Industry WIKI

The Lightning Network (LN) is a payment protocol built on the bitcoin blockchain. It is intended to enable fast transactions among participating nodes (independently run members of the network) and has been proposed as a solution to the bitcoin scalability problem.

The Liikanen Report or "Report of the European Commission’s High-level Expert Group on Bank Structural Reform" (known as the "Liikanen Group") is a set of recommendations published in October 2012 by a group of experts led by Erkki Liikanen, governor of the Bank of Finland and ECB council member. On 3 July 2013, by large majority the European Parliament adopted an own initiative report c

Line (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese freeware app and service for instant messaging and social networking, operated by the Japanese company LY Corporation, co-owned by SoftBank Group and Naver. Line was launched in Japan in June 2011 by NHN Japan, a subsidiary of Naver.

Link (stylised as LINK) is the UK’s main ATM network, which allows consumers to withdraw cash from ATMs which do not belong to their bank. It is the largest interbank network in United Kingdom.

A linked exchange rate system is a type of exchange rate regime that pegs the exchange rate of one currency to another. It is the exchange rate system implemented in Hong Kong to stabilise the exchange rate between the Hong Kong dollar (HKD) and the United States dollar (USD). The Macao pataca (MOP) is similarly linked to the Hong Kong dollar.

Liquidation or winding-up is the process in law by which a company is brought to an end and its assets and property distributed to claimants. When a company has been liquidated, it is sometimes said to be wound-up or dissolved, although dissolution technically refers only to the final stage of liquidation.

Liquidity at risk (LaR) is a financial risk measure that estimates the potential net cash outflows an institution may face over a specified time horizon and confidence level. It is designed to quantify the risk that a bank, investment fund, or corporation will be unable to meet its short-term obligations due to unexpected demands on liquidity. The concept is closely related to Value at R

In macroeconomic theory, liquidity preference is the demand for money, considered as liquidity. The concept was first developed by John Maynard Keynes in his book The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936) to explain the determination of the interest rate by the supply and demand for money.

Liquidity risk is a financial risk that for a certain period of time a given financial asset, security or commodity cannot be traded quickly enough in the market without impacting the market price.

This is a list of bank runs. A bank run occurs when a large number of bank customers withdraw their deposits because they believe the bank might fail. As more people withdraw their deposits, the likelihood of default increases, and this encourages further withdrawals. This can destabilize the bank to the point where it faces bankruptcy.

This list covers formal bank stress testing programs, as implemented by major regulators worldwide. It does not cover bank proprietary, internal testing programs.

This is a list of banking crises. A banking crisis is a financial crisis that affects banking activity. Banking crises include bank runs, which affect single banks; banking panics, which affect many banks; and systemic banking crises, in which a country experiences many defaults and financial institutions and corporations face great difficulties repaying contracts. A banking crisis is ma

This is a list of abbreviations used in a business or financial context.

Foreign exchange reserves, also called Forex reserves, in a strict sense, are foreign-currency deposits held by nationals and monetary authorities. However, in popular usage and in the list below, it also includes gold reserves, special drawing rights (SDRs), and IMF reserve positions because this total figure (more accurately called "official reserves", "international reserves", or "off

This is a list of electronic toll collection systems in use on toll roads throughout the world.

A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies, and other related finance corporations have their headquarters offices. In major cities, financial districts often host skyscrapers and other buildings of architectural importance and are called financial centres; such major centres also include important financial

A national development bank is a development bank created by a country's government that provides financing for the purposes of economic development of the country.

The following is a list of publicly traded companies, that have the largest market capitalization or "market value". Most or all of these companies would be categorized as megacap stocks.

The following is a list of securities examinations and the organizations that offer them.

Certain large banks are tracked and labelled by several authorities as Systemically Important Financial Institutions (SIFIs), depending on the scale and the degree of influence they hold in global and domestic financial markets.

In corporate finance, a listing refers to the company's shares being on the list (or board) of stock that are publicly listed. Some stock exchanges allow shares of a foreign company to be listed and may allow dual listing, subject to conditions.

Litecoin (abbreviation: LTC) is a cryptocurrency and open-source software project created by Charlie Lee and released in 2011. Its software was derived from Bitcoin's codebase. Litecoin uses a scrypt-based proof-of-work system, targets a block interval of 2.5 minutes, and has a maximum supply of 84 million litecoins.

In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money.

A loan shark is a person who offers loans at interest rates that are extremely high or illegal, has strict terms of collection, and generally operates outside the law, often using the threat of violence or other illegal, aggressive, and extortionate actions when seeking to enforce the satisfaction of the debt. As a consistent or repeated illegal business operation or "racket", loan shark

The loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is a financial concept used by lenders to express the ratio of a loan to the value of an asset purchased.

The local authorities swaps litigation (sometimes called simply the swaps cases) refers to a series of cases during the 1990s under English law relating to interest rate swap transactions entered into between banks and local authorities. The House of Lords ruled that such transactions were unlawful. As a result of the decision over 200 separate actions were filed as hundreds of interes

In China, a local government financing vehicle (LGFV) (Chinese: 地方政府融资平台) is an investment company formed by local governments to raise funds, usually by borrowing money to finance real estate development and other local infrastructure projects. They allow local governments to finance infrastructure projects while complying with laws prohibiting them from issuing bonds or having deficits

Lombard banking refers to the business of Italian moneylenders generally referred to as "Lombards" (in medieval times Northern Italy was referred as Lombardy, a much larger region than the modern Lombardy). The term was often used in a derogatory sense, as Lombard banking was associated with the sin of usury.

Lombard Street () is a street notable for its connections with the City of London's merchant, banking and insurance industries, stretching back to medieval times.

The London Gold Pool was the pooling of gold reserves by a group of eight central banks in the United States and seven European countries that agreed on 1 November 1961 to cooperate in maintaining the Bretton Woods System of fixed-rate convertible currencies and defending a gold price of US$35 per troy ounce by interventions in the London gold market.

The London Metal Exchange (LME) is a futures and forwards exchange in London, United Kingdom with the world's largest market in standardised forward contracts, futures contracts and options on base metals. The exchange also offers contracts on ferrous metals and precious metals. The company also allows for cash trading. It offers hedging, worldwide reference pricing, and the option of ph

The London Platinum and Palladium Market (LPPM) is an over-the-counter trading centre for platinum and palladium and a commodity trading association. London has always been a centre for the research in and development of most of the platinum group metals. Trade was established in the early 20th century, typically by existing dealers of gold and silver. The LPPM has been involved in fixin

In finance, a long position in a financial instrument means the holder of the position owns a positive amount of the instrument. The holder of the position has the expectation that the financial instrument will increase in value. This is known as a bullish position. The term "long position" is often used in context of buying options contracts.

Long/short equity is an investment strategy generally associated with hedge funds. It involves buying equities that are expected to increase in value and selling short equities that are expected to decrease in value. This is different from the risk reversal strategies where investors will simultaneously buy a call option and sell a put option to simulate being long in a stock.

The historic Los Angeles Stock Exchange Building, also called the Pacific Stock Exchange Building, is located in the Spring Street Financial District within the Historic Core in Los Angeles. It was the headquarters of the Los Angeles Stock Exchange and the Pacific Stock Exchange from 1931 to 1986. It was then the site of two nightclubs.

The Louvre Accord (formally, the Statement of the G6 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors) was an agreement, signed on February 22, 1987, in Paris, that aimed to stabilize international currency markets and halt the continued decline of the US dollar after 1985 following the Plaza Accord. It was considered, from a relational international contract viewpoint, as a rational comprom

The Lucas islands model is an economic model of the link between money supply and price and output changes in a simplified economy using rational expectations. It delivered a new classical explanation of the Phillips curve relationship between unemployment and inflation. The model was formulated by Robert Lucas, Jr. in a series of papers in the 1970s.

Lucky Baskhar (stylised as LUCKY BASKHA₹) is a 2024 Indian Telugu-language black comedy heist drama film written and directed by Venky Atluri. Produced by Sithara Entertainments, Fortune Four Cinema and Srikara Studios, the film stars Dulquer Salmaan in the titular role, alongside Meenakshi Chaudhary, Tinnu Anand, P. Sai Kumar, Ramki, Raghu Babu, Sarvadaman D. Banerjee, Sachin Khedekar a

M-PESA (M for mobile, PESA is Swahili for money) is a mobile phone-based money transfer service, payments and micro-financing service, launched in 2007 by Vodafone and Safaricom, the largest mobile network operator in Kenya. It has since expanded to Tanzania, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Ghana, Egypt, and Ethiopia. The rollouts in India, Romania, and Alban

Macroprudential regulation is the approach to financial regulation that aims to mitigate risk to the financial system as a whole (or "systemic risk"). After the 2008 financial crisis, there has been a growing consensus among policymakers and economic researchers about the need to re-orient the regulatory framework towards a macroprudential perspective.

Madhya Pradesh Stock Exchange (MPSE) was a stock exchange located at Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. It was a SEBI recognized Permanent Stock Exchange, until its de-recognition in 2015. Established in 1919, it was 3rd oldest stock exchange in India, and a leading stock exchange under outcry system.

Magnetic ink character recognition code, known in short as MICR code, is a character recognition technology used mainly by the banking industry to streamline the processing and clearance of cheques and other documents. MICR encoding, called the MICR line, is at the bottom of cheques and other vouchers and typically includes the document-type indicator, bank code, bank account number, che

Mahmoud Reza Banki (Persian: محمودرضا بانکی; born 1976) is an Iranian-American scientist, management consultant and business executive.

The Makati Central Business District (Makati CBD) is a privately owned financial and central business district in the Philippines located in the heart of Makati in Metro Manila. It is politically and administratively known as "Central Cluster" in the West District of Makati. It is different from the Makati civic center known as "Makati Poblacion" which is situated at the northeast portio

The Malaysian Electronic Payment System (MEPS) is an interbank network service provider in Malaysia. In August 2017, MEPS merged with Malaysian Electronic Clearing Corporation Sdn Bhd (MyClear) to form Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet).

A managed float regime, also known as a dirty float, is a type of exchange rate regime where a currency's value is allowed to fluctuate in response to foreign-exchange market mechanisms (i.e., supply and demand), but the central bank or monetary authority of the country intervenes occasionally to stabilize or steer the currency's value in a particular direction. This is in contrast to a

A managed futures account (MFA) or managed futures fund (MFF) is a type of alternative investment in the US in which trading in the futures markets is managed by another person or entity, rather than the fund's owner. Managed futures accounts include, but are not limited to, commodity pools. These funds are operated by commodity trading advisors (CTAs) or commodity pool operators (CPOs),

A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management and leveraged buyouts became noted phenomena of 1980s business economics and most frequently refer to leveraged transactions where managers take a company private. These transactions, while originat

In the investment advisory industry, a management fee is a periodic payment that is paid by an investment fund to the fund's investment adviser for investment and portfolio management services. Often, the fee covers not only investment advisory services, but administrative services as well. Usually, the fee is calculated as a percentage of assets under management.

The pound (abbreviation: IMP; sign: £), or Manx pound (Manx: Punt Manninagh; in order to distinguish it from other similar-named currencies), is the currency of the Isle of Man, at parity with sterling. The Manx pound is divided into 100 pence. Notes and coins, denominated in pounds and pence, are issued by the Isle of Man Government.

Marex Group plc is a financial services company. The company's clients are predominantly commodity producers and consumers, banks, hedge funds, asset managers, broking houses, commodity trading advisors and professional traders. Marex currently has over 2,300 employees and over 40 offices across Europe, USA and APAC.

Mark Spitznagel (; born March 5, 1971) is an American investor and hedge fund manager. He is the founder, owner, and chief investment officer of Universa Investments, a hedge fund management firm based in Miami, Florida.

Mark-to-market (MTM or M2M) or fair value accounting is accounting for the "fair value" of an asset or liability based on the current market price, or the price for similar assets and liabilities, or based on another objectively assessed "fair" value. Fair value accounting has been a part of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in the United States since the early 1990s. Fail

In finance, market data is price and other related data for a financial instrument reported by a trading venue such as a stock exchange. Market data allows traders and investors to know the latest price and see historical trends for instruments such as equities, fixed-income products, derivatives, and currencies.

The Market Identifier Code (MIC) (ISO 10383) is a unique identification code used to identify securities trading exchanges, regulated and non-regulated trading markets. The MIC is a four alphanumeric character code, and is defined in ISO 10383 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). For example, the US NASDAQ market is identified by MIC XNAS.

In business, economics or investment, market liquidity is a market's feature whereby an individual or firm can quickly purchase or sell an asset without causing a drastic change in the asset's price. Liquidity involves the trade-off between the price at which an asset can be sold, and how quickly it can be sold. In a liquid market, the trade-off is mild: one can sell quickly without havi

A market maker or liquidity provider is a company or individual that quotes both a buy and a sell price in a tradable asset held in inventory, hoping to make a profit on the difference, which is called the bid–ask spread or turn. This stabilizes the market, reducing price variation (volatility) by setting a trading price range for the asset.

In economics and finance, market manipulation occurs when someone intentionally alters the supply or demand of a security to influence its price. This can involve spreading misleading information, executing misleading trades, or manipulating quotes and prices.

Market risk is the risk of losses in positions arising from movements in market variables like prices and volatility.

A market trend is a perceived tendency of the financial markets to move in a particular direction over time. Analysts classify these trends as secular for long time-frames, primary for medium time-frames, and secondary for short time-frames. Traders attempt to identify market trends using technical analysis, a framework which characterizes market trends as predictable price tendencies wi

Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA or MiCAR) is a regulation in European Union (EU) law that establishes a regulatory framework for crypto-assets in the EU, including cryptocurrencies, security tokens and stablecoins. It was adopted by the EU Parliament on 20 April 2023 and has applied in full since December 2024.

Massa Frumentaria or Monte Frumentario was a medieval grain fund established in Malta. As a public institution, it was tasked with the importation and distribution of wheat and other commodities, while also serving as a precursor to an investment bank. The fund was administered by the Università, a municipal body under the control of the Knights of St. John, and later continued under Bri

Mastercard Inc. (stylized as MasterCard from 1979 to 2016 and as mastercard since 2016) is an American multinational payment card services corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York. It provides payment transaction processing and other related-payment services, including travel-related payments and bookings. Its principal business globally is to process payments between the banks of

Matchbook FX was an Internet-based electronic communication network ("ECN" or Electronic Trading Network) for trading currency online in the Spot-FX or foreign exchange market. It operated between 1999 and 2002.

Maya (formerly known as PayMaya) is a brand of Filipino financial services and digital payments based in Metro Manila, Philippines.

MazaCoin (Maza, MZC) is a cryptocurrency launched in 2014 by developer Payu Harris. It was created with the goal of providing a digital currency for the Oglala Lakota tribe in South Dakota.

In economics, a medium of exchange is any item that is widely accepted in exchange for goods and services. In modern economies, the most commonly used medium of exchange is currency. Most forms of money function as media of exchange, including commodity money, representative money, cryptocurrency, and most commonly fiat money. Representative and fiat money exist in digital form as well a

A Mefo bill (sometimes written as MEFO bill; German: Mefo-Wechsel) was a six-month promissory note, drawn upon the dummy company Metallurgische Forschungsgesellschaft ('Metallurgical Research Corporation'), devised by the German Central Bank President, Hjalmar Schacht, in 1934. These bills could be discounted by any German bank at any time, and these banks, in turn, could rediscount the

A merchant account is a type of bank account that allows a seller, known as the merchant, to accept payments by debit or credit cards. A merchant account is established under an agreement between an acceptor and a merchant acquiring bank for the settlement of payment card transactions. In some cases a payment processor, payment service provider, independent sales organization (ISO), or

A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage, it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commodities, particularly cloth merchants. Historically, merchant banks' purpose was to facilitate or finance the production and trade of commodities,

Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) was an American company created by a consortium of U.S. retail companies to develop a merchant-owned mobile payment system, which was to be called "CurrentC." The joint venture was announced on August 15, 2012.

Merchantrade Asia (Merchantrade) is a financial service company based in Malaysia. The company's business is centered on international money transfers, foreign currency exchange, wholesale banknotes, digital payment processing and mobile telecommunications. They also introduced microinsurance as part of their service offerings.

The Merchants' Exchange Building (also known as the Philadelphia Exchange [1]) is a historic building which is located on the triangular site bounded by Dock, 3rd and Walnut Streets in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was designed by architect William Strickland, in the Greek Revival style, the first national American architectural style and was built between

The Merck family is a German noble family of industrialists and bankers, known for establishing the world's oldest pharmaceutical company Merck, its American former subsidiary Merck & Co. (MSD), which is now an independent company, as well as the Hamburg merchant bank H. J. Merck & Co. The family still owns the majority of the pharmaceutical company Merck, making them one of the richest

The Merton model, is a widely used "structural" credit risk model, which was developed by American economist Robert C. Merton in 1974.

Metallism is the economic principle that the value of money derives from the purchasing power of the commodity upon which it is based. The currency in a metallist monetary system may be made from the commodity itself (commodity money) or it may use tokens (such as national banknotes) redeemable in that commodity. Georg Friedrich Knapp (1842–1926) coined the term "metallism" to describe

MetaMask is a software cryptocurrency wallet developed by ConsenSys for interacting with the Ethereum blockchain and other EVM-compatible networks. It enables users to manage Ethereum accounts and connect to decentralized applications (dApps) via a browser extension or mobile app.

Mezzanine capital is a type of financing that sits between senior debt and equity in a company's capital structure. It is typically used to fund growth, acquisitions, or buyouts. Technically, mezzanine capital can be either a debt or equity instrument with a repayment priority between senior debt and common stock equity. Mezzanine debt is subordinated debt that represents a claim on a co

MF Global Holdings Ltd., formerly known as Man Financial, was a major global financial derivatives broker, or commodities brokerage firm that went bankrupt in 2011. MF Global provided exchange-traded derivatives, such as futures and options as well as over-the-counter products such as contracts for difference (CFDs), foreign exchange and spread betting. MF Global Inc., its broker-deal

Michael Robert Milken (born July 4, 1946) is an American financier. He is known for his role in the development of the market for high-yield bonds ("junk bonds"), which led to his reputation as the "Junk Bond King", and his conviction and sentence following a guilty plea on felony charges for violating U.S. securities laws. Milken's compensation while head of the high-yield bond departme

Microcap stock fraud is a form of securities fraud involving stocks of "microcap" companies, generally defined in the United States as those with a market capitalization of under $250 million. Its prevalence has been estimated to run into the billions of dollars a year. Many microcap stocks are penny stocks, which the SEC defines as a security that trades at less than $5 per share, is no

Microcredit is the extension of very small loans (microloans) to borrowers with limited access to traditional credit who typically do not have access to traditional banking services due to a lack of collateral, steady employment, and a verifiable credit history. The primary aim of microcredit is to support entrepreneurship, facilitate self-employment, and alleviate poverty, particularly

Microcredit for water supply and sanitation is the application of microcredit to provide loans to small enterprises and households in order to increase access to an improved water source and sanitation in developing countries.

Microfinance is the provision of financial services to individuals and small businesses, particularly those with low incomes and limited access to conventional banking and related financial services. It encompasses services such as microcredit, savings, checking accounts, microinsurance, and payment systems.

Microsoft Pay (previously Microsoft Wallet) was a mobile payment and digital wallet service by Microsoft that allowed users to make payments and store loyalty cards on certain mobile devices, as well on PCs using the Microsoft Edge browser. Microsoft Pay does not require Microsoft Pay-specific contactless payment terminals, and supported existing contactless terminals if used on mobile d

Microsoft Points, introduced in November 2005 as Xbox Live Points, were a digital currency issued by Microsoft for use on its Xbox and Zune product lines. Points could be used to purchase video games and downloadable content from Xbox Live Marketplace, digital content such as music and videos on Zune Marketplace, along with content from Windows Live Gallery.

In development economics, the middle income trap is a situation where a country has developed until GDP per capita has reached a middle level of income, but the country does not develop further and does not attain high income country status. The term was introduced by the World Bank in 2007 who defined it as the "middle-income range" countries with gross national product per capita that

Midpoint (Midpoint Holdings Ltd) is a UK headquartered, Toronto and Frankfurt listed company providing international payments and peer-to-peer foreign exchange (bureau de change) services to individual and corporate customers. Midpoint is the world’s first dedicated peer-to-peer international foreign currency matching platform. The company's patented matching technology was the first app

Military payment certificates, or MPC, was a form of currency used to pay United States (US) military personnel in certain foreign countries in the mid and late twentieth century. They were used in one area or another from a few months after the end of World War II until a few months after the end of U.S. participation in the Vietnam War – from 1946 until 1973. The certificates were made

Milla de Oro (English for Golden Mile) is the main financial district of Puerto Rico, containing the largest agglomeration of corporate investment, banking, and financial institutions in the Caribbean. Located in the Hato Rey business center of San Juan, the capital municipality of the archipelago and island, it is concentrated in the sections of Juan Ponce de León Avenue and Luis Muñoz

In the context of cryptocurrency mining, a mining pool is the pooling of resources by miners, who share their processing power over a network, to split the reward equally, according to the amount of work they contributed to the probability of finding a block. A "share" is awarded to members of the mining pool who present a valid partial proof-of-work. Mining in pools began when the diffi

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance' is a ministry of the Iranian government that oversees treasury, commerce, industry, financial markets and labor in Iran. Its functions include:

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise (MINECO) is the department of the Government of Spain responsible for proposing and carrying out the government policy on economic affairs, through reforms to improve competitiveness and trade, focused on business support and the potential growth of the economy. At the same time, it directs the commercial policy of internationalization of com

The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF; Khmer: ក្រសួងសេដ្ឋកិច្ចនិងហិរញ្ញវត្ថុ, ALA-LC: Krasuang Seṭṭhakicc ning Hiraññavatthu) accounts for the administration of financial and economic policy and affair in the Kingdom of Cambodia. In accordance to the official website, the ministry was commissioned by the Royal Government of Cambodia to perform missions of guidances and administrations

The Ministry of Economy and Finance is a cabinet ministry of the government of Ecuador responsible for overseeing the nation's public finances. The current minister is Sariha Moya since 2025.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance is the ministerial department of the government of Morocco responsible for the development and implementation of the country's economic policy and financial policy.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance (Spanish: Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas, MEF) of Peru is the government ministry responsible for the planning and execution of economic policies of the Peruvian government with the goal of optimizing the economic and financial activities of the state, establish macroeconomic activity, and achieve the sustainable growth of the nation's economy.

A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position.

The Ministry of Finance (Bengali: অর্থ মন্ত্রণালয়, romanized: Artha Montronaloy) is a ministry of the Government of Bangladesh responsible for financial management, economic policy, and fiscal administration. It serves as the principal government body overseeing the country’s budget, taxation, public expenditure, and financial regulations.

The Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Belarus (Belarusian: Міністэрства фінансаў Рэспублікі Беларусь, romanized: Ministerstva finansaŭ Respubliki Bielaruś; Russian: Министерство финансов Республики Беларусь) is the Belarusian government ministry which coordinates state financial policy and oversees the regulation of securities in Belarus.