Instruments or investments of such high liquidity and safety that they are virtually as good as cash. Examples are a money market fund and a treasury bill. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) defines cash equivalents for financial reporting purposes as any highly liquid security with a known market value and a maturity, when acquired, of less than three months. Cedel: Cedel International was established in 1970 by 66 financial institutions from eleven countries as a neutral and independent capital markets infrastructure specifically to reduce costs and risks of settling securities transactions in the Eurobond market. Since the beginning of the 1990s, the number of transactions processed has grown to more than 10 million a year and the value of the securities deposited will soon exceed USD 2 trillion. On peak days, they clear and settle trades worth up to USD 100 billion. Cedel International is the parent company of Cedelbank, Cedel Global Services and a number of other subsidiaries with special functions.Cedel International is responsible for corporate and support functions, Cedelbank, the customer facing entity, for banking and Cedel Global Services for technology and operations. Cedelbank also operates LuxClear, the Central Securities Depository of Luxembourg. Cedel International is owned by more than 90 financial institutions from Europe, the Americas and Asia. Cedelbank and Cedel Global Services are subsidiaries of Cedel International. Cedelbank has the highest possible short- term and AA+ long- term credit rating. (Cedel International)