Comprehensive financial services offered to hedge funds and other professional investors by broker-dealers. Prime brokers provide their clients with the opportunity to engage one provider for all of their trading needs, often ranging from equities and investment in indices to derivatives trading, including interest rate swaps, currency swaps, credit default swaps (CDS), futures, commodities, and most other types of derivatives, as well as global custodial services, securities lending, access to certain global trading platforms, and operational support.