Financial services firms play a key role in the European economy. The efficiency and profitability of these firms and the competition among them have an impact on allocation of savings, financing of investment, economic growth, the stability of the financial system and the transmission of monetary policy.

This collection of research contributions includes evaluations of trends in the European financial service industry and examinations of the driving forces of efficiency, competition and profitability of financial firms and institutions in Europe. The papers have been written by leading academics and researchers in the field, who specialize in strategic, systematic and policy issues related to the European financial services industry.

This edited collection will be will be essential reading for students and academics but will also be of interest to financial practitioners and government officials interested in acquiring a deeper understanding of this complex issue.

This book contributes to the present state of knowledge, offering the reader broad evidence on how new digital technologies impact financial systems. It focuses on both macro- and micro-perspectives of ICT influence on financial markets. The book demonstrates how ICT can impact trading systems or information systems, which are crucial for financial systems to work effectively. It also shows how individuals can benefit from the adoption of digital technologies for everyday financial (e.g., banking) systems usage. The book provides empirical evidence of how digital technologies revolutionize the banking sector and stock exchange trading system and explores the associations between technology and various aspects of firms' functioning. Furthermore, it raises elements of financial inclusion, ICT-based microfinance service and finance-related gender issues. The principal audience of the book will be scholars and academic professionals from a wide variety of disciplines, particularly in the fields of finance and economics. It will be especially useful for those who are addressing the issues of new technologies and the financial markets, FinTech, financial innovations, stock markets, and the role of technological progress in a broadly defined socio-economic system. It will be a valuable source of knowledge for graduate and postgraduate students in economic and social development, information and technology, worldwide studies, social policy or comparative economics.

The Routledge Companion to Banking Regulation and Reform provides a prestigious cutting edge international reference work offering students, researchers and policy makers a comprehensive guide to the paradigm shift in banking studies since the historic financial crisis in 2007. The transformation in banking over the last two decades has not been authoritatively and critically analysed by the mainstream academic literature. This unique collection brings together a multi-disciplinary group of leading authorities in the field to analyse and investigate post-crisis regulation and reform. Representing the wide spectrum of non-mainstream economics and finance, topics range widely from financial innovation to misconduct in banking, varieties of Eurozone banking to reforming dysfunctional global banking as well as topical issues such as off-shore financial centres, Libor fixing, corporate governance and the Dodd-Frank Act. Bringing together an authoritative range of international experts and perspectives, this invaluable body of heterodox research work provides a comprehensive compendium for researchers and academics of banking and finance as well as regulators and policy makers concerned with the global impact of financial institutions.

A guide, for financial institutions, to constraints on securities underwriting, brokerage activities, and trading and investments. It provides background and interprets bank securities laws covering underwriting, trading; mutual funds; and derivative products and overseas securities activities.

Biases, blind spots and bonuses (or incentives more broadly) have led to numerous risk management disasters. Risk governance is a potential solution to these problems yet is not always as effective as we would like it to be. One reason for that is the current dearth of risk governance expertise. This book seeks to address this issue, providing: Understanding of the fundamental forces that cause disasters: the biases, blind spots and bonuses. This understanding is drawn from the disciplines of economics/finance and psychology; Explanation of the structures of risk governance and common challenges experienced in their use e.g. board risk committee, risk/compliance function, assurance function, risk appetite statement, risk disclosures; Thorough investigation of risk culture and its importance in risk governance, including the assessment of risk culture; Understanding of the mechanisms of executive compensation and how they link to risk management - one of the most difficult challenges confronting both risk and remuneration committees; Explanation of the risk management process (based on international standards ISO31000), including practical guidance on risk communication, analysis and treatment; Guidance on the management of strategic risk, emphasising the importance of scenario analysis; Application of these principles to cyber risk, climate risk - two pervasive risks affecting almost every organisation; Numerous case studies and examples drawn from various industries around the world; and Discussion of what has been learned about risk governance from the COVID-19 experience. The book is an essential guide for postgraduate students; participants in professional education programs in governance and risk management; directors; senior executives; risk, compliance and assurance professionals as well as conduct and prudential regulators worldwide.

Soon to be a major film starring Will Smith, this is the inspiring rags-to-riches story of the charismatic Chris Gardner, a once homeless father who raised and cared for his son on the mean streets of San Francisco and then went on to become a crown prince of Wall Street. No sooner had Gardner landed an entry level position at a prestigious finance firm that he found himself faced with challenging circumstances that left him homeless with his toddler son. Instead of giving in to despair, he toiled until he made the astonishing transformation back to the boardroom.

An inside look at a Wall Street trading room and what this reveals about today's financial system Debates about financial reform have led to the recognition that a healthy financial system doesn't depend solely on how it is structured-organizational culture matters as well. Based on extensive research in a Wall Street derivatives-trading room, Taking the Floor considers how the culture of financial organizations might change in order for them to remain healthy, even in times of crises. In particular, Daniel Beunza explores how the extensive use of financial models and trading technologies over the recent decades has exerted a far-ranging and troubling influence on Wall Street. How have models reshaped financial markets? How have models altered moral behavior in organizations? Beunza takes readers behind the scenes in a bank unit that, within its firm, is widely perceived to be "a class act," and he considers how this trading room unit might serve as a blueprint solution for the ills of Wall Street's unsustainable culture. Beunza demonstrates that the integration of traders across desks reduces the danger of blind spots created by models. Warning against the risk of moral disengagement posed by the use of models, he also contends that such disengagement could be avoided by instituting moral norms and social relations. Providing a unique perspective on a complex subject, Taking the Floor profiles what an effective, responsible trading room can and should look like.

The social media marketing bible for the financial industry The Socially Savvy Advisor: Compliant Social Media for the Financial Industry is the complete guide to creating an effective social media strategy without breaking the big rules. Written by an industry specialist Jennifer Openshaw, alongside Stuart Fross, Fidelity International's former general counsel, and Amy McIlwain, president of Financial Social Media, this book merges marketing basics with FINRA and SEC guidelines to help readers create an effective social media campaign specifically for the finance and investing world. Contributions from industry leaders at Charles Schwab, Citibank, and others provide inside perspective and experience so readers can tap into a new audience. With a focus on compliance, the book clears common hurdles while dispelling myths and outlining effective methods and techniques. Readers also gain access to a website featuring videos, Q & As, tutorials, Slideshare, and a social media policy template. Social media is one of the hottest topics in finance. From solo practitioners to large asset managers, everyone's consumed by how, when, and where to use this new and powerful medium but guidance is hard to find. The Socially Savvy Advisor covers the entire issue, from platform, to content, to what not to do. * Best practices in using social media for advisors and compliance officers * Planning for the regulators, vs. failing to plan * Challenges with LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and other social platforms * Elements of a good social media policy * Managing the top issues related to marketing and business development, engagement, and compliance With the right plan and the proper technique, social media marketing can dramatically improve client outreach and retention. The Socially Savvy Advisor provides the expert insight, tools, and guidance that shape a robust, effective strategy.

In 1921 Austria became the first interwar European country to experience hyperinflation. The League of Nations, among other actors, stepped in to help reconstruct the economy, but a decade later Austria's largest bank, Credit-Anstalt, collapsed. Historians have correlated these events with the banking and currency crisis that destabilized interwar Europe-a narrative that relies on the claim that Austria and the global monetary system were the victims of financial interlopers. In this corrective history, Nathan Marcus deemphasizes the destructive role of external players in Austria's reconstruction and points to the greater impact of domestic malfeasance and predatory speculation on the nation's financial and political decline. Consulting sources ranging from diplomatic dossiers to bank statements and financial analyses, Marcus shows how the League of Nations' efforts to curb Austrian hyperinflation in 1922 were politically constrained. The League left Austria in 1926 but foreign interests intervened in 1931 to contain the fallout from the Credit-Anstalt collapse. Not until later, when problems in the German and British economies became acute, did Austrians and speculators exploit the country's currency and compromise its value. Although some statesmen and historians have pinned Austria's-and the world's-economic implosion on financial colonialism, Marcus's research offers a more accurate appraisal of early multilateral financial supervision and intervention. Illuminating new facets of the interwar political economy, Austrian Reconstruction and the Collapse of Global Finance reckons with the true consequences of international involvement in the Austrian economy during a key decade of renewal and crisis.

The first comprehensive history of marine insurance transacted in London from the industry's beginnings, to the early-nineteenth-century, when legislative change ended parliamentary monopolies over the business. This book describes the development and evolution of the customary, legal, and commercial institutions of marine insurance, alongside its developing organisational structures. It analyses major market interventions during the period, including state-sponsored initiatives in the late sixteenth century, the introduction of new corporate forms in the early eighteenth century, and the formation and maturation of Lloyd's of London. The book examines the impact of crises such as the Smyrna catastrophe of 1693 and the South Sea Bubble, and makes comparisons with developments in other marine insurance markets. In revealing how the London insurance market changed over centuries, the book discusses issues of risk and uncertainty, the financial revolution, the development of trade, and the reciprocal developmental roles of markets and the state. Overall, it highlights the ways that efficient and effective marine insurance capable of adapting according to circumstance was vital to the growth of trade and the economy.

Big Data Analytics in the Insurance Market is an industry-specific guide to creating operational effectiveness, managing risk, improving financials, and retaining customers. This book will be a 'must' for people seeking to broaden their knowledge of big data concepts and their real-world applications, particularly in the field of insurance. The insurance industry is largely dependent on data, and the advent of Big Data and analytics represents a major advance with tremendous potential. Yet clear, practical advice on the business side of analytics is lacking. This book fills the void with concrete information on using Big Data in the context of day-to-day insurance operations and strategy. This book an invaluable resource for any insurance professional from practitioners and policymakers working at insurance companies, to undergraduate and graduate students of economics management, and finance. Providing high quality academic research, ESFIRM provides a platform for authors to explore, analyse and discuss current and new financial models and theories, and engage with innovative research on an international scale.

The financial crisis has exposed severe shortcomings in mainstream monetary economics and modern finance. It is surprising that these shortcomings have not led to a wider debate about the need to overhaul these theories. Instead, mainstream economists have closed ranks to defend existing theories and public authorities have expanded their interference in markets. This book investigates the problems associated with mainstream monetary economics and finance, and proposes alternatives based on the Austrian school of economics. This school emanated from the work of the nineteenth-century Austrian economist Carl Menger and was developed further by Eugen von Boehm-Bawerk, Ludwig von Mises, and Friedrich August von Hayek. In monetary economics, the Austrian school regards the creation of money by banks through credit extension as a key source of economic instability. From this follows the need for a comprehensive reform of our present monetary system. In a new monetary order, money could be issued by both public and private institutions, and there would be no need for fractional reserve banking. Instead of creating money, banks would intermediate it. In finance, the Austrian school rejects the notion of rational expectations and measurable risk. Individuals use their subjective knowledge to gather and evaluate information, and they act in a world of radical uncertainty. Hence, markets are not "efficient" nor can portfolios be built on the basis of known probability distributions of asset prices as described in the modern finance literature. This book explores the need for a new theoretical foundation for asset pricing and investment management that will give practitioners more useful orientation.

During the last few years, India, with its strong financial system, has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. In view of the inevitable importance of financial system globally and in India, the present book is an attempt to provide an up-to-date overview of the Indian financial system and an elaborative discussion on its three wings: financial markets, institutions and services. Supported by various teaching aids including cases, projects and questions, this is a complete book on the subject which covers conventional as well as contemporary topics, besides cultivating a clear understanding of the basic concepts and practices of the constituents of financial system. Primarily designed for postgraduate and undergraduate students of management and allied disciplines of commerce and economics, it is equally useful to the business managers and corporate leaders who would like to be well versed with the basic concepts and mechanism of financial system for achieving professional and personal growth. KEY FEATURES: Covers, in-depth, three constituents of the Financial System in India-financial markets, financial institutions and financial services. Highlights emerging issues like barter exchange, governance rating and more. Current concepts, corporate practices, recent trends, and current data on the subject. Provides illustrations, tables, figures for a vivid visual impact and related concepts to real-life situations. Comprises graded pedagogy-MCQs, True/false, Fill in the blanks, Short answer questions, Critical thinking questions and discussion problems at the end of each chapter. Provides solutions to all MCQs in the respective chapters. Instructor's manual and Learning Material for students are available at www.phindia.com/Books/LearningCentre.

One of the worst recessions for the past 100 years, businesses failing, a revolution in technology, increasing financial constraints, compliance stifling the ability to be nimble, changing consumer behaviour, and a market driving products towards commoditization - this is the perfect storm facing the banking industry. Disruption provides a critical understanding of the impact of the current economic crisis and the current industrial revolution on financial services, the new trends in the sector, and the opportunities for banks to leverage their unique assets and pre-empt challengers from gaining meaningful market share. The book also provides top-level advice about transforming financial services organizations by finding the right balance between short-term requirements and the imperative of long-term change. This balancing act is what the authors call the "ambidextrous approach", which requires focus on two strategic initiatives: performance and innovation.

The Lived Experience of Work and City Rhythms looks at the working environment, with a focus on the geographical workplace and how this affects the experience of our working lives. It raises key questions such as: Does where we work affect our experience of work? What is the relationship between place and work? What is it like to work in a place dominated by a particular industry or sector? The book draws on empirical research carried out in the City of London - the heart of the UK's financial services sector. The 'Square Mile', as it is also known, is widely perceived to be a distinctive place because of its architecture, history, traditions, and culture. Exploring how the City is experienced as a workplace, this book also presents a method of researching such places through an attention to, and analysis of, their spatial and temporal rhythms. By illuminating how we experience the places where we work, this book explores what makes us feel that we fit in - or don't fit in - to certain places, how a sense of place endures, and how the relationship between people, place, and work can be researched.

The book provides students and academics in finance and banking with the most recent updates and changes in the Malaysian banking sector post-AFC period. The book explores the evolution of banking policies and practices after the "Tomyam Goong Crisis" and investigates the health of Malaysian banks via efficiency measurement. In addition, it also presents the evolution of bank risk management regulations and practices in Malaysia. The book also discusses the effectiveness of the Malaysian bank bailout strategy with comparison to the banks' bailout in developed countries such as the US. This book is important and timely since there are very limited books in the market that cover the recent developments on Malaysian banking sectors post-AFC period. Hence, this book serves as the valuable resource for all finance and banking students, academic researchers, and practitioners not limited to the Asian region that require in-depth insights on the latest policies and practices in the Malaysian banking sector.

The macroeconomic development of most major industrial economies is characterised by boom-bust cycles. Normally such boom-bust cycles are driven by specific sectors of the economy. In the financial meltdown of the years 2007-9 it was the credit sector and the real-estate sector that were the main driving forces. This book takes on the challenge of interpreting and modelling this meltdown. In doing so it revives the traditional Keynesian approach to the financial-real economy interaction and the business cycle, extending it in several important ways. In particular, it adopts the Keynesian view of a hierarchy of markets and introduces a detailed financial sector into the traditional Keynesian framework. The approach of the book goes beyond the currently dominant paradigm based on the representative agent, market clearing and rational economic agents. Instead it proposes an economy populated with heterogeneous, rationally bounded agents attempting to cope with disequilibria in various markets.

This volume brings together some of the most important articles on the topic of financial intermediaries. Financial Intermediaries puts recent developments into an appropriate historical setting, with seminal works by Edgeworth, Arrow, Gurley, Shaw, Baumol, Tobin and Stigler combined with more recent ones by Fischer, Black, Weiss and Stiglitz.

Now in its 3rd edition, Financial Services Marketing offers a balanced and useful guide to the topic that is both conceptual and practical. The authors have drawn from extensive international experience to ensure that this text will resonate with users across the globe. This edition is complemented by numerous international references, examples and case studies featuring companies such as American Express, Direct Line, Barclays, NatWest RBS, Aviva and HSBC. This fully updated and revised edition features: An expanded section on regulation which has international reach and addresses the post-Brexit world Greatly expanded coverage of digital marketing at both the strategic and tactical levels New material on how to improve a company's trustworthiness and safeguard a culture that is customer-focussed New examples, vignettes and case studies that showcase best practice from around the world B2B and B2C marketing Upgraded PowerPoint support on the companion website Financial Services Marketing 3e will be hugely beneficial to academic students of marketing and finance, as well as essential reading to those industry-based and studying for professional qualifications.

While residential real estate lending has gone soft, commercial lending is hot--with a wave of low interest rates and refinancing--and it shows no sign of slowing down. Right now, commercial mortgage brokering is one of the best ways to earn money without a ton of training. In this practical guide for first-timers, you'll learn the basics of brokering from application to closing, as well as inside information you won't find anywhere else. So get started!

Many years on after the 2007-8 financial crisis, most developed nations still find themselves in a state of weak recovery, high debt pile-up and distributive disparity. The intriguing question that we face is whether the golden days of modern capitalism are over, or if capitalism is just undergoing another period of adjustment characteristic of its past. What is disheartening is that the twin economic goals of sustainable growth and equality, which the world has now come to recognise as of paramount importance but mutually conflicting, remain, more now than ever, illusive and unattainable. Growth Without Inequality attempts to address this issue and to provide a pragmatic solution especially for nations in the current policy gridlock. By offering a unified framework of factors that drive growth, it shows how growth also gives rise to an array of "anomalous market forms" (defined by different degrees of value and risk visibility) that subvert distributive equity between labour and capital. It debunks both the pure free market solution and the mixed economy approach on the ground that they fail to arrest the growth propelling yet subversive power inherent in the "corporate forms" under the present capitalistic regime. Having shown that effective reform can hardly take place within the system itself, this book proposes to build a separate sector (Economy II) and partition it from the existing system (Economy I). The solution is easy to implement and quick to take effect. By one single stroke, this "Non-Marxist" solution can happily achieve the ideals of both "competitive capitalism" and "egalitarian socialism".

The Chinese insurance industry has experienced rapid development during the past decade. This original book is the first English language study in the literature to address the efficiency issue of the Chinese insurance sector, and presents a comprehensive review on alternative methodologies for analyzing firm efficiency.The authors suggest alternative ways to improve performance of insurance companies in China and make useful policy recommendations on regulation, competition and development of the insurance industry. They expand the applications of data envelopment analysis and stochastic frontier analysis in the literature on technical efficiency and discuss managerial implications for both insurance companies and policymakers. Performance of the Chinese Insurance Industry under Economic Reforms will be significant for academic researchers and students of economics, finance and business. Managers of financial institutions in China and the rest of the world will find this important book intriguing, as will policymakers and regulators working in the financial and insurance industries.

Go inside the elite investment firm with Capital.

The Capital Group is one of the world's largest investment management organizations, but little is known about it because the company has shunned any type of publicity. This compelling book, for the first time, takes you inside one of the most elite and private investment firms out there?the Capital Group Companies?a value investment firm par excellence. It digs deeps to reveal the corporate culture and long-term investment strategies that have made Capital the one organization where most investment professionals would like to work and would most recommend as long-term investment managers for their family and friends.

Dino Falaschetti and Michael Orlando unify the treatment of the many deeply related topics in money and banking in this wide-ranging book. By continually building on the assumption that economic actors are maximizers, they explain how monetary and financial services, as well as related governance mechanisms, influence economic performance. In this manner, Money, Financial Intermediation and Governance not only lets readers make sense of today's monetary authorities and financial markets, it lets them see through superficial complexities to the fundamental influences that will shape those organizations for years to come. Mastering this analytical process is important for scholars and professionals, as well as individuals who are interested in their own financial security. Successful readers will enjoy an enduring ability to productively anticipate, respond to, and even shape macroeconomic and related political developments. This book's greatest contribution may thus be to help readers enjoy the lasting advantages of becoming careful thinkers. This book is an ideal text for undergraduate, graduate and MBA students in courses on banking and financial markets as well as in macroeconomics. It is also a useful resource for researchers and professionals in the financial, legal and policy sectors.