curb market
- noun
- /kɜrb ˈmɑrkɪt/
- Archaic
:
mercado paralelo
- The danger of an unregulated curb market is an explosion of rampant speculation (e.g., the "casino capitalism" of Taiwan's stock market) and outright fraud, instead of productive investment.
Examples
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However, the existence of the curb market allowed the rapid development and restructuring of small businesses that were not too capital intensive.
Academic text (2002) -
Many investors prefer to explore opportunities in the curb market because it offers access to securities not found on formal exchanges.
-
Here, the huge amount of funds controlled by the state system was beneficial because transactions in the curb market were generally small.
Academic text (2002) -
While Taiwan had moved to open up its financial system in the 1990s, the potential casino capitalism of the curb market still remained fairly isolated, in part because of the nature of the island's industrial structure.
Academic text (2002) -
This allowed the chaebol to gain access both to the riskier "curb market" in South Korea's domestic economy and to direct foreign loans.
Academic text (2002) -
On the other hand, a sector of small firms has relied on more informal mechanisms of finance through the curb market and other innovative sources, such as collecting deposits from employees and the general public, which are sufficient because most small enterprises are not very capital intensive.
Academic text (2002) -
In terms of the financial system, those firms relied on a largely informal and unregulated "curb market" which, in theory, was subject to the same abuses as Korean finance in the late 1990s.
Academic text (2002) -
The curb market has been a vital resource for small startups looking to raise funds without going through traditional stock exchanges.
-
Due to its informal nature, trading in the curb market can sometimes lead to higher risks and greater rewards compared to regulated markets.
Synonyms
3
8.2
A former New York stock exchange now called NYSE American
A place where shares or bonds are traded outside an official exchange
How Formal
- Specialized
18
3.6
- Specialized
1
6.6
- Archaic
2
1.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an informal market on sidewalks/curbs' is directly and compositionally derived from 'curb' (edge of a sidewalk) + 'market' (place where goods are sold): the first noun modifies the second to indicate location, a common and predictable compound pattern in English. Although 'Curb' can also be a proper name in financial contexts, the literal spatial interpretation is the default reading and would be immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
Curb market may come from traders standing on the street curb outside the main stock exchange, calling out prices for shares that were 'not listed on a formal stock exchange'. So curb market came to mean a place for trading those unlisted securities.