1. What are the economic functions performed by financial intermediaries? Financial intermediaries offer two important advantages to savers. First, intermediaries give a lot of loans, so the few that fall short do not impact as much as the loss faced by an individual with few loans. They provide a platform to take less risk for each individual. Another reason why financial intermediaries reduce risk is that by making many loans, they learn to better predict which of the people who want to borrow money will be able to repay. Someone who does not specialize in this loan can be a poor judge of which loans are worth making and which are not, although even a specialist will make some mistakes. A second benefit of using a financial intermediary is that it has the ability to convert assets into liquid (usable) cash. While the intermediary can use its funds to make illiquid loans, its size allows it to keep some funds idle as cash to provide liquidity to individual depositors. Financial intermediaries help large numbers of people use financial markets with a minimal level of risk. Although these intermediaries are important in the macroeconomic functioning of the economy, they are generally stable and change only slowly.2. What is the role of the broker in the financial market? Futures brokers have different licensing and training requirements than stockbrokers. A futures broker must have a Series 3 license, while a stockbroker must have a Series 7 license. Some brokers are dual licensed, so they can broker both types of financial instruments. The principles for selecting any broker are the same: know what your trading goals are and look for the right solution. Before you can place a futures or options trade on the futures markets, you must open an account through a Series 3 licensed commodity broker representative. It is generally believed that the broker only plays the role of intermediary in securities trading, with commissions as the return. In reality, however, for this commission, the broker must be responsible to its clients for accuracy, starting from the opening of the trading account until the completion of clearing and settlement. To receive his commission, a broker is responsible for placing and executing securities trading efficiently, delivering the payment of securities to the seller and transferring the voucher to the buyer on time, and providing securities depository services and ensuring that the client's securities trading account is always correct.