Univ.-Prof. Dr. Gerhard Merk, Dipl.rer.pol., Dipl.rer.oec.English-language economic definitions generated from approved international institutional sources.
A chip card, or smart card, is a payment credential with an integrated circuit that can securely retain data and perform certain operations during a transaction. Unlike cards that merely present account details for processing elsewhere, it contains computing functionality that supports card-based payments.
In bond trading, the clean price is the security's quoted value before the settlement adjustment for interest accumulated since the most recent coupon date. Any applicable rebate is also left out, while costs already embedded in the quoted amount remain reflected. The figure is contrasted with the dirty price, which incorporates the accrued interest due… read more »
A clearing house is financial-market infrastructure that helps members determine what they owe one another after trades or payment instructions are submitted. It may offset or net those obligations, establish settlement amounts and timings, and manage the procedures and safeguards needed to complete them. Where it operates as a central counterparty, it interposes itself between… read more »
Clearing is the process of reconciling and determining the amounts that participants in a financial transaction must deliver or receive before those amounts are finally paid or transferred. It may involve aggregating transactions, offsetting reciprocal claims, and using an intermediary or other organised arrangement. Settlement is the later stage in which the resulting cash or… read more »
Clearing is the post-trade process that prepares obligations for completion by verifying trades, calculating what each participant is responsible for, and reducing offsetting amounts where appropriate. In derivatives markets, it also involves routinely revaluing open contracts and updating the collateral or margin needed to support them before settlement occurs.
A clearing fund is a shared financial resource maintained within a central clearing system to manage losses that remain after a member fails and its available collateral has been applied. Contributions from clearing members or other eligible guarantors can be drawn on under the system's default procedures to help complete affected trades and maintain payment… read more »
The capital account tracks cross-border changes arising from one-time transfers that affect wealth, such as debt forgiveness or investment grants, together with purchases and sales of non-produced assets like natural-resource rights, licenses, and patents. It excludes routine trade and ordinary financial investment flows.
A central bank is the official monetary authority for a country or group of countries. It typically sets key interest rates, manages the currency and money supply, and may act to preserve financial stability. Its powers, objectives, and area of operation are determined by the laws governing the jurisdiction it serves.
A central bank credit facility is a liquidity arrangement that allows approved financial institutions to borrow from the central bank when needed. The institution may draw funds against eligible assets or other agreed security, using mechanisms specified by the central bank. These arrangements help provide short-term funding and support the implementation of monetary policy.
Under CRD IV, banks must maintain a capital conservation buffer consisting of Common Equity Tier 1 capital. Set at as much as 2.5% of risk-weighted exposures, this reserve is built up in ordinary times so that institutions have additional capacity to absorb losses during financial downturns.