Organisation and functioning of securities markets Flashcards
Market
The means by which buyers and sellers are put in contact with one another for the purpose of trading goods and/or services
A securities market enables buyers and sellers to trade securities
Characteristics of well-functioning securities market
- Availability of Information
- Liquidity & price continuity
- Transaction costs
- External (informational) efficiency
Availability of information
In order to determine an appropriate price, participants must be able to timeously and accurately determine the volume and prices of past transactions and all current bids and offers
Liquidity & price continuity
Liquidity refers to assets which can be bought and sold quickly at a price close to the prices of previous transactions
Price continuity means prices do not change much from one transaction to the next unless substances new information become available
Transaction costs
In a well-functioning market, transactions can be concluded at low costs, including the cost of reaching the market, the actual brokerage cost and the cost of transferring the asset
External (informational) efficiency
In a well functioning market, prices rapidly adjust to new information
A market should be informationally efficient if the following apply
- A large number of competing, profit-maximising, independent participants analyse and value securities
- New information arrives randomly
- The corresponding investor attempt to adjust prices rapidly to reflect the new information
Primary market
Sells newly issued securities of companies and is also involved in initial public offerings (IPOs)
IPO - Sale of ordinary shares of a company to the public for the first time
Secondary market
Used to buy and sell these newly issued securities between investors, after they were initially issued
Third market
a.k.a the Over The Counter (OTC) market, which involves unlisted securities through the use of brokers
Fourth market
Direct trading of securities between two parties with no intermediary broker
Prospectus
Provides extensive details of the financial performance of the firm prior to the listing and shows that it meets the listing requirements, along with a registration statement and details of the company’s operations
Market structures
Refer to the way in which a market is organised and the role members of the exchange play in completing transactions
To qualify for membership to the South African Institute of Stockbrokers, applicants must
- be at least 21 years of age
- have passed the membership examination
- be fit and proper in terms of criteria as determined by the Institute
- have been continuously employed by a member of the JSE for at least six months
To qualify for membership to the South African Institute of Stockbrokers, applicants must
- be at least 21 years of age
- have passed the membership examination
- be fit and proper in terms of criteria as determined by the Institute
- have been continuously employed by a member of the JSE for at least six months
South African secondary market
- JSE Limited
- BESA
- SAFEX