The globalisation of financial markets has attracted much academic and policymaking commentary in recent years, especially with the growing number of banking and financial crises and the current credit crisis that has threatened the stability of the global financial system. This major new...

1 Introduction: Economics and Organization of Financial Markets -- Part 1 Basic Financial Instruments -- 2 Basic Finance: Interest rates, Discounting, Investments, Loans -- 3 The Money Market and its Interbank Segment -- 4 The Bond Markets -- 5 Introduction to the Analysis of Interest Rate and...

By stepping between bilateral counterparties, a central counterparty (CCP) transforms credit exposure. CCPs generally improve financial stability. Nevertheless, large CCPs are by nature concentrated and interconnected with major global banks. Moreover, although they mitigate credit risk, CCPs...