Building societies occupy an important position in the U.K. financial services sector and potentially in the Continental European market, too. This book provides an in-depth examination of their structure and performance within a deregulated and increasingly competitive business environment. The authors analyse how the societies have adapted to a period of unprecedented change, and consider the future options facing the societies as they develop in the 1990s. By analysing the sector in terms of national, regional and local societies, the authors are able to provide greater insights into the dynamics of the sector. Based on the themes of structure, performance and change consideration is given to key aspects of the strategic and operational features of U.K. building societies, for example, marketing, product diversification, information technology, legal reform, relocation and organisational change. The text also provides a perspective on future involvement of building societies in the Single European Market.

As well as reviewing traditional models, this book proposes an alternative model for estimating the cost of risk capital. This model, known as CaRM (Capital at Risk Model), bases the cost estimate of risk capital on VaR (Value at Risk) for the very first time. This book is an ideal resource for developing valuation research in SMEs.

Moving Beyond Modern Portfolio Theory: Investing That Matters tells the story of how Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) revolutionized the investing world and the real economy, but is now showing its age. MPT has no mechanism to understand its impacts on the environmental, social and financial systems, nor any tools for investors to mitigate the havoc that systemic risks can wreck on their portfolios. It's time for MPT to evolve. The authors propose a new imperative to improve finance's ability to fulfil its twin main purposes: providing adequate returns to individuals and directing capital to where it is needed in the economy. They show how some of the largest investors in the world focus not on picking stocks, but on mitigating systemic risks, such as climate change and a lack of gender diversity, so as to improve the risk/return of the market as a whole, despite current theory saying that should be impossible. "Moving beyond MPT" recognizes the complex relations between investing and the systems on which capital markets rely, "Investing that matters" embraces MPT's focus on diversification and risk adjusted return, but understands them in the context of the real economy and the total return needs of investors. Whether an investor, an MBA student, a Finance Professor or a sustainability professional, Moving Beyond Modern Portfolio Theory: Investing That Matters is thought-provoking and relevant. Its bold critique shows how the real world already is moving beyond investing orthodoxy.

Businesses take on many forms ranging from sole proprietorships, partnerships, and close corporations to companies. The ability of these forms of business ownership to obtain and service credit depends not only on their financial circumstances, but also the knowledge and ability of the credit provider to assess the business' creditworthiness. For a business to be successful it must make a profit. The profit on a sale is not earned unless the money for the sale is in the bank on due date. It is also true that the longer it takes to collect the money from a debtor, the more difficult it becomes. Applied credit management teaches the learner all aspects of the credit management function of an organisation, from the evaluation of the new application, the investigation of the creditworthiness of the customer, the final approval or rejection to the collection and ultimate litigation of an account. All aspects of the National Credit Act (Act 34 of 2006) have been incorporated in the principles of this book.

This book delves into the essential concepts and technologies of acquiring systems. It fills the gap left by manuals and standards and provides practical knowledge and insight that allow engineers to navigate systems as well as the massive tomes containing standards and manuals. Dedicated to card acquiring exclusively, the book covers: Payment cards and protocols EMV contact chip and contactless transactions Disputes, arbitration, and compliance Data security standards in the payment card industry Validation algorithms Code tables Basic cryptography Pin block formats and algorithms When necessary the book discusses issuer-side features or standards insomuch as they are required for the sake of completeness. For example, protocols such as EMV 3-D Secure are not covered to the last exhaustive detail. Instead, this book provides an overview, justification, and logic behind each message of the protocol and leaves the task of listing all fields and their formats to the standard document itself. The chapter on EMV contact transactions is comprehensive to fully explain this complex topic in order to provide a basis for understanding EMV contactless transaction. A guide to behind-the-scenes business processes, relevant industry standards, best practices, and cryptographic algorithms, Acquiring Card Payments covers the essentials so readers can master the standards and latest developments of card payment systems and technology

This book explores the role of the rating system in creditworthiness assessment, looking into its current status, strengths and weaknesses and possible evolution in the light of Basel 3 and the Global Economic Crisis.

This title deals with the three important branches of the law relating to security. Within a small compass it analyses in critical detail the governing rules. In particular, it is a practical guide to current practice.

The completion of the European Single Market Programme (SMP) and the launch of "Euroland" are bold statements on the EU and its future. Within this economic process, the particular importance of the banking and financial services sectors is widely emphasized. This collection explores the strategic impact of the Single Market Programme and European Monetary Union on European banks and banking systems. The contributors examine 11 banking systems: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the UK. Thoroughly up-to-date and with a common thematic overview of major trends in European banking systems, this book covers key strategic developments, structural changes, performance trends, and strategies.

This book explores the forms of credit which have historically been associated with the British working class. Taylor seeks to assess the effect of credit on working class communities, and relates this to the debate about community. This work is the first comprehensive examination of the history of these forms of credit to make comparisons between the periods before and after 1945. Based on extensive archival research and oral history interviews, this book combines lively individual accounts with theoretical arguments.

The formation and management of capital are among the central issues in economic growth, especially in 'under-developed' countries, and form the main theme in this volume. The societies examined vary widely, both geographically and also in terms of types of social and economic structures. First published in 1964.

Providing the poor with access to financial services is one of many ways to help increase their incomes and productivity. In many countries, however, traditional financial institutions have failed to provide this service. Microcredit and co-operative programmes have been developed to fill this gap. Their purpose is to help the poor become self-employed and thus escape poverty. Many of these programmes provide credit using social mechanisms, such as group-based lending, to reach the poor and other clients, including women, who lack access to formal financial institutions. With increasing assistance from the World Bank and other donors, microfinance is emerging as an instrument for reducing poverty and improving the poor's access to financial services in low-income countries. This book examines the experiences of the Grameen Bank and two other major microcredit programs in Bangladesh in order to quantify the potential and limitations of microcredit programmes as an instrument for reducing poverty and delivering financial sevices to the poor.

In recent years, the European Commission has attached increasing importance to the use of financial engineering instruments rather than traditional grant-based financing for the microcredit sector, considering these to be the most efficient option available. This book presents a study of capacity building and structural funds in public managing authorities for the microcredit sector. It presents two surveys to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the managing authorities' capacity building. The first survey investigates the authorities' need for and interests in capacity building activities, assessing the areas in which capacity building support is needed, and explores the different types of support offered. The second survey analyses the results of the microcredit and microfinance programming activity, investigating its target groups and other operational features. It examines the key monitoring and reporting issues involved in this activity, before analysing the regulatory framework of the microcredit and microfinance sector. This book presents an in-depth analysis of structural funds and their management by policy-makers in the European convergence regions. It explores the interests of managing authorities, microcredit institutions, operators and other financial intermediaries involved in microcredit programming activities, and offers some core strategic and operational recommendations for the use of structural funds in the microcredit sector.

This text explores the vexing problem of housing exclusion and the related financial fallout, which has come into sharp relief since the onset of the housing-led global credit crisis. The book looks at the dimensions of affordable housing finance, compares current policy approaches in the US, UK and Australia, and works towards solutions.

Sovereign Debt and Credit Rating Bias rejects the notion that credit rating agencies' rigorous and transparent determination of ratings leaves no room for bias, and debunks the myth that the value CRAs place on their reputational capital precludes prolonged biases. To determine the extent of CRAs' biased actions, Tennant and Tracey apply a rigorous methodology to a well-established economic model of the determinants of sovereign debt quality. They present strong evidence of bias against poor countries and demonstrate how biased rating changes could disadvantage such countries and the companies operating therein as they seek access to international capital markets. They discuss plausible explanations for the bias and suggest remedial measures that would help ensure balance in credit rating changes. This book fills an important gap by rigorously examining a long-standing but often ignored concern about the rating practices of credit rating agencies.

Cryptocurrencies have had a profound effect on financial markets worldwide. This edited book aims to explore the economic implications of the use of cryptocurrencies. Drawing from chapter contributors from around the world, the book will be a valuable resource on the economics of cryptocurrencies. The intended audience is composed of academics, corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, government leaders, consultants and policy makers worldwide. Over the past few years, the topic of cryptocurrencies has gained global attention and has been the subject of discussion in various news media, in policy-making bodies and government entities, and in financial institutions, classrooms and boardrooms. Despite widespread interest, much remains unknown on what the economic implications of cryptocurrencies are. This book enhances the reader's understanding of cryptocurrencies, its impact on industry and its implications on the political and economic environment. Drawing from chapter contributions from leading academics and thought leaders from around the world, this book is the definitive guide on the economics of cryptocurrencies. There is scarcity of well conceived, academically grounded literature on the impact of cryptocurrencies on industry, politics and economics. This pioneering book provides up-to-date and in-depth analysis on the subject. The book will be appealing to academic communities, business professionals and entrepreneurs in their quest for better understanding the challenges and opportunities brought about by cryptocurrencies. Consultants, government officials and policy makers will find the information helpful in defining strategic pathways into the future.

Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world. Taking into account also its endowment and potential economic resources, the Islamic banking industry in Indonesia was expected to take on an important role in facilitating more financial resources and to contribute to the internationalization of the Islamic mode of financing particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. However, the reality is far from the expectation. This book aims to clarify the causes and fundamental constraints leading to the extraordinarily low level of Indonesia's Islamic financial deepening. The authors draw on the traditions of Institutional Economics which are concerned with the rules or mechanisms of creating the 'incentive' and 'threat' for economic players because the rules (institutions) would matter as the determinant for economic development and economic efficiency. This book offers a fairly new analytical lens by hypothesizing that Islamic banks must earn additional profit- the authors coined as 'Islamic bank rent' - to maintain their franchise value as prudent Shari'ah-compliant lenders when compared to conventional banks. The authors argued that insufficient provision of the Islamic bank rent opportunity may have caused the Indonesia's Islamic banks the opportunity to learn and improve their skill and capacity for the credit risk management. The book also offers evidence in support of implementing economic and affirmative policy necessary for incubating and developing the Islamic banking industry in Indonesia and making Indonesia an international Islamic financial hub in the Asia-Pacific region. This book will be a useful resource for policy makers and researchers interested in Islamic banking in Indonesia.

In the seventeenth century, England saw Holland as an economic power to learn from and compete with. English Economic Thought in the Seventeenth Century: Rejecting the Dutch Model analyses English economic discourse during this period, and explores the ways in which England's economy was shaped by the example of its Dutch rival. Drawing on an impressive range of primary and secondary sources, the chapters explore four key areas of controversy in order to illuminate the development of English economic thought at this time. These areas include: the herring industry; the setting of interest rates; banking and funds; and land registration and credit. The links between each of these debates are highlighted, and attention is also given to the broader issues of international trade, social reform and credit. This book is of strong interest to advanced students and researchers of the history of economic thought, economic history and intellectual history.

This book presents an analysis of the role of UK building societies, their strengths and weaknesses, and their contribution to the industry, at a time where public confidence in banking is low. Chapters present the results of an empirical analysis of the comparative performance of UK building societies, since the large-scale demutualisation process ended in the year 2000. The authors highlight the substantial impact of the financial crisis on the sector, with 2008 and 2009 being particularly difficult years. The book discusses banks and building societies in the context of the improving economy and show that both groups have recovered some profitability, although not at the pre-crisis level. The reader will discover that building societies in particular have recovered well from the financial turmoil and they appear less risky than banks on a variety of measures.

The Impact of Public Policy on Consumer Credit presents a collection of research papers and discussions commissioned to commemorate the silver anniversary of Georgetown University's Credit Research Center in 1999. Nine topics serve as focal points for the volume, with the general theme What do we know, what do we need to know?' about the functioning of consumer credit markets at the beginning of the 21st century. Because the growth of household debt and the consequences of household debt burden have dominated discussion in both the media and policy arenas for decades, Credit Growth and the Burden of Debt' is the theme for the first group of three papers. The papers address the cultural evolution of consumer credit in the U.S., the rise in consumer indebtedness and the alarming surge in personal bankruptcies. A second grouping of three papers takes a distinctly policy-oriented tack and examines questions regarding consumer access to credit (mortgage markets and evidence of discrimination), consumer protection through mandatory disclosure of information (Truth-in-Lending regulations), and the general state of financial literacy among the population of young consumers entering credit markets for the first time. The final three papers in this volume examine how technological innovations in risk management (through statistical risk scoring models), marketing (through use of personal information for targeted marketing) and finance (through securitization of consumer loans) have impacted the availability of credit products and sparked new public policy questions.

The Public Sector R&D Enterprise combines a primer on how government R&D programs actually work with a sophisticated methodology for prospectively putting a dollar figure on the value of R&D investments before they are made.

Both studies of political power and Europeanization studies have tended to neglect central banks. As the age of the euro reaches its 10th anniversary, it is timely to reflect on what it means for central banks, which have been at the forefront of the establishment of Economic and Monetary Union in the European Union. Central banks have been caught up in a major historic political project. What does it mean for them? What does the age of the euro tell us about the power of central banks, their Europeanization and whether they are coming to resemble each other more closely?
This book brings together a range of recognized academic specialists to examine the main political aspects of this question. How, and in what ways, has the euro Europeanized central banks (members and non-members of the Euro Area)? What have been its effects on the power of central banks and their use of power? Has the euro generated convergence or divergence in central banking? The book offers the first, in-depth and systematic political analysis of central banks in the first decade of the euro. It places the euro in its global and European contexts, including the US Fed and the Australasian central banks, patterns of differentiated integration in European central banking, and the European Central Bank. It offers a set of case studies of its effects on a representative sample of EU central banks (euro 'insiders' and 'outsiders') and looks at four main thematic areas (monetary policy, financial market supervision, accountability and transparency, and research).
The book contributes to Europeanization studies, comparative political economy, and studies of Economic and Monetary Union. It will be of major interest to students of the European Union and European integration, comparative European politics, and area and 'country' studies. More generally, it will interest all those interested in central banking and their pivotal and problematic position between politics and markets.

In the seventeenth century, England saw Holland as an economic power to learn from and compete with. English Economic Thought in the Seventeenth Century: Rejecting the Dutch Model analyses English economic discourse during this period, and explores the ways in which England's economy was shaped by the example of its Dutch rival. Drawing on an impressive range of primary and secondary sources, the chapters explore four key areas of controversy in order to illuminate the development of English economic thought at this time. These areas include: the herring industry; the setting of interest rates; banking and funds; and land registration and credit. The links between each of these debates are highlighted, and attention is also given to the broader issues of international trade, social reform and credit. This book is of strong interest to advanced students and researchers of the history of economic thought, economic history and intellectual history.

Walter Bagehot noticed once that "John Bull can stand many things, but he cannot stand two per cent." Well, for several years, he has had to stand interest rates well below that, in some countries even below zero. However, despite this sacrifice, the economic recovery from the Great Recession has been disappointingly weak. This book's aim is to answer this question. The central thesis of the book is that the standard understanding of the monetary transmission mechanism is flawed. That understanding adopts erroneous assumptions-such as, that low interest rates always stimulate economic growth by boosting the credit supply, investment, and consumption-and does not fully take into account several unintended channels of monetary policy, such as risk-taking, high level of debt, or zombification of the economy. In other words, the effectiveness of monetary policy is limited during economic downturns accompanied by the debt overhang and the balance sheet recession, and generates negative effects, which can make the policy counterproductive. The author provides a thorough analysis of the issues related to the interest rates in the conduct of monetary policy, such as the risk-taking channel of monetary policy, the portfolio-balance channel and the wealth effect, zombie firms in the economy, the misallocation of resources, as well as the neutral interest rate targeting and the difference between the neutral and natural interest rate and the negative interest rate policy. The book is written in an accessible and engaging manner and will be a valuable resource for scholars of monetary economics as well as readers interested in (unconventional) monetary policy.

European economies have been plagued by successive crises, from the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) to the COVID-19 pandemic, through to the economic and geopolitical instability in Ukraine. These events, the uncertainty they generate combined with dynamic technological progress and significant sociocultural changes, have profoundly modified the character of modern finance. Understanding what happened, what mechanisms worked, and the reaction of the banking sector, bank customers, and policymakers require an in-depth and structured analysis. This book critically assesses the impact of these events, notably the COVID-19 pandemic, on the performance of the banking sector in Europe and serves as a compendium of knowledge on recent changes in European banking from two perspectives: firstly, European banking transformation, analyzing the process of what has already taken place, in particular, the GFC and COVID-19 crises; secondly, the challenges facing the operations and strategic management of European banks. It identifies specific areas of impact on the activity of commercial banks and the determining factors that will shape the economic and financial condition of banks and their customers – borrowers – in the future. Risk management, particularly credit risk, is a key focus of this volume. Each chapter, implicitly or explicitly, address a variety of questions that can help the reader to understand the complex nature of the transformation of the banking sector. The book provides a structured reference for those concerned with the impact of volatility on the business models of modern banks. As such, it will find a broad audience among students, academics, banking, financial, business, and industry professionals, policymakers, and market regulators.

This book examines partnerships between commercial banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs). It demonstrates that when set up properly, these partnerships have the potential to develop and enhance the financial inclusion agenda, and further support sustainable development. MFIs provide access to finance predominantly for those who are poor but economically active, and therefore their expansion is imperative for inclusive economic development. However, MFIs are faced with enormous challenges. The book discusses how partnering with a commercial bank can meet these challenges and the process of interaction contributing to the enhancement of institutional robustness of MFIs. Through two distinct case studies, in Cambodia and Australia, the book discusses the motivations, objectives and operational dynamics of a partnership, as well as the challenges, success factors, and potential benefits, from the increase in outreach and sustainability, to the transference of knowledge and potential for capacity building. Similarly, the partnering banks benefit in line with the intended objectives-commercial or social besides help embedding social consciousness and improving staff engagement. Concluding with elucidating the characteristics of a partnership model that can succeed across different global contexts, the book will interest a range of researchers and students across development economics, banking, finance, and sustainable development.