The practice of companies with good current profits but poor investment opportunities returning capital to their shareholders by buying in some of their own shares. Buybacks benefit shareholders by reducing their income tax bills. Share buybacks tend to raise the price of the remaining shares whereas distribution of the same amount in dividends tends to reduce it. This may benefit directors and other employees holding share options as part of their emoluments.

• loanable funds
• loan-loss reserve
• loan portfolio
• lobbying
• local authority housing
• local content
• local government
• local maximum
• local minimum
• location
• lock-out
• locomotive principle
• logarithm
• logarithmic scale
• logistic curve
• log-linear function
• log-normal distribution
• log-rolling
• Lomé Convention
• London Inter Bank Offered Rate
• London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange
• long-dated security
• long position
• long rate
• long run