"World Strategic Highways" provides a detailed examination of approximately 50 of the most important "strategic highways" in the world. These highways may take the form of roads, railways, rivers and canals, or air and sea routes. They have one thing in common: they are of special significance because, throughout history, they have acted as major trade routes for a number of countries; have military or strategic significance; act to bind a country or countries together; or, in the case of rivers, act as boundaries between two or more countries. They include the Suez and Panama canals, the Rhine and Amazon rivers, the Trans-US Railway, the Khyber Pass and Maputo Corridor, the Silk Road, the Cape sea route and the Pacific sea route. Location maps are provided throughout the book.

Financial technology-or fintech-is gaining in popularity globally as a way of making financial services more efficient and accessible. In rapidly developing China, fintech is taking off, catering to markets that state-owned banks and an undersized financial sector do not serve amid a backdrop of growing consumption and a large, tech-savvy millennial generation. It is becoming increasingly likely that some of China's fintech firms will change the way the world does business. In China's Fintech Explosion, Sara Hsu and Jianjun Li explore the transformative potential of China's financial-technology industry, describing the risks and rewards for participants as well as the impact on consumers. They cover fintech's many subsectors, such as digital payment systems, peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding, credit card issuance, internet banks, blockchain finance and virtual currencies, and online insurance. The book highlights the disruption of traditional banking as well as the risks of fintech and regulatory technology. Hsu and Li describe major companies including Alipay and Tencent, developer of WeChat Pay and a wealth-management business, and other leading fintech firms such as Creditease, Zhong An Insurance, and JD Finance. Offering expert analysis of market potential, risks, and competition, as well as case studies of firms and consumer behavior, China's Fintech Explosion is a must-read for anyone interested in one of the world's breakout sectors.

After fifty years the Deutsche Bundesbank - the central bank that dominated European monetary affairs - has stepped down to entrust monetary policy to the European Central Bank (ECB). This is the first research work to thoroughly explore the lessons to be learned from the Bundesbank by the ECB, in areas such as price stability and political interference.

eBook available with sample pages: EB:0203462424

When China's economic reforms were beginning, there was an expectation in the west that China's financial markets would be opened to western banks and that China's banks would be reformed along western lines. Joint ventures between Chinese banks and western banks, minority shareholding by western banks and the involvement of western banking personnel in assisting Chinese banks with their reforms were all seen as moves towards reform along western lines. This book analyses the role which western bankers have played in China's economic reforms, focusing on their influence on institutional change and corporate governance. Based on extensive original research, the book shows that while components of western models of corporate governance have been widely adopted, the motivation for these changes seems to have been legitimacy-seeking by Chinese banks, and that whilst there has been relatively rapid change in the formal legislative environment, informal organisational practices are changing at a much slower pace. Alliances between Chinese and western banks are woven with contradictions and power games and so many actors in the Chinese banking sector seek to resist manipulation by their western counterparts. The financial crisis weakened the idea that western banks are a universally correct model and strengthened China's resolve to keep control of its banking sector and manage it along Chinese lines.

This definitive description and analysis of the Japanese main bank system describes a form of relationship banking of significant theoretical and policy interest. As well as being important in its own right, the system also has relevance for developing market economies and transforming socialist economies; the extent of this relevance is another aspect of this thorough empirical and theoretical analysis based on both Japanese and non-Japanese expertise. The basic characteristics of the main bank system are examined here - its roots, development, and role in the heyday of Japan's post-war rapid growth - and its performance, strengths, and weaknesses are observed. The volume goes on to examine how the system has changed and what its appropriate role is as deregulation, liberalization, and internationalization of Japan's financial markets have proceeded over the past two decades and a new issue securities market has blossomed. One conclusion that emerges is that banking-based systems are in most cases the most appropriate for industrial financing until a rather late stage of a country's economic and financial development. The volume aims to identify the conditions under which banks are better able than securities market institutions to evaluate the creditworthiness of borrowers and the viability of new projects, to monitor the ongoing performance of firms, and to rescue or liquidate firms in distress. This is the result of a major Economic Development Institute of the World Bank research project, in cooperation with the Center for Economic Policy at Stanford University and the Center on Japanese Economy and Business at Columbia University, that brought together some of the best scholars inthe field, and will be of interest to Japan specialists and those with a general interest in systems of finance.

A presentation of the problems and opportunities inherent in contemporary banking. It is devoted to the understanding and use of the capital markets in the broadest sense - to enhance the overall strength of banks and finance companies. The authors provide comprehensive treatment of such topics as: money markets; foreign exchange markets; bills, CDs, and commercial paper; Eurobond markets; and markets in derivative instruments.

Simple, concise, and up-to-date, the "International Dictionary of Banking and Finance" lists thousands of key words, terms, acronyms, and proper names that bankers, financial managers, students, and business teachers use every day. Arranged in alphabetical order, the terms are precisely defined--so that readers may comprehend the meanings in terms of daily business activities or study. Designed with the student as well as the executive in mind, the "Dictionary" includes terms and concepts from around the world, and it cross-references related terms to provide insight and clarification. Subjects covered include: investments; finance; commercial and mortgage banking; exporting; business structure; and a host of other broad business categories.

Financial organizations, like many others, are undergoing radical change. This is affecting both their organizational processes and the technology that supports those processes. This book reports on the use of sociological ethnography in helping guide these changes, in terms of helping better understanding and redrawing work processes, and through providing more accurate and flexible understanding of the role technology plays. It places the reported research in context by contrasting it with those approaches more commonly associated with change, including business process engineering, participative design and soft systems methodologies. It also explains the benefits of ethnography, as well as the potential it has in helping achieve more desirable change in any and all organizations, financial services included. The book should be of interest to all international researchers concerned with organizational and technological change, as well as managers of organizational development. It should also interest advanced students in sociology, anthropology, management science and organizational studies. The authors have published widely in the various disciplines associated with organization

The twentieth century has seen the rise of modern central banking. At its close, it is also witnessing the first steps in the decline of the role of some of the most famous of these institutions. In this volume, some of the world's best known specialists examine the process whereby central banks emerged and asserted themselves within the economic and political spheres of their respective countries. Although the theory and the political economy that presided over their creation did not show great divergence across borders, a considerable institutional variety was nevertheless the result. Among the many factors responsible for this diversity, attention is drawn here not only to the idiosyncrasies of domestic financial systems and to the occurrence of political shocks with major monetary repercussions, such as wars, but also to the peculiarities of each economy and of the political and social climate reigning at the time when central banks were created or formalized. The twelve essays cover European, Asian and American experiences and many of them use a comparative approach.

The globalization of the world economy today means that more and more people are experiencing working in another culture. Focusing on the real experiences of workers in Japanese transnational finance companies, this book not only throws light on this specific case, but at the same time raises timely questions and insights into the newly-emerging multicultural work experiences worldwide. The book reflects on contemporary discussions in sociology, anthropology and cultural studies of individual global movement and cultural interaction. Whilst there are some studies on Japanese multinational companies in Europe, they have typically assumed stereotyped differences in management systems and work cultures. This book, however, aims to break the mould by looking at the culture and individuals' subjective views about their working lives and also their own world views; this perspective illuminates the difficulties in working relationships between Japanese and Europeans. Junko Sakai reveals, through 100 transcribed interviews, transnational working experience in the context of individuals global movements between East and West, and explores how the ideals and interactions of ethnicity and cul

Experts from NYU Stern School of Business analyze new financial regulations and what they mean for the economy

The NYU Stern School of Business is one of the top business schools in the world thanks to the leading academics, researchers, and provocative thinkers who call it home. In "Regulating Wall Street: The New Architecture of Global Finance," an impressive group of the Stern school's top authorities on finance combine their expertise in capital markets, risk management, banking, and derivatives to assess the strengths and weaknesses of new regulations in response to the recent global financial crisis.Summarizes key issues that regulatory reform should addressEvaluates the key components of regulatory reformProvides analysis of how the reforms will affect financial firms and markets, as well as the real economy

The U.S. Congress is on track to complete the most significant changes in financial regulation since the 1930s. "Regulating Wall Street: The New Architecture of Global Finance" discusses the impact these news laws will have on the U.S. and global financial architecture.

This volume examines the future of European financial centres in the context of economic and monetary union (EMU). Based on original empirical research, it investigates the relative competitiveness of European financial centres, with special reference to London and Frankfurt, in the context of the single currency debate. Issues covered include:
* the evolution of financial centres
* optimal design of an international financial centre
* financial services regulation and EMU
* the competitiveness of world financial centres

In this significant new book, Bruna Ingrao and Claudio Sardoni emphasize the crucial importance of considering credit/debt relations and financial markets for a comprehensive understanding of the world in which we live. The book offers both a thorough historical and theoretical reconstruction of how 20th century macroeconomics got (or did not get) to grips with the interactions between banks and financial markets, and the 'real' economy. The book is split into two distinct and thematic parts to expose the different attitudes to banks and finance before and after the Great Depression of the 1930s. Part I explores the period from the turn of the 20th century to the late 1930s, when many important economists devoted great attention to banks and credit relations in their explanations of the working of market economies. Part II discusses the post-war period up until the modern day, when banks and financial markets ceased to be a major concern of mainstream macroeconomics. The 2007-8 crisis gave rise to a renewed interest in credit relations, but many problems inherited from the past still remain open. The authors stress, in particular, the implications of the uneasy, if not impossible, coexistence of the endeavour to set macroeconomics within the framework of general equilibrium theory with the attempt to develop the analysis of the monetary and financial features of actual economies. Macroeconomists will greatly benefit from this timely book as it examines the historical evolution of the discipline, pointing out the major factors that have largely prevented the development of satisfactory analyses of the interrelations of credit, finance and the macroeconomy. Those involved in current economic policy debates will also benefit from the lessons offered in this book.

Beginning this year, federal payment recipients will receive their government benefits through electronic funds transfer (EFT)-- what most of us call direct deposit. Although cost-cutting is the driving force behind the move to a virtually all-electronic federal payment system, Michael Stegman believes the initiative has a far broader potential: to bring poor Americans into the banking mainstream. In this book Stegman outlines how many families will enter the mainstream banking system through EFT '99, as the program is called. He explains in careful detail the thinking behind the shift to EFT and the implementation of the program this year. He also argues that, for maximum success, EFT '99 should be combined with a program of national Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), dedicated savings accounts for low-income people that can be used for purchasing a first home, acquiring more education or job training, or starting a small-business. Essentially, EFT '99 will bring people into the banking system, and IDAs will give them an incentive to use the system to its fullest in order to make their money work for them and their children. There are other steps that the government can take to boost EFT's ability to help public aid recipients achieve self-sufficiency. It can: add a direct deposit option to state benefits payments programs; give banks significant additional Community Reinvestment Act Credit for establishing accounts for EFT recipients; and regulate fees for cashing government benefits and voluntary accounts so that people are not charged excessively for accessing their money. This book demonstrates that -- with careful planning and a relatively small investment -- the government's EFT initiative can have a major payoff in real assets and improved prospects for those who have been, for far too long, on the fringes of the country's mainstream banking system. Brookings Metro Series

With the release of hundreds of damaging documents, a dark side of Switzerland's democracy has been unveiled. Switzerland is now seen as a nation of greedy bankers, collaborators with the Nazis, and robbers of the wealth of the victims of the Holocaust. "Swiss Banks and Jewish Souls" is a powerfully enlightening account of how a small and determined group of people from divergent backgrounds humbled the legendary Swiss financial empire to achieve a measure of justice for Holocaust survivors and their heirs, while shattering the myth of Swiss wartime neutrality. Rickman tells how a small group of people, none of them professional historians, pieced together a puzzle of unknown proportions and proceeded to dismantle the myth of Swiss innocence and victimization at the hands of the Nazis, and expose a fifty-year cover-up. Untold numbers of European Jews and others placed their funds in Swiss banks because they believed they offered a safe haven for funds which the Nazis were trying to control. What better place to put their money than in Switzerland? "Swiss Banks and Jewish Souls" discusses how investigative groups proved that Switzerland stole the money of the Jews and helped the Nazis to do the same. No one began with evidence and no one had a source of knowledge upon which to fall back. All they shared was a feeling that something was terribly wrong and that a great injustice had occurred. Propelled by this instinct, a U.S. Senator, the World Jewish Congress, a British Parliamentarian, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and a handful of Holocaust survivors accomplished what the U.S., British, and French governments and a group of feuding Jewish organizations could not or would not do. As a result of this effort, how the world views Switzerland and how Switzerland views itself has been redefined. Most importantly, those who survived the Nazi horrors, only to be victimized again by the Swiss bankers, have now achieved some measure of justice, or at least financial compensation after more than fifty years.

Does Financial Deregulation Work? studies the process of financial deregulation in the United States. It exposes the basic flaws in the deregulationist approach and advances a new framework for effective financial regulation. Bruce Coggins provides a detailed and comprehensive critique of the reasoning behind deregulation, including marginal analysis and Friedman's monetarism. He challenges this thinking and proposes an alternative set of assumptions drawn from the historical and institutional approach to industrial organization and post Keynesian monetary theory. The author concludes that stability in financial systems is dependent upon a regulatory regime which focuses on limiting competition and encouraging productive over speculative investment. This book will prove invaluable to financial economists and analysts interested in the controversy over bank deregulation. It will also be of interest to those using post Keynesian, institutionalist and industrial organization approaches to economic analysis as well as to students and professors of law and regulation and those interested in problems of financial instability.

Does the Anglo-American approach to the relationship between banks and firms have a significant weakness compared to the German and Japanese approach? This book addresses issues on corporate finance using historical evidence. In particular it looks at the role of universal banks in relaxing the credit constraints of firms, supervising managers and stabilizing share prices. The key issue is whether the Anglo-American asset based financing is more effective than the main-bank approach used in Germany and Japan. Earlier studies have found that firms with a close relationship with a major bank have high market value compared to book value, although it is difficult to determine whether this is cause or effect. The case of the "Credit Mobilier" - the first universal bank - is interesting because the bank failed. If it was the links with the bank that caused high and stable share prices or relaxed customer constraints, the bank's bankruptcy should have precipitated the loss of these benefits. In fact the bankruptcy had almost no effect on the share prices or the investment behaviour of the relevant firms, casting doubts on the benefits of powerful banks.

The compelling promise of progressing profits, purpose and the planet is what drives sustainable investing. Yet the field is also packed with challenges and pitfalls for the finance industry. Sustainable Investing in Practice provides a pragmatic steer for how finance professionals can navigate the realities of ESG investing so they can achieve the impact they desire. It addresses the obvious problems - a lack of common standards, opaque vocabulary, irrelevant data - that investors face. And it explains the skewed incentives and compromises that have held sustainable investing back. Yet it does not dwell on obstacles and defeat. Instead, it shows readers how to develop sustainable strategies and improve outcomes, covering critical topics such as ESG ratings, data and disclosure policies and multi-asset portfolios, while also documenting successful practices and pointing out how to modify inadequate ones. Packed full of insightful examples, analysis and interviews from expert commentators such as Paul Polman KBE, Richard Curtis OBE, and Gillian Tett, the book provides useful ideas and plans for how to take sustainable finance forward while balancing credibility and commerciality in equal measure. Written by two pioneering leaders within sustainable investing, this is a must-read for every finance professional, investor and regulator-whether they are seeking to fast track their careers, bring commercial and sustainable learning to their organization, or upgrade their understanding of this crucial but complex topic. It will also be of interest to students taking modules on sustainable finance.

Jacques Le Goff sets out in this book to explain the role of money, or rather of the various types of money, in the economy, life and mentalities of the Middle Ages. He seeks also to explain how, in a society dominated by religion, the Church viewed money, and how it taught Christians what attitudes they should adopt towards it and towards the uses to which it could be put. He shows that, although money played an important role in the rise of towns and trade and in state formation, there was no capitalism but only a pre-capitalism in the Middle Ages, even by their end, in the absence of a truly global market. This is why economic development remained slow and limited, in spite of some remarkable success stories. It was a period in which it was as important to give money as it was to earn it. True wealth was not yet the wealth of this world, even though money played an increasingly large role in reality and in mentalities. No similar discussion of this subject, aimed at a wide readership, has previously been published. Written by one of the greatest medievalists, this book will be recognized as a standard work on the topic.

This far-reaching study shows that operating efficiencies are not what are driving today's unrelenting bank merger mania. It suggests that bank mergers and consolidation may have effects that are contrary to consumer and non-financial business interests, such as lower rates of interest, increasing fees, and tighter credit constraints. Dymski recommends several new policies to apply to the evaluation of prospective mergers.

This far-reaching study shows that operating efficiencies are not what are driving today's unrelenting bank merger mania. It suggests that bank mergers and consolidation may have effects that are contrary to consumer and non-financial business interests, such as lower rates of interest, increasing fees, and tighter credit constraints. Dymski recommends several new policies to apply to the evaluation of prospective mergers.

Series Information:
Routledge International Studies in Money and Banking

In response to the credit crunch during the global financial crisis of 2007-2008, many have called for the re-establishment of regional banks in the UK and elsewhere. In this context, Germany's regional banking system, with its more than 1,400 small and regional savings banks and cooperative banks, is viewed as a role model in the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, in line with the 'death of distance' debate, the universal application of ICT-based scoring and rating systems potentially obviates the necessity for proximity to reduce information asymmetries between banks and SMEs, calling into question the key advantage of regional banks. Utilising novel ethnographic findings from full-time participant observation and interviews, this book presents intimate insights into regional savings banks and compares their SME lending practices with large, nationwide-operating commercial banks in Germany. The ethnographic insights are contextualised by concise description of the three-pillar German banking system, covering bank regulation, structural and geographical developments, and enterprise finance. Furthermore, the book advances an original theoretical approach that combines classical banking theories with insights from social studies of finance on the (ontological) foundation of new realism. Ethnographic findings reveal varying distances of credit granting depending on the rating results, i.e. large banks allocate considerable credit-granting authority to local staff and therefore challenge the proximity advantages of regional banks. Nevertheless, by presenting case studies of lending to SMEs, the book demonstrates the ability of regional banks to capitalise on proximity when screening and monitoring financially distressed SMEs and explains why the suggestion that ICT can substitute for proximity in SME lending has to be rejected.

First published in 1999, Kostis in this book traces the influences Western modern banking systems in Balkan states and the economic development of these countries. The contributors of this book consider a wide arrange of approaches in relation to issues of western-European influence in Balkan countries with the aim to create a further discourse in this subject.

Following up on his 1995 study of the initial transition period in formerly communist economies, Adam Zwass carries the analysis into the second phase of reform. He devotes focused attention to the pivotal role of privatization strategies, contrasting the outcomes of the voucher plans with outright sale of state assets (including to foreign investors). Taking advantage of his incomparable experience as a financial expert first in the CMEA and later with the Austrian National Bank, Zwass considers the record of newly emerging banking and financial systems and the challenges of entry into the regional and global financial and trading systems.