This book offers new insights and perspectives on the financial and banking sector in Europe with a special focus on Central and Southeastern European countries. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis of primary sources and datasets, the book examines both the financial development and performance of the real sector of the economy and the impact and involvement of the banking sector. The contributions offer new insights into current financial innovations and discuss best practices in innovative financial solutions. They also highlight new perspectives in finance and analyze characteristic problems in the real and banking sectors in various European countries. The insights and financial solutions presented in this book will be of interest to scholars of finance and financial economics as well as practitioners in the financial industry and policy makers.

This book is a critical examination of recently introduced individual accountability regimes that apply to the financial services industry in the UK (SMCR) and Australia (BEAR and the forthcoming FAR), together with a forthcoming new individual accountability regime ( in particular, SEAR) in Ireland. It provides a framework for analysing whether these regimes will achieve behavioural change in the financial services industry. This book argues that, whilst sanctioning individuals to deter future misconduct is an important part of any successful regulatory strategy, the focus should be on ensuring that individuals in the financial services industry internalise the norms of behaviour expected under the new regimes. In this regard, the analysis in this book is informed by criminological theory, regulatory theory and behavioural science. The work also argues for a "trajectory towards professionalisation" of financial services, and banking in particular, as an important means of positively influencing industry-wide norms of behaviour, which have a key influence on firms' and individuals' behaviours.

The cooperation and contamination between mathematicians, statisticians and econometricians working in actuarial sciences and finance is improving the research on these topics and producing numerous meaningful scientific results. This volume presents new ideas, in the form of four- to six-page papers, presented at the International Conference eMAF2020 - Mathematical and Statistical Methods for Actuarial Sciences and Finance. Due to the now sadly famous COVID-19 pandemic, the conference was held remotely through the Zoom platform offered by the Department of Economics of the Ca' Foscari University of Venice on September 18, 22 and 25, 2020. eMAF2020 is the ninth edition of an international biennial series of scientific meetings, started in 2004 at the initiative of the Department of Economics and Statistics of the University of Salerno. The effectiveness of this idea has been proven by wide participation in all editions, which have been held in Salerno (2004, 2006, 2010 and 2014), Venice (2008, 2012 and 2020), Paris (2016) and Madrid (2018). This book covers a wide variety of subjects: artificial intelligence and machine learning in finance and insurance, behavioral finance, credit risk methods and models, dynamic optimization in finance, financial data analytics, forecasting dynamics of actuarial and financial phenomena, foreign exchange markets, insurance models, interest rate models, longevity risk, models and methods for financial time series analysis, multivariate techniques for financial markets analysis, pension systems, portfolio selection and management, real-world finance, risk analysis and management, trading systems, and others. This volume is a valuable resource for academics, PhD students, practitioners, professionals and researchers. Moreover, it is also of interest to other readers with quantitative background knowledge.

Unter Berucksichtigung der europaischen Vorgaben erlautert dieses Buch die Auswirkungen des Honorar-Anlageberatungsgesetzes auf die aufsichtsrechtlichen und zivilrechtlichen Anforderungen an eine ordnungsgemasse Honorar-Anlageberatung. Die europaische Finanzmarktrichtlinie MiFID II verfolgt unter anderem die Starkung der unabhangigen Anlageberatung. Der deutsche Gesetzgeber hat bereits im Jahr 2014 darauf reagiert und das Honorar-Anlageberatungsgesetz verabschiedet, das zu einer Starkung und Etablierung der unabhangigen Anlageberatung dienen soll. Denn die provisionsbasierte Anlageberatung hat in der Vergangenheit oft zu Falschberatungen der Anleger gefuhrt. Vor diesem Hintergrund befasst sich das Buch ausfuhrlich mit den neuen aufsichtsrechtlichen Anforderungen an die Honorar-Anlageberatung. Zudem werden die vertraglichen Pflichten der Parteien des Honorar-Anlageberatungsvertrages umfassend untersucht und die Ausgestaltungsmoeglichkeiten des Honoraranspruches dargestellt.

This book is the first of its kind to provide a critical overview and theoretical analysis of the Circular Economy from Shariah and Islamic Finance perspectives. The book is divided into three parts. The contributing authors pay close attention to Islamic Finance in light of sustainability and value creation. It also includes case studies on the Circular Economy application in Islamic Finance industry. The book is of interest to academics, students, and practitioners on Islamic Economics and Finance who have an interest in understanding the Circular Economy under the lens of Islamic Finance principles and applications.

The scope of this study is to investigate the capability of AI methods to accurately detect and predict credit risks based on retail borrowers' features. The comparison of logistic regression, decision tree, and random forest showed that machine learning methods are able to predict credit defaults of individuals more accurately than the logit model. Furthermore, it was demonstrated how random forest and decision tree models were more sensitive in detecting default borrowers.

Estate planning has more procrastination, indecision, and inertia associated with it than any other area of planning. Affluent baby boomers, in particular, as the beneficiaries of the largest intergenerational transfer of wealth in history, have a daunting set of financial concerns with which to contend. Here at last is a step-by-step approach to estate planning that equips planners and financial advisors to help clients tackle this important process once and for all.

Most clients understandably find planning concepts and strategies confusing, but most also have a fairly sound understanding of who and what is most important to them. These are the priorities from which to build the foundation of a successful estate plan. The seven principles explored in this book use personal values as a basis to form The Legacy Planning System^TM. With this approach, advisors can:

• Help clients discover and solidify their deepest values, convictions, and objectives relative to their money
• Help clients express those values and objectives in a clearly written Family Financial Philosophy mission statement
• Serve as the team leader in advising clients and clients’ other advisors on how to use the mission statement to direct the planning process

Clarifying your clients’ priorities and personal goals will enable you, as a trusted advisor, to simplify the planning process for clients, ensure their lifetime financial independence, and help them control their ultimate family and social capital legacies. Confronting issues of family dynamics, taxes, and financial situations—not to mention accepting one’s own mortality—is difficult for many people. In addition, since estate planning often requires a shift in ownership of assets, clients feel an unsettling loss of privacy and control over their financial resources. Help your clients to overcome these obstacles and achieve their highest financial and philanthropic aspirations. They’ll thank you for generations to come.

Praise for Values-Based Estate Planning

"Scott Fithian’s book provides planning professionals with new insights into the estate planning process. Most importantly, he stresses the individual and family benefits of philanthropy—through the concept of social capital—which should be a key element to the planner’s inventory of client questions."—Charles W. Collier, Senior Philanthropic Advisor, Harvard University

"This exceptional book empowers planners with a well- organized roadmap to lead wealthy clients to implementation of an estate plan expressing the clients’ own values. Scott Fithian’s Legacy Planning System focuses the advisor on the critical importance to the estate planning process of helping clients identify and articulate their values and objectives. This useful volume makes those ideas available to a much broader audience, while broadening the subject with illustrations of effective employment of the methodology he has developed."—David Wheeler Newman, JD, LLM, Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp LLP

"Fithian’s view of the complete person helps the advanced advisor avoid the typical limitations (hazards) of planning for wealthy families. The easy-to-understand and easy-to-follow methods help determine in-depth values of the client’s total financial goals. His methods result in cementing valuable relationships with the most prized clients. Critical reading for CPAs, attorneys, insurance agents, or other advisors." & mdash;Jessica M. Bibliowicz, President and CEO, National Financial Partners

"Scott’s wealth optimization system is truly revolutionary. For the first time, affluent clients and their advisors can rely on a fully integrated system that spans all phases of wealth accumulation, management, and transfer over time. An outstanding reference!"—Robert Keys, The Private Client Group

This book outlines the financial services regulatory framework in 16 countries in the Asia Pacific region. Contributors from leading commercial law firms across the region provide a clear explanation of the relevant regulatory bodies and their powers, with consideration of the effects of each jurisdiction's national legislation.
This title is supported by two companion volumes covering Europe and the Middle East. The series describes the principle regulatory authorities that oversee the banking, insurance and securities activities within each country. A highly practical Questions and Answers section highlights the key issues of practical importance: What enforcement powers do the relevant authorities in each country have? What scope is there for foreign entities to conduct banking, insurance, securities activities and fund marketing activities in or into each country? What is the authorization and registration process in each jurisdiction? Supporting commentary examines the nature and scope of the current regulation and prospective market developments.
The complete three volume series covers over 60 countries and is an essential reference point for those needing a practical insight into international financial services regulation and the regimes operating within jurisdictions other than their own.

Security Over Receivables: An International Handbook is a practical guide to the key issues involved in taking security over receivables in 39 jurisdictions. Adopting a jurisdiction by jurisdiction structure, each chapter examines the key matters to consider when taking security over debts in a particular region.
Each analysis is followed by a case study, to exemplify and elucidate the central principles which arise in practice. A comparative table is also included to outline and illustrate the distinguishing aspects of taking security over debts in each country. The chapter from UNCITRAL gives a useful explanation of the position from an international law perspective. This work is a valuable preliminary reference point for practitioners advising on finance transactions, which involve security over receivables in a foreign jurisdiction.

Jurisdictions covered include: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New York, New Zealand, Poland, Russian Federation, Scotland, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

With contributions from well-respected lawyers from leading international firms in each jurisdiction, this book provides practitioners worldwide with considerable assistance when dealing with cross-border transactions in a number of different jurisdictions.

This book is a simple and concise text on the subject of security analysis and portfolio management. It is targeted towards those who do not have prior background in finance, and hence the text veers away from rather complicated formulations and discussions. The course 'Security Analysis and Portfolio Management' is usually taught as an elective for students specialising in financial management, and the authors have an experience of teaching this course for more than two decades. The book contains real empirical evidence and examples in terms of returns, risk and price multiples from the Indian equity markets (over the past two decades) that are a result of the analysis undertaken by the authors themselves. This empirical evidence and analysis help the reader in understanding basic concepts through real data of the Indian stock market. To drive home concepts, each chapter has many illustrations and case-lets citing real-life examples and sections called 'points to ponder' to encourage independent thinking and critical examination. For practice, each chapter has many numericals, questions, and assignments

This open access book examines the history and role of money. Money is often defined in terms of three interrelated functions: as a medium of exchange, store of value and unit of account. Researchers frequently discuss the first two functions, but tend to ignore unit of account. This book focuses on how a unit of account or denomination can be defined and can be derived from the monetary system. In the case of paper money and coins, we know how to determine the denomination of money based on the problem of the least number of weights defined by Bachet and proved by Hardy and Wright (1960). However, in the case of digital or cryptocurrency, denomination may not matter because digital or cryptocurrency uses a wallet that is essentially denomination free: a wallet can contain any amount of currency without upper and lower limits. When people talk about the stablecoin, i.e. the stable price of digital and cryptocurrency with the major legal tender, they take a unit of account or denomination of digital or cryptocurrency as given. This arrangement destroys the nature of denomination free or decentralized autonomy as it were. Exploring how we can consolidate with these two views of denomination, this book will appeal to anyone interested in creating new digital or cryptocurrencies. It also serves as a textbook on central bank digital currency.

This book, one of three volumes, showcases the effective transformation of companies providing banking and insurance services. This first volume gives a business-oriented introduction to the setting and the current challenges of fintech, regtech, and insurtech and provides an outlook on what will be needed in the future. Specific sub-departments in financial services are examined with a view to accounting, risk, and regulatory segments. The book also addresses the importance of cultural aspects of the coming digital transformation with an eye to requirements that will enable a digital bank or insurance company to thrive in 2025. The angle shifts over the volumes from a business-driven approach in "Disruption and DNA" to a strong technical focus in "Data Storage, Processing and Analysis", leaving "Digitalization and Machine Learning Applications" with the business and technical aspects in-between.

This book, the third one of three volumes, focuses on data and the actions around data, like storage and processing. The angle shifts over the volumes from a business-driven approach in "Disruption and DNA" to a strong technical focus in "Data Storage, Processing and Analysis", leaving "Digitalization and Machine Learning Applications" with the business and technical aspects in-between. In the last volume of the series, "Data Storage, Processing and Analysis", the shifts in the way we deal with data are addressed.

This book, the second one of three volumes, gives practical examples by a number of use cases showing how to take first steps in the digital journey of banks and insurance companies. The angle shifts over the volumes from a business-driven approach in "Disruption and DNA" to a strong technical focus in "Data Storage, Processing and Analysis", leaving "Digitalization and Machine Learning Applications" with the business and technical aspects in-between. This second volume mainly emphasizes use cases as well as the methods and technologies applied to drive digital transformation (such as processes, leveraging computational power and machine learning models).

This book exemplifies the potential of FinTech to deliver important economic and societal gains, such as enhancing competition and financial inclusion to deliver tailored financial products and services at more affordable prices and at greater convenience. The emergence of FinTech directly challenges the business models of incumbent financial intermediaries like banks, which are adapting by developing their own FinTech offerings and partnering with FinTech and large technology firms. FinTech also constitutes both known and unknown risks to financial stability and challenges regulators to evaluate whether existing regulations are sufficient. The emergence of FinTech as a global phenomenon requires insightful cross-country analysis and different perspectives to evaluate its development and associated opportunities and challenges. This book will be of interest to practitioners, regulators and students of this essential enabling technology that is a major component of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

As drivers of climate action enter the fourth decade of what has become a multi-stage race, Net Zero has emerged as the dominant organizing principle. Hundreds of corporations and investors worldwide, together responsible for assets in the tens of trillions of dollars, are lining-up for the UN Race to Zero. This latest stage in the race to save civilization from heat, drought, fires, and floods, is defined by steering toward zeroing out greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Settling Climate Accounts probes the practice of Net Zero finance. It elucidates both the state of play and a set of directions that help form judgements about whether Net Zero is going to carry climate action far enough. The book delves into technical analyses and activates the reader's imagination with narrative accounts of climate action past, present, and future. Settling Climate Accounts is edited and authored by Stanford University faculty and researchers. The first part of the book investigates the rough edges of Net Zero in practice, exploring questions of hedging risk, Scope 3 emissions, greenwashing, and the business of asset management. The second half looks at states, markets, and transitions through the lenses of blended finance, offsets, debt, and securitization. The editors tease out possible solutions and raise further questions about the adequacy and reach of the Net Zero agenda. To effectively navigate the road ahead, the editors call out the need for accountability and ask: who is in charge of making Net Zero add up? Settling Climate Accounts offers context and foundation to ground the rapidly evolving practice of Net Zero finance. Targeted at seasoned practitioners, newly activated leaders, educators, and students of climate action the world over, this book embraces the complexity of climate action and, in so doing, proposes to animate and drive hope.

Structural liquidity risk is a material risk resulting from the core banking business of taking in short-term deposits and lending out long-term loans, thus allowing a maturity mismatch between assets and liabilities. At some point the long-term loans will require refinancing and the institution is at risk of an adverse development of refinancing costs.This book proposes a model for the quantification of structural liquidity risk and describes the underlying methodology and assumptions for stressing the refinancing costs. The change in present value between closing open liquidity positions under stressed refinancing costs compared to current costs is the calculated impact on risk-bearing capacity.

Humanitarian crises have become more frequent, complex and protracted. If current trends continue, it is estimated that by 2030, humanitarian assistance costs could increase to $50 billion per year. By then, two-thirds of the world's poor are at risk of living in conflict-affected countries. To bridge the gap, humanitarian organizations are increasingly utilizing innovative financing tools such as impact bonds, faith-based finance and other innovative financial products and services to mobilize greater funding to address humanitarian needs. This book is among the first to assess a set of innovative financing mechanisms that have been transforming the humanitarian sector and explores their key opportunities, challenges and future prospects. This book will be of interest to academics, practitioners, humanitarian organizations and policy makers involved in humanitarian financing and to the humanitarian sector in general.

This book encourages insurance companies and regulators to explore offering Islamic insurance to boost the insurance industry in India. The distinctive features of Takaful also make it appealing even to non-Muslims. According to the 2012 World Takaful Report, India has immense potential for Takaful is based on the size of its Muslim population and the growth of its economy. However, it is surprising that Takaful has yet to be introduced in India since it has been offered in non-majority Muslim countries, such as Singapore, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. When the concept and practice of Takaful are examined, it is free from interest, uncertainty, and gambling. These are the main elements prohibited in Islam. However, it has been evidenced that these elements are also banned in teaching other religions believed by the Indians. Given this landscape, this book fills the gap in research on the viability of Takaful in India, focusing on its empirical aspects by examining the perception of Indian insurance operators toward Takaful.

This book discusses ideas for stakeholders to develop strategies to access and use financial products and services such as deposits, loans, and fund transfer mechanism, insurance, payment services, and intermediaries, distribution channels at economical prices in order to cater to the needs of the poor and underprivileged people. Financial inclusion ensures ease of access, availability, and usage of the financial products and services to all the sections of the society. The book will help in recognizing the role of financial inclusion as one of the main drivers in reducing income inequality and thus supporting sustainable economic growth of the countries, especially of an emerging economy. The book provides conceptual and practical ideas from the practitioners, best practices from the experts, and empirical views from the researchers on the best practices and how to mitigate the challenges and issues plaguing the development of the financial inclusion.

This book provides a critical assessment of the development of the Stewardship Code 2020, which sets out principles regarding the role of institutional investors in corporate governance. It discusses how the regulatory framework for stewardship evolved before and after the financial crisis, and how that evolution resulted in the 2020 Code. It then critiques the Code from a practical and academic perspective, as well as evaluating the wider regulatory framework; in particular, the position of the FRC (ARGA). The book concludes by offering insight into different pathways that the evolution of stewardship may continue to take. Stewardship Codes modelled on the U.K.'s original 2010 version have been introduced in numerous markets and as such the book will be relevant for an international audience of academics, regulators and policymakers in financial regulation, investment regulation and financial services.

This handbook provides the first comprehensive overview of the fast-evolving alternative finance space and makes a timely and in-depth contribution to the literature in this area. Bringing together expert contributions in the field from both practitioners and academics, in one of the most dynamic parts of the financial sector, it provides a solid reference for this exciting discipline. Divided into six parts, Section 1 presents a high-level overview of the technologically-enabled finance space. It also offers a historical perspective on technological finance models and outlines different business models. Section 2 analyses digital currencies including guides to bitcoins, other cryptocurrencies, and blockchains. Section 3 addresses alternative payment systems such as digital money and asset tokenization. Section 4 deals with crowdfunding models from both a theoretical perspective and from a regulatory perspective. Section 5 discusses data-driven business models and includes a discussion of neural networks and deep learning. Finally, Section 6 discusses welfare implications of the technological finance revolution. This collection highlights the most current developments to date and the state-of-the-art in alternative finance, while also indicating areas of further potential. Acting as a roadmap for future research in this innovative and promising area of finance, this handbook is a solid reference work for academics and students whilst also appealing to industry practitioners, businesses and policy-makers.

Risk is the main source of uncertainty for investors, debtholders, corporate managers and other stakeholders. For all these actors, it is vital to focus on identifying and managing risk before making decisions. The success of their businesses depends on the relevance of their decisions and consequently, on their ability to manage and deal with the different types of risk. Accordingly, the main objective of this book is to promote scientific research in the different areas of risk management, aiming at being transversal and dealing with different aspects of risk management related to corporate finance as well as market finance. Thus, this book should provide useful insights for academics as well as professionals to better understand and assess the different types of risk.

In" Out of the Pits," Caitlin Zaloom shows how traders, brokers, and global financial markets have adapted to the digital age. Drawing on her firsthand experiences as a clerk and a trader, as well as on her unusual access to key sites of global finance, she explains how changes at the world's leading financial exchanges have transformed economic cultures and the craft of speculation; how people and places are responding to the digital transition; how traders are remaking themselves to compete in the contemporary marketplace; and how brokers, business managers, and software designers are collaborating to build new markets. A penetrating and richly detailed account of how cities, culture, and technology shape everyday life in the global economy, "Out of the Pits" will be required reading for anyone who has ever wondered how financial markets work."Zaloom's superb book is a double-site ethnography [that shows how] the appearance of chaos hid a complex social order, which Zaloom delineates beautifully."--"The London Review of Books"

Microfinance is a renowned albeit controversial solution for giving financial access to the unbanked, even if micro-transactions increase costs, limiting outreach potential. The economic and financial sustainability of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) is a prerequisite for widening a potentially unlimited client base. Automation decreases costs, expanding the outreach potential, and improving transparency and efficiency. Technological solutions range from branchless mobile banking to geo-localization of customers, digital/social networking for group lending, blockchain validation, big data, and artificial intelligence, up to "MicroFinTech" - FinTech applications adapted to microfinance. Of interest to both scholars, students, and professors of financial technology and microfinance, this book examines these trendy solutions comprehensively, going beyond the existing literature and showing potential applications to the traditional sustainability versus outreach trade-off.