The short-term market is a subsection of the fixed income market, concerning securities that mature in less than one year. Short-term securities are issued by governments, financial institutions and large corporations. For the most part, they are very liquid and considered safe. The short-term market is a dealer market, characterised by the lack of a central trading floor or exchange. Deals are transacted over the phone or through electronic systems.
    
There are several different instruments in the short-term market, offering different returns and risks. ICMA plays a particularly active role in the short-term market as far as repos and euro commercial paper are concerned, acting through two representative bodies – the ICMA European Repo Council and the ICMA Euro Commercial Paper Committee.