Industry WIKI

A hardware security module (HSM) is a physical computing device that safeguards and manages secrets (most importantly digital keys), and performs encryption and decryption functions for digital signatures, strong authentication and other cryptographic functions. These modules traditionally come in the form of a plug-in card or an external device that attaches directly to a computer or ne

Haute Banque refers to the network of private bankers which dominated international finance during much of the 19th century, exemplified by the Rothschild family and including numerous other European banking families. Its influence declined in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as it became marginalized by the rise of universal banks and central banks.

Hawala or hewala (Arabic: حِوالة, romanized: Ḥawāla, lit. 'transfer, trust'), originating in India as havālā (Hindi: हवाला) or huṇḍī (Hindi: हुण्डी, romanized: Huṇḍī, Sanskrit: हुण्डिका, romanized: Huṇḍikā, lit. 'bill of exchange, draft, or promissory note'), also known as ḥavâleh in Persian, and xawala or xawilaad in Somali, is a popular and informal value transfer system based on the p

Hazell v Hammersmith and Fulham LBC [1992] 2 AC 1 is an English administrative law case, which declared that local authorities had no power to engage in interest rate swap agreements because they were beyond the council's borrowing powers, and that all the contracts were void. Their actions were held to contravene the Local Government Act 1972.

A hedge is an investment position intended to offset potential losses or gains that may be incurred by a companion investment. A hedge can be constructed from many types of financial instruments, including stocks, exchange-traded funds, insurance, forward contracts, swaps, options, gambles, many types of over-the-counter and derivative products, and futures contracts.

The accounting term Hedge relationship relates to the treatment of an insurance contract for risk mitigation on an underlying asset, and the set of tests for the valuation of this insurer/insuree contract.

Helicopter money is a proposed monetary policy for inflation targeting, sometimes suggested as an alternative to quantitative easing (QE) when the economy is in a liquidity trap (when interest rates near zero and the economy remains in recession). Although the original idea of helicopter money describes central banks making payments directly to individuals, economists have used the term

Henry Grunfeld (1 June 1904 – 10 June 1999) was a merchant banker who played a prominent role in the development of investment banking and the growth of London as a financial centre following the Second World War.

Henry Hope (1735–1811) was an Amsterdam merchant banker born in Braintree, Province of Massachusetts Bay. He emigrated to the Netherlands to join the family business, the Dutch bank Hope & Co., at a young age. From 1779, Henry became the manager of Hope & Co. and participated in the firm for about a third from 1782. He is considered to be as great a genius as his uncle Thomas Hope who fo

Henry Oberlander (born c. 1927) was the leader of the Hungarian Circle, a gang that defrauded international banks of hundreds of millions of pounds. Following a global investigation, the gang were arrested in 1978 at their headquarters in West London, England. During the trial, the prosecution asserted that the gang "could have wrecked the entire banking system of the Western World". Th

Hera Pheri (transl. Foul Play) is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film directed by Priyadarshan and originally written by Siddique-Lal and adapted screenplay by Neeraj Vora, starring Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Tabu, Om Puri, Asrani, and Gulshan Grover. The film is a remake of 1989 Malayalam film Ramji Rao Speaking which itself was inspired by the 1971 American T

In economics, herd behavior is commonly observed in stock market and marketing.

In finance, the Heston model, named after Steven L. Heston, is a mathematical model that describes the evolution of the volatility of an underlying asset. It is a stochastic volatility model: such a model assumes that the volatility of the asset is not constant, nor even deterministic, but follows a random process.

Hi-pass (Korean: 하이패스) is an electronic toll collection system for the expressways in South Korea that allows motorists to make wireless toll payments, without the need to stop.

High-frequency trading (HFT) is a type of algorithmic automated trading system in finance characterized by high speeds, high turnover rates, and high order-to-trade ratios that leverages high-frequency financial data and electronic trading tools. While there is no single definition of HFT, among its key attributes are highly sophisticated algorithms, co-location, and very short-term inve

In finance, a high-yield bond (non-investment-grade bond, speculative-grade bond, or junk bond) is a bond that is rated below investment grade by credit rating agencies. These bonds have a higher risk of default or other adverse credit events but offer higher yields than investment-grade bonds to compensate for the increased risk.

In 1978 and 1979, lawyer and First Lady of Arkansas Hillary Rodham Clinton engaged in a series of trades of cattle futures contracts. Her initial $1,000 investment had generated nearly $100,000 (equivalent to $443,603.85 in 2025), when she stopped trading after ten months. In 1994, after Clinton had become First Lady of the United States, the trading became the subject of considerable co

Hisense Group Co., Ltd. is a Chinese multinational major appliance and electronics manufacturer headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong, China. Television sets are one of its principal products. In the first quarter of 2026, Hisense accounted for 13% of global television shipments, behind Samsung and TCL, according to Counterpoint Research. Hisense also operates as an original equipment manuf

The history of banking began with the first prototype banks, that is, the merchants of the world, who gave grain loans to farmers and traders who carried goods between cities. This was around 2000 BCE in Assyria, India, and Sumer. Later, in ancient Greece and during the Roman Empire, lenders based in temples gave loans, while accepting deposits and performing the change of money. Archaeo

The history of banking in China includes the business of dealing with money and credit transactions in China.

The term "bank" is attributed to the tables used by "trapezitai", ancient Greek bankers, which provided currency exchange, money storage and loan services, facilitating trade. (See main article: History of Banking)

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, a digital asset that uses cryptography to control its creation and management rather than relying on central authorities. Originally designed as a medium of exchange, Bitcoin is now primarily regarded as a store of value. The history of bitcoin started with its invention and implementation by Satoshi Nakamoto, who integrated many existing ideas from the crypt

Credit unions are not-for-profit financial cooperatives. In the early stages of development of a nation's financial system, unserved and underserved populations had to rely on risky and expensive informal financial services from sources like money lenders, ROSCAs and saving at home. Credit unions proved they could meet demand for financial services that banks could not: from professio

Debt relief, or debt forgiveness, has been practiced in many societies since antiquity. Periodic debt remission was institutionalised in the Ancient Near East and contributed to the stability of its societies. In ancient Greece and Rome the laws were more creditor-friendly and debt cancellation was one of the major demands of the poor, only occasionally implemented by the government. Med

The history of insurance traces the development of the modern business of insurance against risks, especially regarding cargo, property, death, automobile accidents, and medical treatment.

The history of money is the development over time of systems for the exchange of goods and services. Money is a means of fulfilling these functions indirectly and in general rather than directly, as with barter.

The history of nicotine marketing stretches back centuries. Nicotine marketing has continually developed new techniques in response to historical circumstances, societal and technological change, and regulation. Counter marketing has also changed, in both message and commonness, over the decades, often in response to pro-nicotine marketing.

Pawnbroking, lending money on portable security, began in ancient history. The practice was widespread in many parts of the world, from ancient Greece to medieval China and medieval Europe.

The history of private equity, venture capital, and the development of these asset classes has occurred through a series of boom-and-bust cycles since the middle of the 20th century. Within the broader private equity industry, two distinct sub-industries, leveraged buyouts and venture capital experienced growth along parallel, although interrelated tracks.

The United States Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913.

This article outlines the history of Wells Fargo & Company from its merger with Norwest Corporation and beyond. The new company chose to retain the name of "Wells Fargo" and so this article is about the history after the merger.

HKeToll (Chinese: 易通行) is a free-flow tolling system owned by the Transport Department in Hong Kong. It is operated by Autotoll Limited. The system has been gradually put into use in various government-owned tunnels in Hong Kong to replace traditional toll booths and Autotoll from May 2023 onward.

The Hollow Sword Blades Company was a British joint-stock company founded in 1691 by a goldsmith, Sir Stephen Evance, for the manufacture of hollow-ground rapiers.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX; Chinese: 香港交易及結算所有限公司; pinyin: Xiānggǎng jiāoyì jí jiésuàn suǒyǒu xiàn gōngsī) operates a range of equity, commodity, fixed income and currency markets through its wholly owned subsidiaries The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (SEHK), Hong Kong Futures Exchange Limited (HKFE) and London Metal Exchange (LME).

Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange (Chinese: 香港商品交易所; abbreviated as HKMEx) was an electronic commodities exchange established in Hong Kong for the trading of commodity futures, options and other financial derivatives. The exchange was originally pitched as a platform to trade oil futures. In fact, it ended up trading mainly silver and gold futures.

Hope & Co. was a Dutch bank that existed for two and a half centuries. The bank was located in Amsterdam until 1795; originally it concentrated on Great Britain. In the second half of the 18th century, it was the most powerful merchant bank of Amsterdam, and thus Europe, as Amsterdam was at that time Europe's leading financial centre. From 1750 it played a major part in the finances of t

In economics, hot money is the flow of funds (or capital) from one country to another in order to earn a short-term profit on interest rate differences and/or anticipated exchange rate shifts. These speculative capital flows are called "hot money" because they can move very quickly in and out of markets, potentially leading to market instability.

HotelOnline is a travel technology company, offering a suite of digital tools for e-commerce, online marketing and operations automation to the hotel industry in Sub-Saharan Africa. The company helps hotels digitize operations and offers managed distribution to online channels, such as Online Travel Agents (OTAs), Global Distribution Systems, and metasearch engines.

Hottinger first appears in the annals of the town of Zöllikon, near Zurich, in 1362. The town had recently joined the Swiss Confederation, and was poised to become a thriving center for trade. In 1401, three members of the Hottinger family were named Grand Burghers of the city. Their names Hans, Heinrich and Rudolf – or, in their French variants, Jean, Henri and Rodolphe – have marked th

The House Committee on Finance is a standing committee of the House of Representatives in Nigeria. The committee is responsible for overseeing financial matters in the country, including revenue generation, budget planning, and fiscal policies.

HSBC Bank Bermuda Limited, previously the Bank of Bermuda Limited, is a financial services company in Bermuda providing retail and corporate banking, investment, custody and fund administration services to international and local clients. In 2004 the HSBC Group acquired the Bank of Bermuda, which has since become a focus for certain fund management and private banking activities. The ban

HTX, formerly known as Huobi, is a Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange. Founded in China, (Chinese: 火币网; pinyin: Huǒbìwǎng), HTX now has offices in Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and the United States. In August 2018, it became a publicly listed Hong Kong company. According to Bloomberg, it is owned by cryptocurrency billionaire Justin Sun.

Hub Culture is a membership network and digital identity company founded in November 2002 by Stan Stalnaker. The company is based in Bermuda. It is known for Ven, an asset-backed digital currency launched in 2007, and for temporary physical spaces called Pavilions, which it has operated at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, at UN climate conferences and at other internatio

Hybrid securities are a broad group of securities that combine the characteristics of the two broader groups of securities, debt and equity.

Hyosung Group is a major South Korean conglomerate established in 1966. The company operates across diverse sectors including textiles, heavy industries, chemicals, and information & communication.

The term hype culture refers to a cultural trend within contemporary consumer culture, that corresponds to the constant search of the last "big thing". This phenomenon circulates around the concept of expectation, more precisely it is characterized by an attitude of excessive and positive expectations that consumers attach to products, services or technological advancements which have ye

Hyperbridge is a cross-chain interoperability bridge that uses cryptographic protocols to facilitate the transfer of assets and data between different blockchains. Hyperbridge was launched on Polkadot mainnet in 2024 by Polytope Labs. The protocol is designed with a decentralised verification system which eliminates traditional reliance on blockchain validators, addressing the limitation

Hyperledger (or the Hyperledger Project) is an umbrella project of open source blockchains and related tools that the Linux Foundation started in December 2015. IBM, Intel, and SAP Ariba have contributed to support the collaborative development of blockchain-based distributed ledgers. It was renamed the Hyperledger Foundation in October 2021. In September 2024, Hyperledger Foundation and

Hypothec (; from Lat. hypotheca, from Gk. ὑποθήκη: hypothēkē), sometimes tacit hypothec, is a term used in civil law systems (e.g. the law of most of Continental Europe) to refer to a registered real security of a creditor over real estate, but under some jurisdictions it may additionally cover ships only (ship hypothec), as opposed to other collaterals, including corporeal movables othe

International Business Machines Corporation, doing business as IBM (nicknamed Big Blue), is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is a publicly traded company and one of the 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. IBM is the largest industrial research organization in the world, with 19 research fac

IBM designed, manufactured and sold banking equipment such as branch teller terminals and automatic teller machines (ATMs) from the late 1960s until 1998 when they exited the banking hardware market by selling their ATM business to Diebold. The product families described here are listed in roughly chronological order.

This article describes IBM point of sale equipment from 1973 with the introduction of the IBM 3650 till 1986 with the introduction of the IBM 4680. IBM continued to announced new retail products until the sale of the IBM Retail Store Solutions business to Toshiba TEC, announced on 17 April 17 2012.

Institutional Capital Network, Inc (doing business as iCapital) is an American fintech company that provides platform solutions related to alternative investments in the private markets.

IG Group Holdings plc, trading as IG Group, is a United Kingdom-based online trading and investment provider, offering access to spread betting, US futures and options, stock and crypto trading, which allows traders to bet on the direction of equities, bonds and currencies without owning the underlying assets.

Illicit financial flows, in economics, are a form of illegal capital flight that occurs when money is illegally earned, transferred, or spent. This money is intended to disappear from any record in the country of origin, and earnings on the stock of illicit financial flows outside a country generally do not return to the country of origin.

Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) is an instant payment inter-bank electronic funds transfer system in India. National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) was also made available 24/7 from December 2019. Real-time gross settlement (RTGS) was also made available 24/7 from 14 December 2020.

Immutable Pty Ltd (formerly Fuel Games) is an Australian cryptocurrency company which develops blockchain games and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The company was founded in 2018 and headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

The impact of microcredit is the study of microcredit and its impact on poverty reduction which is a subject of much controversy. Proponents state that it reduces poverty through higher employment and higher incomes. This is expected to lead to improved nutrition and improved education of the borrowers' children. Some argue that microcredit empowers women. In the US and Canada, it is arg

In economics, implicit contracts refer to voluntary and self-enforcing long term agreements made between two parties regarding the future exchange of goods or services. Implicit contracts theory was first developed to explain why there are quantity adjustments (layoffs) instead of price adjustments (falling wages) in the labor market during recessions.

In financial mathematics, the implied volatility (IV) of an option contract is that value of the volatility of the underlying instrument which, when input in an option pricing model (usually Black–Scholes), will return a theoretical value equal to the price of the option. A non-option financial instrument that has embedded optionality, such as an interest rate cap, can also have an impl

In international economics and international political economy, the impossible trinity (also known as the trilemma, the monetary trilemma or the Unholy Trinity) is the view that it is impossible to have all three of the following at the same time:

An indenture is a legal contract that reflects an agreement between two parties. Although the term is most familiarly used to refer to a labor contract between an employer and a laborer with an indentured servant status, historically indentures were used for a variety of contracts, including transfers and rents of land and even peace agreements between rulers.

An independent advisory firm (sometimes less accurately called an advisory boutique) is an investment bank that provides strategic and financial advice to clients, primarily including corporations, financial sponsors, and governments. Revenues are typically generated by providing deal-specific advice related to mergers and acquisitions as well as financing. The WSJ noted in January 2016

This aims to be a complete list of the articles on real estate.

In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (Latin: indulgentia, from indulgeo, 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins". The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes an indulgence as "a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is du

An industrial and provident society (IPS) is a body corporate registered for carrying on any industries, businesses, or trades specified in or authorised by its rules.

In finance, inflation derivative (or inflation-indexed derivatives) refers to an over-the-counter and exchange-traded derivative that is used to transfer inflation risk from one counterparty to another. See Exotic derivative.

An inflation swap is an over-the-counter derivative in which one party pays a fixed inflation rate and the other pays the realised change in a price index such as CPI, RPI or HICP. Markets trade two main structures: the zero-coupon inflation swap, which settles once at maturity, and the year-on-year inflation swap, which pays periodic coupons. Users include pension funds, insurers and ot

In macroeconomics, inflation targeting is a monetary policy where a central bank follows an explicit target for the inflation rate for the medium-term and announces this inflation target to the public. The assumption is that the best that monetary policy can do to support long-term growth of the economy is to maintain price stability, and price stability is achieved by controlling inflat

An informal value transfer system (IVTS) is any system, mechanism, or network of people that receives money for the purpose of making the funds or an equivalent value payable to a third party in another geographic location, whether or not in the same form. Informal value transfers generally take place outside of the conventional banking system through non-bank financial institutions or o

The information ratio measures and compares the active return of an investment (e.g., a security or portfolio) compared to a benchmark index relative to the volatility of the active return (also known as active risk or benchmark tracking risk). It is defined as the active return (the difference between the returns of the investment and the returns of the benchmark) divided by the tracki

INIT Innovation in Traffic Systems SE is a German technology company serving the public transport market, based in Karlsruhe. The company was founded in 1983 by Gottfried Greschner, developing on his research on intelligent transportation systems at the University of Karlsruhe. INIT opened a North American subsidiary in Chesapeake, Virginia, in 1999, and has expanded to serve clients in

An Initial exchange offering (IEO) is the cryptocurrency exchange equivalent to a stock launch or Initial public offering (IPO). An IEO is the process of digital asset (e.g. coins or tokens) procurement through an established exchange for the purpose of raising capital for start-up companies. Exchanges act as a middleman between investors and the startup, profiting from fees generated by

Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In many countries, trading based on insider information is illegal. The rationale for this prohibition of insider trading differs between countries and regions. Some view it as unfair to other investors in the market w

InSoil (formerly HeavyFinance) is a Lithuanian environmental technology investment company that operates a marketplace for the agricultural industry. The company facilitates investments in debt capital for small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises to switch and expand regenerative agriculture practices such as no-till farming, mixed crop rotation, cover cropping, and the applicatio

In the United Kingdom, only an authorised or licensed insolvency practitioner (IP) may be appointed in relation to formal insolvency procedures.

Instant payment (sometimes referred to as real-time payment or faster payment) is a method of electronic funds transfer, allowing for almost immediate transfer of money between bank accounts. This was in contrast to the previous transfer times of one to three business days that had been in place until the mid-2010s.

Instinet Incorporated is an institutional, agency-model broker that also serves as the independent equity trading arm of its parent, Nomura Group. It executes trades for asset management firms, hedge funds, insurance companies, mutual funds and pension funds. Headquartered in New York City, the company provides sales trading services and trading technologies such as the Newport EMS, algo

An insurance-linked security (ILS) is a type of financial asset whose value is driven by insurance loss events. Those such instruments that are linked to property losses due to natural catastrophes represent a unique asset class, the return from which is uncorrelated with that of other marketable asset classes.

Intangible asset finance (IP finance) is the branch of finance that uses intangible assets such as intellectual property (legal intangible) and reputation (competitive intangible) to gain access to credit. Like other areas of finance, intangible asset finance is concerned with the interdependence of value, risk, and time.

An Inter-dealer broker (IDB) is specialist financial intermediary that facilitates transactions between broker-dealers, dealer banks and other financial institutions rather than private individuals.

Interac e-Transfer (formerly Interac Email Money Transfer or EMT) is a Canadian funds transfer service between personal and business accounts in participating Canadian banks and other financial institutions, offered through Interac Corporation.

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (commonly known as Interactive Brokers or IBKR) is an American multinational brokerage and financial services company headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut. Through its subsidiaries, it provides automated trade execution and custody services for stocks, options, futures, foreign exchange, bonds, funds and other products on electronic markets worldwide. I

The interbank market is the top-level foreign exchange market where banks exchange different currencies. The banks can either deal with one another directly, or through electronic brokering platforms. The Electronic Broking Services (EBS) and Thomson Reuters Dealing are the two competitors in the electronic brokering platform business and together connect over 1000 banks. The currencies

The interbank lending market is a market in which banks lend funds to one another for a specified term. Most interbank loans are for maturities of one week or less, the majority being overnight. Such loans are made at the interbank rate (also called the overnight rate if the term of the loan is overnight). A sharp decline in transaction volume in this market was a major contributing fac

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) is an American multinational financial services company that operates global financial exchanges, including stock exchanges and futures exchanges, as well as clearing houses, and provides technology and services for mortgage loan origination, closing, and servicing.

In finance and economics, interest is payment from a debtor or deposit-taking financial institution to a lender or depositor of an amount above repayment of the principal sum (that is, the amount borrowed), at a particular rate. It is distinct from a fee which the borrower may pay to the lender or some third party. It is also distinct from dividend which is paid by a company to its share

In finance, an interest rate cap is a type of interest rate derivative in which the buyer receives payments at the end of each period in which the interest rate exceeds the agreed strike price. An example of a cap would be an agreement to receive a payment for each month the LIBOR rate exceeds 2.5%.

In finance, an interest rate derivative (IRD) is a derivative whose payments are determined through calculation techniques where the underlying benchmark product is an interest rate, or set of different interest rates. There are a multitude of different interest rate indices that can be used in this definition.

An interest rate future is a futures contract (a financial derivative) with an interest-bearing instrument as the underlying asset. It is a particular type of interest rate derivative. Examples include Treasury-bill futures, Treasury-bond futures and Eurodollar futures.

Interest rate parity is a no-arbitrage condition representing an equilibrium state under which investors compare interest rates available on bank deposits in two countries. The fact that this condition does not always hold allows for potential opportunities to earn riskless profits from covered interest arbitrage. Two assumptions central to interest rate parity are capital mobility and p

Interest rate risk refers to the potential for financial loss due to fluctuations in interest rates. It will, in turn, impact differently re market risk, i.e. impacting instruments such as Bonds, re banks and re insurers.

In finance, an interest rate swap (IRS) is an interest rate derivative (IRD). It involves exchange of interest rates between two parties. In particular it is a "linear" IRD and one of the most liquid, benchmark products. It has associations with forward rate agreements (FRAs), and with zero coupon swaps (ZCSs).

An interest-free economy or interest free economy is an economy that does not have pure interest rates.

The Interledger Foundation is a US-based nonprofit corporation and standards organization established in 2019.

In the theory of capital structure, internal financing or self-financing is using its profits or assets of a company or organization as a source of capital to fund a new project or investment. Internal sources of finance contrast with external sources of finance. The main difference between the two is that internal financing refers to the business generating funds from activities and as

International asset recovery is any effort by governments to repatriate the proceeds of corruption hidden in foreign jurisdictions. Such assets may include monies in bank accounts, real estate, vehicles, arts and artifacts, and precious metals. As defined under the United Nations Convention against Corruption, asset recovery refers to recovering the proceeds of corruption, rather than br

International finance (also referred to as international monetary economics) is the branch of monetary and macroeconomic interrelations between two or more countries. International finance examines the dynamics of the global financial system, international monetary systems, balance of payments, exchange rates, foreign direct investment, and how these topics relate to international trade.

International financial management, also known as international finance, is the management of finance in an international business environment; that is, trading and making money through the exchange of foreign currency. The international financial activities help the organizations to connect with international dealings with overseas business partners- customers, suppliers, lenders etc. I

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are accounting standards issued by the IFRS Foundation and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). They constitute a standardised way of describing a company's financial performance and position so that company financial statements are understandable and comparable across international boundaries. They are particularly relev