Common Financial Abbreviations

Common Financial Abbreviations

Finance

Some claim that the Ancient Romans had the first, albeit very small, stock market exchange. In the United States of America, in 1811, the New York Securities Law established:

Anybody can set up a corporation and trade, provided they fit the required criteria.

Limited liability - stock market investors cannot be sued for the misdeeds of a company. In 1975 the Intermarket Trading System was implemented to allow traders to oversee all the differences in prices in diverse exchanges. The National Market System linkage, an upgraded version, was proposed in 2006. An alternative arrangement is large institutions trading among themselves, usually as part of some deal.

FINRA - Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, organization overseeing brokerage firms, branch offices and registered securities representatives. In addition, FINRA offers continuing education and certification exams. Churning, overtrading a customer’s account in order to make more commissions (resulting in the client’s inability to make real profits) is a way to get disbarred (ousted from the profession) for life.

CFA - Chartered Financial Analyst, an internationally recognized professional designation. Successful results on a six hours long exam and four years of relevant work experience are the minimum requirements. Sometimes combined with the MBA (Master of Business Administration) program. Most MBA, and many MFin, admission offices also require a minimum of several years of work experience

CFP - Certified Financial Planner. According to the FPSC (Financial Planning Standards Council), there are more than 17500 CFPs in Canada. In Quebec, this role is filled by the IQPF (Institut Québécois de planification financière).

NYSE - New York Stock Exchange. The NYSE, the largest stock exchange in the world, was founded in 1792. The NYSE is located at 11 Wall Street.

NASDAQ - (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System). The NASDAQ was the first electronic stock exchange, founded in 1971. NASDAQ Small Cap (capitalization: price per share times shares outstanding, i.e. total company value).

SEC - Security and Exchange Commission. Federal governmental agency of the United States of America. The SEC regulates the financial industry and enforces corresponding laws.

Toronto Dominion Securities. Proficiency in the banking industry most often than not requires a thorough knowledge of the underlying numerical concepts. Photo by Elena.

Accounting

All accounting designations require at the least a BAcc or a BComm (BCom), BAdmin (BBA) with accounting majors, requirements may vary by region and office. In some cases a bachelor’s degree in a different discipline with a professional practice certificate or a combination of skills and pertinent work experience may suffice.

CA - Certified Accountant. In Quebec the professional association is the Ordre des comptables agrées du Québec. CAs work in public practice, government, education and as senior finacial professional in industrial organizations.

CMA - Certified Managerial Accountant. The provincial office is Ordre des comptables en management accrédités du Québec. CMAs are valuable members of organizations, generating innovative change and implementing financial strategies.

CGA - Certified General Accountant. The professional order is named Ordre des CGA du Québec; they have an affiliation with the CGA - Canada (Certified General Accountants of Canada). The most flexible of the three designations (CA, CMA, CGA).

CPA - Certified Public Accountant. American accounting certification, given out by the American Institute of CPAs. The minimum requirement to obtain the certification is successfully passing the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination.