This book focuses on the latest developments in the Asia-Pacific community in terms of how deregulation and privatization are bringing more risk to energy companies. In the light of these market changes, interest in energy risk management has grown substantially and is becoming a fiduciary responsibility of energy companies. As energy trading, power exchanges and hedging techniques establish themselves in the oil, power and gas sectors, so then do newer derivatives markets emerge in LNG hedging, weather derivatives and freight hedging. Fusaro and James, as seasoned market practitioners in the region, focus on these market changes and examine the future of Asian energy hedging.

Based on data from Japan, the book examines the combined effect of product, geographic, and network diversity on multinational enterprise performance. A new measure for geographic scope is developed, one that considers the related elements of international asset dispersion and country environment diversity. The book also introduces a new concept of network diversity, and examines how it is strategically linked to performance. Perhaps most importantly, the book is able to empirically and theoretically demonstrate that a larger, more diverse network of alliances is not necessarily a good idea. These are important findings, with far reaching implications for practice and theory.

This book will give the reader insight into how to model yield curves in our incomplete and imperfect financial markets. An extensive list of yield curve models are shown and discussed. Using actual market instruments, these models are then applied and the different yield curves are compared. It is assumed that the reader has a basic understanding of the financial instruments available in the market. Various issues that have to be taken into account in practice are discussed, like daycount conventions, business-day rules, the credit quality of the instrument and liquidity to name but a few. It is also shown how yield curves can be used to estimate credit spreads and country risk premiums. Creating a yield curve model has some implications in risk management. Specifically - the model, operational, liquidity and basis risks are discussed.

Banks' business is increasingly international and an elite group of global banks is emerging. This book outlines the influences on the evolution of international banking and analyses trade and investment in the international banking industry, covering cross-border trade in banking services, foreign direct investment by banks, international financial centres, capital movements, and competition between banks. Focusing on competitive advantage, it compares the leading banks' international business. This book is of interest to academics and students as well as to bankers. It provides a transversal and truly comprehensive overview of the international banking industry, focusing on the organization of the industry and the influences on it, rather than on the functions of banks themselves.

Much critical attention has been given in recent years to market and credit risks, which have a significant effect on corporate and financial operations and must be understood and managed with care. While these areas have rightly received considerable scrutiny, another critical dimension of financial risk - based on corporate liquidity - has been largely overlooked. Liquidity risk is the risk of loss arising from an inability to quickly realise asset value or obtain funding and can be damaging if not properly considered or actively managed. Lack of liquidity can lead to large losses in asset/liability portfolios and off balance sheet activities and in extreme cases can trigger financial distress and insolvency. Liquidity Risk is a comprehensive treatment of the topic focusing on the nature of the risk, problems that arise in asset and funding liquidity and mechanisms that can be developed to monitor, measure and control such risks.

Despite the huge expansion in consumer credit in the last 25 years there are very few texts describing the operation of consumer credit markets. Consumer Credit Fundamentals is the first book to provide a broad cross-disciplinary introduction to the subject. It covers the history of credit, the types of consumer credit available, how credit is granted and managed, the legal framework within which commercial lenders must operate, as well as consumer and ethical issues. A complete, well-rounded and practical introduction to consumer credit.

Financial Lexicon is intended as a comprehensive financial reference book that explains the formal and informal terminology of finance. Structured as a dictionary, the book will contain clear and detailed explanations of common banking, finance and investment terms. Unlike other textbooks, which focus solely on standard definitions, Financial Lexicon will include formal corporate business terms alongside the jargon that has entered business life. Terms defined in TFL will be drawn from all of the major sectors in the international capital markets and the financial industry.

This book provides state-of-the art analysis of banking and financial systems in the Arab world. The early chapters of the text present an overview of Arab economies linking banking and financial sector trends in the Arab world over the last twenty years. The rest of the text examines in detail the financial systems of the major Arab countries, focusing on banking sector and capital market developments. This text will be the first to provide a rigorous analytical evaluation of banking sector developments in the Arab world.

The New Global Regulatory Landscape provides a benchmark tool for financial intermediaries and Institutional Investors. Covering 24 international regulations across the UK, Europe, Asia/Pacific and the USA, the authors provide practical compliance tips for financial intermediaries and guidance on best practice for investors. The book highlights eight areas of critical overlap where regulatory requirements conflict and give rise to potential risk and liability. The authors use the historical perspective of some regulations to paint a picture of the future convergence of international regulation on data protection, corporate governance and tax.

This text explains how Islamic banking works and what it offers as an alternative model of financial intermediation. Important questions addressed include: Why Islamic banking started and where it is going? Who are the main players at present and whom it will attract in future? What are its strengths and weaknesses? Will Islamic banks survive in highly competitive and globalized financial markets? What are their prospects and potentials? How does the relative performance and efficiency of Islamic banks compare to conventional banks?

This book is a revised and updated guide to some of the most important issues in the capital markets today, with an emphasis on fixed-income instruments such as index-linked bonds, asset backed securities, mortgage backed securities and related products such as credit derivatives. However, fundamental concepts in equity market analysis, foreign exchange and money markets are also covered to provide a comprehensive overview. The focus is on analysis and valuation techniques, presented for the purposes of practical application. The book includes an accompanying CD-ROM with RATE software, designed to introduce readers to yield curve modelling. It also includes calculators for vanilla interest rate swaps and caps.

Climate Trading provides a comprehensive overview of the emerging greenhouse gas emissions trading markets. The book covers events in the UN climate negotiations and the development of the international emissions trading system under the Kyoto Protocol. The key focus of the book is the emerging domestic and international emissions trading schemes, project based trading programmes, and the developing greenhouse gas markets. As governments implement regulations to meet domestic and international greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, it is crucial for capital market practitioners and industry to understand risks and opportunities posed by these regulations. The book offers the reader insight into the climate change problem, the concept of emissions trading, design of emerging trading schemes and the practical functioning of the greenhouse gas markets.

This text is concerned with the increasingly important and problematic area of financial exclusion, broadly defined as the inability and/or reluctance of particular societal groups to access mainstream financial services. This has emerged as a major international policy issue. There is growing evidence that deregulation in developed financial sectors improves financial inclusion for some societal groups (more products become available to a bigger customer base), but may at the same time exacerbate it for others (for example, by emphasizing greater customer segmentation and more emphasis on risk-based pricing and 'value added'). In developing countries access to financial services is typically limited and therefore providing wider access to such services can aid financial and economic development. This is the first text to analyze financial exclusion issues in different parts of the world and it covers the various public and private sector mechanisms that have been advanced to help eradicate this problem.

In the management of business activity by companies operating in more than one country, the complex array of issues and practices that characterize their movements of assets between constituent company units centres around what has become known as international transfer payments. This book, based on extensive research, explains the nature of the subject, presents the latest data on the practice of transfer payments in three Asia Pacific countries; the regulations, attitudes and conditions which form the context in which they take place; and the events which are most likely to precipitate the intervention of the authorities and lead to investigation and audit.

The purpose of this book is to introduce the field of bioinformatics to financial modelling. It focuses on the way information informs price, and constructs a framework to explain information generation and the agglomeration process, enabling the reader to make more effective financial decisions. Based on all aspects of applied finance, this book uses informational analysis to help the reader understand the similarities between biomathematics and financial mathematics.

This book reports on foreign investments in transitional economies and the corporate governance of international strategic alliances in China. It throws new light on the relationship between ownership, corporate governance, international technology transfer, organizational learning and the performance of such alliances. The book reviews the problems encountered by these international strategic alliances, provides significant empirical evidence of foreign investment decisions and profiles corporate governance and organizational learning in strategic alliances. Based on research into 1000 firms in China, it draws important conclusions for theory and practice.

This book reports on foreign investments in transitional economies and the corporate governance of international strategic alliances in China. It throws new light on the relationship between ownership, corporate governance, international technology transfer, organizational learning and the performance of such alliances. The book reviews the problems encountered by these international strategic alliances, provides significant empirical evidence of foreign investment decisions and profiles corporate governance and organizational learning in strategic alliances. Based on research into 1000 firms in China, it draws important conclusions for theory and practice.

Corporate accountability must be examined within the perspective of a company's business challenges. There is a synergy between shareholder value and the responsibilities of management. This book is based on an extensive research project done by the author in the 2001 to 2003 timeframe in the United States, England, Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland. It includes a great deal of case studies in corporate accountability and governance, particularly among financial institutions. Significant attention is also paid to good governance of pension funds. MARKET 1: Academics, Researcher, and post-graduate students in Universities and Business Schools, particularly on finance programmes; Professionals in Finance interested in corporate accountability and governance MARKET 2: Supplementary reading on finance programmes in Universities and Business and Management Schools

As globalization is redefining the field of corporate finance, international finance is now part and parcel of the basic literacy of any financial executive. This is why International Corporate Finance is a "must" text for upper-undergraduates, MBAs aspiring to careers in global financial services and budding finance professionals. International Corporate Finance offers thorough coverage of the international monetary system, international financing, foreign exchange risk management and cross-border valuation. Additionally, the book offers keen insight on how disintermediation, deregulation and securitization are re-shaping global capital markets. What is different about International Corporate Finance? Each chapter opens with a real-life mini-case to anchor theoretical concepts to managerial situations. Provides simple decision rules and "how to do" answers to key managerial issues. Cross-border Mergers & Acquisitions, Project Finance, Islamic Finance, Asian Banking & Finance are completely new chapters that no other textbooks currently cover. Accompanied with a comprehensive instructor support package which includes case studies, an Instructor's Manual, PowerPoint slides, Multiple Choice Questions and more.

Growth in the derivatives market has brought with it a greater volume and range of interest rate dependent products. These products have become increasingly innovative and complex to price, requiring sophisticated market models that capture the full dynamics of the yield curve. A study of the evolution of interest rate modelling theory places these models in the correct mathematical context, allowing appreciation of their key assumptions, concepts and implications. The book guides the practitioner through the derivation and implementation of a variety of models that account for the characteristics and irregularities of observed term structures.

Gorrod examines the many challenges for the next generation risk management system. Dramatic changes in market conditions, budgetary constraints, the evolving nature of risk within the financial organization, as well as the requirements of increasing regulation in the global market place have resulted in a totally different environment for risk systems. These applications must be functionally richer, have greater performance, provide seamless and improved integration, as well as being quick to deploy and cheaper to deliver and support. Recent advances in technology have provided a number of tools to help the risk technologist. This book summarizes these new trends and also arms the reader with the knowledge, tools and approaches required to survive in this new environment. Covering the requirements of the trader and risk manager, to how to decide whether and how to out-source or develop in-house, this book acts as the handbook for risk technologists to survive these challenges.

The book is an analysis of corporate treasury and cash management with the principal financial instruments used by the corporate treasurer. The objectives of the book are to describe how corporate treasury departments should establish a framework for the identity, measurement and management of risk and to describe how corporates should manage and control the operation of their treasury function. Robert Cooper brings his extensive experience as Corporate Treasurer of a large multinational to bear in this comprehensive work.

This book has been written as a practical guide for finance markets professionals to explain US monetary policy and to make forecasts of future interest rate levels. Aimed at market players, familiar with US policy instruments, Explaining and Forecasting the US Federal Funds Rates will provide a means of making independent interest rate forecasts as well as explaining current rate levels.

Corporate accountability must be examined within the perspective of a company's business challenges. There is a synergy between shareholder value and the responsibilities of management. This book is based on an extensive research project done by the author in the 2001 to 2003 timeframe in the United States, England, Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland. It includes a great deal of case studies in corporate accountability and governance, particularly among financial institutions. Significant attention is also paid to good governance of pension funds.

This book arises from an event on the future of banking which included leading figures in the industry. It addresses current trends influencing competition including globalization, market structure, technology and demographics and how these will impact upon companies and their organization, business opportunities, revenue streams, branding and customer behaviour. It will also show banks how to develop strategic initiatives for future competition. This will represent essential thinking for the banking and financial services industry.