Papers on aspects of the growth of royal government during the century. The size and jurisdiction of English royal government underwent sustained development in the thirteenth century, an understanding of which is crucial to a balanced view of medieval English society. The papers here follow three central themes: the development of central government, law and justice, and the crown and the localities. Examined within this framework are bureaucracy and enrolment under John and his contemporaries; the Royal Chancery; the adaptation of the Exchequer in response to the rapidly changing demands of the crown; the introduction of a licensing system for mortmain alienations; the administration of local justice; women as sheriffs; and a Nottinghamshire study examining the tensions between the role of the king as manorial lord and as monarch. Contributors: NICK BARRATT, PAUL R. BRAND, DAVID CARPENTER, DAVID CROOK, ANTHONY MUSSON, NICHOLAS C. VINCENT, LOUISE WILKINSON

Ever since Marx, the future of capitalism has been fiercely debated. Marx and his followers predicted capitalism will end by violent overthrow, while others prophesied its demise will be the result of collapsing under its own weight. Still others argue that capitalism will not only continue to exist but continue to expand globally. This book takes a distinctively different approach by presenting solid evidence that capitalism has already ended. The author argues that corporate statutory law, securities laws, and generally accepted accounting principles have combined to cause the extinction of capitalists. Without capitalists as owners of capital, there can be no capitalism. The book examines the factors that converged to contribute to and hasten the extinction of capitalists, and thus of capitalism as an economic system, in an ironic case of the law of unintended consequences. The very things that were intended to promote, protect, and sustain capitalism are the things that caused its death. It exposes the fallacy that capitalism as an economic system not only continues to exist but is expanding globally. Capitalism is extinct and the social system constructed on capitalism as an economic system cannot be sustained. This book will appeal to economists, accountants, historians, political scientists, lawyers and sociologists, as well as students of those disciplines.

Dynamic programming (DP) has a relevant history as a powerful and flexible optimization principle, but has a bad reputation as a computationally impractical tool. This book fills a gap between the statement of DP principles and their actual software implementation. Using MATLAB throughout, this tutorial gently gets the reader acquainted with DP and its potential applications, offering the possibility of actual experimentation and hands-on experience. The book assumes basic familiarity with probability and optimization, and is suitable to both practitioners and graduate students in engineering, applied mathematics, management, finance and economics.

The $600 billion gorilla in the room

"Dr. Joe Koletar has provided an effective road map to the problem of occupational fraud, in both the public and private sectors, in America. Such frauds affect every American worker, shareholder, and taxpayer. His insights and ideas are an important contribution to the effort to fight this growing menace."
–– Congressman John E. Sweeney, New York’s 22nd District

"A superb and timely book for every executive to read. Joe Koletar has brought together all the works done in the past on occupational fraud and given us a road map of what needs to be done. It will be required reading for every candidate in an MBA program."
–– Thomas J. Pickard, Vice President, Corporate Security, Bristol-Myers Squibb and former Deputy Director, FBI

"Joe Koletar deserves high praise for this timely and trenchant analysis of corporate crime. Bringing to bear his extensive experience in the FBI and the private sector, Koletar dissects the roots of corporate fraud, the means to prevent it, and the best way to investigate it when it occurs. Anyone wanting to understand the current spate of corporate accounting scandals should read this book."
–– David Zornow, Litigation Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and former Federal Prosecuter

While occupational fraud has long been accepted as the cost of doing business, Enron, Global Crossing, and other high-profile cases have proven its potential for catastrophic damage to be significant. And, paradoxically, these headline-grabbing examples are only the tip of the iceberg. The lion’s share of the estimated $600 billion lost every year to workplace fraud comes from small-time kickbacks and "ghost vendor" scams that go undetected and unpunished. Fraud Exposed lets the white-collar crime cat out of the bag, presenting comprehensive, provocative solutions for eliminating occupational fraud. Topics covered include:

• Law enforcement response models
• Internal and financial controls
• Organizational intelligence
• Game theory and other fresh, radical perspectives
• Preventive and punitive measures

Auditors, fraud examiners, CFOs, and controllers will find Fraud Exposed to be an essential addition to their professional libraries.

Mortgage-backed securities are becoming an increasingly popular tool for constructing a solid portfolio in today's turbulent market. Frank Fabozzi leads more than a dozen experts in examining all the latest trends of this investment strategy, providing in-depth insight and explaining key areas of the commercial mortgage-backed securities landscape. Topics covered include measuring risks in the whole-loan commercial market, multi-family mortgage-backed securities, and B Pieces. Following on the heels of Advances in Mortgage-Backed Securities and The Handbook of Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities, Trends in Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities further demonstrates editor Fabozzi's authority in the subject.

Praise for Technology Valuation Solutions

"R&D is a risky investment, but the returns could be very high. Through practical examples Boer teaches proven methodologies to value R&D projects for most any stage of development and investment."
-Barry B. Siadat, Managing Director, Arsenal Capital Partners

"F. Peter Boer's extensive experience as a senior executive, board member, and technical advisor have provided the opportunity for him to participate in the development of hundreds of prospects and numerous successful technical strategies. Here he provides readers with case material from a vast range of real-world situations while adding his own strong personal insights, making this book an important read for those interested in both technical and business decision making."
-Jeffrey M. Lipton, President & CEO, NOVA Chemicals

"If you like numbers, formulas, analyses, strategies, and real-life case studies, you will love this book. Boer provides a number of additional tools for the R&D leader in judging risk for them to benefit in this highly competitive, rapidly changing world of technology."
-Charles F. Larson, President Emeritus, Industrial Research Institute, Inc.

"Good case studies in industrial R&D are very hard to come by. Academics may have the analytical rigor with which the examples should be analyzed, but seldom do they have the facts at the level of detail required. Case studies provided by industrial practitioners often have the inverse problem: facts and stories but no academically rigorous analysis. F. Peter Boer's book is in a category above both of those situations. Technology Valuation Solutions is a uniquely interesting, beautifully written, andwell-referenced book that is suitable for business schools as a textbook, for academics as a rich source of factual information on the development of complex industrial technologies, and for industrial management as high-quality training material."
-Louis Hegedus, Senior Vice President, Research & Development, ATOFINA Chemicals

"Boer is a thoughtful and well-informed analyst of technology-based innovations, and has a good nose for the kinds of problems people run into in valuing new and improved technologies. This book deals well with a whole series of challenges involving the interaction of technology and business issues. Written in simple and accessible prose, the illustrative case examples will appeal greatly to technology managers as well as other business professionals who are looking for a counterweight to the flood of purely 'numbers driven' valuation literature that is now so fashionable."
-G. Sam Samdani, PhD, Advanced Materials, Biotechnology, and Chemicals Expert, McKinsey & Company

"This book is a must-read for any current or aspiring CTO. Through just enough theory and relevant cases, Boer provides insight into what to request from the R&D financial and strategic planners. In addition to building understanding of the value of these analyses, the text clearly lays out the hazards of relying exclusively on such without a thorough understanding of both the input and other nonfinancial risk factors."
-Dr. F. M. Ross Armbrecht Jr., President, Industrial Research Institute, Inc.

"Today, companies are under increasing pressure to manage their R&D project portfolios in a disciplined and value-creative manner. An assortment of different theories and methods hasbeen proposed to help management with different aspects of this challenge. In this book, Boer presents the practitioner with a comprehensive approach to R&D portfolio management integrating the latest financial techniques with the specific issues of the field. Drawing on his extensive experience, the author introduces the material in a pragmatic, user-friendly way through a series of actual cases. This book will be a great help for the executive interested in practical solutions to the problems of R&D management."
-Vladimir Antikarov, Monitor Group, and coauthor of Real Options: A Practitioner's Guide

Students and researchers from all fields of mathematics are invited to read and treasure this special Proceedings. A conference was held 25 -29 September 2017 at Noah's On the Beach, Newcastle, Australia, to commemorate the life and work of Jonathan M. Borwein, a mathematician extraordinaire whose untimely passing in August 2016 was a sorry loss to mathematics and to so many members of its community, a loss that continues to be keenly felt. A polymath, Jonathan Borwein ranks among the most wide ranging and influential mathematicians of the last 50 years, making significant contributions to an exceptional diversity of areas and substantially expanding the use of the computer as a tool of the research mathematician. The contributions in this commemorative volume probe Dr. Borwein's ongoing legacy in areas where he did some of his most outstanding work: Applied Analysis, Optimization and Convex Functions; Mathematics Education; Financial Mathematics; plus Number Theory, Special Functions and Pi, all tinged by the double prisms of Experimental Mathematics and Visualization, methodologies he championed.

This book illustrates the importance effective cost management systems in providing a supportive environment in which reliable and relevant management information can be generated. Such a cost management system is only attainable if the importance of key business, operational and stakeholder requirements are recognised within the organisational context. In illustrating this importance, this book provides several case studies as examples thereof. The first two case studies focus on the engineering sector and illustrates the development of a cost management system in a water recycling context; and the design of a budgetary system in a mining engineering context. The remaining case studies focus on the services sector, including cost management systems for a digital technology services provider and a medical insurance services provider; an alternative activity-based costing approach for a public sector services provider; and finallya re-designed value stream for an automotive services provider. Academic researchers and industry managers in the fields of management accounting and financial management, as well as engineering and operations management, will find value in the experiences described herein.

Moral Hazard is a core concept in economics. In a nutshell, moral hazard reflects the reduced incentive to protect against risk where an entity is (or believes it will be) protected from its consequences, whether through an insurance arrangement or an implicit or explicit guarantee system. It is fundamentally driven by information asymmetry, arises in all sectors of the economy, including banking, medical insurance, financial insurance, and governmental support, undermines the stability of our economic systems and has burdened taxpayers in all developed countries, resulting in significant costs to the community. Despite the seriousness and pervasiveness of moral hazard, policymakers and scholars have failed to address this issue. This book fills this gap. It covers 200 years of moral hazard: from its origins in the 19th century to the bailouts announced in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak. The book is divided into three parts. Part I deals with the ethics and other fundamental issues connected to moral hazard. Part II provides historical and empirical evidence on moral hazard in international finance. It examines in turn the role of the export credit industry, the international lender of last resort, and the IMF. Finally, Part III examines specific sectors such as automobile, banking, and the US industry at large. This is the first book to provide an interdisciplinary analysis of moral hazard and explain why addressing this issue has become crucial today. As such, it will attract interest from scholars across different fields, including economists, political scientists and lawyers.

Discover a practical trading strategy that combines options and ETFs.
Create Your Own Hedge Fund explains how exchange-traded funds can be used in conjunction with an options strategy to attain steady growth. Beginning with a tutorial on options and ETFs, the book goes on to describe both investment approaches in great detail providing you with a trading strategy that generates higher returns than buy-and-hold investing -- and allows you to reduce risk by adopting a hedging strategy. Filled with in-depth insights and expert advice, this book is intended for you if you're a sophisticated individual investor or a professional investor, trader, or other money manager looking to update your arsenal of investment tools.
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Among many factors contributing to a corporation's success, none is more crucial than reputation. It affects the way management makes decisions and the positions it takes, and how it takes them, on critical issues. A good reputation is also a signal to the market--one way that stakeholders will know that a corporation is successful. Riahi-Belkaoui looks at the most crucial functions and influences that determine corporate reputation, among them, the way it affects a firM's market value; the quality of its disclosures; how well its earnings are managed, how its executives are compensated. He also addresses other processes, such as international production, the informativeness of earnings, accounting choices, and the characteristics of earnings forecasts. The result is a succinct, readable, probing study for corporate decision makers in various functions of the firm, their academic colleagues, and knowledgeable onlookers who need ways to evaluate and buttress their investment decisions.

Riahi-Belkaoui examines the process of reputation-building first, then the role of corporate reputation and how market value and accounting value differ. He moves to the impact of contextual factors of multinationality and corporate reputation on accrual and cash flow valuation models. In Chapter Four he shows how corporate audiences construct the reputations of firms by interpreting information signals about the firms from various monitors. He then reports the result of an empirical study of the 100 most international firms, which supports the general hypothesis that corporate audiences construct reputations on the basis of information and firms' earnings management. In Chapter Six he turns to the relationship between the level of corporate reputation and managers' ccounting choices, and in Chapter Seven examines the value relevance of earnings, cash flows, multinationality, and corporate reputation. Chapter Eight advances the hypothesis that corporate boards control top management behavior by means of compensation, but also by judging them on organizational effectiveness and social performance. He restates a general model of international production, and in Chapter 10, hypothesizes that the level of corporate reputation affects both the informativeness of earnings and the magnitude of discretionary accounting accrual adjustments. He ends the book by providing empirical evidence of the relationship between economic performance and organizational effectiveness, a measure of overall social performance.

Advances in the Valuation and Management of Mortgage-Backed Securities details the latest developments for valuing mortgage-backed securities and measuring and controlling the interest rate risk of these securities. Complete coverage includes: decomposition of mortgage spreads, MBS index replication strategies and market neutral strategies, Monte Carlo/OAS methodology, valuation of inverse floaters and ARMs, relative value analysis, and hedging mortgage instruments against level risk and yield curve risk.

Derivatives and credit derivatives have emerged as significant areas of interest in portfolio planning and risk management. In this book, Mark Anson examines the accounting and taxation implications of these instruments, including the new accounting rules for derivative instruments promulgated by the financial Accounting Standards in the United States, the Accounting Standards Board in Great Britain, and the International Accounting Standards Committee. Regulatory requirements for disclosing derivatives and tax considerations for derivative instruments are discussed (including TRA-97.)
Additionally, the book reviews the regulatory accounting deadlines introduced by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

A revolutionary system for fearless trading without excessive risk

"Trading Risk provides a useful and intuitive roadmap of the risk management process, as written by an individual with unique experience and insight into this topic. It is an engaging read and covers complex subject matter in a straightforward and often-entertaining manner."
- Stanley Shopkorn, Shopkorn Associates

"Ken Grant's eminently readable new book on risk management is a rare blend of theory and practical applications. It is a great starting point for the novice and deep enough for the experienced practitioner."
- Mark R. Graham, Managing Partner, Blue Elite Fund, Ltd.

"This book describes a very practical approach to risk management in a lucid and entertaining manner. Anyone concerned with the topic of risk management ought to find it of interest."
- Susan Estes, Managing Director, Countrywide Securities

"Thoughtful, unique, detailed, actually enjoyable, and comprehensible reading for what is normally a boring and confusing topic."
- Dwight Anderson, President, Osprei Management, LP

"A must-read for risk managers of companies of all sizes who want to preserve capital and take practical advantage of trends in the marketplace. This is a clearly written, funny, and entertaining guide to a very serious topic that affects all corporations. This very complex topic was simplified and made easy to understand by a true expert in the art of risk management."
- Phupinder Gill, Managing Director & President
Chicago Mercantile Exchange

Although a number of selected African countries have made efforts to implement various financial sector reforms, many countries have not fully implemented the requisite reforms required for sustainable development. Instead, they have focused mainly on bank-based financial reforms, thereby neglecting market-based financial reforms. This study provides a one-stop shop for understanding the history and evolution of the financial sector in Africa with a special focus on the sub-Saharan region where the financial system in many countries is still at a relatively nascent stage. The analysis is extensive and robust, and starts from financial repression to financial liberalisation (both internal and external), and its role in sustainable development and poverty alleviation. The book covers a range of important research issues pertaining to financial development in selectede African countries, including interest rate and exchange rate reforms, the dynamics of bank-based and market-based financial development; the role of the informal financial sector in sustainable development; the finance-growth nexus; bank-based versus market-based financial sectors in Africa; financial development and information and communication technology; and financial development and gender equality, among other topics. The book also considers the relationship between the COVID-19 global pandemic and financial development, and concludes by presenting a forecast of the future trends of financial and sustainable development on the African continent in general and sub-Saharfan Africa in particular. The chapters are authored by prominent scholars and researchers in the field of finance and banking, applied econometrics and development economics, with a deep understanding and knowledge of financial development and the local situations in African countries. This book provides crucial reference material for academics, researchers, policymakers and students of all levels and is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand the nature of finance and sustainable development in Africa in relation to the rest of the world. It covers African countries, but with more emphasis on the sub-Saharan African region where the financial systems in many of the countries are still relatively underdeveloped.

This book compiles and explains technical terms in sustainable finance in an easy-to-navigate A-Z format. The interdisciplinary nature of sustainable finance means that those researching and working in the field often have to turn to a variety of different sources to look up various non-financial terms. Recognizing this issue, Ibrahim Sancak and Elisa Aracil have curated a comprehensive list of the key terms most commonly used in the field. Each entry maps out an important concept or idea and illustrates how it relates more broadly across this growing discipline, such as the changes and innovations required by the financial sector to meet the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals. Overall, Essential Concepts of Sustainable Finance will enable readers to communicate more effectively about finance within the context of sustainability. With related terms and further reading included alongside the entries, this innovative and accessible volume will be of great interest to students, scholars and practitioners alike.

This book compiles and explains technical terms in sustainable finance in an easy-to-navigate A-Z format. The interdisciplinary nature of sustainable finance means that those researching and working in the field often have to turn to a variety of different sources to look up various non-financial terms. Recognizing this issue, Ibrahim Sancak and Elisa Aracil have curated a comprehensive list of the key terms most commonly used in the field. Each entry maps out an important concept or idea and illustrates how it relates more broadly across this growing discipline, such as the changes and innovations required by the financial sector to meet the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals. Overall, Essential Concepts of Sustainable Finance will enable readers to communicate more effectively about finance within the context of sustainability. With related terms and further reading included alongside the entries, this innovative and accessible volume will be of great interest to students, scholars and practitioners alike.

This book presents the authors' recent field experiences of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in different regions of India. It also demonstrates how social auditing and stakeholder mapping help analyze the impact that particular individuals or groups may have on the functioning of any company in an area. CSR is a rapidly growing area of research and activity, especially in developing countries like India. An increasing number of companies are realizing their own social responsibility, given that they work within societal networks. As a result, any initiation or expansion activity they carry out in society impacts the communities around them. Given the newness of the field, the work on CSR in India is still in the initial stages. Most importantly, there is a need to highlight issues concerning CSR activities using sound methodologies and scientific data. A database comprising qualitative and quantitative approaches collected by tracking CSR activities is invaluable. Further the scientific data is vital to fully understand CSR, and in turn helps in designing appropriate and effective interventions for improving community members' quality of life. Accordingly, the stakeholders associated with CSR need to have a sound knowledge of how to conduct studies related to baseline data generation, community needs assessments, community profiling, stakeholder mapping, social impact assessments, monitoring and evaluation, as well as the social auditing of CSR projects and other related issues. This book aptly covers these issues and offers supporting empirical evidences from the field.

Based on theories of economics, sociology, and education, the book aims to explore the role of government and the market in China's higher education investment. The authors comprehensively overview the characteristics of China's higher education investment system, including government funding, tuition fees, and social donations. In particular, an econometric model has been established to estimate the impact of university investment on the scale of regional higher education and average university student expenditure. Besides, they also make an international comparative analysis of the current changing trend of higher education investment structure and put forward countermeasures and suggestions to improve the government's financial and social investment in higher education. Professional scholars and postgraduate students studying Chinese higher education, the economics of education and education finance will find this book helpful and inspiring.

Upgrade your programming language to more effectively handle high-frequency data Machine Learning and Big Data with KDB+/Q offers quants, programmers and algorithmic traders a practical entry into the powerful but non-intuitive kdb+ database and q programming language. Ideally designed to handle the speed and volume of high-frequency financial data at sell- and buy-side institutions, these tools have become the de facto standard; this book provides the foundational knowledge practitioners need to work effectively with this rapidly-evolving approach to analytical trading. The discussion follows the natural progression of working strategy development to allow hands-on learning in a familiar sphere, illustrating the contrast of efficiency and capability between the q language and other programming approaches. Rather than an all-encompassing "bible"-type reference, this book is designed with a focus on real-world practicality -to help you quickly get up to speed and become productive with the language. Understand why kdb+/q is the ideal solution for high-frequency data Delve into "meat" of q programming to solve practical economic problems Perform everyday operations including basic regressions, cointegration, volatility estimation, modelling and more Learn advanced techniques from market impact and microstructure analyses to machine learning techniques including neural networks The kdb+ database and its underlying programming language q offer unprecedented speed and capability. As trading algorithms and financial models grow ever more complex against the markets they seek to predict, they encompass an ever-larger swath of data -- more variables, more metrics, more responsiveness and altogether more "moving parts." Traditional programming languages are increasingly failing to accommodate the growing speed and volume of data, and lack the necessary flexibility that cutting-edge financial modelling demands. Machine Learning and Big Data with KDB+/Q opens up the technology and flattens the learning curve to help you quickly adopt a more effective set of tools.

Praise for "Investment Manager Analysis"

"This is a book that should have been written years ago. It provides a practical, thorough, and completely objective method to analyze and select an investment manager. It takes the mystery (and the consultants) out of the equation. Without question, this book belongs on every Plan Sponsor's desk."
--Dave Davenport, Assistant Treasurer, Lord Corporation, author of "The Equity Manager Search"

"An insightful compendium of the issues that challenge those responsible for hiring and firing investment managers. Frank Travers does a good job of taking complicated analytical tools and methodologies and explaining them in a simple, yet practical manner. Anyone responsible for conducting investment manager due diligence should have a copy on their bookshelf."
--Leon G. Cooperman, Chairman and CEO, Omega Advisors, Inc.

""Investment Manager Analysis" provides a good overview of the important areas that purchasers of institutional investment management services need to consider. It is a good instructional guide, from which search policies and procedures can be developed, as well as a handy reference guide."
--David Spaulding, President, The Spaulding Group, Inc.

"This book is the definitive work on the investment manager selection process. It is comprehensive in scope and well organized for both the layman and the professional. It should be required reading for any organization or individual seeking talent to manage their assets."
--Scott Johnston, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer, Sterling Johnston Capital Management, LP

""Investment Manager Analysis" is a much-needed, comprehensive review of the manager selection process. While the industry is riddled with information about selecting individual stocks, comparatively little has been written on the important subject of manager selection for fund sponsors. This is a particularly useful guide for the less experienced practitioner and offers considerable value to the veteran decisionmaker as well."
--Dennis J. Trittin, CFA, Portfolio Manager, Russell Investment Group

Praise for "Accounts Receivable Management Best Practices"

"An excellent reference tool on how to manage the accounts receivable process for any company. The use of real-life examples makes the concepts easy to understand. I recommend the book to anyone who wants to improve cash flow and reduce bad debt loss."
--Michael E. Beaulieu, Senior Vice President, Finance Cardinal Health

"Rather than simply explaining how to get the greatest return from an investment in accounts receivable, John G. Salek reveals how companies shoot themselves in the foot when management sets policies and procedures without consideration of the impact on cash flow. Accounts Receivable Management Best Practices isn't just for credit and collection professionals who often spend more time cleaning up process errors and other corporate 'garbage, ' instead of managing risk. It should be required reading for C-level executives, the sales staff, operations managers, and anybody else whose job impacts the order-to-cash cycle."
--David Schmidt, Principal, A2 Resources Coauthor of Power Collecting: Automation for Effective Asset Management

"Enhancing a company's competitive profile is all about giving enough customers the right product, at the right price, at the right time. This author's real-world approach to accomplishing this goal through the prism of receivables management makes this book a must-read for those companies looking to make their mark as an organization that cares about its customers as well as their own need to produce financial results."
--Bruce C. Lynn, Managing Director The Financial Executives Consulting Group, LLC

"I have worked with John Salek since 1992, both as hisclient and as a project manager working with his organization. His knowledge of receivables management . . . the technology, the processes, and the formula for success . . . are unsurpassed in the field."
--Stephen L. Watts, Manager, Global Receivables (retired) General Electric Medical Systems

"Mr. Salek has written a masterpiece on the intricacies and management of the accounts receivable portfolio. I would recommend this book to CFOs, controllers, treasurers, credit managers, and small business owners."
--Steve Kozack, Credit Manager Lennox Hearth Products

"Written by an author who has been in the trenches and cites actual examples. This is not written in theory, but from practice."
--Milt Dardis, Collection Consultant Dardis & Associates

A comprehensive collection of effective litigation reports on a variety of subjects

Accounting, financial, appraisal, and economic experts called upon to provide expert testimony in legal proceedings need reliable models for the critical documents they will submit to the court. Litigation Support Report Writing collects eighteen exemplary reports from a variety of financial topics, providing professionals a comprehensive resource on this vital function.

Jack Friedman and Roman Weil’s unique guide shows report writers how to make the best use of their time, how to delegate report findings effectively and efficiently, and how to ensure their report’s thoroughness and completeness. Topics covered include:

• Business appraisal
• Employment litigation
• Family law
• Intellectual property
• Personal injury
• Real estate
• Securities litigation

A Web site www.wiley.com/go/friedman offers four additional reports. This authoritative collection proves the premier resource to litigation reporting on the market today.

Risk is a crucial element in virtually all problems people in diverse areas face in their activities. It is impossible to find adequate models and solutions without taking it into account. Due to uncertainty and complexity in those problems, traditional "hard" tools and techniques may be insufficient for their formulation and solution.
This is the first book in the literature that shows how soft computing methods (fuzzy logic, neural networks, genetic algorithms, etc.) can be employed to deal with various problems related to risk analysis, evaluation and management in various fields of technology, environment and finance.

Although cryptography plays an essential part in most modern solutions, especially in payments, cryptographic algorithms remain a black box for most users of these tools. Just as a sane backend developer does not drill down into low-level disk access details of a server filesystem, payments professionals have enough things to worry about before they ever need to bother themselves with debugging an encrypted value or a message digest. However, at a certain point, an engineer faces the need to identify a problem with a particular algorithm or, perhaps, to create a testing tool that would simulate a counterpart in a protocol that involves encryption. The world of cryptography has moved on with giant leaps. Available technical standards mention acronyms and link to more standards, some of which are very large while others are not available for free. After finding the standards for the algorithm, the specific mode of operation must also be identified. Most implementations use several cryptographic primitives—for example, key derivation with a block cipher, which produces a secret that is used together with a hash function and a double padding scheme to produce a digital signature of a base64-encoded value. Understanding this requires more sifting through online sources, more reading of platform and library documents, and finally, when some code can be written, there are very few test cases to validate it. Cryptography for Payment Professionals is intended for technical people, preferably with some background in software engineering, who may need to deal with a cryptographic algorithm in the payments realm. It does not cover the payment technology in-depth, nor does it provide more than a brief overview of some regulations and security standards. Instead, it focuses on the cryptographic aspects of each field it mentions. Highlights include: Major cryptographic algorithms and the principles of their operation Cryptographic aspects of card-present (e.g., magnetic stripe, EMV) and online (e.g., e-Commerce and 3DS 2.0) transactions A detailed description of TDES DUKPT and AES DUKPT protocols, as well as an example implementation and test cases for both It is best if the reader understands programming, number and string representations in machine memory, and bit operations. Knowledge of C, Python, or Java may make the examples easier to read but this is not mandatory. Code related to the book is available at the author’s GitHub site: https://github.com/ilya-dubinsky/cfpp