Understanding South African financial markets is an introductory text that should serve as a useful reference and guide for commerce students, public servants and members of the business fraternity alike.

It gives the reader an overview of how the various institutions in the South African financial system operate, as well as the different financial markets in the South African economy and the instruments traded in those markets.

Some of the chapters were written by practitioners from the financial markets and others by experienced faculty members in Economics and Financial Management.

The book is aimed particularly at South African students. Each chapter starts with study objectives relevant to the material covered. Jargon that may be unfamiliar is explained in lay terms. The book refers throughout to both international and local market practices and norms where relevant. Students in financial management and monetary economics will find this a helpful aid to understanding the financial markets in South Africa.

Karin van Wyk is the CEO of the South African Institute of Financial Markets, a professional institute that conducts examinations for the financial markets and the JSE. She holds a BA (Law) and an LLB from the University of Pretoria and a BCom from Unisa.

Ziets Botha is a senior manager responsible for the design and implementation of training programmes in financial markets and related fields at a large institution in the financial sector. He also serves on the educational committee of the board of the South African Institute of Financial Markets. He holds an MCom in Economics from the University of Johannesburg.

Ingrid Goodspeed has over 20 years’ banking and financial markets experience in the areas of treasury, risk management, compliance, investment analysis, economic research and information technology. She holds an MBL (cum laude), a BCom Honours (Economics) and an LLB from Unisa.