Capital Markets

Capital markets is the domain where banks, asset managers, central banks, and corporates price, trade, risk-manage, and settle financial instruments. It spans front office (deal origination and pricing), middle office (risk and P&L), and back office (settlement, accounting, reconciliation).

Sub-skills

Domain Boundaries

• In scope: Trading systems, risk platforms, pricing models, derivatives, FX, fixed income, structured products, regulatory capital (FRTB, SA-CCR, XVA), post-trade processing
• Out of scope: Retail banking, mortgage lending, insurance, payments (these are separate domains)

SA Capital Markets Context

South Africa's capital markets are regulated by the FSCA (Financial Sector Conduct Authority) and SARB (South African Reserve Bank). Key infrastructure: JSE (Johannesburg Stock Exchange) for equities and listed derivatives; BESA (Bond Exchange of South Africa, now part of JSE) for fixed income; SAFEX for commodity derivatives; ZARX and A2X as alternative exchanges.

Tier 1 SA investment banks: Standard Bank CIB, FirstRand (RMB), Absa CIB, Nedbank CIB, Investec. All operate proprietary trading desks, derivatives businesses, and treasury operations subject to Basel III/IV capital requirements and FRTB.