Financières

Financières is the feminine plural form of the French adjective financier and of the noun une financière. It can denote entities or activities related to finance. As a noun, une financière refers to a financial company or institution, such as a bank, an insurance firm, an asset manager, or a financing company. As an adjective, it describes things pertaining to finance, for example les activités financières or le secteur financier.

In usage, the term appears in two broad contexts: the financial industry and financial affairs. In the first, financières designates organizations that provide financial services, including banks, investment firms, insurers, and fund managers. In the second, it refers to money management within organizations or governments—budgeting, accounting, and funding operations—for instance les affaires financières or les activités financières.

In regulatory and policy language, it is often paired with sectors or markets, such as secteur financier, marché financier, or institution financière. The term can thus function as a generic label for the ecosystem of banks, insurers, asset managers, and other service providers.

The word also appears in historical and economic discussions about the development of modern finance and the role of financial institutions in growth and capital markets. See also finance; financial sector; banking; insurance; asset management; corporate finance; public finance.