General General
Authorised persons: A person who is authorised for the purposes of section 31 of FSMA.
Derivative: A security which "derives" its value from the underlying asset or a reference price.
Financial Services Register: Authorised firms and individuals are recorded in the Financial Services Register, which is open to the public.
Liquidity: Liquidity refers to the amount of liquid assets, or cash, available to a market or company.
OTC: ‘Over-the-counter' is the process of trading securities outside regulated market exchanges.
Retail investors: Individuals who invest their personal savings and pensions, rather than professional investors or financial companies who invest on someone else’s behalf.
UCITS: In the UK, ‘Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities’ (UCITS) are funds that have been authorised by the FCA as such. In the EU, UCITS are funds that are authorised by their national competent authority under the EU’s UCITS Directive.