The market in the actual financial instrument on which a futures or options contract is based.
Cash settlement
Final disposition of open positions on the last trading day of a contract month. Occurs in markets where there is no actual delivery.
Central Securities Depository
A Central Securities Depository is a financial institution providing custodial and securities settlement services to one or several markets.
Certificate of deposit (CD)
A negotiable certificate issued by a commercial bank as evidence of a deposit with that bank which states the maturity value, maturity rate and interest rate payable. CDs vary in size with maturities ranging from a few weeks to several years. CDs may normally be redeemed before maturity only by sale on the secondary market but may also be redeemed back to the issuing bank through payment of a penalty.
Certified Emission Reduction
Carbon credits arising from Clean Development Mechanism projects. One CER is awarded for
a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions equivalent in impact to one tonne of carbon dioxide.
Certified Emissions Reductions
The output of Clean Development Mechanism projects, as set out in the Kyoto Protocol. One CER represents the reduction of one metric tonne of Carbon Dioxide (CO2).
Cheapest-to-deliver
The bond, deliverable against a futures contract, for which delivery is most attractive in terms of cost from the short position holder’s point of view.
CIBOR
The rate at which the banks lend the Danish krone on an unsecured basis. The rate is calculated daily by the Danmarks Nationalbank (the Danish Central Bank), based on rules set out by the Danish Banker's Association.
Circuit breaker
A procedure that temporarily halts trading on all US stock markets for one hour when the Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 250 points or more within a trading day. The pause is designed to allow time for the markets to absorb the news that precipitated the decline. Should the average fall another 150 points within the same day, trading would again be halted, this time for two hours.
Clean Development Mechanism
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol allowing industrialised countries with a greenhouse gas reduction commitment (so-called Annex 1 countries) to invest in emission reducing projects in developing countries as an alternative to what is generally considered more costly emission reductions in their own countries. The CDM is supervised by the CDM Executive Board (CDM EB) and is under the guidance of the Conference of the Parties (COP/MOP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
