Introduction to Banking and Financial Markets - I

Banking and financial markets encompass the ‘ecosystem’ that (a) channelizes money from those who have it (i.e., savers/investors) to those who need it (i.e., borrowers) and (b) facilitate cross-border flow of funds through exchange of currencies. That ecosystem of banks and financial markets (including Central Banks) has deepened in size, sophistication and complexity over the years. However, in recent times they have also been the subject of abuse, failures and economic distress in several countries resulting in a ‘contagion’ that has concurrently impacted several countries around the World! More recently, and perhaps more importantly, thanks to the liberalization of most economies, the world has witnessed an exponential increase in the free flow of capital across countries. Banking institutions and financial markets, being the predominant conduit for such free flow of capital across countries, have therefore become even more ‘globally interconnected’. Such a globally interconnected financial system, combined with regulatory systems that are country-specific and hence varying considerably in rigor and implementation, has further compounded the risks and the consequent contagion, as witnessed in the global financial meltdown that was triggered in 2008. This course titled “Introduction to Banking and Financial Markets” will be delivered in two parts. The first part will help you demystify the role of banking and financial markets in any country, the products and services they offer and the underlying market mechanisms. The second part of the course will examine the risks embedded in banking and financial markets, how these risks have been heightened because of a globally interconnected world and the regulatory and governance mechanisms to minimize adverse outcomes in such a complex system.