Double Standards travels 25 years back to explore the story of a bank, with roots in the Middle East, that rose to prominence and became the fastest-growing bank in the world. It was called the Bank of Credit & Commerce International, known as BCCI, and became the 4th largest bank in the world by 1991. It became the bridge between the Third World and the West and at its height was bailing out governments in developing countries, like the IMF or World Bank. It was also a favourite port of call for some more notorious clientele, like the CIA, who used the bank to facilitate its covert operations overseas. The Bank of England and US authorities shut the BCCI down amidst allegations of fraud in July 1991, making over 14,000 employees redundant and leaving over 1 million customers out of pocket. Double Standards revisits the actions taken by the Bank of England and the regulatory authorities with regards to BCCI and carries out an academic analysis to compare its treatment with the major banking scandals following the global financial meltdown in 2008. The malpractice that BCCI was accused of was on par with a parking violation compared to the actions of the bigger banks of today, yet the fines and penalties to these banks are not as severe as the punishment meted out to BCCI. Why was the bank shut and, more importantly, who benefitted from its closure? This informative analysis of BCCI's rise and fall will appeal to those with an interest in finance and banking law.

Harold Smart has been leading people of all ages since he was in his teens, and to get the job done, he's had to live up to his last name. For instance, when he teamed up with his brother-in-law to open a service station in a mid-sized town, a competitor told them they?d be out of business in six months. Someone was out of business that soon?but not them! In this guide for business professionals, Smart shuns excuses from managers and business owners who don't get the job done. He reveals how to: avoid flawed management models; cultivate loyalty among employees; eliminate unnecessary layers of management; and succeed by keeping things as simple as possible. When you come right down to it, good management is all about solving problems. To get better at problem solving, it's imperative that you listen to people who?ve been in the trenches fixing things their entire lives.

Why Service Matters is a collection of over fifty essays that Raul Pupo asserts will change the way you think about service. What consumers in business, education, and government receive by way of service has gotten progressively worse over time. What is most distressing, however, is that there does not appear to be any cause for optimism that the shoddy service being dished out to consumers will improve any time soon. That is, not unless and until leaders come to grips with the fact that service to the customer is grounded in four critical success factors or foundational propositions: a leadership that unequivocally believes they are in business, first and foremost, to serve the customer; a strategic planning regimen centered on the customer; an ethic of service to guide the organization to always err on behalf of the customer; and a competent, motivated, supported, and empowered front-line organization.

In the ever-changing landscape of personal finance and investing, investors need to understand where they are in relation to their long-term goals. It is easy to look at an account statement and see how much we have. But understanding how much that amount will provide for us in the future is a much more complicated task. Nurturing Financial Freedom: A Guide to Modern Financial Planning will address many of the concerns facing savers today. Among them are: