10. Forex.

The Foreign Exchange Market, where people buy and sell foreign currency, also referred to as the "Forex" market, is the largest financial market in the world.

Currencies are traded in pairs, for example Euro/US Dollar or US Dollar/Japanese Yen.

Foreign money held by a government to support its own currency. About 5% of daily turnover is from companies and governments that buy or sell products and services in a foreign country or must convert profits made in foreign into their domestic currency. The other 95% is trading for profit, or speculation.

For speculators, the best trading opportunities are with the most commonly traded (and most liquid) currencies, called "the Majors". Today, more than 85% of all daily transactions involves trading pf the Majors, which include the US Dollar, Japanese Yen, Euro, British Pound, Swiss Franc, Canadian Dollar and Australian Dollar.

Forex trading begins each day in Sydney, and moves around the globe as the business day begin in each financial center, first to Tokyo, London, and New York,. It's a 24-hour market, and investors can respond to currency fluctuations caused by economic, social and political events at the time they occur - day or night.

The Forex market is considered an over the counter (OTC) or interbank market, due to the fact that transactions are conducted between two counterparts over the telephone or via an electronic network.

11. The world trade organisation. European financial sector.

The World Trade Organization came into being in 1995. The WTO is the succesor to the General Agrement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) established in the wake of the Second World War. So the multilateral trading system that was originally set up under GATT is already 50 years old. The past 50 years have seen an exceptional growth in world trade. Merchandise exports greww on average by 6% annualy. GATT and the WTO have helped to create a strong and prosperous trading sytem contributing to unprecedented growth. The system was developed through a series of trade negotiations, or rounds, held under GATT. The first rounds dealt mainly with tariff reductions but later negotiations included other areas such as anti-dumping and non-tariff measures. The agreement was reached on telecommunications services, with 69 governments agreein to wide-ranging liberalization measures that went beyond those agreed in the Uruguay Round. In the same year 40 governments successfully concluded negotiations for tariff-free trade in information technology products, and 70 members concluded a financial services deal covering more than 95% of trade in banking, insurance, securities and financial information.

The organization:

The WTO’s overriding objective is to help trade flow smoothly, freely, fairly, and predictably.

It does by:

• Administering trade agreements

• Acting as a forum for trade negotiations

• Settling trade disputes

• Assisting developing countries in trade policy issues, through technical assistance and training programmes.

• Cooperating with other international organizations

The WTO has more than 130 members, accounting for 90% of world trade. Over 30 others are negotiating membership. Decisions are made by the entire membership and typically by consensus. A majority vote is also possible but it has never been used in the WTO, and was extremely rare under the WTO predecessor, GATT. The WTO’s agreements have been ratifies in all member’s parliaments. The WTO’s top level decision-making body is the Ministerial Conference which meets at least once every two years. Below this is the General council (normally ambassadors and heads of delegation in several Geneva, but sometimes officials sent from member’s capitals) which meets several times a year in Geneva head-quarters. The General council also meets as the Trade Policy Review Body and the Dispute Settlement Body. At the next level, the Goods Council, Services Council and Intelectual Property (TRIPS) Council report to the General Council. Numerous specialized committees, working groups and working parties deal with the individual agreements and other arese such as the environment, development, membership applications, regional trade agreements, relationship between trade and investment, the interaction between trade and competition policy and transparency in government procurement.