Financial instrument Documentary evidence of the ownership of a financial asset; for example, a bill of exchange, certificate of deposit, government bond, stock and so on. Financial intermediary An individual or institution that mediates between savers (that is, sources of funds) and borrowers (that is, users of funds). The chain from original source to ultimate use can be a long one, with many intermediaries along the way. Financial Services Authority The UK’s omnipotent regulator of financial services. The Financial Services Authority (fsa) was set up under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Unlike most regulators, the fsa covers both retail and wholesale business; that is, services for professionals as well as consumers...

Black Wednesday September 9th 1992, the day when speculators in the foreignexchange markets forced the pound to abandon the exchange rate mechanism. Blend fund A unit trust or mutual fund that holds a combination of shares, bonds and liquid money market instruments to balance its risk and returns. It also refers to a fund invested mainly in equities that favours neither growth stocks nor value stocks in its portfolio. As a result, fund managers are free to switch between the two if they see opportunities in any sector of the market. A blend fund is therefore more diversified than a specialised one whose performance may be more volatile. Block trading Trading in big blocks of shares. On the new york stock exchange any deal of more...