Primary Dealer

In investment, the term primary dealer refers to a broker or other service provider which acts as a transfer agent for government bonds.

A primary dealer purchases government bonds directly from government agencies (a government treasury or a central bank, for example), and then resells those bonds to investors.

A government agency or central bank may have just one primary dealer which holds a monopoly on the retailing of government bonds, or it may have multiple primary dealers.

Some government agencies hold auctions in which several primary dealers can bid on government securities. The primary dealers then sell the purchased securities to investors at a profit.

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