What Is a Financial System?
A financial system is a set of institutions, such as banks, insurance companies, and stock exchanges, that permit the exchange of funds. Financial systems exist on firm, regional, and global levels.
Borrowers, lenders, and investors exchange current funds to finance projects, either for consumption or productive investments, and to pursue a return on their financial assets. The financial system also includes sets of rules and practices that borrowers and lenders use to decide which projects get financed, who finances projects, and the terms of financial deals.
Key Takeaways
- A financial system is a set of global, regional, or firm-specific institutions and practices used to facilitate the exchange of funds.
- Financial systems can be organized using market principles, central planning, or a hybrid of both.
- Institutions within a financial system include everything from banks to stock exchanges and government treasuries.
How a Financial System Works
Like any other industry, the financial system can be organized using markets, central planning, or some mix of both.
Financial markets involve borrowers, lenders, and investors negotiating loans and other transactions. In these markets, the economic goods traded on both sides are usually some form of money: current money (cash), claims on future money (credit), or claims on the future income potential or value of real assets (equity).
These also include derivative instruments. Derivative instruments, such as commodity futures or stock options, are financial instruments that are dependent on an underlying financial asset's performance. In financial markets, these are all traded among borrowers, lenders, and investors according to the normal laws of supply and demand.
$50 Trillion
The approximate total market capitalization of the U.S. stock market in 2024.
In a centrally planned financial system (e.g., a single firm or a command economy), the financing of consumption and investment plans is not decided by counterparties in a transaction but directly by a manager or central planner. Which projects receive funds, whose projects receive funds, and who funds them is determined by the planner, whether that means a business manager or a party boss.
Most financial systems contain elements of both give-and-take markets and top-down central planning. For example, a business firm is a centrally planned financial system with respect to its internal financial decisions; however, it typically operates within a broader market interacting with external lenders and investors to carry out its long-term plans.
At the same time, all modern financial markets operate within some kind of government regulatory framework that sets limits on what types of transactions are allowed. Financial systems are often strictly regulated because they directly influence decisions over real assets, economic performance, and consumer protection.
Financial Market Components
Multiple components make up the financial system at different levels. The firm's financial system is the set of implemented procedures that track the financial activities of the company. Within a firm, the financial system encompasses all aspects of finances, including accounting measures, revenue and expense schedules, wages, and balance sheet verification.
On a regional scale, the financial system is the system that enables lenders and borrowers to exchange funds. Regional financial systems include banks and other institutions, such as securities exchanges and financial clearinghouses.
The global financial system is basically a broader regional system that encompasses all financial institutions, borrowers, and lenders within the global economy. In a global view, financial systems include the International Monetary Fund, central banks, government treasuries and monetary authorities, the World Bank, and major private international banks.
Who Runs the U.S. Financial System?
There's no single institution or individual that runs the U.S. financial system. One of the most powerful agencies overseeing the financial system is the U.S. Federal Reserve, which sets monetary policy to promote the health of the economy and general stability. Other notable agencies involved in overseeing the financial system include the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which insures deposits at banking institutions, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which regulates the stock market.
What Are the Factors Affecting the Stability of the Financial System?
Stable financial systems are ideal because such conditions permit the most efficient allocations of resources, steady unemployment, and predictable assessment and management of risk. The stability of financial systems depends on a diverse range of factors and can be disturbed by such events including political turmoil, trade imbalances, natural disasters, health emergencies, and rapid inflation, among others.
Why Is the Financial System Important?
Financial systems are critical as they are a foundation for most economic activity. Individuals and businesses alike rely on financial systems to borrow and lend money, buy and sell assets, and make investments with the aim of earning financial yields. Financial systems link all the bodies, participants, and practices that make such interactions possible.
The Bottom Line
A financial system refers to all the institutions that facilitate the exchange of funds throughout an economy. This includes lenders like banks and credit unions, marketplaces like the stock exchange, government agencies like the Federal Reserve, and even international institutions like the World Bank. It is within the financial system that all interactions—borrowing, lending, investing, financing—can be conducted.
