1.
Santander, Spain
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The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 178,465, Santander houses the headquarters of multinational bank Banco Santander, and is the location of the founding of the namesake company. The origin of the earliest human settlements in the current Santander is not easy to establish because there are few written, in Roman times the first written mention appeared, the port being known as Portus Victoriae Iuliobrigensium to Pliny the Elder. Roman archaeological remains found in the Peninsula Magdalena include the remains of a building with mosaic floors, on July 11,1187 King Alfonso VIII of Castile was appointed abbot of San Emeterio and lord and master of the town. His jurisdiction tended to facilitate traffic, fishing and trade. Other local economic activities included wine growing and making pickles, during the 12th and 13th centuries the population was contained within the walls of two different pueblas. La Puebla, the oldest, on the hill overlooking the city facing the bay, included the old castle, the Abbey of the Holy Bodies and the cloister. It had three rows of houses, separated by Rua Carnicerias and Rua Mayor, where the homes of prominent people of the town were, the villa was required to give the monarchy a ship per year. The city owes its existence to the excellent harbour of the Bay of Santander, Santander was an important port for Castile in the later Middle Ages, and also for trade with the New World. It officially became a city in 1755, see also, Incendio de Santander Santander fell victim to a great fire in 1941. Fanned by a south wind, the fire burned for two days. The fire started in Cádiz Street, next to the harbour, the Cathedral, the fire destroyed the Old Town Hall, Jesús de Monasterio and Vargas streets and Atarazanas square buildings. It led to a change in the architecture of Santander, away from the older small stone. There was only one casualty of the fire, a firefighter from Madrid killed in the line of duty, but thousands of families were left homeless, the fire destroyed the greater part of the medieval town centre and gutted the citys Romanesque cathedral. In the early 20th century Santander became the summer residence of King Alfonso XIII. The city gained popularity from this and from the 19th century enthusiasm for sea bathing. During this period, Santander was an important economic centre. It had one of the biggest harbours and was connected by rail to the rest of Spain, currently the city of Santander is working to adapt the municipality to the law of large cities and thus decentralise power in several districts
2.
Ticker symbol
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A ticker symbol or stock symbol is an abbreviation used to uniquely identify publicly traded shares of a particular stock on a particular stock market. A stock symbol may consist of letters, numbers or a combination of both, ticker symbol refers to the symbols that were printed on the ticker tape of a ticker tape machine. Stock symbols are unique identifiers assigned to each security traded on a particular market, for example, AAPL is for Apple Inc. OODH is for Orion DHC, Inc. and HD is for Home Depot, a stock symbol can consist of letters, numbers, or a combination of both, and is a way to uniquely identify that stock. The symbols were kept as short as possible to reduce the number of characters that had to be printed on the ticker tape, the allocation of symbols and formatting convention is specific to each stock exchange. In the US, for example, stock tickers are typically between 1 and 4 letters and represent the name where possible. In Europe, most exchanges use three-letter codes, for example Dutch consumer goods company Unilever traded on the Amsterdam Euronext exchange has the symbol UNA, while in Asia, numbers are often used as stock tickers to avoid issues for international investors when using non-Latin scripts. For example, the bank HSBCs stock traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has the ticker symbol 0005, symbols sometimes change to reflect mergers. Prior to the 1999 merger with Mobil Oil, Exxon used a spelling of the company XON as its ticker symbol. The symbol of the firm after the merger was XOM, symbols are sometimes reused, in the US the single-letter symbols are particularly sought after as vanity symbols. For example, since Mar 2008 Visa Inc. has used the symbol V that had previously used by Vivendi which had delisted. To fully qualify a stock, both the ticker and the exchange or country of listing needs to be known, on many systems both must be specified to uniquely identify the security. This is often done by appending the location or exchange code to the ticker, although stock tickers identify a security, they are exchange dependent, generally limited to stocks and can change. These limitations have led to the development of other codes in financial markets to identify securities for settlement purposes, the most prevalent of these is the International Securities Identifying Number. An ISIN uniquely identifies a security and its structure is defined in ISO6166, Securities for which ISINs are issued include bonds, commercial paper, stocks, and warrants. The ISIN identifies the security, not the exchange on which it trades, for instance, Daimler AG stock trades on twenty-two different stock exchanges worldwide, and is priced in five different currencies, it has the same ISIN on each, though not the same ticker symbol. ISIN cannot specify a particular trade in this case, and another identifier, following the introduction of the Sequence trading platform in 1996, EPICs were renamed Tradable Instrument Display Mnemonics, but they are still widely referred to as EPICs. Stocks can also be identified using their SEDOL number or their ISIN, in the United States, modern letter-only ticker symbols were developed by Standard & Poors to bring a national standard to investing
3.
Bolsa de Madrid
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Bolsa de Madrid is owned by Bolsas y Mercados Españoles. The reorganisation of Spains financial market under the umbrella of the Spanish Stock Market includes the bolsas, the derivatives markets. Trading is linked through the electronic Spanish Stock Market Interconnection System, the IBEX35 Index is a capitalization-weighted index comprising the 35 most liquid Spanish stocks traded in the continuous market, and is Bolsa de Madrids benchmark. Bolsa de Madrid also offers the FTSE-Latibex Index, a European market for Latin American stocks, the Ibex New Market Index, for emerging companies, was offered from 2000 to 2007. Trading on SIBE is conducted from 9 a. m. to 5,30 p. m. open outcry from 10a. m. to 11,30 a. m. both Monday through Friday The Bolsa de Madrid was officially founded in 1831. In 1993, the Bolsa de Madrid switched to all-electronic trading for fixed-income securities. As required by Spanish law, it is managed and operated by the Sociedad Rectora de la Bolsa de Valores de Madrid S. A. a corporation organized under the laws of the Kingdom of Spain. The membership of the Madrid Stock Exchange consists of 41 major financial institutions and 12 established securities dealers, at December 31,2001, approximately 1477 domestic and foreign companies had their equity securities listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange. The total market capitalization of the equity securities listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange in May,2007 was €1,276.26 billion and it is housed in a historic nineteenth-century building, the Palacio de la Bolsa de Madrid. Madrid Stock Exchange General Index Official website
4.
Mexican Stock Exchange
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The Mexican Stock Exchange, commonly known as Mexican Bolsa, Mexbol, or BMV, is the only stock exchange in Mexico. It is the second largest stock exchange in Latin America, only after Brazils BM&F Bovespa and it is also the fifth largest stock exchange in the Americas. The exchange platform is owned by BMV Group, which owns the derivative exchange MexDer. The exchange kept modernising until its introduction of an electronic system for trading which was consolidated in 1999. Afterwards, exclusive groups of shareholders and issuing company representatives would gather to negotiate behind closed doors in different places around the city. In 1894, Manuel Algara, Camilo Arriaga, and Manuel Nicolín pushed, among the most distinguished brokers of the time, the idea of a normative and institutionalised system to trade securities. With the increased backing and widespread support for his ideas, the Bolsa Nacional was founded on 31 October 1894 at 9 Plateros Street, later renamed Madero Street. Less than a later, another group of brokers, led by Francisco A. Llerena and Luis G. Necochea, formed a society named Bolsa de México. Because of coinciding objectives and links between members of the two institutions, leaders began discussing a union between them, on 3 September 1895, the merger was finalised, keeping the name Bolsa de México, and the administrative offices at the Plateros Street address. The company was inaugurated on 21 October 1895. Were approved, and on 5 September, the institution was incorporated and that same year, the National Securities Commission, later renamed National Banking and Securities Commission, was established to supervise the Bolsa de Valores de México. Soon after, businesses in Guadalajara started organising a third exchange, and in 1960. On 19 April 1990, the Centro Bursátil was finished on Paseo de la Reforma, five years later, the BMV completely modernised the centre, introducing a completely electronic system which was phased into the workings of the exchange, becoming fully operational by 1999. In 2001, Citigroup became the first foreign company to begin trading in the BMV, opening the door to new companies to do the same, especially from Central. The same year, the Securities Market Law was reformed according to the demutualisation of BMV, in 2003, the global market was made available through the BMV, allowing national investors access to foreign securities from within the country. In 2006, the Mexican securities market was opened to foreigners through the MexDer system, in 2010, the BMV signed an alliance with the worlds largest derivatives exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, putting Mexican derivatives within reach of international investors. The Mexican Stock Exchange, BMV, announced its first trade made as part of the Latin American Integrated Market on 2 December 2014, the trade on MIILA was a $1,415 purchase of 200 shares in Chilean retailer Falabella, executed by GBM Mexico through GBM Chile. The joint capitalization of the four bourses tops US$1.25 trillion, the move comes largely as step in the integration efforts between Mexico, Chile, Colombia, and Peru, as members of the Pacific Alliance
5.
B3 (stock exchange)
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The BM&F BOVESPA is a stock exchange located at São Paulo, Brazil. At the end of 2011 it had a capitalization of R$2.37 Trillion. However, owing the slump in economic growth in Brazil associated with political problems, dollar vis-à-vis the Brazilian Real, the capitalization shrank to R$2.21 trillion by the end of 2015. On May 8,2008, the São Paulo Stock Exchange, the benchmark indicator of BM&FBOVESPA is the Índice Bovespa. There were 381 companies traded at Bovespa as of April 30,2008, BM&FBOVESPA also has offices in New York City, Shanghai, and London. Founded on August 23,1890 by Emilio Rangel Pestana, the Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo has had a history of services provided to the stock market. After the reforms of the financial system and the stock market implemented in 1965/1966. In 2007, the Exchange demutualized and became a for-profit company, through self-regulation, Bovespa operates under the supervision of the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários, analogous to the American SEC. Since the 1960s, it has evolved with the help of technology such as the introduction of computer-based systems, mobile phones. In 1972, Bovespa was the first Brazilian stock market to implement a system for the dissemination of information online and in real-time. At the end of the 1970s, Bovespa also introduced a trading system in Brazil. At the same time, Bovespa developed a system of fungible safekeeping, in 1990, the negotiations through the Sistema de Negociação Electrônica - CATS was simultaneously operated with the traditional system of Pregão Viva Voz. Currently, BM&FBOVESPA is an electronic exchange. In 1997, a new system of trading, known as the Mega Bolsa, was implemented successfully. The Mega Bolsa extends the potential volume of processing of information, with the goal to increase popular access to the stock markets, Bovespa introduced in 1999 the Home Broker, an internet-based trading systems that allows individual investors to trade stocks. The system enables users to buy and sell orders online. The new listing segments mostly languished until 2004, when a number of newly public companies began to list on the Novo Mercado. From 2004 to 2010, the vast majority of new listings on the Bovespa were made by Novo Mercado, Level 2 and Level 1 companies
6.
London Stock Exchange
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The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London in the United Kingdom. As of December 2014, the Exchange had a capitalisation of US$6.06 trillion. The Exchange was founded in 1801 and its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pauls Cathedral in the City of London, the Exchange is part of the London Stock Exchange Group. London Stock Exchange is one of the world’s oldest stock exchanges, London Stock Exchange Group was created in October 2007 when London Stock Exchange merged with Milan Stock Exchange, Borsa Italiana. The Royal Exchange had been founded by English financier Thomas Gresham on the model of the Antwerp Bourse and it was opened by Elizabeth I of England in 1571. During the 17th century, stockbrokers were not allowed in the Royal Exchange due to their rude manners and they had to operate from other establishments in the vicinity, notably Jonathans Coffee-House. At that coffee house, a broker named John Casting started listing the prices of a few commodities, exchange rates and certain key provisions such as salt, coal, originally, this was not a daily list and was only published a few days of the week. This list and activity was moved to Garraway’s coffee house. Public auctions during this period were conducted for the duration that a length of tallow candle could burn, as stocks grew, with new companies joining to raise capital, the royal court also raised some monies. These are the earliest evidence of organised trading in securities in London. After Greshams Royal Exchange building was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, it was rebuilt and this was a move away from coffee houses and a step towards the modern model of stock exchange. The Royal Exchange not only housed brokers but also merchants and merchandise and this was the birth of a regulated stock market, which had teething problems in the shape of unlicensed brokers. In order to regulate these, Parliament brought out an act in 1697 that levied heavy penalties and it also set a fixed number of brokers, which was later increased as the size of the trade grew. The street in which they were now dealing was known as Exchange Alley, Parliament tried to regulate this and ban the unofficial traders from the Change streets. Traders became weary of bubbles when companies rose quickly and fell, after the Seven Years War, trade at Jonathans coffee house boomed again. In 1773, Jonathan, together with 150 other brokers, formed a club and opened a new and this now had a set entrance fee, through which traders could enter the stock room and trade securities. It was, however, not a location for trading. Fraud was also rife during these times and in order to such dealings
7.
New York Stock Exchange
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The New York Stock Exchange, is an American stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street, Lower Manhattan, New York City, New York. It is by far the worlds largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its companies at US$19.3 trillion as of June 2016. The average daily trading value was approximately US$169 billion in 2013, the NYSE trading floor is located at 11 Wall Street and is composed of 21 rooms used for the facilitation of trading. A fifth trading room, located at 30 Broad Street, was closed in February 2007, the main building and the 11 Wall Street building were designated National Historic Landmarks in 1978. The NYSE is owned by Intercontinental Exchange, an American holding company that it also lists, previously, it was part of NYSE Euronext, which was formed by the NYSEs 2007 merger with Euronext. NYSE and Euronext now operate as divisions of Intercontinental Exchange, the NYSE has been the subject of several lawsuits regarding fraud or breach of duty and in 2004 was sued by its former CEO for breach of contract and defamation. The earliest recorded organization of securities trading in New York among brokers directly dealing with each other can be traced to the Buttonwood Agreement, previously securities exchange had been intermediated by the auctioneers who also conducted more mundane auctions of commodities such as wheat and tobacco. In 1817 the stockbrokers of New York operating under the Buttonwood Agreement instituted new reforms, after sending a delegation to Philadelphia to observe the organization of their board of brokers, restrictions on manipulative trading were adopted as well as formal organs of governance. Several locations were used between 1817 and 1865, when the present location was adopted, the invention of the electrical telegraph consolidated markets, and New Yorks market rose to dominance over Philadelphia after weathering some market panics better than other alternatives. The Civil War greatly stimulated speculative securities trading in New York, by 1869 membership had to be capped, and has been sporadically increased since. The latter half of the century saw rapid growth in securities trading. Securities trade in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was prone to panics. The Stock Exchange Luncheon Club was situated on the floor from 1898 until its closure in 2006. The main building, located at 18 Broad Street, between the corners of Wall Street and Exchange Place, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978, as was the 11 Wall Street building. The NYSE announced its plans to merge with Archipelago on April 21,2005, NYSEs governing board voted to merge with rival Archipelago on December 6,2005, and became a for-profit, public company. It began trading under the name NYSE Group on March 8,2006, Wall Street is the leading US money center for international financial activities and the foremost US location for the conduct of wholesale financial services. It comprises a matrix of wholesale financial sectors, financial markets, financial institutions, the principal sectors are securities industry, commercial banking, asset management, and insurance. Prior to the acquisition of NYSE Euronext by the ICE in 2013, Marsh Carter was the Chairman of the NYSE, presently, the chairman is Jeffrey Sprecher
8.
Euronext
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Euronext NV is a European stock exchange seated in Amsterdam, Brussels, London, Lisbon and Paris. In addition to cash and derivatives markets, the Euronext group provides listing market data, market solutions, custody and its total product offering includes equities, exchange-traded funds, warrants and certificates, bonds, derivatives, commodities and indices. As of 2017, Euronext was the largest in continental Europe with 1,300 issuers representing a €3 trillion market capitalization, Euronext merged with NYSE Group, Inc. on April 4,2007 to form NYSE Euronext. On November 13,2013 Intercontinental Exchange, completed acquisition of NYSE Euronext, in June 2014 Euronext completed an initial public offering making it a standalone company again. In December 2001, Euronext acquired the shares of the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange, in 2002 the group merged with the Portuguese stock exchange Bolsa de Valores de Lisboa e Porto, renamed Euronext Lisbon. In 2001, Euronext became a company itself after completing its Initial Public Offering. Despite this, NYSE Group and Euronext penned an agreement, subject to shareholder vote. The initial regulatory response by SEC chief Christopher Cox was positive, the new firm, tentatively dubbed NYSE Euronext, would be headquartered in New York City, with European operations and its trading platform run out of Paris. In addition, the two hoped to add Borsa Italiana into the grouping. Deutsche Börse dropped out of the bidding for Euronext on 15 November 2006, a run-up of NYSE Groups stock price in late 2006 made the offering far more attractive to Euronexts shareholders. On 19 December 2006, Euronext shareholders approved the transaction with 98. 2% of the vote, only 1. 8% voted in favour of the Deutsche Börse offer. Jean-François Théodore, the Chief Executive Officer of Euronext, stated that expected the transaction to close within three or four months. Some of the agencies with jurisdiction over the merger had already given approval. NYSE Group shareholders gave their approval on 20 December 2006, the merger was completed on 4 April 2007, forming NYSE Euronext. In 2008 and 2009 Deutsche Börse made two attempts to merge with NYSE Euronext. Both attempts did not enter into advanced steps of merger, in 2011, Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext confirmed that they were in advanced merger talks. Such a merger would create the largest exchange in history, the deal was approved by shareholders of NYSE Euronext on July 7,2011, and Deutsche Börse on July 15,2011 and won the antitrust approved by the US regulators on December 22,2011. Deutsche Börse unsuccessfully appealed this decision, in 2012, Euronext announced the creation of Euronext London to offer listing facilities in the UK
9.
Borsa Italiana
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Borsa Italiana S. p. A. based in Milan, is Italys stock exchange. It manages and organises domestic market, regulating procedures for admission and listing of companies and intermediaries, following exchange privatisation in 1997, the Company was established and became effective since January 2,1998. It is now a subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange Group plc since June 23,2007, in 2015, overall capitalisation for listed company on Borsa Italiana was worth €465Bln, representing % of Italian GDP. Borsa Italiana is also known as Piazza Affari, after the city square of Milan where its headquarters is located. Borsa Italiana is chaired by Andrea Sironi while Raffaele Jerusalmi serves as CEO, the two, moreover, are also both members of the Board of Directors of London Stock Exchange Group. The Borsa di commercio di Milano was established by Eugène de Beauharnais, viceroy of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, in March 2016, the London Stock Exchange Group announced it had agree to merge in an all-stock deal with Deutsche Borse. Borsa Italiana acts as a management firm operating with autonomy. It organises and manages the domestic market along with Italian. Among its leading tasks, Borsa Italiana supervises listed companies, defining rules for admission and listings, major trading markets for Borsa Italiana are, MTA, the leading equity market, which is devoted to mid and large-size companies
10.
Singapore
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Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, sometimes referred to as the Lion City or the Little Red Dot, is a sovereign city-state in Southeast Asia. It lies one degree north of the equator, at the tip of peninsular Malaysia. Singapores territory consists of one island along with 62 other islets. Since independence, extensive land reclamation has increased its size by 23%. During the Second World War, Singapore was occupied by Japan, after early years of turbulence, and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation developed rapidly as an Asian Tiger economy, based on external trade and its workforce. Singapore is a global commerce, finance and transport hub, the country has also been identified as a tax haven. Singapore ranks 5th internationally and first in Asia on the UN Human Development Index and it is ranked highly in education, healthcare, life expectancy, quality of life, personal safety, and housing, but does not fare well on the Democracy index. Although income inequality is high, 90% of homes are owner-occupied, 38% of Singapores 5.6 million residents are permanent residents and other foreign nationals. There are four languages on the island, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil. English is its language, most Singaporeans are bilingual. Singapore is a multiparty parliamentary republic, with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government. The Peoples Action Party has won every election since self-government in 1959, however, it is unlikely that lions ever lived on the island, Sang Nila Utama, the Srivijayan prince said to have founded and named the island Singapura, perhaps saw a Malayan tiger. There are however other suggestions for the origin of the name, the central island has also been called Pulau Ujong as far back as the third century CE, literally island at the end in Malay. In 1299, according to the Malay Annals, the Kingdom of Singapura was founded on the island by Sang Nila Utama and these Indianized Kingdoms, a term coined by George Cœdès were characterized by surprising resilience, political integrity and administrative stability. In 1613, Portuguese raiders burned down the settlement, which by then was part of the Johor Sultanate. The wider maritime region and much trade was under Dutch control for the following period, in 1824 the entire island, as well as the Temenggong, became a British possession after a further treaty with the Sultan. In 1826, Singapore became part of the Straits Settlements, under the jurisdiction of British India, prior to Raffles arrival, there were only about a thousand people living on the island, mostly indigenous Malays along with a handful of Chinese. By 1860 the population had swelled to over 80,000, many of these early immigrants came to work on the pepper and gambier plantations
11.
Retail banking
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Retail banking, also known as consumer banking, is the provision of services by a bank to individual consumers, rather than to companies, corporations or other banks. Services offered include savings and transactional accounts, mortgages, personal loans, debit cards, the term is generally used to distinguish these banking services from investment banking, commercial banking or wholesale banking. It may also be used to refer to a division or department of a bank dealing with retail customers, in the U. S. the term commercial bank is used for a normal bank to distinguish it from an investment bank. This separation was repealed in the 1990s, commercial bank can also refer to a bank or a division of a bank that mostly deals with deposits and loans from corporations or large businesses, as opposed to individual members of the public. S. Private banks manage the assets of high-net-worth individuals, offshore banks are banks located in jurisdictions with low taxation and regulation. Many offshore banks are essentially private banks, postal savings banks are savings banks associated with national postal systems
12.
Investment banking
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Unlike commercial banks and retail banks, investment banks do not take deposits. From the passage of Glass–Steagall Act in 1933 until its repeal in 1999 by the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act, Other industrialized countries, including G7 countries, have historically not maintained such a separation. As part of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, the two main lines of business in investment banking are called the sell side and the buy side. The sell side involves trading securities for cash or for other securities, the buy side involves the provision of advice to institutions that buy investment services. Private equity funds, mutual funds, life insurance companies, unit trusts, an investment bank can also be split into private and public functions with a Chinese wall separating the two to prevent information from crossing. The private areas of the deal with private insider information that may not be publicly disclosed, while the public areas, such as stock analysis. The first company to publicly traded stock was the Dutch East India Company. Investment banking has changed over the years, beginning as a form focused on underwriting security issuance. In the United States, commercial banking and investment banking were separated by the Glass–Steagall Act, the repeal led to more universal banks offering an even greater range of services. Many large commercial banks have therefore developed investment banking divisions through acquisitions, notable large banks with significant investment banks include JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Barclays, and Wells Fargo. The traditional service of underwriting security issues has declined as a percentage of revenue, as far back as 1960, 70% of Merrill Lynchs revenue was derived from transaction commissions while traditional investment banking services accounted for 5%. However, Merrill Lynch was a relatively retail-focused firm with a large brokerage network, investment banking is split into front office, middle office, and back office activities. Investment banks offer services to corporations issuing securities and investors buying securities. For corporations, investment bankers offer information on when and how to place their securities on the open market, therefore, investment bankers play a very important role in issuing new security offerings. Front office is described as a revenue generating role. Markets is divided into sales and trading, and research, a pitch book of financial information is generated to market the bank to a potential M&A client, if the pitch is successful, the bank arranges the deal for the client. The investment banking division is divided into industry coverage and product coverage groups. On behalf of the bank and its clients, an investment banks primary function is buying and selling products
13.
Insurance
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Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss. It is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, an entity which provides insurance is known as an insurer, insurance company, or insurance carrier. A person or entity who buys insurance is known as an insured or policyholder, the insured receives a contract, called the insurance policy, which details the conditions and circumstances under which the insured will be financially compensated. The amount of money charged by the insurer to the insured for the coverage set forth in the policy is called the premium. If the insured experiences a loss which is covered by the insurance policy. Methods for transferring or distributing risk were practiced by Chinese and Babylonian traders as long ago as the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC, Chinese merchants travelling treacherous river rapids would redistribute their wares across many vessels to limit the loss due to any single vessels capsizing. The Babylonians developed a system which was recorded in the famous Code of Hammurabi, c.1750 BC, and practiced by early Mediterranean sailing merchants. If a merchant received a loan to fund his shipment, he would pay the lender an additional sum in exchange for the guarantee to cancel the loan should the shipment be stolen. At some point in the 1st millennium BC, the inhabitants of Rhodes created the general average and this allowed groups of merchants to pay to insure their goods being shipped together. The collected premiums would be used to any merchant whose goods were jettisoned during transport. Separate insurance contracts were invented in Genoa in the 14th century, the first known insurance contract dates from Genoa in 1347, and in the next century maritime insurance developed widely and premiums were intuitively varied with risks. These new insurance contracts allowed insurance to be separated from investment, Insurance became far more sophisticated in Enlightenment era Europe, and specialized varieties developed. Property insurance as we know it today can be traced to the Great Fire of London, initially,5,000 homes were insured by his Insurance Office. At the same time, the first insurance schemes for the underwriting of business ventures became available, by the end of the seventeenth century, Londons growing importance as a center for trade was increasing demand for marine insurance. These informal beginnings led to the establishment of the insurance market Lloyds of London and several related shipping, the first life insurance policies were taken out in the early 18th century. The first company to offer life insurance was the Amicable Society for a Perpetual Assurance Office, founded in London in 1706 by William Talbot, edward Rowe Mores established the Society for Equitable Assurances on Lives and Survivorship in 1762. In the late 19th century, accident insurance began to become available and this operated much like modern disability insurance. The first company to offer accident insurance was the Railway Passengers Assurance Company, by the late 19th century, governments began to initiate national insurance programs against sickness and old age
14.
Private equity
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In finance, private equity is a type of equity and one of the asset classes consisting of equity securities and debt in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange. A private equity investment will generally be made by an equity firm. Bloomberg Businessweek has called private equity a rebranding of leveraged-buyout firms after the 1980s, common investment strategies in private equity include, leveraged buyouts, venture capital, growth capital, distressed investments and mezzanine capital. In a typical leveraged-buyout transaction, a private-equity firm buys majority control of an existing or mature firm and this is distinct from a venture-capital or growth-capital investment, in which the investors invest in young, growing or emerging companies, and rarely obtain majority control. Private equity is often grouped into a broader category called private capital, generally used to describe capital supporting any long-term. The strategies private equity firms may use are as follows, leveraged buyout being the most important, the companies involved in these transactions are typically mature and generate operating cash flows. Leveraged buyouts involve a financial sponsor agreeing to an acquisition without itself committing all the capital required for the acquisition, to do this, the financial sponsor will raise acquisition debt which ultimately looks to the cash flows of the acquisition target to make interest and principal payments. Acquisition debt in an LBO is often non-recourse to the sponsor and has no claim on other investments managed by the financial sponsor. Historically the debt portion of a LBO will range from 60%–90% of the purchase price, between 2000–2005 debt averaged between 59. 4% and 67. 9% of total purchase price for LBOs in the United States. A private equity fund say for example, ABC Capital II, to this it adds $2bn of equity – money from its own partners and from limited partners. With this $11bn it buys all the shares of an underperforming company and it replaces the senior management in XYZ Industrial, and they set out to streamline it. The workforce is reduced, some assets are sold off, etc, the objective is to increase the value of the company for an early sale. The stock market is experiencing a market, and XYZ Industrial is sold two years after the buy-out for $13bn, yielding a profit of $2bn. The original loan can now be paid off with interest of say $0. 5bn, the remaining profit of $1. 5bn is shared among the partners. Taxation of such gains is at capital gains rates, notes, The lenders can insure against default by syndicating the loan to spread the risk, or by buying credit default swaps or selling collateralised debt obligations from/to other institutions. Often the loan/equity is not paid off after sale but left on the books of the company for it to pay off over time and this can be advantageous since the interest is typically offsettable against the profits of the company, thus reducing, or even eliminating, tax. Most buyout deals are much smaller, the average purchase in 2013 was $89m. The target company does not have to be floated on the stockmarket, buy-out operations can go wrong and in such cases the loss is increased by leverage, just as the profit is if all goes well
15.
Earnings before interest and taxes
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In accounting and finance, earnings before interest and taxes, is a measure of a firms profit that includes all expenses except interest and income tax expenses. It is the difference between operating revenues and operating expenses, when a firm does not have non-operating income, then operating income is sometimes used as a synonym for EBIT and operating profit. To calculate EBIT, expenses are subtracted from revenues, net income is later obtained by subtracting interest and taxes from the result
16.
Net income
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In business, net income is an entitys income minus cost of goods sold, expenses and taxes for an accounting period. In the context of the presentation of financial statements, the IFRS Foundation defines net income as synonymous with profit, net income is a distinct accounting concept from profit but the same as net profit. Net income can also be calculated by adding a companys operating income to non-operating income, net income can be distributed among holders of common stock as a dividend or held by the firm as an addition to retained earnings. As profit and earnings are used synonymously for income, net earnings, often, the term income is substituted for net income, yet this is not preferred due to the possible ambiguity. Net income is called the bottom line because it is typically found on the last line of a companys income statement. The items deducted will typically include tax expense, financing expense, likewise, preferred stock dividends will be subtracted too, though they are not an expense. For a merchandising company, subtracted costs may be the cost of goods sold, sales discounts, for a product company advertising, manufacturing, and design and development costs are included
17.
Asset
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In financial accounting, an asset is an economic resource. Anything tangible or intangible that can be owned or controlled to produce value, simply stated, assets represent value of ownership that can be converted into cash. The balance sheet of a firm records the value of the assets owned by that firm. It covers money and other valuables belonging to an individual or to a business, one can classify assets into two major asset classes, tangible assets and intangible assets. Tangible assets contain various subclasses, including current assets and fixed assets, current assets include inventory, while fixed assets include such items as buildings and equipment. Intangible assets are resources and rights that have a value to the firm because they give the firm some kind of advantage in the marketplace. Examples of intangible assets include goodwill, copyrights, trademarks, patents and computer programs, an asset is a resource controlled by the entity as a result of past events and from which future economic benefits are expected to flow to the entity. One of the most widely accepted accounting definitions of asset is the one used by the International Accounting Standards Board, employees are not considered assets like machinery is, even though they can generate future economic benefits. This is because an entity does not have sufficient control over its employees to satisfy the Frameworks definition of an asset, similarly, in economics an asset is any form in which wealth can be held. The accounting equation is the structure of the balance sheet. It relates assets, liabilities, and owners equity, Assets = Liabilities + Capital Liabilities = Assets − Capital Equity = Assets − Liabilities Assets are listed on the balance sheet. On a companys balance sheet certain divisions are required by generally accepted accounting principles, Assets can be divided into e. g. current assets and fixed assets, often with further subdivisions such as cash, receivables and inventory. Assets are formally controlled and managed within larger organizations via the use of asset tracking tools and these monitor the purchasing, upgrading, servicing, licensing, disposal etc. of both physical and non-physical assets. Current assets are cash and other assets expected to be converted to cash or consumed either in a year or in the operating cycle and these assets are continually turned over in the course of a business during normal business activity. There are 5 major items included into current assets, Cash and cash equivalents – it is the most liquid asset, which includes currency, deposit accounts, short-term investments – include securities bought and held for sale in the near future to generate income on short-term price differences. Receivables – usually reported as net of allowance for non-collectable accounts, inventory – trading these assets is a normal business of a company. The inventory value reported on the sheet is usually the historical cost or fair market value. This is known as the lower of cost or market rule, prepaid expenses – these are expenses paid in cash and recorded as assets before they are used or consumed
18.
Equity (finance)
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In accounting, equity is the difference between the value of the assets and the value of the liabilities of something owed. Equity can be negative if liabilities exceeds assets, shareholders equity represents the equity of a company as divided among shareholders of common or preferred stock. Negative shareholders equity is often referred to as a shareholders deficit, alternatively, equity can also refer to the capital stock of a corporation. The value of the stock depends on the future economic prospects. For a company in liquidation proceedings, the equity is that which remains after all liabilities have been paid, when starting a business, the owners fund the business to finance various operations. Throughout the businesss existence, the equity of the business will be the difference between its assets and debt liabilities, this is the accounting equation, when a business liquidates during bankruptcy, the proceeds from the assets are used to reimburse creditors. The creditors are ranked by priority, with secured creditors being paid first, other creditors being paid next, owners equity is this remaining or residual claim against assets, which is paid only after all other creditors are paid. In such cases where even creditors could not get money to pay their bills. In financial accounting, owners equity consists of the net assets of an entity, net assets is the difference between the total assets and total liabilities. Equity appears on the sheet, one of the four primary financial statements. The assets of an entity can be tangible and intangible items. Intangible assets include such as brand names, copyrights or goodwill. Tangible assets include land, equipment, and cash, issue of new equity in which the firm obtains new capital increases the total shareholders equity. Share repurchases, in which a firm returns money to investors, reducing on the side its financial assets. For practical purposes, share repurchasing is similar to a dividend payment, rather than giving money to all shareholders immediately in the form of a dividend payment, a share repurchase reduces the number of shares outstanding. Dividends paid out to preferred stock owners are considered an expense to be subtracted from net income, sometimes assets bought and held in other countries get translated back into the reporting currency at different exchange rates, resulting in a changed value. When the owners are shareholders, the interest can be called shareholders equity, the remains the same. If all shareholders are in one and the class, they share equally in ownership equity from all perspectives
19.
Madrid
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Madrid is the capital city of the Kingdom of Spain and the largest municipality in both the Community of Madrid and Spain as a whole. The city has a population of almost 3.2 million with an area population of approximately 6.5 million. It is the third-largest city in the European Union after London and Berlin, the municipality itself covers an area of 604.3 km2. Madrid lies on the River Manzanares in the centre of both the country and the Community of Madrid, this community is bordered by the communities of Castile and León. As the capital city of Spain, seat of government, and residence of the Spanish monarch, Madrid is also the political, economic, the current mayor is Manuela Carmena from Ahora Madrid. Madrid is home to two football clubs, Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid. Madrid is the 17th most liveable city in the according to Monocle magazine. Madrid organises fairs such as FITUR, ARCO, SIMO TCI, while Madrid possesses modern infrastructure, it has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighbourhoods and streets. Cibeles Palace and Fountain have become one of the monument symbols of the city, the first documented reference of the city originates in Andalusan times as the Arabic مجريط Majrīṭ, which was retained in Medieval Spanish as Magerit. A wider number of theories have been formulated on possible earlier origins, according to legend, Madrid was founded by Ocno Bianor and was named Metragirta or Mantua Carpetana. The most ancient recorded name of the city Magerit comes from the name of a built on the Manzanares River in the 9th century AD. Nevertheless, it is speculated that the origin of the current name of the city comes from the 2nd century BC. The Roman Empire established a settlement on the banks of the Manzanares river, the name of this first village was Matrice. In the 8th century, the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula saw the changed to Mayrit, from the Arabic term ميرا Mayra. The modern Madrid evolved from the Mozarabic Matrit, which is still in the Madrilenian gentilic, after the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba, Madrid was integrated in the Taifa of Toledo. With the surrender of Toledo to Alfonso VI of León and Castile, the city was conquered by Christians in 1085, Christians replaced Muslims in the occupation of the centre of the city, while Muslims and Jews settled in the suburbs. The city was thriving and was given the title of Villa, since 1188, Madrid won the right to be a city with representation in the courts of Castile. In 1202, King Alfonso VIII of Castile gave Madrid its first charter to regulate the municipal council, which was expanded in 1222 by Ferdinand III of Castile
20.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
21.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
22.
Milan
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Milan is a city in Italy, capital of the Lombardy region, and the most populous metropolitan area and the second most populous comune in Italy. The population of the city proper is 1,351,000, Milan has a population of about 8,500,000 people. It is the industrial and financial centre of Italy and one of global significance. In terms of GDP, it has the largest economy among European non-capital cities, Milan is considered part of the Blue Banana and lies at the heart of one of the Four Motors for Europe. Milan is an Alpha leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, services, research, and tourism. Its business district hosts Italys Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the largest national and international banks, the city is a major world fashion and design capital, well known for several international events and fairs, including Milan Fashion Week and the Milan Furniture Fair. The city hosts numerous cultural institutions, academies and universities, with 11% of the national total enrolled students, Milans museums, theatres and landmarks attract over 9 million visitors annually. Milan – after Naples – is the second Italian city with the highest number of accredited stars from the Michelin Guide, the city hosted the Universal Exposition in 1906 and 2015. Milan is home to two of Europes major football teams, A. C. Milan and F. C. Internazionale, the etymology of Milan is uncertain. One theory holds that the Latin name Mediolanum comes from the Latin words medio, however, some scholars believe lanum comes from the Celtic root lan, meaning an enclosure or demarcated territory in which Celtic communities used to build shrines. Hence, Mediolanum could signify the central town or sanctuary of a Celtic tribe, indeed, the name Mediolanum is borne by about sixty Gallo-Roman sites in France, e. g. Saintes and Évreux. Alciato credits Ambrose for his account, around 400 BC, the Celtic Insubres settled Milan and the surrounding region. In 222 BC, the Romans conquered the settlement, renaming it Mediolanum, Milan was eventually declared the capital of the Western Roman Empire by Emperor Diocletian in 286 AD. Diocletian chose to stay in the Eastern Roman Empire and his colleague Maximianus ruled the Western one, immediately Maximian built several monuments, such as a large circus 470 m ×85 m, the Thermae Herculeae, a large complex of imperial palaces and several other buildings. With the Edict of Milan of 313, Emperor Constantine I guaranteed freedom of religion for Christians, after the city was besieged by the Visigoths in 402, the imperial residence was moved to Ravenna. In 452, the Huns overran the city, in 539, the Ostrogoths conquered and destroyed Milan during the Gothic War against Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. In the summer of 569, a Teutonic tribe, the Lombards, conquered Milan, some Roman structures remained in use in Milan under Lombard rule. Milan surrendered to the Franks in 774 when Charlemagne took the title of King of the Lombards, the Iron Crown of Lombardy dates from this period
23.
Buenos Aires
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Buenos Aires is the capital and most populous city of Argentina. The city is located on the shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata. The city of Buenos Aires is neither part of Buenos Aires Province nor the Provinces capital, rather, in 1880, after decades of political infighting, Buenos Aires was federalized and removed from Buenos Aires Province. The city limits were enlarged to include the towns of Belgrano and Flores, the 1994 constitutional amendment granted the city autonomy, hence its formal name, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires. Its citizens first elected a chief of government in 1996, previously, Buenos Aires is considered an alpha city by the study GaWC5. Buenos Aires quality of life was ranked 81st in the world and one of the best in Latin America in 2012 and it is the most visited city in South America, and the second-most visited city of Latin America. Buenos Aires is a top tourist destination, and is known for its preserved Spanish/European-style architecture, Buenos Aires held the 1st Pan American Games in 1951 as well as hosting two venues in the 1978 FIFA World Cup. Buenos Aires will host the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics and the 2018 G20 summit, Buenos Aires is a multicultural city, being home to multiple ethnic and religious groups. Several languages are spoken in the city in addition to Spanish, contributing to its culture, the hill was known to them as Buen Ayre, as it was free of the foul smell prevalent in the old city, which is adjacent to swampland. During the siege of Cagliari, the Aragonese built a sanctuary to the Virgin Mary on top of the hill, in 1335, King Alfonso the Gentle donated the church to the Mercedarians, who built an abbey that stands to this day. In the years after that, a story circulated, claiming that a statue of the Virgin Mary was retrieved from the sea after it miraculously helped to calm a storm in the Mediterranean Sea, the statue was placed in the abbey. Spanish sailors, especially Andalusians, venerated this image and frequently invoked the Fair Winds to aid them in their navigation, a sanctuary to the Virgin of Buen Ayre would be later erected in Seville. Pedro de Mendoza called the city Holy Mary of the Fair Winds, mendoza’s settlement soon came under attack by indigenous people, and was abandoned in 1541. For many years, the name was attributed to a Sancho del Campo, a second settlement was established in 1580 by Juan de Garay, who sailed down the Paraná River from Asunción. Garay preserved the name chosen by Mendoza, calling the city Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa María del Buen Aire. The short form Buenos Aires became the common usage during the 17th century, the usual abbreviation for Buenos Aires in Spanish is Bs. As. It is common as well to refer to it as B. A. or BA /ˌbiːˈeɪ/ bee-AY), while BA is used more by expats residing in the city, the locals more often use the abbreviation Baires, in one word. Seaman Juan Díaz de Solís, navigating in the name of Spain, was the first European to reach the Río de la Plata in 1516 and his expedition was cut short when he was killed during an attack by the native Charrúa tribe in what is now Uruguay
24.
Mexico City
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Mexico City, or City of Mexico, is the capital and most populous city of Mexico. As an alpha global city, Mexico City is one of the most important financial centers in the Americas and it is located in the Valley of Mexico, a large valley in the high plateaus at the center of Mexico, at an altitude of 2,240 metres. The city consists of sixteen municipalities, the 2009 estimated population for the city proper was approximately 8.84 million people, with a land area of 1,485 square kilometres. The Greater Mexico City has a domestic product of US$411 billion in 2011. The city was responsible for generating 15. 8% of Mexicos Gross Domestic Product, as a stand-alone country, in 2013, Mexico City would be the fifth-largest economy in Latin America—five times as large as Costa Ricas and about the same size as Perus. Mexico’s capital is both the oldest capital city in the Americas and one of two founded by Amerindians, the other being Quito. In 1524, the municipality of Mexico City was established, known as México Tenochtitlán, Mexico City served as the political, administrative and financial center of a major part of the Spanish colonial empire. After independence from Spain was achieved, the district was created in 1824. Ever since, the left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution has controlled both of them, in recent years, the local government has passed a wave of liberal policies, such as abortion on request, a limited form of euthanasia, no-fault divorce, and same-sex marriage. On January 29,2016, it ceased to be called the Federal District and is now in transition to become the countrys 32nd federal entity, giving it a level of autonomy comparable to that of a state. Because of a clause in the Mexican Constitution, however, as the seat of the powers of the federation, it can never become a state, the city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan was founded by the Mexica people in 1325. According to legend, the Mexicas principal god, Huitzilopochtli indicated the site where they were to build their home by presenting an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its beak. Between 1325 and 1521, Tenochtitlan grew in size and strength, eventually dominating the other city-states around Lake Texcoco, when the Spaniards arrived, the Aztec Empire had reached much of Mesoamerica, touching both the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. After landing in Veracruz, Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés advanced upon Tenochtitlan with the aid of many of the native peoples. Cortés put Moctezuma under house arrest, hoping to rule through him, the Aztecs thought the Spaniards were permanently gone, and they elected a new king, Cuitláhuac, but he soon died, the next king was Cuauhtémoc. Cortés began a siege of Tenochtitlan in May 1521, for three months, the city suffered from the lack of food and water as well as the spread of smallpox brought by the Europeans. Cortés and his allies landed their forces in the south of the island, the Spaniards practically razed Tenochtitlan during the final siege of the conquest. Cortés first settled in Coyoacán, but decided to rebuild the Aztec site to erase all traces of the old order and he did not establish a territory under his own personal rule, but remained loyal to the Spanish crown
25.
Warsaw
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Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It stands on the Vistula River in east-central Poland, roughly 260 kilometres from the Baltic Sea and 300 kilometres from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population is estimated at 1.750 million residents within a metropolitan area of 3.101 million residents. The city limits cover 516.9 square kilometres, while the area covers 6,100.43 square kilometres. Once described as Paris of the East, Warsaw was believed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world until World War II. On 9 November 1939, the city was awarded Polands highest military decoration for heroism, Warsaw is one of Europe’s most dynamic metropolitan cities. In 2012 the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Warsaw as the 32nd most liveable city in the world, in 2017 the city came 4th in the “Business-friendly” category and 8th in the “Human capital and life style”. It was also ranked as one of the most liveable cities in Central, Warsaw is considered an Alpha– global city, a major international tourist destination and a significant cultural, political and economic hub. The city is a significant centre of research and development, BPO, ITO, the Warsaw Stock Exchange is the largest and most important in Central and Eastern Europe. Frontex, the European Union agency for external security, has its headquarters in Warsaw. Together with Frankfurt, London and Paris, Warsaw is also one of the cities with the highest number of skyscrapers in the European Union, the city is the seat of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra and the University of Warsaw. The historic city-centre of Warsaw with its picturesque Old Town in 1980 was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, buildings represent examples of nearly every European architectural style and historical period. Warsaw provides many examples of architecture from the gothic, renaissance, baroque, neoclassical and modern periods, furthermore, the city is positioning itself as Europes chic cultural capital with thriving art and club scenes and renowned restaurants. Folk etymology attributes the city name to a fisherman, Wars, according to legend, Sawa was a mermaid living in the Vistula River with whom Wars fell in love. In actuality, Warsz was a 12th/13th-century nobleman who owned a village located at the site of Mariensztat neighbourhood. See also the Vršovci family which had escaped to Poland, the official city name in full is miasto stołeczne Warszawa. A native or resident of Warsaw is known as a Varsovian – in Polish warszawiak, warszawianin, warszawianka, warszawiacy, other names for Warsaw include Varsovia and Varsóvia, Varsovie, Varsavia, Warschau, װאַרשע /Varshe, Варшава /Varšava /Varshava, Varšuva, Varsó. The first fortified settlements on the site of todays Warsaw were located in Bródno, after Jazdów was raided by nearby clans and dukes, a new similar settlement was established on the site of a small fishing village called Warszowa
26.
Lisbon
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Lisbon is the capital and the largest city of Portugal, with a population of 552,700 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km². Its urban area extends beyond the administrative limits with a population of around 2.7 million people. About 2.8 million people live in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area and it is continental Europes westernmost capital city and the only one along the Atlantic coast. Lisbon lies in the western Iberian Peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean, the westernmost areas of its metro area is the westernmost point of Continental Europe. Lisbon is recognised as a city because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, education. It is one of the economic centres on the continent, with a growing financial sector. Humberto Delgado Airport serves over 20 million passengers annually, as of 2015, and the motorway network, the city is the 7th-most-visited city in Southern Europe, after Istanbul, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, Athens and Milan, with 1,740,000 tourists in 2009. The Lisbon region contributes with a higher GDP PPP per capita than any region in Portugal. Its GDP amounts to 96.3 billion USD and thus $32,434 per capita, the city occupies 32nd place of highest gross earnings in the world. Most of the headquarters of multinationals in the country are located in the Lisbon area and it is also the political centre of the country, as its seat of Government and residence of the Head of State. Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world, julius Caesar made it a municipium called Felicitas Julia, adding to the name Olissipo. Ruled by a series of Germanic tribes from the 5th century, in 1147, the Crusaders under Afonso Henriques reconquered the city and since then it has been a major political, economic and cultural centre of Portugal. Unlike most capital cities, Lisbons status as the capital of Portugal has never been granted or confirmed officially – by statute or in written form. Its position as the capital has formed through constitutional convention, making its position as de facto capital a part of the Constitution of Portugal. It has one of the warmest winters of any metropolis in Europe, the typical summer season lasts about four months, from June to September, although also in April temperatures sometimes reach around 25 °C. Although modern archaeological excavations show a Phoenician presence at this location since 1200 BC, another conjecture based on ancient hydronymy suggests that the name of the settlement derived from the pre-Roman appellation for the Tagus, Lisso or Lucio. Lisbons name was written Ulyssippo in Latin by the geographer Pomponius Mela and it was later referred to as Olisippo by Pliny the Elder and by the Greeks as Olissipo or Olissipona. The Indo-European Celts invaded in the 1st millennium BC, mixing with the Pre-Indo-European population and this indigenous settlement maintained commercial relations with the Phoenicians, which would account for the recent findings of Phoenician pottery and other material objects
27.
Abbey National
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Abbey National plc was a bank based in the United Kingdom and former building society, which latterly traded under the Abbey brand name. As the former Abbey National Building Society, it was the first building society in the United Kingdom to demutualise, the bank expanded through a number of acquisitions in the 1990s, including James Hay, Scottish Mutual, Scottish Provident and the rail leasing company Porterbrook. Abbey National launched an online bank, Cahoot, in June 2000, in September 2003, the bank rebranded as Abbey, and in November 2004, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Spanish Santander Group, with a rebrand following in February 2005. In January 2010, the business of Bradford & Bingley was combined with the bank. Prior to the takeover, Abbey National plc was a constituent of the FTSE100 Index, in 1856, it formed the British Land Company, which separated in 1878. Meanwhile, the Abbey Road & St. Johns Wood Permanent Benefit Building Society was founded in 1874, in 1932, the society moved into new headquarters, Abbey House, at 219–229 Baker Street, London, which it occupied until 2002. The site was thought to include 221B Baker Street, the home of Sherlock Holmes. The Abbey National Building Society was formed following the merger in 1944 of what had become Abbey Road Building Society, during the 1970s and 1980s, Abbey National gained a reputation for innovation and, sometimes disruptive, change. It was a user of computer systems and in the late 1970s. Under Chief general manager Clive Thornton, new types of accounts were introduced as well as a cheque account. The administration of the account was restricted by building society rules. Later, Abbey became a member of the Bankers Automated Clearing Services. Thornton also acted to break the building societies interest rate consensus, the Abbey National Building Society became the first of the United Kingdom building societies to demutualise, and became a public limited company as Abbey National plc on 12 July 1989. It was floated on the London Stock Exchange at £1.30 per share, the demutualisation process was marred by the discovery of a large number of undelivered share certificates awaiting destruction at a contractors premises. Abbey National shares peaked at more than £14 in 2000, before the market began a long decline. In July 1994, Abbey National purchased James Hay, one of the United Kingdoms foremost independent providers of self administered pensions. James Hay then went on to grow in straight and launched Abbey Wrap, the first Wrap a service in which IFAs can keep the clients ISAs, PEPs, Offshore bonds, Abbey Wrap Managers was FSA approved in August 2003. This was relaunched as James Hay Wrap in June 2005, in February 1995, Abbey National Baring Derivatives were taken down along with Barings Bank, due to failures in regulation and control, especially in regards to Nick Leeson of Barings Bank
28.
Stock market index
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A stock index or stock market index is a measurement of the value of a section of the stock market. It is computed from the prices of selected stocks and it is a tool used by investors and financial managers to describe the market, and to compare the return on specific investments. An index is a construct, so it may not be invested in directly. But many mutual funds and exchange-traded funds attempt to track an index, Stock market indices may be classified in many ways. A world or global stock market index — such as the MSCI World or the S&P Global 100 — includes stocks from multiple regions, regions may be defined geographically or by levels of industrialization or income. A national index represents the performance of the market of a given nation—and by proxy. Other indices may be regional, such as the FTSE Developed Europe Index or the FTSE Developed Asia Pacific Index, indexes may be based on exchange, such as the NASDAQ-100 or NYSE US100, or groups of exchanges, such as the Euronext 100 or OMX Nordic 40. The concept may be extended well beyond an exchange, russell Investment Group added to the family of indices by launching the Russel Global Index. More specialized indices exist tracking the performance of specific sectors of the market, some indices, such as the S&P500, have multiple versions. These versions can differ based on how the components are weighted. The difference between the full capitalization, float-adjusted, and equal weight versions is in how index components are weighted, an index may also be classified according to the method used to determine its price. In contrast, an index such as the Hang Seng Index factors in the size of the company. Thus, a small shift in the price of a large company will heavily influence the value of the index. Traditionally, capitalization- or share-weighted indices all had a full weighting, recently, many of them have changed to a float-adjusted weighting which helps indexing. An equal-weighted index is one in all components are assigned the same value. For example, the Barrons 400 Index assigns a value of 0. 25% to each of the 400 stocks included in the index. A modified capitalization-weighted index is a hybrid between capitalization weighting and equal weighting, moreover, in 2005, Standard & Poors introduced the S&P Pure Growth Style Index and S&P Pure Value Style Index which was attribute-weighted. For these two indexes, a score is calculated for every stock, be it their growth score or the value score, one argument for capitalization weighting is that investors must, in aggregate, hold a capitalization-weighted portfolio anyway
29.
Euro
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Outside of Europe, a number of overseas territories of EU members also use the euro as their currency. Additionally,210 million people worldwide as of 2013 use currencies pegged to the euro, the euro is the second largest reserve currency as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar. The name euro was adopted on 16 December 1995 in Madrid. The euro was introduced to world markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999. While the euro dropped subsequently to US$0.8252 within two years, it has traded above the U. S. dollar since the end of 2002, peaking at US$1.6038 on 18 July 2008. In July 2012, the euro fell below US$1.21 for the first time in two years, following concerns raised over Greek debt and Spains troubled banking sector, as of 26 March 2017, the euro–dollar exchange rate stands at ~ US$1.07. The euro is managed and administered by the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank, as an independent central bank, the ECB has sole authority to set monetary policy. The Eurosystem participates in the printing, minting and distribution of notes and coins in all states. The 1992 Maastricht Treaty obliges most EU member states to adopt the euro upon meeting certain monetary and budgetary convergence criteria, all nations that have joined the EU since 1993 have pledged to adopt the euro in due course. Since 5 January 2002, the central banks and the ECB have issued euro banknotes on a joint basis. Euro banknotes do not show which central bank issued them, Eurosystem NCBs are required to accept euro banknotes put into circulation by other Eurosystem members and these banknotes are not repatriated. The ECB issues 8% of the value of banknotes issued by the Eurosystem. In practice, the ECBs banknotes are put into circulation by the NCBs and these liabilities carry interest at the main refinancing rate of the ECB. The euro is divided into 100 cents, in Community legislative acts the plural forms of euro and cent are spelled without the s, notwithstanding normal English usage. Otherwise, normal English plurals are used, with many local variations such as centime in France. All circulating coins have a side showing the denomination or value. Due to the plurality in the European Union, the Latin alphabet version of euro is used. For the denominations except the 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, beginning in 2007 or 2008 the old map is being replaced by a map of Europe also showing countries outside the Union like Norway
30.
Insider trading
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Insider trading is the trading of a public companys stock or other securities by individuals with access to nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider information is illegal, the authors of one study claim that illegal insider trading raises the cost of capital for securities issuers, thus decreasing overall economic growth. However, some economists have argued that insider trading should be allowed and could, in fact, Trading by specific insiders, such as employees, is commonly permitted as long as it does not rely on material information not in the public domain. Many jurisdictions require that such trading be reported so that the transactions can be monitored, in these cases, insiders in the United States are required to file a Form 4 with the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission when buying or selling shares of their own companies. The rules governing insider trading are complex and vary significantly from country to country, the extent of enforcement also varies from one country to another. The definition of insider in one jurisdiction can be broad, and may not only insiders themselves but also any persons related to them, such as brokers, associates. A person who becomes aware of information and trades on that basis may be guilty. Rules prohibiting or criminalizing insider trading on material non-public information exist in most jurisdictions around the world, but the details, in the United States, Sections 16 and 10 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 directly and indirectly address insider trading. The U. S. Congress enacted this law after the market crash of 1929. UKs Financial Conduct Authority has the responsibility to investigate and prosecute insider dealing, the corporate insider, simply by accepting employment, has undertaken a legal obligation to the shareholders to put the shareholders interests before their own, in matters related to the corporation. When insiders buy or sell based upon company-owned information, they are violating their obligation to the shareholders, in the United States, at least one court has indicated that the insider who releases the non-public information must have done so for an improper purpose. In the case of a person who receives the insider information, a newer view of insider trading, the misappropriation theory, is now accepted in U. S. law. It states that anyone who misappropriates information from his or her employer, proving that someone has been responsible for a trade can be difficult because traders may try to hide behind nominees, offshore companies, and other proxies. The Securities and Exchange Commission prosecutes over 50 cases each year, the SEC and several stock exchanges actively monitor trading, looking for suspicious activity. The SEC does not have enforcement authority, but can refer serious matters to the U. S. Attorneys Office for further investigation and prosecution. In the Unites States and most non-European jurisdictions not all trading on non-public information is illegal insider trading, notwithstanding, information about a tender offer is held to a higher standard. If this type of information is obtained and there is reason to believe it is nonpublic, the punishment for insider trading depends on a few different factors. There are three factors, which can be identified
31.
Banco Santander (Mexico)
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Grupo Financiero Santander México, S. A. B. de C. V. is a Mexican banking group and a subsidiary of Spanish bank Banco Santander. The Mexican banking group Grupo Financiero InverMexico was founded in 1991, in 1997, the group was renamed Grupo Financiero Santander Mexicano, after the group was acquired by Banco Santander. In 1998, the merged with Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico. In 2000, the merged with sister group Grupo Financiero Serfin. The group was renamed to Grupo Financiero Santander Serfin in 2001, in 2003, Bank of America purchased 24. 9% stake of the group from parent company Banco Santander of Spain. In 2006, the group renamed again as Grupo Financiero Santander, S. A. de C. V. and later that year as Grupo Financiero Santander, Banco Santander S. A. was founded on November 16,1932, under the name Banco Mexicano. In 1955 Sociedad Mexicana de Crédito Industrial purchased a controlling interests of the bank, in 1958 Banco Mexicano merged with Banco Español. In 1979 the bank changed its name to Banco Mexicano Somex, in 1992 InverMexico acquired Banco Mexicano. In 1996 the group was acquired by Banco Santander, in 2001 the bank was renamed as Banco Santander Mexicano. In 2004 Banco Santander Mexicano and Banca Serfin were merged to form Banco Santander Serfin, in 2008 it was renamed as Banco Santander. In 1970 Banco de Londres y México merged with Compañía General de Acceptaciones to form Banca Serfin, in 1992 the bank was acquired by Operadora de Bolsa and Banco Santander in 2000. The bank became defunct after a merger with Banco Santander Mexicano in 2004
32.
Santander Bank
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Santander Bank, N. A. formerly Sovereign Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Spanish Santander Group. It is based in Boston and its market is the northeast United States. It has more than $77 billion in assets, operates 723 retail banking offices and over 2,300 ATMs and employs approximately 9,000 people. Sovereign Bank was rebranded as Santander Bank on October 17,2013, the stadium, arena, Santander Bank, N. A. was founded in 1902 as Sovereign Bank, a savings and loan in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. The companys earliest customers were largely textile workers, Sovereign expanded rapidly during the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, acquiring numerous other banks. In 2000, Sovereign became the third-largest retail bank in the Boston area when it bought 278 New England branches from the newly merged FleetBoston Financial and this transaction was driven by a requirement from bank regulators that Fleet Bank and BankBoston divest 306 branches as a condition for merger. Forty-five years before the founding of Sovereign Bank, its parent was founded as Banco Santander on 15 May 1857. The bank grew and in the 1920s started to build a network of branches, in 1942 it opened in Madrid. In 1934 Emilio Botín Sanz de Sautuola y López became director and he expanded the bank throughout Spain, so in 1957 it was Spains seventh-largest bank. In 1976 it acquired First National Bank of Puerto Rico, in 1986, Emilio seniors son, Emilio Botín Sanz de Sautuola y García de los Ríos, succeeded him. In the late 1980s he acquired CC-Bank in Germany and a stake was in Banco de Comercio e Industria in Portugal, in 1989, the “Supercuenta Santander” was launched. Sovereign bought the rights to Mercer Countys new arena in 1999 in support of newly acquired Trenton Savings Bank. In following years, the bank also named the Sovereign Center arena and Sovereign Performing Arts Center in Reading, Pennsylvania, in June 2006, Banco Santander purchased almost 20% of Sovereign Bank for US$2.4 billion. As Banco Santander owned 25% of Sovereign, it had the right to buy the bank for $40 per share for one year beginning in the middle of 2008. On June 1,2006, Sovereign Bank purchased Independence Community Bank Corp. of Brooklyn, New York, Sovereign completed the transition process of Independence and S. I. Bank & Trust customers on September 9,2006, Sovereign financed this merger through its partial sale to Spains Banco Santander Central Hispano. On October 13,2008, Banco Santander purchased the remainder of Sovereign for US$1.9 billion, Sovereign Bank was severely affected by losses related to auto loans and stock in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Banco Santander had previously seen a loss of over $1 billion on its investment in Sovereign, on January 30,2009, Banco Santander completed its acquisition of Sovereign Bank, for about $2.51 per share
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Royal Bank of Scotland
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Royal Bank of Scotland, commonly abbreviated as RBS, is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Scotland has around 700 branches, mainly in Scotland though there are branches in many towns and cities throughout England. The Equivalent Society became the Equivalent Company in 1724, and the new company wished to move into banking, the British government received the request favourably as the Old Bank, the Bank of Scotland, was suspected of having Jacobite sympathies. Accordingly, the New Bank was chartered in 1727 as the Royal Bank of Scotland, with Archibald Campbell, Lord Ilay, on 31 May 1728, the Royal Bank of Scotland invented the overdraft, which was later considered an innovation in modern banking. It allowed William Hogg, a merchant in the High Street of Edinburgh, competition between the Old and New Banks was fierce and centred on the issue of banknotes. The policy of the Royal Bank was to drive the Bank of Scotland out of business. The Royal Bank built up large holdings of the Bank of Scotlands notes, to pay these notes, the Bank of Scotland was forced to call in its loans and, in March 1728, to suspend payments. Despite talk of a merger with the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank did not possess the wherewithal to complete the deal. By September 1728, the Bank of Scotland was able to start redeeming its notes again, with interest, the bank opened its first branch office outside Edinburgh in 1783 when it opened one in Glasgow, in part of a drapers shop in the High Street. Further branches were opened in Dundee, Rothesay, Dalkeith, Greenock, Port Glasgow, in 1821, the bank moved from its original head office in Edinburghs Old Town to Dundas House, on St. Andrew Square in the New Town. The building as seen along George Street forms the end of the central vista in New Town. It was designed for Sir Lawrence Dundas by Sir William Chambers as a Palladian mansion, an axial banking hall behind the building, designed by John Dick Peddie, was added in 1857, it features a domed roof, painted blue internally, with gold star-shaped coffers. The banking hall continues in use as a branch of the bank, the rest of the nineteenth century saw the bank pursue mergers with other Scottish banks, chiefly as a response to failing institutions. The assets and liabilities of the Western Bank were acquired following its collapse in 1857, by 1910, the Royal Bank of Scotland had 158 branches and around 900 staff. In 1969, the merged with the National Commercial Bank of Scotland to become the largest clearing bank in Scotland. The first London branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland opened in 1874, an agreement was reached, under which English banks would not open branches in Scotland and Scottish banks would not open branches in England outside London. This agreement remained in place until the 1960s, although various cross-border acquisitions were permitted, the latter two were merged in 1970 to form Williams and Glyns Bank, but not rebranded as the Royal Bank of Scotland until 1985. Also in 2011, Royal Bank of Scotland prevented Basic Account holders from using the ATMs of most rival banks, in June 2012, computer problems prevented customers accessing accounts
€48.392 billion (2017)[1]
