Financial derivatives refer to contracts whose value depends on changes in the underlying assets. This kind of contract can be standardized or non-standardized. Standardized contracts mean that the transaction price, transaction time, asset characteristics and transaction methods of the subject matter (basic assets) are standardized in advance, so most of these contracts are listed and traded on exchanges, such as futures. Non-standardized contract means that the above matters are agreed by both parties to the transaction, so it has strong flexibility, such as forward agreement.

Financial derivatives are financial-related derivatives, which usually refer to financial instruments derived from basic assets. Its * * * is characterized by margin trading, that is, as long as a certain percentage of margin is paid, the full amount can be traded without actual principal transfer, and the contract is generally settled by cash difference. Only contracts performed by physical delivery on the due date require the buyer to pay all the loans. Therefore, financial derivatives trading has leverage effect. The lower the margin, the greater the leverage effect and the greater the risk.

Judging from the current basic classification, there are mainly the following three categories:

(1) can be divided into four categories according to product form: forward, futures, options and swaps.

(2) Classification by primary assets, namely, stocks, interest rates, exchange rates and commodities. If subdivided, stock categories include specific stocks (stock futures, stock option contracts) and stock index futures and option contracts formed by stock combinations. Interest rates can be divided into short-term interest rates represented by short-term deposit rates (such as interest rate futures, interest rate forwards, interest rate options and interest rate swap contracts) and long-term interest rates represented by long-term bond rates (such as bond futures and bond option contracts); Currency categories include the ratio between different currencies; Commodities include all kinds of bulk physical commodities.

(3) According to the transaction method, it can be divided into on-site transaction and off-site transaction. On-the-spot trading is usually called exchange trading, which refers to the trading mode in which all the supply and demand sides concentrate on the exchange for bidding trading. OTC means that both parties directly become counterparties, and their participants are limited to customers with high credit.

Specific reference: securities investment