Go to structured products liability hedging/ or interest rate derivatives

Fixed-income securities are financial instruments that:

• provide interest earnings and the return of principal at maturity, and

• involve an investor loaning money to a government entity or a corporation for a specified time.
  

Interest payments may be made annually, semi-annually, or monthly, or they may compound until the date of maturity.

Examples of fixed-income instruments include Treasury securities, agency securities, corporate bonds and municipal bonds.

A derivative is a financial instrument whose price is derived from the value of one or more underlying assets, liabilities, or indices. Two general types of derivatives are privately negotiated contracts, called over-the-counter derivatives, and standardised derivatives that are often exchange-traded.

The foreign exchange market is the market for buying and selling different currencies. It is primarily an over-the-counter market with trades between large commercial banks accounting for most foreign currency transactions.

Other participants in the foreign exchange market include:

• Brokers, who match buyers and sellers in the market

• Customers of banks or brokers, mainly large businesses who engage in international trade and/or investment, and central banks

The term money market refers to the market for short-term debt instruments with maturities typically of one year or less.