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In finance, a contract for difference (CFD) is a financial agreement between two parties, commonly referred to as the "buyer" and the "seller." The contract stipulates that the buyer will pay the seller the difference between the value of an asset at the time the contract was initiated and the current value of the asset. If the asset's price increases from the opening to the closing of t

In contract law, a contract of sale, sales contract, sales order, or contract for sale is a legal contract for the purchase of assets (goods or property) by a buyer (or purchaser) from a seller (or vendor) for an agreed upon value in money (or money equivalent).

The contractus trinus, contractus triplex, or simply triple contract, is a set of contracts used by European bankers and merchants in the Middle Ages, notably by the Fugger family, as a method of circumventing the canon law prohibition of usury.

Contrarian investing is an investment strategy that is characterized by purchasing and selling in contrast to the prevailing sentiment of the time.

A control premium is an amount that a buyer is sometimes willing to pay over the current market price of a publicly traded company in order to acquire a controlling share in that company.

The Controller-General or Comptroller-General of Finances (French: Contrôleur général des finances) was the name of the minister in charge of finances in the Kingdom of France from 1661 to 1791. It replaced the former position of Superintendent of Finances, which was abolished with the downfall of Nicolas Fouquet. It did not hold any real political power until 1665, when First Minister J

Convergence trade is a trading strategy consisting of two positions: buying one asset forward—i.e., for delivery in future (going long the asset)—and selling a similar asset forward (going short the asset) for a higher price, in the expectation that by the time the assets must be delivered, the prices will have become closer to equal (will have converged), and thus one profits by the amo

Conversational commerce is e-commerce done via various means of conversation (live support on e-commerce Web sites, online chat using messaging apps, chatbots on messaging apps or websites, voice assistants) and using technology such as: speech recognition, speaker recognition (voice biometrics), natural language processing and artificial intelligence. Conversational commerce often relie

Convertibility is the quality that allows money or other financial instruments to be converted into other liquid stores of value. Convertibility is an important factor in international trade, where instruments valued in different currencies must be exchanged.

Convertible arbitrage is a market-neutral investment strategy often employed by hedge funds. It involves the simultaneous purchase of convertible securities and the short sale of the same issuer's common stock.

In finance, a convertible bond, convertible note, or convertible (or a convertible debenture if it has a maturity of greater than 10 years) is a type of bond that the holder can convert into a specified number of shares of common stock in the issuing company or cash of equal value. It is a hybrid security with debt- and equity-like features. It originated in the mid-19th century, and w

The Cook Islands dollar is the current currency of the Cook Islands, which is used alongside the New Zealand dollar. The dollar is subdivided into 100 cents, with some older 50-cent coins carrying the denomination as "50 tene".

Coolhunting is a form of marketing where professionals make observations and predictions based on changes of new or existing "cool" cultural fads and trends. Coolhunting is also referred to as "trend spotting", and is a subset of trend analysis. The term was coined in the early 1990s.

A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-controlled enterprise". Cooperatives are democratically controlled by their members, with each member having one vote in electing the board of

Cooperative banking is retail and commercial banking organized on a cooperative basis. Cooperative banking institutions take deposits and lend money in most parts of the world.

During the First Intifada, from 1987 to 1991, Palestinians established a number of cooperatives with the goal of increasing the autonomy of the Palestinian economy.

The Copper Panic of 1789 was a monetary crisis of the early United States that was caused by debasement and loss of confidence in copper coins that occurred under the presidency of George Washington. Following the American Revolutionary War, several U.S. states began minting their own coins, largely using copper. As copper was relatively easy to counterfeit, counterfeiters in states whic

Copy testing is a specialized field of marketing research that determines an advertisement's effectiveness based on consumer responses, feedback, and behavior. Also referred to as pre-testing, it might address all media channels including television, print, radio, outdoor signage, internet, and social media. Research has also examined how copy testing can be incorporated into the selecti

Copy trading enables individuals in the financial markets to automatically copy positions opened and managed by other selected individuals.

A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Copyright is intended to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work, but not the idea itsel

Core banking is a banking service provided by a group of networked bank branches where customers may access their bank account and perform basic transactions from any of the member branch offices.

A core product is a company's primary promotion, service or product that can be purchased by a consumer. Core products may be integrated into end products, either by the company producing the core product or by other companies to which the core product is sold.

CoreCard Corporation is an American financial technology company based in Norcross, Georgia. Before 2021, it was named Intelligent Systems Corporation and once sold portable computers, video terminals, expansion cards, and other peripherals through a variety of manufacturing subsidiaries.

Corgi is an American insurance technology company based in San Francisco that operates as a licensed insurance carrier for technology startups. The company was founded in 2024 and received regulatory approval to operate as an admitted insurance carrier in 2025. Its product line includes directors and officers liability, cyber insurance, commercial general liability, and AI liability cove

The Corn Exchange was a commercial building in Mark Lane, London, England. The original structure dated from 1747, but the exchange later amalgamated with a rival exchange and was rebuilt several times before finally closing in 1987.

Best Cafe Enterprises, LLC, doing business as Corner Bakery Cafe is an American chain of cafes that specialize in pastries, breads, breakfast dishes, gourmet sandwiches, homemade soups, salads, and pasta. Corner Bakery Cafe is considered to be a part of the fast casual market segment of the food service industry, offering a higher quality of food and atmosphere than a typical fast food

In competition law, cornering the market consists of obtaining sufficient control of a particular stock, commodity, human capital or other asset in an attempt to reduce competition.

A corporate action is an event initiated by a public company that brings or could bring an actual change to the debt securities—equity or debt—issued by the company. Corporate actions are typically agreed upon by a company's board of directors and authorized by the shareholders. For some events, shareholders or bondholders are permitted to vote on the event. Examples of corporate actions

Corporate architecture refers to the use of architectural design to construct physical spaces (buildings, workplaces, etc.) that can promote the image of a corporation. During the 20th century corporate architecture underwent a transformation from functional design philosophies to more creative endeavours, which are able to be an expression of the firm’s institutional identity and play a

In marketing, corporate branding refers to the practice of promoting the brand name of a corporate entity, as opposed to specific products or services. The activities and thinking that go into corporate branding are different from product and service branding because the scope of a corporate brand is typically much broader. Although corporate branding is a distinct activity from product

The corporate debt bubble is the large increase in corporate bonds, excluding that of financial institutions, following the 2008 financial crisis. Global corporate debt rose from 84% of gross world product in 2009 to 92% in 2019, or about $72 trillion. In the world's eight largest economies—the United States, China, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, and Germany—total corpo

The Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA) is the competent authority in Ireland for the general promotion of compliance with the Companies Acts, the investigation of breaches of the Companies Acts and the taking of any necessary enforcement actions to ensure continued compliance.

Corporate farming (also known as Big Agriculture or Big Ag in the United States and Canada) is the practice of large-scale industrial agriculture on farms owned or greatly influenced by large companies. This includes corporate ownership of farms and the sale of agricultural products, as well as the roles of these companies in influencing agricultural education, research, and public polic

Corporate finance is an area of finance that deals with the sources of funding, and the capital structure of businesses, the actions that managers take to increase the value of the firm to the shareholders, and the tools and analysis used to allocate financial resources. The primary goal of corporate finance is to maximize or increase shareholder value.

A corporate identity or corporate image is the manner in which a corporation, firm or business enterprise presents itself to the public. The corporate identity is typically visualized by branding and with the use of trademarks, but it can also include things like product design, advertising, public relations etc. Corporate identity is a primary goal of corporate communication, aiming to

Corporate Memphis, also known as Alegria, is an art style that features minimalism, flat elements, bright, solid colors, and cartoon-like figures with disproportionate limbs and a lack of (smaller) details on larger figures. Named after the Memphis Group, an Italian design group, the style became popular after Facebook introduced it in 2017 under the name Alegria. It has since been assoc

In business, a corporate raid is the process of buying a large stake in a corporation and then using shareholder voting rights to require the company to undertake novel measures designed to increase the share value, generally in opposition to the desires and practices of the corporation's current management. The measures might include replacing top executives, downsizing operations, or l

The Corporate Registers Forum is an association grouping the corporate registries among the countries of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Corporate services or business services are activities which combine or consolidate certain enterprise-wide needed support services, provided based on specialized knowledge, best practices, and technology to serve internal (and sometimes external) customers and business partners. The term corporate services providers (CSPs) is also used.

Corporate social media is the use of social media platforms, social media communications and social media marketing techniques by and within corporations, ranging from small businesses and tiny entrepreneurial startups to mid-size businesses and huge multinational firms. Within the definition of social media, there are different ways corporations utilize it. Although there is no systemat

Corporate surveillance describes the practice of businesses monitoring and extracting information from their users, clients, or staff. This information may consist of online browsing history, email correspondence, phone calls, location data, and other private details. Acts of corporate surveillance frequently look to boost results, detect potential security problems, or adjust advertisin

Corporate synergy is a financial benefit that a corporation expects to realize when it merges with or acquires another corporation. Corporate synergy occurs when corporations interact congruently with one another, creating additional value.

A corporate tax, also called corporation tax or company tax or corporate income tax, is a type of direct tax levied on the income or capital of corporations and other similar legal entities. The tax is usually imposed at the national level, but it may also be imposed at state or local levels in some countries. Corporate taxes may be referred to as income tax or capital tax, depending on

Corporate travel management is the function of managing a company’s strategic approach to travel (travel policy), the negotiations with all vendors, day-to-day operation of the corporate travel program, traveler safety and security, credit-card management and travel and expenses ('T&E') data management.

Corporate venture capital (CVC) is the investment of corporate funds directly in external startup companies. CVC is defined by the Business Dictionary as the "practice where a large firm takes an equity stake in a small but innovative or specialist firm, to which it may also provide management and marketing expertise; the objective is to gain a specific competitive advantage." Examples o

A corporation or body corporate is an individual or other entity such as a company that has been authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as "born out of statute"; a legal person in a legal context) and recognized as such in law for certain purposes.

Corporatocracy or corpocracy is an economic, political and judicial system controlled or influenced by business corporations or corporate interests.

A correlation swap is an over-the-counter financial derivative that allows one to speculate on or hedge risks associated with the observed average correlation, of a collection of underlying products, where each product has periodically observable prices, as with a commodity, exchange rate, interest rate, or stock index.

Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a crime that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities like bribery, influence peddling, embezzlement, and fraud as well as practices that are legal in many countries, such as lobbying. Political corruption occu

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is an index published annually by Transparency International, a German registered association, since 1995. It scores and ranks countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, as assessed by experts and business executives. The CPI generally defines corruption as an "abuse of entrusted power for private gain".

Corvinus International Investment Ltd. is a Hungarian state-owned asset management company. It is responsible for the execution of transactions related to company holdings in line with the strategic objectives of economic development and for the preservation and growth of the assets owned by the company.

The cost of carry or carrying charge is the cost of holding a security or a physical commodity over a period of time. The carrying charge includes insurance, storage and interest on the invested funds as well as other incidental costs. In interest rate futures markets, it refers to the differential between the yield on a cash instrument and the cost of the funds necessary to buy the inst

Cost of goods sold (COGS) (also cost of products sold (COPS), or cost of sales) is the carrying value of goods sold during a particular period.

The cost of living is the cost of maintaining a certain standard of living for an individual or a household. Cost-of-living calculations are also used to compare the cost of maintaining a given standard of living across different geographic areas. Differences in the cost of living between locations can be measured using purchasing power parity rates.

The cost of living in Namibia is higher than some other regional cities in the southern region of the African continent. Namibia imports about 50% of its cereal requirements. Many other items used in daily life also need to be imported. High transportation costs make prices very high and unaffordable. Monopolies in some business sectors causes higher profit booking, which also results in

Cost per action (CPA), also sometimes misconstrued in marketing environments as cost per acquisition, is an online advertising measurement and pricing model referring to a specified action, for example, a sale, click, or form submit (e.g., contact request, newsletter sign up, registration, etc.).

Cost per impression (CPI) and cost per thousand impressions (CPM) are terms used in traditional advertising media selection, as well as online advertising and marketing related to web traffic. They refer to the cost of traditional advertising or internet marketing or email advertising campaigns, where advertisers pay each time an ad is displayed. CPI is the cost or expense incurred for

Cost per lead (CPL) is an online advertising pricing model in which advertisers pay for a defined lead, typically the contact information of a consumer who has expressed interest in the advertiser's product or service.

A cost-of-living crisis is a situation or period of high inflation with increases in the nominal cost of living while real wages decrease. As a result, real income and living standards are squeezed to the point that people cannot afford the standard of living that they were previously accustomed to. The population becomes 'poorer' than it used to be in real terms. This is in contrast to

A cost-plus contract, also termed a cost plus contract, is a contract such that a contractor is paid for all of its allowed expenses, plus an additional payment to allow for risk and incentive sharing. Cost-reimbursement contracts contrast with fixed-price contracts, in which the contractor is paid a negotiated amount regardless of incurred expenses.

Cost–benefit analysis (CBA), sometimes also called benefit–cost analysis, is a systematic approach to estimating the strengths and weaknesses of alternatives. It is used to determine options which provide the best approach to achieving benefits while preserving savings in, for example, transactions, activities, and functional business requirements. A CBA may be used to compare completed

The Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promoter (PROCOMER) is a Costa Rican governmental agency for investment and export promotion responsible for export promotion programs, attracting foreign direct investment, creating human talent development programs, and providing technical and financial support for the administration of Costa Rica's special export regimes.

Cotality (CoreLogic Inc., doing business as Cotality) is an American-based information services provider of financial, property, and consumer information, analytics, and business intelligence. The company analyzes information assets and data to provide clients with analytics and customized data services. The company also develops proprietary research, and tracks current and historical tr

Country of origin (CO) represents the country or countries of manufacture, production, design, or brand origin where an article or product comes from. For multinational brands, CO may include multiple countries within the value-creation process.

Country risk refers to the risk of investing or lending in a country, arising from possible changes in the business environment that may adversely affect operating profits or the value of assets in the country. For example, financial factors such as currency controls, devaluation or regulatory changes, or stability factors such as mass riots, civil war and other potential events contribu

A courier is a person or organization that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are government or state agency employees (for example: a diplomatic courier).

Court auction is an auction which takes place at a public location designated by the court.

Covad Communications Company, also known as Covad Communications Group, was an American provider of broadband voice and data communications. By Q3 2006, the company had 530,000 subscribers, and ranked as the 16th largest Internet service provider in the United States. Covad was acquired by U.S. Venture Partners, who in 2010 announced a three-way merger of MegaPath, Covad, and Speakeasy,

A Coverdell education savings account (also known as an education savings account, a Coverdell ESA, a Coverdell account, or just an ESA, and formerly known as an education individual retirement account), is a tax advantaged investment account in the U.S. designed to encourage savings to cover future education expenses (elementary, secondary, or college), such as tuition, books, and unifo

Covered interest arbitrage is an arbitrage trading strategy whereby an investor capitalizes on the interest rate differential between two countries by using a forward contract to cover (eliminate exposure to) exchange rate risk. Using forward contracts enables arbitrageurs such as individual investors or banks to make use of the forward premium (or discount) to earn a riskless profit fro

In mathematical finance, the Cox–Ingersoll–Ross (CIR) model describes the evolution of interest rates. It is a type of "one factor model" (short-rate model) as it describes interest rate movements as driven by only one source of market risk. The model can be used in the valuation of interest rate derivatives. It was introduced in 1985 by John C. Cox, Jonathan E. Ingersoll and Stephen A.

CPA Australia ("Certified Practising Accountant") is a professional accounting body in Australia, originally founded as the "Incorporated Institute of Accountants" in 1886. As of 31 December 2020, it has 168,736 members in 150 countries and regions. CPA Australia currently has 19 staffed offices across Australia, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, New Zealand and

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB; French: Office d'investissement du régime de pensions du Canada), operating as CPP Investments (French: Investissements RPC), is a Canadian Crown corporation established by way of the 1997 Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act to oversee and invest the funds contributed to and held by the Canada Pension Plan (CPP).

Crack spread is a term used in the oil industry and futures trading for the differential between the price of crude oil and petroleum products extracted from it. The spread approximates the profit margin that an oil refinery can expect to make by "cracking" the long-chain hydrocarbons of crude oil into useful shorter-chain petroleum products.

CBOCS Properties, Inc., doing business as Cracker Barrel, is an American chain of restaurant and gift stores with a Southern country theme. The company's headquarters are in Lebanon, Tennessee, where Cracker Barrel was founded by Dan Evins and Tommy Lowe in 1969. The chain's early locations were positioned near Interstate Highway exits in the Southeastern and Midwestern United States, bu

Craig S. Fleisher is a scholar, advisor and author who has written or edited several books on public affairs, business, and competitive intelligence and analysis. Before becoming Dean of the Business School at the College of Coastal Georgia, he was awarded two endowed research chair positions while a Professor of Business (Strategy & Environment) at the Odette School of Business, Univers

A cram down or cramdown is the involuntary imposition by a court of a reorganization plan over the objection of some classes of creditors.

Cramming is a form of fraud in which small charges are added to a bill for service(s) or product(s) by a third party without the subscriber's consent, approval, authorization or disclosure. These may be disguised as a tax, some other common fee or a bogus service, and may be several dollars or even just a few cents. The crammer's intent is that the subscriber will overlook and ultimately

In macroeconomics, crawling peg is an exchange rate regime that allows currency depreciation or appreciation to happen gradually. It is usually seen as a part of a fixed exchange rate regime.

Creations (formerly Creation Club) is a system of microtransactions designed by Bethesda Game Studios for its games Fallout 4, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Special Edition and Starfield. The system was launched for Fallout 4 on August 29, 2017.

Creative accounting is a euphemism referring to accounting practices that may follow the letter of the rules of standard accounting practices, but deviate from the spirit of those rules with questionable accounting ethics—specifically distorting results in favor of the "preparers", or the firm that hired the accountant. They are characterized by excessive complication and the use of nove

In real estate, creative financing is non-traditional or uncommon means of buying land or property. The goal of creative financing is generally to purchase, or finance a property, with the buyer/investor using as little of his own money as possible, otherwise known as leveraging. Using these techniques an investor may be able to purchase multiple properties using little, or none, of his

Credible is a financial technology company headquartered in San Francisco and incorporated under the name Credible Labs Inc. The company also does business through its subsidiary Credible Operations, Inc. Its online marketplace offers consumers the ability to compare and refinance loans, mortgages, and other financial products from lenders. Credible became a subsidiary of Fox Corporation

Credit (from Latin creditum, "loan") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt), but promises either to repay or return those resources (or other materials of equal value) at a later date. The resources provided by the first party can be either prope

Credit analysis is the method by which one calculates the creditworthiness of a business or organization. In other words, It is the evaluation of the ability of a company to honor its financial obligations. The audited financial statements of a large company might be analyzed when it issues or has issued bonds. Or, a bank may analyze the financial statements of a small business before ma

A credit bureau is a data collection agency that gathers account information from various creditors and provides that information to a consumer reporting agency in the United States, a credit reference agency in the United Kingdom, a credit reporting body in Australia, a credit information company (CIC) in India, a Special Accessing Entity in the Philippines, and also to private lenders.

A credit card (or charge card) is a payment card, usually issued by a bank, allowing the card's users to purchase goods and services, or withdraw cash on credit. Card use thereby accrues debt that must be repaid later.

Credit card debt results when a client of a credit card company purchases an item or service through the card system. Debt grows through the accrual of interest and penalties when the consumer fails to repay the company for the money they have spent.

Credit card interest is a way in which credit card issuers generate revenue. A card issuer is a bank or credit union that gives a consumer (the cardholder) a card or account number that can be used with various payees to make payments and borrow money from the bank simultaneously. The bank pays the payee and then charges the cardholder interest over the time the money remains borrowed. B

The credit channel mechanism of monetary policy describes the theory that a central bank's policy changes affect the amount of credit that banks issue to firms and consumers for purchases, which in turn affects the real economy.

Credit counseling (known in the United Kingdom as debt counseling) is a process used to help individual debtors overcome their debt through financial education, budgeting, debt management plans (DMPs) – known in the United Kingdom as the individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) – and a variety of other tools with the goal of reducing and ultimately eliminating debt.

A credit crunch (a credit squeeze, credit tightening or credit crisis) is a sudden reduction in the general availability of loans (or credit) or a sudden tightening of the conditions required to obtain a loan from banks. A credit crunch generally involves a reduction in the availability of credit independent of a rise in official interest rates. In such situations, the relationship betwe

A credit default swap (CDS) is a financial swap agreement that the seller of the CDS will compensate the buyer in the event of a debt default (by the debtor) or other credit event. That is, the seller of the CDS insures the buyer against some reference asset defaulting. The buyer of the CDS makes a series of payments (the CDS "fee" or "spread") to the seller and, in exchange, may expect

A credit default swap index is a credit derivative used to hedge credit risk or to take a position on a basket of credit entities. Unlike a credit default swap, which is an over the counter credit derivative, a credit default swap index is a completely standardized credit security and may therefore be more liquid and trade at a smaller bid–offer spread. This means that it can be cheaper

In finance, a credit derivative refers to any one of "various instruments and techniques designed to separate and then transfer the credit risk" or the risk of an event of default of a corporate or sovereign borrower, transferring it to an entity other than the lender or debtholder.

Credit enhancement is the improvement of the credit profile of a structured financial transaction or the methods used to improve the credit profiles of such products or transactions. It is a key part of the securitization transaction in structured finance, and is important for credit rating agencies when rating a securitization.

Credit Environment India is with Credit Information Companies Act getting passed by the Government of India in 2005, Credit Bureau formally got introduced to the country. CIBIL (Credit Information Bureau of India Limited) was established as the first credit bureau. TransUnion International Inc, one of the leading consumer credit bureaus in the world, is the major stake holder (27.5%) in

A credit history is a record of a borrower's responsible repayment of debts.

The Thirteen Colonies made wide use of credit. Credit was used for domestic and overseas goods, as well as a method of repayment. Credit allowed colonists to defer their payments for goods and services until a later time, which was a more favourable payment option than cash or barter. Institutions accepted credit despite its risks, including that of the inability of a debtor to repay.

The Credit Institute of Canada (CIC) (French: Institut de crédit du Canada) is a not-for-profit organization created by a special Act of Parliament on June 11, 1928. The CIC provides credit management resources, education and certification to its members and is the only organization that grants official designations to professionals in the Canadian credit management field.