2. Function of Financial Markets
1. Allows
transfers of
funds from
person or
business
without
investment
opportunities
to one who
has them
2. Improves
economic
efficiency
2
3. Function of Financial Markets
Perform the essential function of channeling funds
from economic players that have
saved surplus funds to those that have a shortage of
funds
Promotes economic efficiency by producing
an efficient allocation of capital, which increases
production
Directly improve the well-being of consumers by
allowing them to time purchases better
3
4. Structure of Financial Markets
Debt and Equity Markets
Primary and Secondary Markets
– Investment Banks underwrite securities in primary markets
– Brokers and dealers work in secondary markets
Exchanges and Over-the-Counter (OTC) Markets
Money and Capital Markets
– Money markets deal in short-term debt instruments
– Capital markets deal in longer-term debt and
equity instruments
4
11. Eight Basic Facts
1. Stocks are not the most important sources of
external financing for businesses
2. Issuing marketable debt and equity securities is not
the primary way in which businesses finance their
operations
3. Indirect finance is many times more important than
direct finance
4. Financial intermediaries are the most important
source of external funds
11
12. Eight Basic Facts (cont’d)
5. The financial system is among the most heavily
regulated sectors of the economy
6. Only large, well-established corporations have easy
access to securities markets to finance their
activities
7. Collateral is a prevalent feature of
debt contracts
8. Debt contracts are extremely complicated legal
documents that place substantial restrictive
covenants on borrowers
12
13. Demonstration
How will a buyer determine what to offer?
How will the seller determine what to charge?
What if I offered to buy at $800?
Will everyone sell?
What happens to the average value of the cars
offered for sale when I offer $800?
13
14. Function of Financial
Intermediaries
Financial Intermediaries
1. Engage in process of indirect finance
2. More important source of finance than securities markets
3. Needed because of transactions costs and asymmetric
information
14
15. Transaction Costs
Financial intermediaries have evolved to
reduce transaction costs
– Economies of scale
– Expertise
15
16. Function of Financial
Intermediaries
Risk Sharing
1. Create and sell assets with low risk characteristics and then
use the funds to buy assets with more risk (also called asset
transformation).
2. Also lower risk by helping people to diversify portfolios
16
17. Transaction Costs and Financial
Structure
Transaction costs hinder flow of funds to people with
productive investment opportunities
Financial intermediaries make profits by reducing transaction
costs
1. Take advantage of economies of scale
Example: Mutual Funds
2. Develop expertise to lower transaction costs
Explains Fact 3
17
18. Asymmetric Information
“The secret of success is to know something nobody
else knows” -Aristotle Onassis
Hot tip from the broker vs. insider trading
Lemons Problem (Akerlof)
The Nobel Laureates of 2001.
http://www.nobel.se/economics/laureates/2001/index.html
18
19. Asymmetric Information
Adverse selection occurs before
the transaction
Moral hazard arises after the transaction
Agency
theory analyses how
asymmetric information problems affect
economic behavior
19
20. Adverse Selection:
The Lemons Problem
If quality cannot be assessed, the buyer is willing to
pay at most a price that reflects the average quality
Sellers of good quality items will not want to sell at
the price for average quality
The buyer will decide not to buy at all because all
that is left in the market is poor quality items
This problem explains fact 2 and partially explains
fact 1
20
21. Adverse Selection: Solutions
Private production and sale of information
– Free-rider problem
Government regulation to increase information
– Fact 5
Financial intermediation
– Facts 3, 4, & 6
Collateral and net worth
– Fact 7
21
22. Moral Hazard in Equity
Contracts
Called the Principal-Agent Problem
Separation of ownership and control
of the firm
– Managers pursue personal benefits and power
rather than the profitability of the firm
22
23. Principal-Agent Problem: Solutions
Monitoring (Costly State Verification)
– Free-rider problem
– Fact 1
Government regulation to increase information
– Fact 5
Financial Intermediation
– Fact 3
Debt Contracts
– Fact 1
23
24. Moral Hazard in Debt Markets
Borrowers have incentives to take on
projects that are riskier than the lenders
would like
24
25. Moral Hazard: Solutions
Net worth and collateral
– Incentive compatible
Monitoring and Enforcement of Restrictive Covenants
– Discourage undesirable behavior
– Encourage desirable behavior
– Keep collateral valuable
– Provide information
Financial Intermediation
– Facts 3 & 4
25
27. Function of Financial
Intermediaries: Indirect Finance
Lower transaction costs
– Economies of scale
– Liquidity services
Reduce Risk
– Risk Sharing (Asset Transformation)
– Diversification
Asymmetric Information
– Adverse Selection (before the transaction)—more likely to select
risky borrower
– Moral Hazard (after the transaction)—less likely borrower will repay
loan
27
28. Internationalization
of Financial Markets
Foreign Bonds—sold in a foreign country and
denominated in that country’s currency
Eurobond—bond denominated in a currency other
than that of the country in which it is sold
Eurocurrencies—foreign currencies deposited in
banks outside the home country
– Eurodollars—U.S. dollars deposited in foreign banks outside
the U.S. or in foreign branches of U.S. banks
World Stock Markets
28
31. Regulation of the Financial System
To increase the information available to investors:
– Reduce adverse selection and moral hazard problems
– Reduce insider trading
To ensure the soundness of financial intermediaries:
– Restrictions on entry
– Disclosure
– Restrictions on Assets and Activities
– Deposit Insurance
– Limits on Competition
– Restrictions on Interest Rates
31
34. Conflicts of Interest
Type of moral hazard problem caused by economies of scope
Arise when an institution has multiple objectives and, as a
result, has conflicts between those objectives
A reduction in the quality of information in financial markets
increases asymmetric information problems
Financial markets do not channel funds into productive
investment opportunities
The economy is not as efficient as it could be
34
35. Why Do Conflicts of Interest Arise?
Underwriting and Research in
Investment Banking
– Information produced by researching companies is used to
underwrite the securities. The bank is attempting to
simultaneously serve two client groups whose information
needs differ.
– Spinning occurs when an investment bank allocates hot, but
underpriced, IPOs to executives of other companies in
return for their companies’ future business
35
36. Why Do Conflicts
of Interest Arise? (cont’d)
Auditing and Consulting in Accounting Firms
– Auditors may be willing to skew their judgments and
opinions to win consulting business
– Auditors may be auditing information systems or tax and
financial plans put in place by their nonaudit counterparts
– Auditors may provide an overly favorable audit to solicit or
retain audit business
36
37. Conflicts of Interest: Remedies
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Public Accounting
Return and Investor
Protection Act)
– Increases supervisory oversight to monitor and prevent
conflicts of interest
– Establishes a Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
– Increases the SEC’s budget
– Makes it illegal for a registered public accounting firm to
provide any nonaudit service to a client contemporaneously
with an impermissible audit
37
38. Conflicts of Interest:
Remedies (cont’d)
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (cont’d)
– Beefs up criminal charges for white-collar crime
and obstruction of official investigations
– Requires the CEO and CFO to certify
that financial statements and disclosures are
accurate
– Requires members of the audit committee to be
independent
38
39. Conflicts of Interest:
Remedies (cont’d)
Global Legal Settlement of 2002
– Requires investment banks to sever the link between
research and securities underwriting
– Bans spinning
– Imposes $1.4 billion in fines on accused
investment banks
– Requires investment banks to make their analysts’
recommendations public
– Over a 5-year period, investment banks are required to
contract with at least 3 independent research firms that would
provide research to their brokerage customers
39
40. Financial Development
and Economic Growth
Financial Repression Leads to Low Growth: Why?
1. Poor legal system
2. Weak accounting standards
3. Government directs credit
4. Financial institutions nationalized
5. Inadequate government regulation
40
41. Appendix
Slides after this point will most likely not be
covered in class. However they may contain
useful definitions, or further elaborate on
important concepts, particularly materials
covered in the text book.
They may contain examples I’ve used in the
past, or slides I just don’t want to delete as I
may use them in the future.
41
42. Financial Crises
and Aggregate Economic Activity
Crises can be caused by:
– Increases in interest rates
– Increases in uncertainty
– Asset market effects on balance sheets
– Problems in the banking sector
– Government fiscal imbalances
42