Course 01 · Capital Markets Trading & Risk Academy

Sovereign Bonds & Money Markets

Trade the curve. Fund the book. Defend the valuation.

Manage the economics and risk of a sovereign cash bond and money-market portfolio. This is a market-and-desk course, not an integrated-platform implementation course, a generic banking foundation, an exam-preparation course, an interest-rate-derivatives course, or a specialist repo course. Calculations use a spreadsheet first; Python or SQL can be supplied as optional extensions. The learner makes decisions and reconciles results rather than memorizing definitions.

100 chapters · 10 modules · beginner to advanced · spreadsheet first, Python and SQL optional

Enrol or enquire See the 100 chapters
The continuous case

One book, carried through all ten modules

Meridian Sovereign Desk is a fictional global dealer with a USD Treasury book, an INR government-bond sleeve, and a EUR government-bond watchlist. All numerical datasets are illustrative and explicitly timestamped. Ten module artifacts accumulate into one final portfolio, valuation, funding, P&L, risk, and governance pack.

The firm, positions, prices and counterparties are fictional teaching inputs. They do not describe any real institution or transaction.

Curriculum

10 modules · 100 chapters

Each module closes with an artefact, and the ten artefacts accumulate into the final pack the learner defends. Chapters build in order rather than standing alone.

M1 Market foundations through a sovereign desk Ch 1-10
  1. Why Governments Borrow and Why Bonds Trade
  2. The Sovereign Desk and Its Neighboring Functions
  3. Money Markets Versus Longer-Dated Bond Markets
  4. Reading a Sovereign Security Description
  5. Prices, Yields, and the Inverse Relationship
  6. The Central Bank, Treasury, and Debt-Management Office
  7. Buyers, Dealers, Primary Dealers, and Market Makers
  8. Primary, When-Issued, and Secondary Markets
  9. The First Meridian Trade: Buy, Fund, Hold, Sell
  10. Desk Vocabulary and First Control Gate
M2 Sovereign issuance and market supply Ch 11-20
  1. Funding Plans and the Issuance Calendar
  2. Bill Auctions and Discount Bids
  3. Coupon-Bond Auction Mechanics
  4. Reopenings, New Lines, and Fungibility
  5. When-Issued Prices and Auction Risk
  6. Issuance Across the United States, Euro Area, and India
  7. Primary-Dealer Obligations and Balance-Sheet Cost
  8. Sovereign Supply, Demand, and Term Premium
  9. Auction-Day P&L and Inventory Decisions
  10. Issuance Module Capstone: The Failed Distribution
M3 Cash instruments, cash flows, and conventions Ch 21-30
  1. Treasury Bills and Zero-Coupon Cash Flows
  2. Fixed-Coupon Notes and Bonds
  3. Floating-Rate Sovereign Notes
  4. Inflation-Linked Bonds: A Carefully Bounded Primer
  5. Strips and Individual Cash-Flow Claims
  6. Accrued Interest and Dirty Settlement Price
  7. Day Counts, Calendars, and Ex-Coupon Rules
  8. Yield to Maturity, Spot Rates, and Holding-Period Return
  9. Security Master, Corporate Events, and Cash-Flow Audit
  10. Cash-Flow Module Capstone: A Settlement Dispute
M4 Sovereign pricing and yield curves Ch 31-40
  1. Discount Factors and Present Value
  2. Solving Price from Yield and Yield from Price
  3. Zero, Par, and Forward Curves
  4. Bootstrapping from Bills and Coupon Bonds
  5. Interpolation, Extrapolation, and Curve Shape
  6. On-the-Run and Off-the-Run Valuation
  7. Spread Measures for Sovereign Bonds
  8. Market Data Quality and Independent Checks
  9. Pricing Validation and Sensitivity Reasonableness
  10. Curve Module Capstone: The False Rich Bond
M5 Secondary trading, execution, and liquidity Ch 41-50
  1. Bond Quotes, Bid-Offer, and Executable Price
  2. Customer Flow and Dealer Inventory
  3. Order Types, RFQ, and Electronic Market Structure
  4. Benchmark Liquidity and Market Depth
  5. Relative-Value Trades Along a Sovereign Curve
  6. Curve Steepeners, Flatteners, and Butterflies
  7. Futures as a Hedge Interface
  8. Cross-Market Sovereign Spread Trades
  9. Failed Trades, Buy-Ins, and Liquidity Frictions
  10. Trading Module Capstone: Defend an Execution
M6 Money markets and funding the sovereign book Ch 51-60
  1. Overnight Rates and Central-Bank Operating Frameworks
  2. Treasury Bills Versus Bank Deposits
  3. Certificates of Deposit and Commercial Paper
  4. Unsecured Versus Secured Overnight Benchmarks
  5. Repo as the Bond Book's Funding Interface
  6. Term Funding, Roll Risk, and Maturity Ladders
  7. Carry and Roll-Down After Funding Costs
  8. Money Funds, Liquidity Demand, and Cash Flows
  9. Funding Basis and Relative-Value Reassessment
  10. Funding Module Capstone: The Cash Shortfall
M7 Positions, valuation control, and P&L Ch 61-70
  1. Trade Events and the Official Position
  2. End-of-Day Marks and Valuation Hierarchy
  3. Realized, Unrealized, and Accrued P&L
  4. Daily P&L Explain for a Bond Book
  5. Accrual, Coupon, and Redemption Controls
  6. Independent Price Verification of Sovereign Marks
  7. Accounting View Versus Trading View
  8. Multi-Currency Translation and Sovereign Book Reporting
  9. Month-End Control and Historical Reproduction
  10. P&L Module Capstone: Explain an Untrusted Gain
M8 Interest-rate risk, VaR, and stress Ch 71-80
  1. Duration and DV01 from Actual Cash Flows
  2. Convexity and Large Yield Moves
  3. Key-Rate Duration and Curve Risk
  4. Sovereign Spread, Liquidity, and FX Risk Factors
  5. Historical VaR for the Bond Portfolio
  6. Parametric VaR and Covariance Assumptions
  7. VaR Backtesting, Exceptions, and Model Limits
  8. Stress Scenarios and Full Revaluation
  9. Limits, Concentrations, and Escalation
  10. Risk Module Capstone: A Policy Shock
M9 Lifecycle, governance, and regional application Ch 81-90
  1. Trade Capture and Four-Eyes Review
  2. Confirmations, Settlement, and Custody
  3. Market Abuse and Information Controls
  4. Trading Mandates and Risk Ownership
  5. Government-Bond Market Data Governance
  6. U.S. Treasury Case: Benchmark Auction Week
  7. Euro-Area Case: Core and Peripheral Spreads
  8. India Case: Government Securities and Bills
  9. Liquidity Crisis, Controls, and Decision Rights
  10. Governance Module Capstone: Audit the Bond Desk
M10 Integrated portfolio and senior desk defense Ch 91-100
  1. Build the Meridian Opening Portfolio
  2. Form an Investment and Trading Thesis
  3. Price and Execute the Proposed Trades
  4. Fund the Portfolio and Test the Cash Ladder
  5. Produce Official Valuation and P&L Explain
  6. Measure Sensitivities, VaR, and Concentration
  7. Run a Combined Market and Funding Stress
  8. Challenge Assumptions and Model Outputs
  9. Present the Desk and Risk Committee Pack
  10. Final Defense: Hold, Hedge, or Reduce
How it is delivered

Three ways to take Sovereign Bonds and Money Markets

Self-paced is a document-and-media programme with lifetime access - no live sessions. Cohort and enterprise add live instructor-led training. Mentorship is not offered in any tier.
Feature Self-paced Cohort Enterprise
Format Written chapters, video explainers and podcasts Everything in self-paced, plus scheduled live sessions Everything in cohort, delivered privately to your team
Live sessions None Scheduled, instructor-led Scheduled, instructor-led, private
Mentorship Not offered Not offered Not offered
Access Lifetime Lifetime Lifetime for every enrolled seat
Pace Entirely your own Guided schedule with a peer group Agreed with your desk
Tailoring Fixed curriculum Fixed curriculum Sequenced to your markets, systems and governance
Best for Individuals learning around a job Individuals who want structure and deadlines Desks building the same capability together
For individuals

Get the programme guide

The full chapter list, what each module covers, and how the tiers compare - sent to your inbox as a PDF.

For teams

Run this for my desk

Private delivery for your desk, sequenced to your markets and systems. Tell us the team and we will scope it.

Run this for my desk

Take it on its own, or as part of the academy

Each course stands alone. Taken in order, the ten build one cross-asset trading and risk capability.

Enrol or enquire See the whole academy