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The Financial System and Its Sheer Size and Scope

The U.S. financial system consists of commercial banks, money markets, and government institutions that issue and manage money. It is connected with the global financial system, consisting of banks and financial institutions around the world that influence one another.

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The largest banks in the world measured in billions of U. S. dollars in assets as of December 2015. Twenty years ago, Japanese and American banks dominated the top ten. In 2015 just two American banks and one Japanese bank remained in the top ten.

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The eight most circulated currencies in the world. Although many currencies are widely circulated (especially in countries with large populations such as China, India, and Russia), the U. S. dollar and the euro remain by far the two largest reserve “hard” currencies held around the world (mostly in electronic from). However, in 2016, the Chinese yuan became the newest currency to be designated by the IMF as a reserve currency.

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