Capital Market

Capital markets are where savings and investments are channeled between suppliers and those in need. Suppliers are people or institutions with capital to lend or invest and typically include banks and investors. Those who seek capital in this market are businesses, governments, and individuals. Capital markets are composed of primary and secondary markets. The most common capital markets are the stock market and the bond market. They seek to improve transactional efficiencies by bringing suppliers together with those seeking capital and providing a place where they can exchange securities.

capital market

What Are Capital Markets?

A capital market is a platform for channelling savings and investments among suppliers and those in need. An entity with a surplus fund can transfer it to another that needs capital for its business purpose through this platform.

Typically, suppliers include banks and investors who offer capital for lending or investing. Businesses, governments, and individuals seek capital in this market. A capital market aims to improve transaction efficiency by bringing together suppliers and investors and facilitating their share exchange.

A capital market is a broad term for the physical and online spaces where financial instruments are traded. Stock markets, bond markets, and currency markets (forex) are all types of capital markets. They facilitate the sale and purchase of equity shares, debentures, preference shares, zero-coupon bonds, and debt instruments.

Primary vs. Secondary Markets

Primary Market- When a company publicly sells new stocks or bonds for the first time, such as in an initial public offering (IPO), it does so in the primary capital market. This market is sometimes called the new issues market. When investors purchase securities on the primary capital market, the company that offers the securities hires an underwriting firm to review it and create a prospectus outlining the price and other details of the securities to be issued.

All issues on the primary market are subject to strict regulation. Companies must file statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other securities agencies and must wait until their filings are approved before they can go public.

Small investors are often unable to buy securities on the primary market because the company and its investment bankers want to sell all of the available securities in a short period of time to meet the required volume, and they must focus on marketing the sale to large investors who can buy more securities at once. Marketing the sale to investors can often include a roadshow or dog and pony show, in which investment bankers and the company’s leadership travel to meet with potential investors and convince them of the value of the security being issued.

Secondary Market- The secondary market includes venues overseen by a regulatory body like the SEC where these previously issued securities are traded between investors. Issuing companies do not have a part in the secondary market. The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq are examples of secondary markets.

The secondary market has two different categories: the auction and the dealer markets. The auction market is home to the open outcry system where buyers and sellers congregate in one location and announce the prices at which they are willing to buy and sell their securities. The NYSE is one such example. In dealer markets, though, people trade through electronic networks. Most small investors trade through dealer markets.

Stock Exchanges in India

In India, there are twenty-two recognised stock exchanges. Regarding legal structure, the stock exchanges in the country could be segregated into two general groups – 19 stock exchanges which were set up as companies, either limited by guarantees or by shares and the three stock exchanges which were Association of Persons (AOPs), viz. Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Ahmedabad Stock Exchange (ASE) and Madhya Pradesh Stock Exchange (MSPE). The 19 stock exchanges which have been functioning as companies include the Stock Exchanges of Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Cochin, Coimbatore, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Interconnected SE, Jaipur, Ludhiana, Madras, Magadh, Pune, Saurashtra-Kutch, Uttar Pradesh, Vadodara, National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Over the Counter Exchange of India (OTCEI). Apart from the NSE, all stock exchanges, whether established as corporate bodies or as AOPs, were non-profit making organisations.

Regulatory Requirements

All securities issued by a public issue must be listed in one or more stock exchanges. The effect of debt securities having a maturity period of more than 365 days by companies including listed companies (i.e. which have any of their securities, either as equity or debt, offered through an offer document and listed on a recognised stock exchange and also involves public sector projects whose securities are listed on a well known stock exchange) on a private placement basis must comply with the conditions prescribes by SEBI from time to time for getting them listed on the stock exchanges. Further, unlisted companies/ statutory corporations/ other entities, if they so desire, may get their privately placed debt securities listed on the stock exchanges by complying with the relevant conditions. The debt securities may carry a credit rating from a credit rating agency registered with SEBI. The debt securities may be issued and traded in the Demat form.

FAQs

What Is a Primary vs. Secondary Market?

New capital is raised via stocks and bonds that are issued and sold to investors in the primary capital market, while traders and investors subsequently buy and sell those securities among one another on the secondary capital market but where no new capital is received by the firm.

Which Markets Do Firms Use to Raise Capital?

Companies that raise equity capital can seek private placements via angel or venture capital investors but are able to raise the largest amount through an initial public offering when shares list publicly on the stock market for the first time. Debt capital can be raised through bank loans or via securities issued in the bond market.

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