The authors examine the architecture, elements of market design, and the products traded in derivatives exchanges around the world. The core function of a derivatives exchange is to facilitate the transfer of risk among economic agents by providing mechanisms to enhance liquidity and facilitate...

The global deregulation of financial markets has created new investment opportunities, which in turn require the development of new instruments to deal with the increased risks. Institutional investors who are actively engaged in industrial and emerging markets need to hedge their risks from...

Derivatives exchanges can offer emerging market economies certain important benefits, including risk transfer, price discovery, and more public information. But they are not a substitute for reform of financial, capital, and commodity markets.Tsetsekos and Varangis examine the architecture,...

In most emerging markets, the lack of acceptable collateral is often cited as a key constraint on the provision of credit to agriculture. Three main types of collateral are typically used to finance agriculture: farmland, equipment, and agricultural commodities. In many economies, however, the...

This note aims at analyzing lessons learned from matching grants projects for farmers and agricultural SMEs and providing guidance to TTLs on successful design. It is part of a series of agriculture finance policy notes. This note has benefited from peer review comments by Mike Goldberg, Diane...