A party, usually a bank or a broker-dealer, that offers financial products to the market, including equity securities, asset-backed securities (ABS), and derivatives products, such as swaps and futures. Market-makers enter into contracts with unaffiliated third parties, taking the position opposite its counterparty, in exchange for a fee or premium.

Parties that enter into transactions with market-makers include non-financial commercial end users looking to hedge their commercial risk, as well as funds and institutional investors looking for speculative exposure to certain markets via certain financial products.