax at the time the interest or dividend is paid (“relief at
source”), while other treaties may require the investor to file for a refund after the fact (“reclaim”).
Custodian files a form or statement on behalf of the client, certifying the investor’s tax status and
country of residence for tax purposes. A custodian keeps track of the tax rates for each of the
countries in which it provides custody. Dividends, interest, and capital gains may all be taxed at
different rates. The custodian also maintains information about the tax treaties within its custody
network, and whether its customers qualify for relief under the treaty.

1.1.18.1 Business Process of Tax Handling

Maintaining Tax Information: The tax related information like standard tax rates, exemptions and
reductions available under local law are maintained. The details specifying the reduced rates
available by virtue of double taxation treaties are made available to the client. The market tax re-
ports, summarizing local taxes for each market are provided to the client.
Tax Calculation: The tax calculation process captures trade details and applies the corresponding
tax rates for computation of the tax.
Tax Reclamation: The tax reclamation process is used to reclaim the extra tax paid by the client.
It can be of two types:
Contractual Tax Reclaims: In this kind of reclamation the client's cash account is credited with en-
titlements to tax relief according to a pre-determined schedule of time-frames, in place of when
the tax refund monies are received. The contractual time frame may be ‘n’ months after the in -
come pay date (where the value of n varies according to the market concerned) or payment may
be made, less a discount, with income payment. This can greatly assist clients in managing avail-
able funds.
Non-contractual Tax Reclaims: In this type where tax relief is not obtained at source, the excess
tax withholding is reclaimed. The bank prepares the required reclaim form and completes the as-
sociated reclaim process, pursuing items as appropriate and reporting their status to clients.
Cash Sweep
Cash sweep is a value added service provided by custodian banks to its customers. This service
ensures that the surplus cash in customers’ accounts are effectively invested in short-term invest-
ment funds i.e. STIF (may be as short as an overnight fund) to generate additional returns. The
sweep can be done intra-day based on projected earnings of the particular account or end-of-day
based on actual surplus cash in the account. The STIFs invest money in money market or euro
dollar Deposit.

Risks Associated with Custody Services

Many banks currently offer custodian services. The primary risks associated with custody ser-
vices are: transaction, compliance, credit strategic and reputation.
 Transaction Risk
 Compliance Risk
 Credit Risk
 Strategic Risk
 Reputation Risk
Foundation Course in Banking
 Foundation Course in Banking

1.13. CORPORATE SERVICES

BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION

Employee benefit plans are established or maintained by an employer or by an employee organi -

zation (such as a union), or both, that provides retirement income or defers income until termina -
tion of covered employment or beyond. There are a number of types of retirement plans, includ-
ing the 401(k) plan and the traditional pension plan, known as a defined benefit plan.
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) covers most private sector pension
plans. Among other things, ERISA provides protections for participants and beneficiaries in em-
ployee benefit plans, including providing access to plan information. Also, those individuals who
manage plans (and other fiduciaries) must meet certain standards of conduct under the fiduciary
responsibilities specified in the law.
The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the Department of Labor is responsible
for Administering and enforcing these provisions of ERISA. As part of carrying out its responsibili -
ties, the agency provides consumer information on pension plans, as well as compliance assis-
tance for employers; plan service providers, and others to help them comply with ERISA.

The primary employee benefits are

 Defined Benefits
 Defined Contribution
 Health and Welfare

DEFINED BENEFITS
Defined Benefit plans are the oldest retirement plans that exist in the Pension Industry. They
promise to pay a specified benefit at retirement age. They define the amount of retirement income
to be paid. The actual monthly (or annual) benefit is calculated using a specific formula stated in
the plan document. The benefit is usually paid at a specified time such as attainment of age 65.
A Defined Benefit Plan is an employer-sponsored retirement plan in which retirement benefits are
based on a formula indicating the exact benefit that one can expect upon retiring. Investment risk
is borne by the employer and portfolio management is entirely under the control of the company.
There are restrictions on when and how participant can withdraw these funds without penalties.
A private defined benefit plan is typically not contributory i.e. there are usually no employees con-
tributions, no individual accounts are maintained for each employee. The employer makes regular
contributions to the entire plan to fund the future benefits of the entire cohort of participants. The
employer, rather than the participant, bears the investment risk. Usually, the promised benefit is
tied to the employee's earnings, length of service, or both.
A Defined Benefit plan provides a guaranteed level of benefits on retirement and the cost is un -
known for the employer. If the plan assets earn less than expected, the employer must make
larger contributions to ensure that the plan will have sufficient funds to pay promised benefits. If
the plan assets earn more than expected, the employer's contributions will decrease.
Defined Contribution
 Foundation Course in Banking

A Defined Contribution Plan is a type of retirement plan that sets aside a certain amount of
money each year for an employee. The amount to be contributed to each participant's account
under the plan each year is defined (by either a fixed formula or by giving the employer the dis -
cretion to decide how much to contribute each year). The size of a participant's benefit will de-
pend on:
 The amounts of money contributed to the individual's account by the
employer and, perhaps, by the employee as well;
 The rate of investment growth on the principal;
 How long the money remains in the plan (in most cases, the em-
ployee, upon retirement, has the option of either receiving the pay-
ment in a lump sum or by taking partial payments on a regular basis
while the balance continues to earn interest); and
 Whether the forfeitures of participants who leave before they are fully
vested can be shared among the remaining participants as a reward
to long-term employees.
Since benefits accumulate on an individual basis, these plans are sometimes referred to as "indi-
vidual account plans." In these plans, unlike in defined benefit plans, the risk (and reward) of in-
vestment experience is borne by the participant. Defined contribution plans can permit, and
sometimes require, that employees make contributions to the plan on either a pre-tax basis (as in
a 401(k) plan) or an after-tax basis (as in a thrift plan). They may also, but are not required to,
permit employees to decide how the monies contributed into their accounts will be invested.
Defined contribution plans have gained popularity as employers have begun to ask their employ -
ees to share responsibility for their retirement. The main purpose of a defined contribution plan is
to provide an investment vehicle for employees to accumulate retirement income.

Defined Benefit Plan Defined Contribution Plan

The employer funds it. Employee and employer contributions are allocated to
individual participants

The employer bears the investment risk (the The participant bears the investment risk.
potential for investment gain or loss).

It is generally difficult to communicate. It is easier to communicate.

The final benefit is defined as it is formula driven The final retirement benefit is unknown as it is decided
taking definite parameters (like salary, number of by the performance of participant selected investment
years of service etc.) as input data funds.

The benefit is expressed as an annuity (a specified The benefit is expressed as an account balance.
annual or monthly payment to a pensioner over a
specified period of time or based on life
expectancy) payable at normal retirement age,
usually age 65.

The following plans are designated as defined contribution plans:

 Profit Sharing Plans
 Cash Or Deferred Arrangements Or 401(k) Plans
 Foundation Course in Banking

 Stock Bonus Plans And Employee Stock Ownership Plans

 Simplified employee pensions (SEP)
 Tax Sheltered Annuities Or 403(b) Arrangements
Business entities involved in the Defined Contribution Pension Administration process have
strong interdependency in-terms of flow of information, fund and assets (stocks).
The diagram below depicts the main entities in the plan administration business and their
relations with each other.

Fig 2.1

 Sponsor delegates responsibilities to plan administrator

 Participant contributes for the plan to the sponsor.
 Trust owns the funds of the plan contributed by the sponsor and the
participants and delegates management of the same to Investment
Manager
 Trust and plan administrator submit compliance reports to Federal
Agencies which in turn would qualify the plan.
 Participants direct the Investment manager on their investment pref-
erences.
 Record Keepers provide information on Participant, plan and account
information to Plan Administrators, trustee, Sponsor and Participant.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Following diagram explains the basic processes involved in benefits administration

 Foundation Course in Banking

HEALTH AND WELFARE

In the early days when the Social Security was adopted, Health insurance was taken care by
private sectors. Later the escalating health costs and wage freezes of the post WW II era,
prompted many companies to offer non-cash rewards in the form of Health care benefits. The
challenges due to competitive benefits for maintaining the fiscal responsibility and changes in tax
code made the employers to offer greater benefit choices with certain tax incentives.
Health and Welfare benefit plans can be either Defined-Benefit or Defined Contribution plans.
Defined Benefit health and welfare plans specify a determinable benefit, which may be in the form
of reimbursement to the covered plan participant or a direct payment to providers or third party
insurers for the cost of specified services. Even when a plan is funded pursuant to agreements
that specify a fixed rate of employer contribution, it cannot be a Defined benefit health and
welfare plan.
Defined Contribution health and welfare plans on the other hand maintain an individual account
for each plan participant. The benefits a plan participant will receive are limited to the amount
contributed to the participant’s account, experience, expenses etc. Health and Welfare plans
generally are subject to certain fiduciary, reporting and other requirements of the ERISA
(Employee Retirement Income Security Act, 1974).

Categories of health and welfare plans

 Health Care
o Medical
o Prescription drug
o Behavioral health
o Dental
o Vision
o Long-term care
 Disability Income
o Sick leave
o Short-term disability
o Long term disability
 Survivor Benefits
o Term life
 Foundation Course in Banking

2. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

USA PATRIOT ACT‡‡‡

US Government passed the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools
Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT Act) in response to the terrorists’
attacks of September 11, 2001. The key features are:
 The Act gives federal officials greater authority to track and intercept
communications, both for law enforcement and foreign intelligence
gathering.
 It vests the Secretary of the Treasury with regulatory powers to com-
bat corruption of U.S. financial institutions for foreign money launder-
ing purposes.
 It seeks to further close our borders to foreign terrorists and to detain
and remove those within US borders.
 It creates new crimes, new penalties, and new procedural efficien-
cies for use against domestic and international terrorists.

The anti money laundering rules are very important from a banking point of view. They are de-
scribed in greater detail later in the chapter.

Criminal Investigations: Tracking and Gathering Communications

Federal communications privacy law currently features a three tiered system, erected for the dual
purpose of protecting the confidentiality of communications while enabling authorities to identify
and intercept criminal communications. The first level prohibits electronic eavesdropping on tele-
phone conversations, face-to-face conversations, or computer and other forms of electronic com-
munications in most instances. However, in serious criminal cases, law enforcement officers may
seek a court order authorizing them to secretly capture conversations on a statutory list of of-
fenses for the permitted duration.
The next tier of privacy protection covers telephone records, e-mail held in third party storage,
and the like. The law permits law enforcement access, ordinarily pursuant to a warrant or court
order or under a subpoena in some cases. There is also a procedure that governs court orders
approving the government’s use of trap and trace devices and pen registers, a secret “caller id”,
which identify the source and destination of calls made to and from a particular telephone.

Foreign Intelligence Investigations

The Act eases some of the restrictions on foreign intelligence gathering within the United States,
and affords the U.S. intelligence community greater access to information unearthed during a
criminal investigation, but it also establishes and expands safeguards against official abuse. It
permits “roving” surveillance (court orders omitting the identification of the particular instrument,

‡‡‡
Extracted from Congressional Research Service, US and Federation of American Scientists -
www.fas.org
 Foundation Course in Banking

facilities, or place where the surveillance is to occur when the court finds the target is likely to
thwart identification).

Money Laundering
In federal law, money laundering is the flow of cash or other valuables derived from, or intended
to facilitate, the commission of a criminal offence. Federal authorities attack money laundering
through regulations, criminal sanctions, and forfeiture. The Act bolsters federal efforts in each
area.
The Act expands the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to regulate the activities of U.S.
financial institutions, particularly their relations with foreign individuals and entities. Regulations
have been promulgated covering the following areas:
 Securities brokers and dealers as well as commodity merchants, ad-
visors and pool operators must file suspicious activity reports
(SARs);
 Requiring businesses, which were only to report cash transactions
involving more than $10,000 to the IRS, to file SARs as well;
 Imposing additional “special measures” and “due diligence” require-
ments to combat foreign money laundering;
 Prohibiting U.S. financial institutions from maintaining correspondent
accounts for foreign shell banks;
 Preventing financial institutions from allowing their customers to con-
ceal their financial activities by taking advantage of the institutions’
concentration account practices;
 Establishing minimum new customer identification standards and re-
cord-keeping and recommending an effective means to verify the
identity of foreign customers;
 Encouraging financial institutions and law enforcement agencies to
share information concerning suspected money laundering and ter-
rorist activities; and
 Requiring financial institutions to maintain anti-money laundering
programs which must include at least a compliance officer; an em-
ployee training program; the development of internal policies, pro-
cedures and controls; and an independent audit feature.

Crimes: The Act contains a number of new money laundering crimes, as well as amendments
and increased penalties for earlier crimes.
 Outlaws laundering the proceeds from foreign crimes of violence or
political corruption;
 Prohibits laundering the proceeds from cybercrime or supporting a
terrorist organization;
 Increases the penalties for counterfeiting;
 Seeks to overcome a Supreme Court decision finding that the confis-
cation of over $300,000 for attempt to leave the country without re-
porting it to customs
 Provides explicit authority to prosecute overseas fraud involving
American credit cards; and
 Permit prosecution of money laundering in the place where the pre-
dicate offence occurs.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Forfeiture: The act allows confiscation of all of the property of participants in or plans an act of
domestic or international terrorism; it also permits confiscation of any property derived from or
used to facilitate domestic or international terrorism. Procedurally, the Act:
 Allows confiscation of property located in this country for a wider
range of crimes committed in violation of foreign law;
 Permits U.S. enforcement of foreign forfeiture orders;
 Calls for the seizure of correspondent accounts held in U.S. financial
institutions for foreign banks who are in turn holding forfeitable as-
sets overseas; and
 Denies corporate entities the right to contest if their principal share-
holder is a fugitive.
Alien Terrorists and Victims
The Act contains provisions designed to prevent alien terrorists from entering the US, to enable
authorities to detain and deport alien terrorists and those who support them; and to provide hu-
manitarian immigration relief for foreign victims of the September 11.

Other Crimes, Penalties, & Procedures

New crimes: The Act creates new federal crimes, for terrorist attacks on mass transportation fa-
cilities, for biological weapons offenses, for harboring terrorists, for affording terrorists material
support, for money laundering, and for fraudulent charitable solicitation.
New Penalties: The Act increases the penalties for acts of terrorism and for crimes which terror-
ists might commit.
Other Procedural Adjustments: The Act increases the rewards for information in terrorism
cases, authorizes “sneak and peek” search warrants etc

Anti Money Laundering GUIDELINES

Treasury expects all financial institutions covered by the customer identification regulations to
have their customer identification program drafted and approved by October 1, 2003 as sched -
uled.

Foreign issued identification documents:

 An effective program for identifying new customers must allow finan-
cial institutions the flexibility to use methods of identifying and verify-
ing the identity of their customers appropriate to their individual cir-
cumstances. For example, some financial institutions open accounts
via the Internet, never meeting customers face-to-face.
 Rather than dictating which forms of identification documents finan-
cial institutions may accept, the final rule employs a risk-based ap-
proach that allows financial institutions flexibility, within certain pa-
rameters, to determine which forms of identification they will accept
and under what circumstances.
 However, with this flexibility comes responsibility. When an institu-
tion decides to accept a particular form of identification, they must
 Foundation Course in Banking

assess risks associated with that document and take whatever rea-
sonable steps may be required to minimize that risk.
 Federal regulators will hold financial institutions accountable for the
effectiveness of their customer identification programs.
 Additionally, federal regulators have the ability to notify financial insti-
tutions of problems with specific identification documents allowing fi-
nancial institutions to take appropriate steps to address those prob-
lems.

Customer Identification Program

The rule requires that financial institutions develop a Customer Identification Program (CIP) that
implements reasonable procedures to:
1. Collect identifying information about customers opening an account
2. Verify that the customers are who they say they are
3. Maintain records of the information used to verify their identity
4. Determine whether the customer appears on any list of suspected terrorists or terrorist orga-
nizations

Collecting information:
As part of a Customer Identification Program (CIP), financial institutions will be required to de -
velop procedures to collect relevant identifying information including a customer’s name, address,
date of birth, and a taxpayer identification number – for individuals, this will likely be a Social Se-
curity number. Foreign nationals without a U.S. taxpayer identification number could provide a
similar government-issued identification number, such as a passport number.

Verifying identity:
A CIP is also required to include procedures to verify the identity of customers opening accounts.
Most financial institutions will use traditional documentation such as a driver’s license or passport.
However, the final rule recognizes that in some instances institutions cannot readily verify identity
through more traditional means, and allows them the flexibility to utilize alternate methods to ef-
fectively verify the identity of customers.

Maintaining records:
As part of a CIP, financial institutions must maintain records including customer information and
methods taken to verify the customer’s identity.

Checking terrorist lists:

Institutions must also implement procedures to check customers against lists of suspected terror-
ists and terrorist organizations when such lists are identified by Treasury in consultation with the
federal functional regulators.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Reliance on other financial institutions:

The final rule also contains a provision that permits a financial institution to rely on another regu -
lated U.S. financial institution to perform any part of the financial institution’s CIP. For example, in
the securities industry it is common to have an introducing broker – who has opened an account
for a customer – conduct securities trades on behalf of the customer through a clearing broker.
Under this regulation, the introducing broker is required to identify and verify the identity of their
customers and the clearing broker can rely on that information without having to conduct a sec -
ond redundant verification provided certain criteria are met.

The following financial institutions are covered under the rule:

 Banks and trust companies
 Savings associations
 Credit unions
 Securities brokers and dealers
 Mutual funds
 Futures commission merchants and futures introducing brokers

SARBANES OXLEY ACT§§§

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was signed into law on 30th July 2002, and introduced significant leg-
islative changes to financial practice and corporate governance regulation. The act is named after
its main architects, Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley, and of course fol-
lowed a series of very high profile scandals, such as Enron. It is also intended to "deter and pun -
ish corporate and accounting fraud and corruption, ensure justice for wrongdoers, and protect the
interests of workers and shareholders"
It introduced stringent new rules with the stated objective: "to protect investors by improving the
accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures made pursuant to the securities laws". It also in-
troduced a number of deadlines, the prime ones being:
- Most public companies must meet the financial reporting and certification mandates for any end
of year financial statements filed after June 15th 2004
- smaller companies and foreign companies must meet these mandates for any statements filed
after 15th April 2005.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act itself is organized into eleven titles, although sections 302, 404, 401,
409, 802 and 906 are the most significant with respect to compliance. In addition, the Act also
created a public company accounting board, to oversee the audit of public companies that are
subject to the securities laws, and related matters, in order to protect the interests of investors
and further the public interest in the preparation of informative, accurate, and independent audit
reports for companies the securities of which are sold to, and held by and for, public investors.
Section 201 prohibits non audit services like bookkeeping, financial information systems design
and implementation, actuarial services, management services etc from the scope of practice of
auditors. They can however be taken up with the pre approval of the audit committee on a case
by case basis.

§§§
Extracted from Sarbanes-Oxley forum
 Foundation Course in Banking

Section 401 specifies enhanced financial disclosures specifically:

 Accuracy of financial reports
 Off-balance sheet transactions
 Commission rules on pro forma figures

Section 501 seeks to improve objectivity of research by recommending rules designed to address
conflicts of interest that can arise when securities analysts recommend equity securities in re-
search reports. These rules are designed to foster greater public confidence in securities re -
search, and to protect the objectivity and independence of securities analysts.

BASEL 2 CAPITAL ADEQUACY NORMS****

Bank for International Settlements (BIS), headquartered in Basel, Switzerland represents the
Central Banks of 55 member countries.. The first Basel Capital Accord was instituted in 1988 to
coordinate global regulatory efforts and institute minimum capital requirements to eliminate the
threat posed by undercapitalized banks.
The 1988 Capital Accord prescribed a single, standard measure of risk to determine minimal cap -
ital requirements. The accord aimed, primarily to reverse the steady erosion of bank capital ratios.
As a basis for determining aggregate capital requirements, it has performed reasonably well.
However, this led to offsetting of over and under assessed assets across a bank’s portfolio. The
classification of obligors into sovereigns, banks and others (further divided between OECD and
non-OECD) bears only a tenuous connection to comparative credit risk.
Post 1988, to address growing complexity, volatility, and interdependence among international fi-
nancial markets, and heightened institutional and systemic threats, a new Capital Accord was
proposed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. The new Accord was aimed at estab-
lishing a more sophisticated framework for banks to measure risk and ensure sufficient capital to
cover losses from market, credit, and operational risk. The aim of Basel II is to promote safety
and soundness in the financial system by allocating capital in organizations to reflect risk more
accurately.
Basel II will apply to all financial services providers in the 110 countries that have signed the new
Capital Accord, including security firms and asset managers with operations in banking and Capi -
tal markets. EU member states will require all domestic and foreign financial services providers
to comply, and the G-10 countries are including it into their regulatory environments in order to
meet the Basel II implementation deadline of December 2006. Many of the over 25,000 banks
around the world are expected to adopt Basel II as well, in order to maintain their competitive-
ness.
The coverage of Basel II is likely to be as wide as the Y2K effort. Analysts’ estimate that IT spend
would be around $22.5 billion to address Basel II requirements. A significant portion of this cost
would comprise of the new technological developments and enhancements to the existing sys-
tems.

Three Pillars
The underlying principle for the Accord is that Safety and soundness in today’s dynamic and com-
plex financial system can be attained only by the combination of effective bank-level manage-
ment, market discipline, and supervision.
****
Extracted from Bank of International Settlements’ documents – www.bis.org
 Foundation Course in Banking

The New Accord proposal is based on three mutually reinforcing pillars that allow banks and su-
pervisors to evaluate the various risks that banks face.

Pillar 1 Pillar 2 Pillar 3

“Quantitative” “Qualitative” “Market Forces”

Minimum Capital Supervisory Market Discipline

Requirements Review

• Calculation of • Overview of • Disclosure re-

capital require- supervisory re- quirements
ments view • Capital struc-
• Credit risk • Supervisory
Key principles Market
ture Discipline
• Operational • Review
Capital man- • Risk expos-
risk Supervisory
agement pro- Market
ures Discipline
• Trading book cesses
Review • Capital ad-
changes (mar- • Interest rate equacy
ket risk) risk in the
banking book
• )

Pillar 1: Minimum Capital Requirements

The first pillar sets out minimum capital requirements. The New Accord has focused on improve-
ments in the measurement of risks. The credit risk measurement methods are more elaborate
than those in the current Accord. The new framework proposes for the first time a measure for
operational risk, while the market risk measure remains unchanged.

Credit Risk: There is a choice between three increasingly sophisticated methods: the Standard-
ized, the Foundation Internal Ratings Based (‘IRB’) and the Advanced IRB Approaches.

The Standardized Approach

The bank allocates a risk-weight to each of its assets and off-balance-sheet positions and pro-
duces a sum of risk-weighted asset values.
Individual risk weights currently depend on the broad category of borrower (i.e. sovereigns, banks
or corporates). The risk weights are to be refined by reference to a rating provided by an external
credit assessment institution.

The Internal Ratings based Approach (IRB)

Under the IRB approach, banks will be allowed to use their internal estimates of borrower credit-
worthiness to assess credit risk in their portfolios, subject to strict methodological and disclosure
 Foundation Course in Banking

standards. Distinct analytical frameworks will be provided for different types of loan exposures, for
example corporate and retail lending, whose loss characteristics are different.
Under both the foundation and advanced IRB approaches, the range of risk weights will be far
more diverse than those in the standardized approach, resulting in greater risk sensitivity. A more
complex approach (and therefore a more sophisticated risk management process) should lead to
a lower capital charge.

Operational Risk: Broadly, Operational Risk (OR) is defined as the risk of monetary losses re-
sulting from inadequate or failed internal processes, people, and systems or from external events.
The events characterize the inherent risks in doing business and are mostly managed by putting
in place controls. Some times controls may be ineffective or also fail because of weakness in
people, processes, systems or external events. Some times inherent risks themselves may
change because of the events in the external environment. Thus,

Operational risks = Inherent risks for which controls are not in place + Control risks

There is again a choice of approach: between a standardized and a more sophisticated Internal
Measurement Approach (‘IMA’).

Basic Indicator Approach

This approach links the capital charge for operational risk to a single risk indicator for the whole
bank. Gross income is proposed as the indicator, with each bank holding capital for operational
risk equal to the amount of a fixed percentage, alpha. The Basic Indicator Approach can be ap-
plied for any bank regardless of its complexity or sophistication.

The Standardized Approach

In this Approach, a bank’s activities are divided into a number of standardized business units and
business lines. Within each business line, the capital charge is calculated by multiplying a bank’s
broad financial indicator by a ‘beta’ factor. The capital charge would continue to be standardized
by the supervisor. Now, for each business line gross income is taken to calculate the capital
charge.

The Internal Measurement Approach

This approach strives to incorporate an individual bank’s internal loss data into the calculation of
its required capital. Under the Internal Measurement Approach, a capital charge for the opera-
tional risk of a bank would be determined using an Exposure Indicator (EI) within each business
line / loss type combination, Probability of loss Event (PE), based on the banks’ internal loss data
and Loss Given that Event (LGE) within each business line / loss type combination.

CHECK 21
The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (Check Truncation Act, Check 21) promotes check
imaging through the introduction of a new payment instrument known as the substitute check
(also referred to as the Image Replacement Document or IRD). The substitute check, which con-
 Foundation Course in Banking

tains an image of the check, will be the legal equivalent of the original. Check 21 also abolishes
the paying bank's right to demand presentment of the original paper check as a condition of pay -
ment, which allows the bank of first deposit to truncate the check upon image capture. The Act is
expected to speed the transition from traditional processing to imaged processing and encourage
the use of electronic check clearing.
Check 21 will reduce paper flow resulting from 45- 50 billion paper checks processed each year,
and, in many cases, will eliminate labor- and cost-intensive paper check handling, transportation,
and storage issues. Banks that convert to check imaging will realize many other benefits, includ -
ing:
 Savings associated with lower transit costs and courier charges
 Lower risk of lost items and/or transit delays
 Lower check processing errors resulting from reduced handling and
automated data capture from check images
 Fully automated Day 2 (return) processing enabled by image excep-
tion item processing
 Compressed processing windows to enable later branch cutoff times
 Improved collection float due to faster clearing processes

Check 21 will lead to additional payment system efficiency industry-wide. It will allow financial in-
stitutions to further leverage their investment in check imaging technologies.

Check 21 – Technology challenges for banks

Banks would require substantial technology investments in migrating to a Check 21 environment.
Analyzing from a process flow perspective, the following are the main systems required:
 Check image capture (with verification and receipt generation if re-
quired)
 Check image storage, archival & exchange
 Check image processing, pattern matching & signature verification
 CRM integration – check research and adjustment
Some of the investments can be avoided by going in for an ASP-based solution whereby all pro-
cesses like check image storage & archival, image exchange and processing workflow can be
managed by a third party service provider on a subscription basis. However, the decision on out -
sourcing these activities have to be taken by banks after considerable research on as-is process
flow and technology analysis, capacity planning, security analysis and benchmarking.
Investments for check capture and image processing would be incremental, whereas there would
be significant investment required for storage, archival and exchange of check images in a secure
environment. This would be a major hurdle for most of the banks. Banks will also have to cope
with multiple technology vendors and architectural solutions while ensuring that they stick to im -
plementation time lines.

Glossary

Agency bonds: Agencies represent all bonds issued by the federal government, except
for those issued by the Treasury (i.e. bonds issued by other agencies of the federal
 Foundation Course in Banking

government). Examples include the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), and
the Guaranteed National Mortgage Association (GNMA).

Arbitrage: The trading of securities to profit from a temporary difference between the price of se -
curity in one market and the price in another. This temporary difference is often called market in -
efficiency.

Annualized Percentage or Return: The periodic rate times the number of periods in a year. For
example, a 5% quarterly return has an A.P.R. of 20%. It depends on the following:
 How much repayment
 How frequently
 Which component of loan – interest or principal

Authorization (Credit Cards): The act of ensuring that the cardholder has adequate funds avail-
able against their line of credit. A positive authorization results in an authorization code being
generated, and a hold being placed on those funds. A "hold" means that the cardholder's avail-
able credit limit is reduced by the authorized amount.

Beauty contest: The informal term for the process by which clients choose an investment bank.
Some of the typical selling points when competing with other investment banks for deals are:
"Look how strong our research department is in this industry. Our analyst in the industry is a real
market mover, so if you go public with us, you'll be sure to get a lot of attention from her."

Bloomberg: Computer terminals providing real time quotes, news, and analytical tools, often
used by traders and investment bankers.

Bond spreads: The difference between the yield of a corporate bond and a U.S. Treasury secu -
rity of similar time to maturity.

Bulge bracket: The largest and most prestigious firms on Wall Street like Goldman Sachs, Mor -
gan Stanley Dean Witter, Merrill Lynch, Salomon Smith Barney, Lehman Brothers, Credit Suisse
First Boston.

Buy-side: The clients of investment banks (mutual funds, pension funds) that buy the stocks,
bonds and securities sold by the investment banks. (The investment banks that sell these prod-
ucts to investors are known as the sell-side.)
Capitalized Loan: A loan in which the interest due and not paid is added to the principal balance
of the loan. Capitalized interest becomes part of the principle of the loans; therefore, it increases
the total cost of repaying the loan because interest will accumulate on the new, higher principle.

Capture (Credit Cards): Converting the authorization amount into a billable transaction record.
Transactions cannot be captured unless previously authorized.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Commercial bank: A bank that lends, rather than raises money. For example, if a company
wants $30 million to open a new production plant, it can approach a commercial bank for a loan.

Commercial paper: Short-term corporate debt, typically maturing in nine months or less.

Commodities: Assets (usually agricultural products or metals) that are generally interchangeable
with one another and therefore share a common price. For example, corn, wheat, and rubber
generally trade at one price on commodity markets worldwide.

Comparable company analysis (Comps): The primary tool of the corporate finance analyst.
Comps include a list of financial data, valuation data and ratio data on a set of companies in an
industry. Comps are used to value private companies or better understand a how the market val-
ues and industry or particular player in the industry.

Consumer Price Index: The CPI measure the percentage increase in a standard basket of
goods and services. CPI is a measure of inflation for consumers.

Coupon rate: The fixed interest paid on a bond as a percentage of its face value, each year, until
maturity. In Thailand the coupon is usually paid semi-annually or annually.

Discount rate: The rate at which federal banks lend money to each other on overnight loans. A
widely followed interest rate set by the Federal Reserve to cause market interest rates to rise or
fall, thereby causing the U.S. economy to grow more quickly or less quickly.

Discount Rate for Credit Cards: A small percentage of each transaction that is withheld by the
Acquiring Bank or ISO. This fee is basically what the merchant pays to be able to accept credit
cards. The fee goes to the ISO (if applicable), the Acquiring Bank, and the Associations.

Dividend: A payment by a company to shareholders of its stock, usually as a way to distribute

profits to shareholders.

Fed: The Federal Reserve, which manages the country's economy by setting interest rates.

Federal funds rate: The rate domestic banks charge one another on overnight loans to meet
Federal Reserve requirements. This rate tracks very closely to the discount rate, but is usually
slightly higher.

Fixed income: Bonds and other securities that earn a fixed rate of return. Bonds are typically is-
sued by governments, corporations and municipalities.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Float: The number of shares available for trade in the market. Generally speaking, the bigger the
float, the greater the stock's liquidity.

Floating rate: An interest rate that is benchmarked to other rates (such as the rate paid on U.S.
Treasuries), allowing the interest rate to change as market conditions change.

Glass-Steagall Act: Passed in 1933 during the “Depression” to help prevent future bank failures.
The Glass-Steagall Act split America's investment banking (issuing and trading securities) opera-
tions from commercial banking (lending). For example, J.P. Morgan was forced to spin off its se-
curities unit as Morgan Stanley. Since the late 1980s, the Federal Reserve has steadily weak -
ened the act, allowing commercial banks such as NationsBank and Bank of America to buy in-
vestment banks like Montgomery Securities and Robertson Stephens. In 1999, Glass-Steagall
was effectively repealed by the Graham-Leach-Bliley Act.

Graham-Leach-Biley Act: Also known as the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999. Es-
sentially repealed many of the restrictions of the Glass-Steagall Act and made possible the cur-
rent trend of consolidation in the financial services industry. Allows commercial banks, investment
banks, and insurance companies to affiliate under a holding company structure.

Gross Domestic Product: GDP measures the total domestic output of goods and services in the
United States. For reference, the GDP grew at a 4.2 percent rate in 1999. Generally, when the
GDP grows at a rate of less than 2 percent, the economy is considered to be in recession.

Hedge: To balance a position in the market in order to reduce risk. Hedges work like insurance: a
small position pays off large amounts with a slight move in the market.

High grade corporate bond: A corporate bond with a rating above BB. Also called investment
grade debt.

High yield debt (a.k.a. Junk bonds): Corporate bonds that pay high interest rates to compen-
sate investors for high risk of default. Credit rating agencies such as Standard & Poor's rate a
company's (or a municipality's) bonds based on default risk. Junk bonds rate below BB.

Institutional clients or investors: Large investors, such as pension funds or municipalities (as
opposed to retail investors or individual investors).

Lead manager: The primary investment bank managing a securities offering. An investment
bank may share this responsibility with one or more co-managers.

League tables: Tables that rank investment banks based on underwriting volume in numerous
categories, such as stocks, bonds, high yield debt, convertible debt, etc. High rankings in league
tables are key selling points used by investment banks when trying to land a client engagement.
 Foundation Course in Banking

Leveraged Buyout (LBO): The buyout of a company with borrowed money, often using that
company's own assets as collateral. LBOs were common in 1980s, when successful LBO firms
such as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts made a practice of buying up companies, restructuring them,
and reselling them or taking them public at a significant profit

LIBOR: London Inter-bank Offered Rate. A widely used short-term interest rate. LIBOR repre-
sents the rate banks in England charge one another on overnight loans or loans up to five years.
LIBOR is often used by banks to quote floating rate loan interest rates. Typically the benchmark
LIBOR is the three-month rate.

Liquidity: The amount of a particular stock or bond available for trading in the market. For com -
monly traded securities, such as big cap stocks and U.S. government bonds, they are said to be
highly liquid instruments. Small cap stocks and smaller fixed income issues often are called illiq-
uid (as they are not actively traded) and suffer a liquidity discount, i.e. they trade at lower valua-
tions to similar, but more liquid, securities.

Long Bond: The 30-year U.S. Treasury bond. Treasury bonds are used as the starting point for
pricing many other bonds, because Treasury bonds are assumed to have zero credit risk taking
into account factors such as inflation. For example, a company will issue a bond that trades "40
over Treasuries." The 40 refers to 40 basis points (100 basis points = 1 percentage point).

Making markets: A function performed by investment banks to provide liquidity for their clients in
a particular security, often for a security that the investment bank has underwritten. The invest-
ment bank stands willing to buy the security, if necessary, when the investor later decides to sell
it.

Market Capitalization: The total value of a company in the stock market (total shares outstand-
ing x price per share).

Merchant Account: A special business account set up to process credit card transactions. A
merchant account is not a bank account (even though a bank may issue it). Rather, it is designed
to 1) process credit card payments and 2) deposit the funds into your (business) checking ac-
count (minus transaction fees).

Money market securities: This term is generally used to represent the market for securities ma-
turing within one year. These include short-term CDs, repurchase agreements, commercial paper
(low-risk corporate issues), among others. These are low risk, short-term securities that have
yields similar to Treasuries.

Mortgage-backed bonds: Bonds collateralized by a pool of mortgages. Interest and principal

payments are based on the individual homeowners making their mortgage payments. The more
diverse the pool of mortgages backing the bond, the less risky they are.

Municipal bonds ("Munis"): Bonds issued by local and state governments, a.k.a. municipalities.
Municipal bonds are structured as tax-free for the investor, which means investors in muni's earn
 Foundation Course in Banking

interest payments without having to pay federal taxes. Sometimes investors are exempt from
state and local taxes, too. Consequently, municipalities can pay lower interest rates on muni
bonds than other bonds of similar risk.

Payment Gateway Fees (Credit Cards): The fees that payment gateways charge for their ser-
vices. This generally includes a monthly fee and a small flat fee per transaction. These fees may
be consolidated into a single bill by the acquiring bank or ISO, along with their fees.

Pitchbook: The book of exhibits, graphs, and initial recommendations presented by bankers to a
prospective client when trying to land an engagement.

Pit traders: Traders who are positioned on the floor of stock and commodity exchanges (as op-
posed to floor traders, situated in investment bank offices).

P/E ratio: The price to earnings ratio. This is the ratio of a company's stock price to its earnings-
per-share. The higher the P/E ratio, the more expensive a stock is (and also the faster investors
believe the company will grow). Stocks in fast-growing industries tend to have higher P/E ratios.

Prime rate: The average rate U.S. banks charge to companies for loans.

Producer Price Index: The PPI measure the percentage increase in a standard basket of goods
and services. PPI is a measure of inflation for producers and manufacturers.

Proprietary trading: Trading of the firm's own assets (as opposed to trading client assets).

Prospectus: A report issued by a company (filed with and approved by the SEC) that wishes to
sell securities to investors. Distributed to prospective investors, the prospectus discloses the com-
pany's financial position, business description, and risk factors.

Red herring: Also known as a preliminary prospectus. A financial report printed by the issuer of a
security that can be used to generate interest from prospective investors before the securities are
legally available to be sold. Based on final SEC comments, the information reported in a red her-
ring may change slightly by the time the securities are actually issued.

Retail clients: Individual investors (as opposed to institutional clients).

Return on equity: The ratio of a firm's profits to the value of its equity. Return on equity, or ROE,
is a commonly used measure of how well an investment bank is doing, because it measures how
efficiently and profitably the firm is using its capital.

Risk arbitrage: When an investment bank invests in the stock of a company it believes will be
purchased in a merger or acquisition. (Distinguish from risk-free arbitrage.)
 Foundation Course in Banking

Road-show: The series of presentations to investors that a company undergoing an IPO usually
gives in the weeks preceding the offering. Here's how it works: Several weeks before the IPO is
issued, the company and its investment bank will travel to major cities throughout the country. In
each city, the company's top executives make a presentation to analysts, mutual fund managers,
and others attendees and also answer questions.

Sales memo: Short reports written by the corporate finance bankers and distributed to the bank's
salespeople. The sales memo provides salespeople with points to emphasize when hawking the
stocks and bonds the firm is underwriting.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): A federal agency that, like the Glass-Steagall
Act, was established as a result of the stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing depression.
The SEC monitors disclosure of financial information to stockholders, and protects against fraud.
Publicly traded securities must first be approved by the SEC prior to trading.

Securitize: To convert an asset into a security that can then be sold to investors. Nearly any in-
come generating asset can be turned into a security. For example, a 20-year mortgage on a
home can be packaged with other mortgages just like it, and shares in this pool of mortgages can
then be sold to investors.

Short-term debt: A bond that matures in nine months or less. Also called commercial paper.

Syndicate: A group of investment banks that will together underwrite a particular stock or debt of-
fering. Usually the lead manager will underwrite the bulk of a deal, while other members of the
syndicate will each underwrite a small portion.

Transaction Fee (Credit Cards): A small flat fee that is paid on each transaction. This fee is col-
lected by the acquiring bank or ISO and pays for the toll-free dial out number and the processing
network.

T-Bill Yields: The yield or internal rate of return an investor would receive at any given moment
on a 90-120 government treasury bill.

Tombstone: The advertisements that appear in publications like Financial Times or The Wall
Street Journal announcing the issuance of a new security. The tombstone ad is placed by the in-
vestment bank as information that it has completed a major deal.

Yield: The annual return on investment. A high yield bond, for example, pays a high rate of inter -
est.