Ladder is a financial term used in different ways depending on the industry.
It is commonly used in retirement planning, where it refers to the interest rate reduction method and reinvestment risk.
The ladder is also used in the securities underwriting market to describe illegal practices that benefit insiders at the expense of ordinary investors.
A bond ladder is a series of fixed-maturity bonds, each held to maturity, with proceeds reinvested in new, longer-term bonds to maintain the length of the ladder.
Bond ladders are used to generate fixed income cash flow and manage certain risks.
A red herring is a preliminary prospectus filed with the SEC, usually in connection with an IPO, that omits key details of the issue, such as the price and number of shares offered.
In an undivided or eastern account, each underwriter takes responsibility for the sale of any shares that remain unsold by the other members of the syndicate.
A Western account is a type of AAU in which the parties to a consortium of underwriters agree to be responsible only for their own allocation of a new issue of securities.
The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) is a financial services company that provides clearing and settlement services for financial markets.
An Export Trading Company (ETC) deals with exports for clients, focusing on all legal requirements and regulations that a company must follow before a country will allow its goods to be exported.