finance
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...
securities
A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any for ...
in the
over-the-counter
Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are medicines sold directly to a consumer without a requirement for a prescription from a healthcare professional, as opposed to prescription drugs, which may be supplied only to consumers possessing a valid prescr ...
(OTC) market. These trades allow
institutional investors
An institutional investor is an entity which pools money to purchase securities, real property, and other investment assets or originate loans. Institutional investors include commercial banks, central banks, credit unions, government-linke ...
to trade blocks of securities directly, rather than through an exchange, providing liquidity and anonymity to buyers.
Third market trading was pioneered in the 1960s by firms such as
Jefferies & Company
Jefferies Group LLC is an American multinational independent investment bank and financial services company that is headquartered in New York City. The firm provides clients with capital markets and financial advisory services, institutional br ...
although today there are a number of brokerage firms focused on third market trading, and more recently
dark pool
In finance, a dark pool (also black pool) is a private forum (alternative trading system or ATS) for trading securities, derivatives, and other financial instruments.Boyd L. Jefferies Dies at 70; Headed Institutional Broker New York Times, August 25, 2001
See also
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Primary market :''"Primary market" may also refer to a market in art valuation.''
The primary market is the part of the capital market that deals with the issuance and sale of securities to purchasers directly by the issuer, with the issuer being paid the proce ...
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Secondary market
The secondary market, also called the aftermarket and follow on public offering, is the financial market in which previously issued financial instruments such as stock, bonds, options, and futures are bought and sold. The initial sale of the s ...
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Fourth market Fourth market trading is direct institution-to-institution trading without using the service of broker-dealers, thus avoiding both commissions, and the bid–ask spread. Trades are usually done in blocks. It is impossible to estimate the volume o ...
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Private equity secondary market
In finance, the private-equity secondary market (also often called private-equity secondaries or secondaries) refers to the buying and selling of pre-existing investor commitments to private-equity and other alternative investment funds. Given t ...
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OTC Markets Group
OTC Markets Group (previously known as Pink Sheets) is an American financial market providing price and liquidity information for almost 10,000 over-the-counter (OTC) securities. The group has its headquarters in New York City. OTC-traded sec ...