Financy Glossary
The online dictionary of financial terms

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1

Lady Godiva Accounting Principles (LGAP)

This is a theoretical set of accounting principles under which corporations would have to fully disclose all information, including information that is typically not reported under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

Using Lady Godiva Accounting Principles would for instance entail the disclosure of all off-balance sheet items, how pension expenses are accounted for, and how earnings per share is impacted by stock options issued in lieu of salaries.

Lady Godiva was an English noblewoman who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry. Accordingly, Lady Godiva Account Principles would require a corporation to “show everything” to the public, even things that have traditionally been kept out of sight.

The LGAP concept was coined by financial analyst Rick Wayman in the wake of the Enron scandal.

2

Lapsed Option

When an option has been allowed to lapse at expiry instead of being sold or exercised, it is called a lapsed option.

Synonym: Abandoned Option

3

Lender Of Last Resort

The lender of last resort will be responsible for the discretionary provision of liquidity to a financial institution or to the market as a whole in reaction to an adverse shock that has caused an abnormal increase in demand for liquidity which can not be met from any other source.

In most countries, being the lender of last resort is one of the main responsibilities of the nation’s central bank. Examples: Bank of England is the lender of last resort in the United Kingdom. The Federal Reserve Bank is the lender of last resort in the USA. Norges Bank is the lender of last resort in Norway.

Having a lender of last resort is intended to prevent financial panics, especially bank runs that spread due to a lack of liquidity. A lender of last resort can provide extraordinary liquidity to individual banks or to the wider banking system in situations where the need for liquidity can not be met by other sources.

4

Level 1 and Level 2 market information

Up until quite recently, level 2 market information was only available to professional traders. Private traders using software intended for private use would normally have to make do with level 1 information, i.e. bid/offer/volume. When you have access to level 2 information you can see much more detailed data, e.g. offers from individual market makers. To put it simply, you can see how prices are formed instead of just getting information about results. Nowadays, there are trading sites that offer level 2 information for private traders.

5

Leveraged Buyout

A leveraged buyout is a takeover of a company where the investors (that take over the company) use the company’s own assets as collateral when they borrow money to finance their bid.

6

LIBID

The London Interbank Bid Rate (LIBID) is the rate bid by banks on Eurocurrency deposits. It is thus the rate at which a bank is willing to borrow Euro from other banks.

There is no official LIBID fixing; each bank make their own bids.

7

LIBOR

The London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) is one of the primary benchmarks for short-term interest rates around the world. Many financial institutions, mortgage lenders and credit card agencies around the world set their own rates relative to the LIBOR.

The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is responsible for the administration of establishing the LIBOR. Hence, you may encounter the term ICE LIBOR. Earlier, when the British Banker’s Association was responsible for the LIBOR, the full name was BBA LIBOR or bbalibor.

LIBOR is calculated by letting the leading banks in London estimate what they would be charged if they were to borrow money from other banks. LIBOR rates are calculated for 5 currencies and 7 borrowing periods. The shortest of these borrowing periods is overnight, while the longest is one year. The LIBOR is published each business day by Thomson Reuters.

Approximately $350 trillion in derivatives and other financial products are tied to the LIBOR.

8

Long Term Debt

In most contexts, debt liabilities that aren’t due in less than one year are considered Long Term Debt.

9

Long-term Equity Anticipation Securities

Long-term Equity Anticipation Securities (LEAPS) are long-term stock options or long-term index options.

There are both call LEAPS and put LEAPS available.

10

LSE

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is located in Paternoster Square in the City of London, UK. It is a part of the London Stock Exchange Group.

At the time of writing, LSE is the largest stock exchange in Europe in terms of market capitalization, larger than even the Euronext. It is also the third-largest stock exchange in the world.