QUICK DEFINITION
Primary Dealer is a financial institution recognized within a government-debt or central-bank market framework to transact directly in specified securities or operations.
WHY IT MATTERS
Why Primary Dealer matters in bond markets
Primary dealers are important intermediaries in sovereign auctions, secondary-market liquidity and central-bank transactions.
MARKET CONTEXT
How to think about it
Bond investors use primary dealer as part of a wider framework that links prices, yields, cash flows, liquidity and risk. The concept should therefore be read together with its related terms rather than as an isolated definition.
Is Primary Dealer important for fixed-income investors?
← Back to the Bond Market Glossary Yes. Primary dealers are important intermediaries in sovereign auctions, secondary-market liquidity and central-bank transactions.