About the Financial Atlas

What it is

Most material about finance explains the parts one at a time: what a bank is, what an exchange is, what a central bank is. The Atlas answers a different question — how they are connected. Each of the 244 links is written from both ends: not merely that banks are connected to monetary policy, but what travels in each direction and what follows from it. Hence the product's central claim: you can see why a central bank's rate decision reaches the price of a mortgage a few steps later.

Who it is for

For someone outside the industry — to see the system whole rather than as a pile of terms. For a professional — to see their own patch in the context of the rest: most people who work in finance know their own zone well and the neighbouring ones roughly. For someone choosing a career — 234 profiles: what the job actually is day to day, what you need to know, which skills matter and which certifications are worth having.

How it is built

Every zone is built the same way: its role in the system → functions → what makes it special → why it matters → links to other zones → careers. Regulation and supervision form a separate layer: 28 pairs of who supervises whom, naming the supervisors and the standards (Basel, IAIS, IOSCO, CPMI, FATF). Examples deliberately span several jurisdictions — the EU, the US, the UK, Ukraine — and China always gets its own paragraph, separate from other Asian markets, because its mechanisms differ. Statements about regulation are tied to a specific act, supervisor or date; the facts were checked against primary sources.

Mapping onto the EU/OECD-INFE framework

The content is mapped against the financial competence framework for adults of the European Commission and OECD-INFE (11 January 2022) — the common language for describing financial education in Europe. All 564 competences in the framework were assessed: the Atlas covers 343 of them (60%), and the Financial Landscape area — regulation, consumer protection, financial products, where information comes from, taxes, external influences — is covered at 91%. The assessment was made subtopic by subtopic across all 82 and is published in full, including what the Atlas does not cover: the mapping table.

What the Atlas does not do

The Atlas does not teach budgeting, does not compare specific products, does not tell you what to buy, and never states what anyone earns. It is not investment, tax or legal advice. It answers a different question — how the system inside which those decisions are made is built. For personal financial skills, other material is the right place to look, including national financial literacy programmes.

How to cite it

Cite the Atlas as:

Diadiura, A. (2026). Financial Atlas: a map of the financial system
and the careers in it. finatlas.academy

For a single zone, use its own address, for example finatlas.academy/en/zone/banks/. The content is updated, so an access date is worth giving.