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Banking

An Introduction to Islamic Finance

An Introduction to Islamic Finance is a book written by Pakistani scholar Taqi Usmani on Islamic banking and finance. The book remains one of the gateway publications on Islamic finance. Most of the focus of the book is on banking rather than fund management. The author urges Islamic banks to develop their own culture, as ultimately it is the value system that matters. The book displays

Finance

Antigonish Movement

The Antigonish Movement blended adult education, co-operatives, microfinance and rural community development to help small, resource-based communities around Canada's Maritimes to improve their economic and social circumstances. A group of priests and educators, including Father Jimmy Tompkins, Father Moses Coady, Rev. Hugh MacPherson and A.B. MacDonald led this movement from a base at t

Trading basics

Azerbaijani manat

The manat (ISO code: AZN; sign: ₼; abbreviation: m) is the currency of Azerbaijan. It is subdivided into 100 gapiks.

Trading basics

Bahamian dollar

The dollar (sign: $; code: BSD) has been the currency of The Bahamas since 1966. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively B$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is divided into 100 cents.

Banking

Bank of North America

The Bank of North America was the first chartered bank in the United States, and served as the country's first de facto central bank. It was chartered by the Congress of the Confederation on May 26, 1781, and opened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 7, 1782.

Banking

Banq

"Banq" and "banc" are alternative spellings used in company names to evade legal restrictions on the use of the word 'bank' while maintaining a similar pronunciation. This practice is common in the financial services industry, particularly in the United States.

Trading basics

Big Bang (financial markets)

The phrase Big Bang, used in reference to the sudden deregulation of financial markets, was coined to describe measures, including abolition of fixed commission charges and of the distinction between stockjobbers and stockbrokers on the London Stock Exchange and change from open outcry to screen-based electronic trading, effected by UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1986.

Payments & settlement

Bills of credit

Bills of credit are documents similar to banknotes issued by a government that represent a government's indebtedness to the holder. They are typically designed to circulate as currency or currency substitutes. Bills of credit are mentioned in Article One, Section 10, Clause One (also known as the Contract Clause) of the United States Constitution, where their issuance by state governme

Banking

Central Bank of Paraguay

The Central Bank of Paraguay (Spanish: Banco Central del Paraguay) is Paraguay's highest monetary authority, and the country's governing body, in finances and economics. Its headquarters are in Asunción's Carmelitas neighbourhood.

Finance

Economic capital

In finance, mainly for financial services firms, economic capital (ecap) is the amount of risk capital, assessed on a realistic basis, which a firm requires to cover the risks that it is running or collecting as a going concern, such as market risk, credit risk, legal risk, and operational risk. It is the amount of money that is needed to secure survival in a worst-case scenario. Firms a

Fiat currencies

Electricity as the Dominant Force in the World

Electricity as the Dominant Force in the World is an 1896 United States five-dollar silver certificate. It is of the US large-size variety measuring 7.375 in (187.3 mm) by 3.125 in (79.4 mm). The note is one of three notes that are part of the "Educational Series". As a result of the nudity portrayed on the obverse and other controversies, the note was replaced in 1899.

Trading basics

Etsy witches

Etsy witches is a colloquial term used to describe people who provide internet witchcraft services, particularly through online marketplaces such as Etsy or TikTok. Rooted in spiritualism, and similar in practice to psychics and mediums, Etsy Witches perform "metaphysical services", usually in exchange for a fee. Many practitioners purport adherence to neopagan witchcraft, often Wicca, a

Trading basics

Euronext Paris

Euronext Paris, formerly known as the Paris Bourse (French: Bourse de Paris), is a regulated securities trading venue in France. It is Europe's second largest stock exchange by market capitalization, behind the London Stock Exchange, as of December 2023. As of 2022, the 795 companies listed had a combined market capitalization of over US$4.58 trillion.

Trading basics

Expedited Funds Availability Act

The Expedited Funds Availability Act (EFA or EFAA) was enacted in 1987 by the United States Congress for the purpose of standardizing hold periods on deposits made to commercial banks and to regulate institutions' use of deposit holds. It is also referred to as Regulation CC or Reg CC, after the Federal Reserve regulation that implements the act. The law is codified in Title 12, Chapter

Trading basics

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Pub. L. 95-109; 91 Stat. 874, codified as 15 U.S.C. § 1692 –1692p, approved on September 20, 1977 (and as subsequently amended), is a consumer protection amendment, establishing legal protection from abusive debt collection practices, to the Consumer Credit Protection Act, as Title VIII of that Act. The statute's stated purposes are: to eli

Banking

Giovanni Villani

Giovanni Villani (Italian pronunciation: [dʒoˈvanni vilˈlaːni]; c. 1276 or 1280 – 1348) was an Italian banker, official, diplomat and chronicler from Florence who wrote the Nuova Cronica (New Chronicles) on the history of Florence. He was a leading statesman of Florence but later gained an unsavoury reputation and served time in prison as a result of the bankruptcy of a trading and banki

Payments & settlement

GovPay

GovPay is a digital payment platform launched by the Government of Sri Lanka to streamline and modernise payment processes for government services. Officially introduced on 7 February 2025, under the patronage of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, GovPay represents a significant step toward the digitalization of public services in Sri Lanka. This is a joint initiative of the Ministry of

Trading basics

Hillary Clinton cattle futures controversy

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

Finance

History of debt relief

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

Finance

History of money

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.

Trading basics

Investment Canada Act

The Investment Canada Act (ICA; French: Loi sur Investissement Canada, LIC) is a Canadian federal law governing foreign direct investment in Canada. The ICA was one of the first acts of Brian Mulroney's newly elected Progressive Conservative government, receiving royal assent on 20 June 1985. It has been amended at various times, including recently through Bill C-34, An Act to amend th

Trading basics

Jersey pound

The pound (French: Livre de Jersey, Jèrriais: Louis d'Jèrri; abbreviation: JEP; sign: £) is the currency of Jersey. Jersey is in currency union with the United Kingdom, and the Jersey pound is not a separate currency but is an issue of banknotes and coins by the States of Jersey denominated in sterling, in a similar way to the banknotes issued in Scotland and Northern Ireland (see Bankno

Banking

John Law (economist)

John Law (pronounced [lɑs] in French in the traditional approximation of Laws, the colloquial Scottish form of the name; 21 April 1671 – 21 March 1729) was a Scottish-French economist and financier. He rose to power in France where he created a novel financial scheme for French public finances known as Law's System (French: le système de Law) with two institutions at its core, John Law's

Trading basics

La Caldera (NFT collection)

La Caldera is a non-fungible token (NFT) collection created by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira and Australian graphic designer BossLogic released on 21 September 2021. The collection consists of four pieces named "Zenith", "Caloris", "Watch, Don't Touch", and "Save Me from Myself". Each piece features music by Shakira and animated, digitally altered pictures of Shakira in the fantasy

Payments & settlement

LankaQR

LankaQR, stylised in all caps as LANKAQR, is a national QR code payment system in Sri Lanka, initiated by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) in collaboration with LankaClear (Pvt) Ltd and licensed financial institutions. The standard was introduced on 12 October 2018 and formally launched on 11 March 2019, aiming to promote a cashless society, enhance financial inclusion, and reduce re

Finance

Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan)

The Ministry of Finance of Afghanistan (Dari: وزارت مالیه افغانستان, Pashto: د افغانستان د مالیې وزارت) is responsible for the implementation and execution of the budget, collection of taxes, organization, and control of public expenses in Afghanistan; it also controls the management of the Custom Affairs. It is located next to the Pashtunistan Square in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood

Finance

Ministry of Finance (Russia)

The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation (Russian: Министерство финансов Российской Федерации), also known as MinFin (Минфин России), is a ministry of the Government of Russia responsible for financial policy and general management in the field of finance.

Trading basics

Nepalese rupee

The Nepalese rupee (Nepali: नेपाली रुपैयाँ; sign: रु; code: NPR) is the official currency and legal tender of Nepal. It is also sometimes informally abbreviated as N₨ or Re./Rs. Each rupee is subdivided into 100 paisa, although coins of lower denominations are rarely used today. It is issued and regulated by the Nepal Rastra Bank, the central bank of Nepal.

Assets

Neptune's Brood

Neptune's Brood is a science fiction novel by British author Charles Stross, set in the same universe as Saturn's Children, but thousands of years later and with all new characters.

Finance

Palais Brongniart

The Palais Brongniart (French pronunciation: [palɛ bʁɔ̃ɲaʁ]; English: Brongniart Palace) is a building in Paris that was built at the direction of Napoleon in the early 19th century to house the Paris stock exchange (French: Bourse de Paris). It is located at the Place de la Bourse, in the 2nd arrondissement in central Paris. It was named after its initial architect, Alexandre-Théodore B

Banking

Pennies from Heaven (1981 film)

Pennies from Heaven is a 1981 American musical romantic drama film directed by Herbert Ross, based on the 1978 BBC television drama. Dennis Potter adapted his screenplay from the BBC series for American audiences, changing its setting from London and the Forest of Dean to Depression-era Chicago and rural Illinois.

Banking

Pet banks

Pet banks is a derogatory term for state banks selected by the U.S. Department of Treasury to receive surplus Treasury funds in 1833. Pet banks are sometimes confused with wildcat banks. Although the two are distinct types of institutions that arose concomitantly, some pet banks were known to also engage in practices of wildcat banking. They were chosen among the big U.S. banks when Pre

Finance

Rmetrics

Rmetrics is a free and open-source software project designed for teaching computational finance. Rmetrics is based primarily on the statistical R programming language, but does contain contributions in other programming languages, such as Fortran, C, and C++. The project was started in 2001 by Diethelm Wuertz, based at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

Trading basics

Rokomari.com

Rokomari.com (Bengali: রকমারি.কম) is a Bangladeshi e-commerce site. It officially launched on 19 January 2012. Initially, the website sold only physical books, but now sells ebooks and a variety of items from sporting goods to Stationery.

Securities & exchanges

Securities Investor Protection Corporation

The Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) is a non-profit, member-funded, United States government corporation created under the Securities Investor Protection Act (SIPA) of 1970 that most US-registered broker-dealers are required to join. Although created by federal legislation and overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the SIPC is neither a government agency no

Trading basics

Singapore dollar

The Singapore dollar (sign: $; code: SGD) is the official currency of the Republic of Singapore. Each dollar is divided into 100 cents (Malay: sen, Chinese: 分; pinyin: fēn, Tamil: காசு, romanized: kācu). It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or S$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issues the banknotes and co

Fiat currencies

Smithsonian Agreement

The Smithsonian Agreement, announced in December 1971, created a new dollar standard, whereby the currencies of a number of industrialized states were pegged to the US dollar. These currencies were allowed to fluctuate by 2.25% against the dollar. The Smithsonian Agreement was created when the Group of Ten (G-10) states (Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sw