An Introduction to Global Financial Markets

Stephen Valdez is a retired financial trainer and consultant and is the former Director of Profile Financial Training Plc. He formed Valdez Financial Training in 1985 to provide simple introductory courses on financial markets. The courses were used around the world by major banks, financial institutions, software houses and information providers. The company was later sold to The Financial Training Co. Ltd. with Stephen Valdez acting as consultant. Professor Philip Molyneux is Head of Bangor Business School, Professor in Banking and Finance and Director of the Institute of European Finance at Bangor University, UK. He previously held the Special Chair of Financial Services and Financial Conglomerates at Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands, and was Visiting Professor at Bocconi University, Milan, Italy. He has published a variety of texts on banking areas and acted as a consultant to New York Federal Reserve Bank, the World Bank, the European Commission, the UK Treasury, Citibank Private Bank, Bermuda Commercial Bank, McKinsey& co, Credit Suisse and various other international banks and consulting firms.

PART I: INTRODUCTION The Debt Merry-go-round PART II: BANKING Banking Background The Role of the Central Bank Commercial Banking Investment Banking PART III: SECURITIES MARKETS The Money and Bond Markets Stock Exchanges Hedge Funds and Private Equity Financial Crisis PART IV: FOREIGN EXCHANGE AND EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND MONETARY UNION Foreign Exchange European Economic and Monetary Union PART V: DERIVATIVE PRODUCTS Traded Options Financial Futures Other Derivative Products PART VI: THE NEW TIGER ECONOMIES The New Tiger Economies: China and India PART VII: TRENDS IN THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL MARKETS Key Trends