Suppliers and users of capital access the markets through the chartered banks, trust companies, life insurance companies, and investment dealers. These financial intermediaries can be either deposit taking or non deposit taking institutions.

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Financial intermediaries connect savers and borrowers in the capital markets. They pool funds from suppliers of capital and channel them to users, providing services such as credit assessment, liquidity, and risk management, along with transforming maturities to fit both sides’ needs. The entities mentioned—chartered banks, trust companies, life insurance companies, and investment dealers—fit this role because they facilitate the flow of funds between those who have money to invest and those who need capital, regardless of whether they take deposits (as banks and trust companies do) or not (as life insurers and many investment dealers do). That broad intermediary function is what identify them as financial intermediaries.

Regulators, by contrast, oversee and supervise markets rather than serve as middlemen in the flow of funds. Investment banks are a specific type of financial intermediary, but the description points to the broader category that encompasses all the listed institutions. Market participants is too broad a label, since it includes anyone involved in the market, not specifically the institutions that channel capital between savers and users.