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Trading basics

Aid to the Church in Need

Aid to the Church in Need (German: Kirche in Not, Italian: Aiuto alla Chiesa che Soffre, French: Aide à l'Eglise en détresse, Latin : Auxilium Patienti Ecclesiae) is an international Catholic pastoral aid organization, which yearly offers financial support to more than 5,000 projects worldwide.

Fiat currencies

Alexander Van der Bellen

Alexander "Sascha" Van der Bellen (born 18 January 1944), also referred to by the abbreviation VdB, is an Austrian politician serving as the president of Austria since 2017. He was previously a professor of economics at the University of Vienna, and after joining politics, the spokesman of the Austrian Green Party.

Finance

Banca Agricola Popolare di Sicilia

Banca Agricola Popolare di Sicilia, known until 2024 as Banca Agricola Popolare di Ragusa S.C.p.A., is an Italian cooperative bank based in Ragusa, Sicily.

Banking

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena S.p.A. (Italian pronunciation: [ˈbaŋka ˈmonte dei ˈpaski di ˈsjɛːna]), known as BMPS or just MPS, is an Italian bank. Tracing its history to a mount of piety founded in 1472 (554 years ago) and established in its present form in 1624 (402 years ago), it is the world's oldest bank, and after the acquisition of Mediobanca in 2025 it is the third largest Ital

Banking

Banco di Napoli

Banco di Napoli S.p.A., among the oldest banks in the world, was an Italian banking subsidiary of Intesa Sanpaolo group, as one of the 6 retail brands other than "Intesa Sanpaolo". It was acquired by the Italian banking group Sanpaolo IMI (the predecessor of Intesa Sanpaolo) in 2002 and ceased being an independent bank. In February 2018, Intesa Sanpaolo announced their new business plan,

Banking

Banco di Santo Spirito

The Bank of the Holy Spirit (Italian: Il Banco di Santo Spirito) was a bank founded by Pope Paul V on 13 December 1605. The bank was the first central bank in Europe (as the bank of the Papal States) at a level above city-states, the first public deposit bank in Rome, and the oldest continuously operating bank in Rome until its merger in 1992.

Banking

Bank of issue

A bank of issue, also referred to as a note-issuing bank or issuing authority, is a financial institution that issues banknotes.

Trading basics

BayWa

BayWa AG (until 1972: Bayerische Warenvermittlung landwirtschaftlicher Genossenschaften AG) is an internationally active group headquartered in Munich, Germany. Originally founded to support domestic agriculture, the company expanded its activities to the construction and energy sectors. BayWa is represented in more than 50 countries through its subsidiaries and holdings. The shareholder

Trading basics

Bernardino Nogara

Bernardino Nogara (June 17, 1870 — November 15, 1958) was the financial advisor to the Vatican between 1929 and 1954, appointed by Pope Pius XI and retained by Pope Pius XII as the first Director of the Special Administration of the Holy See. According to historian John F. Pollard, Nogara laid "the foundations" for "one of the biggest pillars for the Vatican's post-Second World War fina

Securities & exchanges

Bill Ackman

William Albert Ackman (born May 11, 1966) is an American billionaire hedge fund manager who is the founder and chief executive of Pershing Square Capital Management, an investment management company. He has been described as an activist investor. As of April 2026, Ackman's net worth was estimated at $8 billion by Bloomberg.

Assets

Binance

Binance Holdings Ltd., branded Binance, is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies. Binance was founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao. It was initially based in China, then moved to Japan, subsequently left Japan for Malta, and now has no official company headquarters.

Trading basics

Boycott

A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict some economic loss on the target, or to indicate a moral outrage, usually to try to compel the target to alter an objectionable behavior.

Trading basics

Broederlijk Delen

Broederlijk Delen is a Flemish aid and development agency, which specializes in trying to improve the living conditions of rural communities in Africa and Latin America.

Securities & exchanges

Carl Icahn

Carl Celian Icahn (; born February 16, 1936) is an American businessman and investor. He is the founder and controlling shareholder of Icahn Enterprises, a public company and diversified conglomerate holding company based in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. Icahn's business model is to take large stakes in companies that he believes will appreciate from changes to corporate policy; Icahn then

Finance

Committee of European Securities Regulators

The Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) was an independent committee of European Securities regulators, in place from 2001 to 2010. On 1 January 2011, it was replaced by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

Trading basics

Deep state

Deep state is a term used for unauthorized secret networks of power operating within a government but independent of its political leadership, in pursuit of their own agendas and goals. In popular usage, the term carries overwhelmingly negative connotations and is often associated with conspiracy theories.

Trading basics

Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank AG (German pronunciation: [ˈdɔʏtʃə ˈbaŋk ʔaːˈɡeː] , lit. 'German Bank') is a German multinational banking institution headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. It is dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.

Finance

Dubai Unlocked

Dubai Leaks is a global collaborative investigative journalism project that has revealed the global elite's ownership of properties in Dubai. The project, named Dubai Unlocked, is based on data that provides a detailed overview of millions of properties in Dubai and information on their ownership or use, mostly between 2020 and 2022.

Trading basics

Ernesto Pacelli

Ernesto Pacelli (31 August 1860 – 13 June 1925), Nobleman of Acquapendente and Nobleman of Sant'Angelo in Vado, was a financial adviser to Pope Leo XIII, Pope Pius X, and Pope Benedict XV and the founder and president of the Banco di Roma from 9 March 1880 until 1916. Pacelli also served as an unofficial link between the Vatican and the Italian government. Papal historian John Pollard ca

Finance

European banking union

The European banking union refers to the transfer of responsibility for banking policy from the member state-level to the union-wide level in several EU member states, initiated in 2012 as a response to the 2009 eurozone crisis. The motivation for the banking union was the fragility of numerous banks in the eurozone, and the identification of a vicious circle between credit conditions fo

Trading basics

European Securities and Markets Authority

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is an agency of the European Union located in Paris. ESMA replaced the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) on 1 January 2011. It is one of three European Supervisory Authorities set up within the European System of Financial Supervision in Paris, together with the European Banking Authority (EBA) also in Paris and the Eu

Finance

Federal Ministry of Finance (Germany)

The Federal Ministry of Finance (German: Bundesministerium der Finanzen, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsminɪsˌteːʁiʊm deːɐ̯ fiˈnantsn̩]; abbreviated BMF) is the cabinet-level finance ministry of Germany, with its seat at the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus in Berlin and a secondary office in Bonn.

Trading basics

Fondo Interbancario di Tutela dei Depositi

The Fondo Interbancario di Tutela dei Depositi (FITD; English: Interbank Deposit Protection Fund) is an Italian deposit guarantee fund founded in 1987. The fund became a mandatory scheme under the EU Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive (94/19/EEC). However, the cooperative banks (BCC) of Italy managed their own fund (Fondo di Garanzia dei Depositanti del Credito Cooperativo). Another fun

Fiat currencies

Foreign exchange regulation

Foreign exchange regulation is a form of financial regulation specifically aimed at the over-the-counter Forex market that is decentralized and operates with no central exchange or clearing house. Due to its decentralized and global nature, the foreign exchange market has been more prone to foreign exchange fraud and has been less regulated than other financial markets.

Finance

Geneva Freeport

Geneva Freeport (French: Ports Francs et Entrepôts de Genève SA) is a warehouse complex in Geneva, Switzerland, for the storage of art and other valuables and collectibles. It is the world's oldest and largest freeport facility, and the one with the most artworks, with 40% of its collection being art with an estimated value of US$100 billion.

Trading basics

Global ATM Alliance

The Global ATM Alliance is a joint venture of several major international banks that allows customers of their banks to use their automated teller machine (ATM) card or debit card at another bank within the alliance with no international ATM access fees. Other fees, such as an international transaction or foreign currency fee, may still apply for some account holders. Participating banks

Banking

Henry Grunfeld

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.

Trading basics

History of coins in Italy

Italy has a long history of different coinage types, which spans thousands of years. Italy has been influential at a coinage point of view: the medieval Florentine florin, one of the most used coinage types in European history and one of the most important coins in Western history, was struck in Florence in the 13th century, while the Venetian sequin, minted from 1284 to 1797, was the mo

Trading basics

History of nicotine marketing

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.

Finance

Interhandel

Interhandel, short for Internationale Industrie & Handelsbeteilungungen, was a Swiss conglomerate, known for its long-running disputes with the U.S. government over German ownership during World War II. Interhandel, which had both financial as well as industrial holdings was the corporate successor of I.G. Chemie, which the U.S. government had claimed was a front organization for German

Trading basics

International trade in fine art

The international trade of fine art is most precisely defined as the trade across nations of unique, non-reproducible works by an artist. The art trade contradicts typical international trade models since it is a culturally significant good. It is not treated by consumers the same way any other commodity would because of the aesthetic value that is unique to each piece. Despite existi

Banking

Islamic economics in Pakistan

The economic policies proposed under the banner of "Islamisation" in Pakistan include executive decrees on Zakāt (poor-due), Ushr (tithe), judicial changes that helped to halt land redistribution to the poor, and perhaps most importantly, elimination of riba (defined by activists as interest charged on loans and securities). Perhaps the foremost exponent of Islamisation among Pakistan's

Securities & exchanges

Jahangir Siddiqui

Jahangir Siddiqui (جہانگیر صدیقی) is a Pakistani businessman and founder of Jahangir Siddiqui & Co. and JS Bank.

Trading basics

James Caan (businessman)

James Caan (born Nazim Khan; 28 December 1960) is a British-Pakistani entrepreneur and television personality.

Finance

Kantox

Kantox Ltd is a multinational fintech company that offers Currency Management Automation software for corporate clients. Their software automates the pre-trade, trade, and post-trade stages of the corporate foreign exchange (FX) workflow.

Trading basics

KSE 100 Index

The KSE-100 Index is a total return stock index acting as a benchmark to compare prices on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) over a period.

Payments & settlement

Mefo bill

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

Finance

Mehrangate

Mehrangate, also known as the Mehran bank scandal, was a major political scandal that took place during the government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 1990. It led to the filing of the Supreme Court case Air Marshal (Retd.) Asghar Khan vs General (Retd.) Mirza Aslam Beg & others.

Banking

Merck family

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

Finance

Ministry of Economy and Finance (Italy)

The Ministry of Economy and Finance (Italian: Ministero dell'Economia e delle Finanze), also known by the acronym MEF, is a ministry of the Italian government. Its responsibilities include overseeing economic policy, public investments and spending. The Ministry's headquarters are located in Rome's historic Palazzo delle Finanze. The current minister in the Meloni Cabinet is Giancarlo Gi

Finance

Ministry of Finance (Azerbaijan)

The Ministry of Finance of Azerbaijan Republic (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikasının Maliyyə Nazirliyi) is a governmental agency within the Cabinet of Azerbaijan in charge of regulating the financial sector in Azerbaijan Republic. The ministry is headed by Sahil Babayev.

Finance

Mossack Fonseca

Mossack Fonseca & Co. (Spanish pronunciation: [moˈsak fonˈseka]) was a Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider. At one time it was the world's fourth-largest provider of offshore financial services. From its establishment in 1977 until the publication of the Panama Papers in April 2016, the company remained mostly obscured from public attention, even though it was a major firm

Securities & exchanges

Oesterreichische Kontrollbank

The Oesterreichische Kontrollbank (OeKB, lit. 'Austrian Control Bank') is a special-purpose financial institution in Austria, headquartered in Vienna. It was founded in 1946 and is owned by Austria's main banks. While technically a private-sector organization, part of its activity is carried out on behalf of the Austrian government and accordingly backed by the state budget.

Fiat currencies

Pakistan Forex scam case

In November 2008, Munaf Kalia (CEO of Khanani and Kalia International (Pvt.) Ltd.), Yusuf Kalia, and associates, were charged with illegally transferring funds from Pakistan to Afghanistan. In light of the charges, the State Bank of Pakistan revoked the license for Khanani and Kalia International to operate its foreign exchange business and shut down its offices.

Finance

Panama Papers

The Panama Papers (Spanish: Papeles de Panamá) are 11.5 million leaked documents (2.6 terabytes of data) published from April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities. These documents, some dating back to the 1970s, were created by, and taken from, the former Panamanian offshore law firm and corporate service provider Mo

Finance

Portugal properties scandal

In early August 2025, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif made claims that over half of the country's senior bureaucrats had purchased properties in Portugal and were arranging to obtain European (Portuguese) citizenship using illicit wealth. He alleged that these officials accumulated vast sums, "billions of rupees", through corrupt practices during their tenure, enabling them to r

Fiat currencies

Robert Mundell

Robert Alexander Mundell (October 24, 1932 – April 4, 2021) was a Canadian economist who was a professor of economics at Columbia University, McGill University, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1999 for his pioneering work in monetary dynamics and optimum currency areas.

Banking

Rothschild family

The Rothschild family (Hebrew: משפחת רוטשילד) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish noble banking family originally from Frankfurt, Germany. The family's documented history starts in 16th-century Frankfurt; its name is derived from the family house, Rothschild, built by Isaak Elchanan Bacharach in Frankfurt in 1567. The family rose to prominence with Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812), a court

Trading basics

Shares outstanding

Shares outstanding are all the shares of a corporation that have been authorized, issued and purchased by investors and are held by them. They are distinguished from treasury shares, which are shares held by the corporation itself, thus representing no exercisable rights. Shares outstanding and treasury shares together amount to the number of issued shares.

Trading basics

Silver Republican Party

The Silver Republican Party, later known as the Lincoln Republican Party, was a United States political party from 1896 to 1901. It was so named because it split from the Republican Party by supporting free silver (effectively, expansionary monetary policy) and bimetallism. The main Republican Party opposed free silver and supported the gold standard. The strength of the Silver Republica

Banking

Stern family

The Stern family is a Jewish banking family originally from Frankfurt. It traces back to Samuel Hayum Stern (1760–1819), who in the 1780s became a wine merchant in Frankfurt. In 1805, his son, Jacob Samuel Heyum Stern, converted the family business into a bank called Jacob S.H. Stern & Co., which became one of the most prominent banking institutions in Germany.

Finance

The Navigator (Pocalyko novel)

The Navigator is a literary financial thriller novel written by Michael Pocalyko and published by Forge Books, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers. It tells the story of "the world's first trillion dollar deal" against a backdrop of Wall Street dealmaking, Washington political intrigue, the relationship of two brothers, and international espionage.

Trading basics

Unam sanctam

Unam sanctam is a papal bull that was issued by Pope Boniface VIII on 18 November 1302. It laid down dogmatic propositions on the unity of the Catholic Church, the necessity of belonging to it for eternal salvation, the position of the Pope as supreme head of the Church and the duty thence arising of submission to the Pope in order to belong to the Church and thus to attain salvation. Th

Finance

United States as a tax haven

In 2010, the United States implemented the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act; the law required financial firms around the world to report accounts held by US citizens to the Internal Revenue Service.

Trading basics

United States sanctions on Bangladesh

In 2021, the United States imposed government sanctions on Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), an elite security force, and six of its officials on charges of involvement in serious human rights violations in the country. Under the Magnitsky Act, it was first such case of sanctions by the United States government on the South Asian country.

Trading basics

Wära

The Wära was a demurrage currency used in Germany that was introduced in 1926 as a free economy experiment. It was introduced by Hans Timm and Helmut Rödiger, who were followers of Silvio Gesell. The Wära is comparable to current models of local currencies.