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Capital markets are financial markets for the buying and selling of long-term debt or equity-backed securities. These markets channel the wealth of savers to those who can put it to long-term productive use, such as companies or governments making long-term investments.〔The idea of governments making investments may be less familiar than the case involving companies. A government can make investments that are expected to develop a nation's economy, by improving a nation's physical infrastructure, such as by building roads, or by improving public education.〕 Capital markets are defined as markets in which money is provided for periods longer than a year. Financial regulators, such as the UK's Bank of England (BoE) or the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), oversee the capital markets in their jurisdictions to protect investors against fraud, among other duties. Modern capital markets are almost invariably hosted on computer-based electronic trading systems; most can be accessed only by entities within the financial sector or the treasury departments of governments and corporations, but some can be accessed directly by the public.〔As an example, in the US any American citizen with an Internet connection can create an account with (Treasury Direct ) and use it to buy bonds in the primary market, though sales to individuals form only a tiny fraction of the total volume of bonds sold. Various private companies provide browser-based platforms that allow individuals to buy shares and sometimes even bonds in the secondary markets.〕 There are many thousands of such systems, most serving only small parts of the overall capital markets. Entities hosting the systems include stock exchanges, investment banks, and government departments. Physically the systems are hosted all over the world, though they tend to be concentrated in financial centres like London, New York, and Hong Kong. A key division within the capital markets is between the primary markets and secondary markets. In primary markets, new stock or bond issues are sold to investors, often via a mechanism known as underwriting. The main entities seeking to raise long-term funds on the primary capital markets are governments (which may be municipal, local or national) and business enterprises (companies). Governments tend to issue only bonds, whereas companies often issue either equity or bonds. The main entities purchasing the bonds or stock include pension funds, hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds, and less commonly wealthy individuals and investment banks trading on their own behalf. In the secondary markets, existing securities are sold and bought among investors or traders, usually on an exchange, over-the-counter, or elsewhere. The existence of secondary markets increases the willingness of investors in primary markets, as they know they are likely to be able to swiftly cash out their investments if the need arises.〔''Privatization and Capital Market Development: Strategies to Promote Economic Growth'', Michael McLindon (1996)〕 A second important division falls between the stock markets (for equity securities, also known as shares, where investors acquire ownership of companies) and the bond markets (where investors become creditors).〔 == Difference between money markets and capital markets == The money markets are used for the raising of short term finance, sometimes for loans that are expected to be paid back as early as overnight. Whereas the ''capital markets'' are used for the raising of long term finance, such as the purchase of shares, or for loans that are not expected to be fully paid back for at least a year.〔 Funds borrowed from the ''money markets'' are typically used for general operating expenses, to cover brief periods of illiquidity. For example, a company may have inbound payments from customers that have not yet cleared, but may wish to immediately pay out cash for its payroll. When a company borrows from the primary ''capital markets'', often the purpose is to invest in additional physical capital goods, which will be used to help increase its income. It can take many months or years before the investment generates sufficient return to pay back its cost, and hence the finance is long term.〔 Together, ''money markets'' and ''capital markets'' form the financial markets as the term is narrowly understood.〔Note however that the term "financial markets" is also often used to refer all the different sorts of markets in the financial sector, including ones that are not directly concerned with raising finance such as commodity markets and Forex.〕 The capital market is concerned with long term finance. In the widest sense, it consists of a series of channels through which the savings of the community are made available for industrial and commercial enterprises and public authorities. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Capital market」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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