The Euromarkets are international money and capital markets， they are concerned with Eurocurrencies， that is， currencies traded in Europe (and elsewhere) outside their home countries. The most important Eurocurrency is the Eurodollar. The Eurodollar market developed in the second half of the 1950s. When the London banks，during the sterling crisis of 1957， were prohibited from using sterling funds to finance non-British trade， they offered high interest rates to attract dollar deposits from both non-American and American holders of dollars. The Eurodollar market was given another major boost when the American Federal Reserve Board placed limits on deposit interest rates in the United States. To avoid these restrictions， dollar deposits were transferred from banks in the United States to European banks and to the foreign branches of American banks， mainly those in London.

歐洲市場是國際貨幣與資本市場，從事與歐洲貨幣有關(guān)的業(yè)務(wù)，歐洲貨幣即在貨幣發(fā)行國境外的歐洲(及其他地方)進行交易的貨幣，最重要的歐洲貨幣是歐洲美元。歐洲貨幣市場產(chǎn)生于20世紀(jì)50年代末，1957年英國發(fā)生英鎊危機，倫敦的銀行被禁止用英鎊去為非英鎊區(qū)國家的貿(mào)易提供融資;它們提高利率，從非美國人和美國人手中吸收美元存款。后來美國聯(lián)邦儲備委員會對美國的存款利率加以限制，歐洲貨幣市場得到又一次大發(fā)展。為了逃避這些限制，美國境內(nèi)的美元存款轉(zhuǎn)移到歐洲銀行和在歐洲的美國銀行，主要是在倫敦的分支機構(gòu)中去。

The chief participants in the Euromarkets are the London banks， the overseas branches of American banks and commercial banks on the Continent and in other parts of the world. These banks accept deposits of dollars and other convertible currencies from other banks， including central banks， companies and individuals. The funds thus obtained are traded among the banks and lent out to non-banks， either in the original currency or after having been converted into another currency. Eurocurrency loans involve large sums of money，they may be short-term， medium-term or long-term. Long-term Eurocurrency funds can also be raised by an issue of Eurobonds on the Eurobond market.

歐洲貨幣市場的主要參與者是倫敦的銀行，美國銀行在海外的分支行，以及美洲大陸和世界其他各地的商業(yè)銀行。這些銀行從其他銀行，包括中央銀行、公司和個人吸收美元存款及其他可兌換貨幣。這樣籌集到的資金在銀行之間融通，或者借貸給非銀行機構(gòu)，有的用原幣，有的已兌換成另一種貨幣。歐洲貨幣貸款金額大，有短期、中期或長期。長期歐洲貨幣資金也可通過在歐洲債券市場發(fā)行歐洲債券來籌集。