Money Market

Business, Legal & Accounting Glossary

Definition: Money Market


Money Market

Quick Summary of Money Market


Market for short-term debt securities, such as banker’s acceptances, commercial paper, repos, negotiable certificates of deposit, and Treasury Bills with a maturity of one year or less and often 30 days or less. Money market securities are generally very safe investments which return a relatively low interest rate that is most appropriate for temporary cash storage or short-term time horizons. Bid and ask spreads are relatively small due to the large size and high liquidity of the market.




Full Definition of Money Market


Money market refers to that section of the financial market where financial instruments with short maturities and high liquidity are dealt with. Money markets are used for borrowing and lending purposes for a limited period of time. Money markets are considered safe for investing money because of the high liquidity of securities. They attain maturity within a short time.

At a money market, short-term obligations like commercial paper, banker’s acceptances, and Treasury bills are traded in. Treasury bills are short-term financial instruments that offer profitable returns. It is considered to be a no-risk instrument according to which the holder of the bill gets a specific amount of money after a certain period of time. Commercial paper is also a short-term financial obligation. It is issued by financial organizations and corporate houses.

Money Market Participants

Major money market participants are banks that borrow from and lend to each other. Instruments traded in money markets are normally benchmarked with the Libor interbank rate. Financial companies that participate in money markets generate finance for themselves by issuing substantial amounts of asset-backed commercial papers.

These commercial papers are secured by pledging certain assets, that are supposed to be eligible, against the group of asset-backed commercial papers. There are certain companies like General Electric that have decent credit ratings. These companies issue commercial papers from their own credit. There are some major financial corporations as well. They have banks issuing commercial papers for them. This is done by way of commercial paper lines.

Eligible Money Market Assets

Following assets are regarded as being eligible for pledging against asset-backed commercial papers:

  • Auto loans
  • Commercial mortgage loans
  • Credit card receivables
  • Mortgage-backed securities
  • Residential mortgage loans

Money Market Instruments

Some of the common instruments of the money market include commercial paper, certificate of deposit, Eurodollar deposit, Banker’s acceptance, municipal notes, money market mutual funds, US federal agency short-term securities, federal funds in the US, and treasury bills.


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, from PayrollHeaven.com website: https://payrollheaven.com/define/money-market/

Definition Sources


Definitions for Money Market are sourced/syndicated and enhanced from:

  • A Dictionary of Economics (Oxford Quick Reference)
  • Oxford Dictionary Of Accounting
  • Oxford Dictionary Of Business & Management

This glossary post was last updated: 20th November, 2021 | 0 Views.