The increasing complexity of financial problems and the enormous volume of financial data often make it difficult to apply traditional modeling and algorithmic procedures. In this context, the field of computational intelligence provides an arsenal of particularly useful techniques. These techniques include new modeling tools for decision making under risk and uncertainty, data mining techniques for analyzing complex data bases, and powerful algorithms for complex optimization problems. Computational intelligence has also evolved rapidly over the past few years and it is now one of the most active fields in operations research and computer science. This volume presents the recent advances of the use of computation intelligence in financial decision making. The book covers all the major areas of computational intelligence and a wide range of problems in finance, such as portfolio optimization, credit risk analysis, asset valuation, financial forecasting, and trading.

This book focuses on digital innovation and sustainability in the Asian region in the context of business and management. Managers and policy makers rely on digital technologies to face the region's sustainability challenges and solve sustainability problems. From business perspective, sustainability is defined as the adoption of business strategies, activities, and operations that meet the needs of the firm and its stakeholder today while protecting, sustaining, and enhancing the human and natural resources that will be needed in the future. Digital innovation refers to the application of digital technologies to existing business problems as well as the development of the firm's strategy, culture, and human resources talent to deal and use digital technologies to solve sustainability issues. There is a consensus among scholars and practitioners that organizations need digital innovation to stay competitive. Businesses that are digital innovators consider new ways to solve old and new sustainability problems facing the Asian region. This book, with its practical examples, gives the reader impulses for new Asian's approaches and encourages the readers to dare to think and act in new ways. This book is the first annual compilation of innovative ideas and valuable managerial solutions produced by the region's managers and decision-makers who think and act creatively, helmed by Tobias Endress and Yuosre F. Badir from the School of Management at the Asian Institute of Technology.

Localizing Global Finance illustrates that private equity has become a more significant component of China's economy based on a pattern of new domestic elites importing and implementing a largely Western financial model.

Research shows the majority of small businesses fail in their early years due to poor financial management, turning the dreams of many business owners and novice entrepreneurs into nightmares. This book serves as a guide to prevent these financial disasters. In an applicable fashion, Karadag explains how financial management in an enterprise can be conducted strategically to attain significant improvement in business performance. Karadag takes the basic strategic management model of environmental scanning-planning-implementing-feedback as a framework, and approaches the core financial practices and instruments as elements of strategic financial management, which any small or medium sized enterprise can use as tools for sustainable organizational performance and growth. With its unique strategic outlook, this text is a vital reference for nonfinancier small or medium sized enterprise owners and individuals who aim to successfully establish and run their own businesses.

The phenomenal growth of Islamic finance in the last few decades has been accompanied by a host of interesting questions and challenges. One of the critical challenges is how Islamic financial institutions can be motivated to participate in the 'equity-like' profit-and-loss sharing (PLS) contracts. It is observed that Islamic banks are reluctant to participate in the pure PLS scheme which is manifested by the rising concentration of investment on murabaha or mark-up financing. This phenomenon has been the hotbed of academic criticism on the contemporary practice of Islamic banking. This book explains the 'murabaha syndrome' in light of the incentive provided by the current institutional framework and what are the changes required in the governance structure to mend this anomaly.

This edited volume provides a critical evaluation of financing options for sustainable development in Africa. While sustainability has long been the watchword for development programs, and while many African countries have taken initiatives to develop integrated frameworks that tackle developmental challenges-including poverty, education, and health-financing has remained a challenge. In this book, an expert team of chapter authors examines new financing options while also exploring how traditional financing means, such as foreign aid and foreign direct investment, can be more effective for sustainability. The authors discuss how African nations can build adequate structures and productive capacity to create a platform that can meet present economic, social, and environmental needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Practical case studies and scientific evidence give this book a unique approach that is both qualitative and quantitative. This book will be of interest to students, practitioners, and scholars of development studies, public policy and African economics.

This book deals with the application of wavelet and spectral methods for the analysis of nonlinear and dynamic processes in economics and finance. It reflects some of the latest developments in the area of wavelet methods applied to economics and finance. The topics include business cycle analysis, asset prices, financial econometrics, and forecasting. An introductory paper by James Ramsey, providing a personal retrospective of a decade's research on wavelet analysis, offers an excellent overview over the field.

This book deals with some aspects of the future shape of the socio-economic order which would be founded on sustainability principles and the role of law therein, instead of on the prevailing capitalist economic order. The volume elaborates in particular on how innovation, a crucial aspect of free-market capitalism and its laws which constitute the current socio-economic order, could result in a more sustainable economy which, in turn, could lead to a more sustainable society. Moreover, the book analyses current developments in financial and economic law and evaluates their perks, risks and sustainability levels.The book contains no less than 11 chapters in which a variety of experts share their state-of-the-art insights regarding specific domains of socio-economic life. As such, the book deals with topics that are at present fully under debate in societies, such as student credit and the dangers it entails, crypto currencies and how the law tries to regulate this basically private law instrument, groups of companies under Belgian (company) law, a proposal for improving the international monetary system, and seeds and intellectual property rights, besides various other similar themes. The book forms the latest volume of the book series Economic and Financial Law & Policy - Shifting Insights & Values, and fully complies with the series' goal of critically exa mining the legal methods and mechanisms that shape the global free markets and proposing alternatives to them. The book will hereby prove a valuable instru ment for all researchers investigating these matters, besides policymakers and their ad visers as well as all lawyers active in the field of economic law who look for a new per spective on the subject matters dealt with.

Despite growing discussions on the relationship between sustainability and finance, so far little attention has been given to the relation linking sustainability-related risks and financial risks. Climate change, environmental degradation and social inequality, among others factors, may indeed have considerable adverse impacts on financial actors and markets, and even have the potential to harm financial stability. Shedding light on the importance of the nexus between sustainability and financial risks, this book addresses the need for new industry and policy approaches. With insights from a skilled set of scholars in the finance field, this edited collection explores the effects of climate risks on the banking and insurance industries, the problem of stranded assets, the possible corporate risk management frameworks that could be used to control sustainability-related risks, the role of non-financial disclosure in fostering market discipline, and the policy actions needed to integrate sustainability considerations into prudential supervision. Tackling an interdisciplinary topic, this book will appeal to academics and practitioners within the finance, business and sustainability fields.

The proliferation of financial derivatives over the past decades, options in particular, has underscored the increasing importance of derivative pricing literacy among students, researchers, and practitioners. Derivative Pricing: A Problem-Based Primer demystifies the essential derivative pricing theory by adopting a mathematically rigorous yet widely accessible pedagogical approach that will appeal to a wide variety of audience. Abandoning the traditional "black-box" approach or theorists' "pedantic" approach, this textbook provides readers with a solid understanding of the fundamental mechanism of derivative pricing methodologies and their underlying theory through a diversity of illustrative examples. The abundance of exercises and problems makes the book well-suited as a text for advanced undergraduates, beginning graduates as well as a reference for professionals and researchers who need a thorough understanding of not only "how," but also "why" derivative pricing works. It is especially ideal for students who need to prepare for the derivatives portion of the Society of Actuaries Investment and Financial Markets Exam. Features Lucid explanations of the theory and assumptions behind various derivative pricing models. Emphasis on intuitions, mnemonics as well as common fallacies. Interspersed with illustrative examples and end-of-chapter problems that aid a deep understanding of concepts in derivative pricing. Mathematical derivations, while not eschewed, are made maximally accessible. A solutions manual is available for qualified instructors. The Author Ambrose Lo is currently Assistant Professor of Actuarial Science at the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at the University of Iowa. He received his Ph.D. in Actuarial Science from the University of Hong Kong in 2014, with dependence structures, risk measures, and optimal reinsurance being his research interests. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA) and a Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst (CERA). His research papers have been published in top-tier actuarial journals, such as ASTIN Bulletin: The Journal of the International Actuarial Association, Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, and Scandinavian Actuarial Journal.

Energy issues feature frequently in the economic and financial press. Specific examples of topical energy issues come from around the globe and often concern economics and finance. The importance of energy production, consumption and trade raises fundamental economic issues that impact the global economy and financial markets. This volume presents research on energy economics and financial markets related to the themes of supply and demand, environmental impact and renewables, energy derivatives trading, and finance and energy. The contributions by experts in their fields take a global perspective, as well as presenting cases from various countries and continents.

*One of Glamour's Best Books of 2020* Popular podcast host and personal finance expert Lindsay Goldwert explores what professional dominatrixes can teach us about confidence, power, and happiness. Imagine, for a moment, a world where the usual power dynamic is turned on its head. Where women not only stop apologizing, but seize-and enjoy-control. This is the quickly mainstreaming world of BDSM (bondage, discipline, sadism, masochism)-and it has a lot to teach women about empowerment, negotiation, open-mindedness, and more. Journalist Lindsay Goldwert, intrigued by this seismic cultural shift, traveled across the United States to meet the stars of the subculture, who spoke frankly with her about their lives and work. In this "lively, funny, thoughtful channeling of wisdom" (Sara Benincasa, author of Real Artists Have Day Jobs), these Alpha women show you how you can reset the power dynamic in any situation to get what you want-whether it's from a husband, a boss, or partner. They share strategies for revolutionizing not only your sex life, but your career, your relationships, and most importantly, your inner foundations. With bondage gear popping up on the big screen, the runway, the red carpet, and in celebrity lingerie lines, BDSM is officially moving out of the dungeon and into the sun. Let Bow Down help you learn how to use it. "Whether your fantasies lie in the bedroom or the boardroom, Lindsay will give you the courage to go forth and dominate." (Sarah Cooper, author of How to Be Successful without Hurting Men's Feelings).

In this book, two experts on the topic raise the question of why many ERM programmes end up as box-checking silos with almost no connection to important decision-making processes, whereas others are empowered and end up having a profound impact on the firm's culture, governance structures, and strategy process. The book establishes a path to empowered ERM by drawing on insights from theory and hard-won lessons from practice. Success factors enabling this transition are thoroughly discussed in a start-to-finish narrative describing the theoretical underpinnings of ERM, its proven best practices, and onto more advanced topic such as risk budgeting and the integration of ERM into strategic decision-making.

This book provides a unique comparative and global analysis of the regulation of disclosure in financial (securities) markets. It is written by two authors who represent both the new world (Australia) and the old world (Germany). The authors present their research in the global business context, with legal and regulatory perspectives including some references from Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America. After every "boom" and "bust", legislators pass new disclosure legislation, often in a heated environment fuelled by politics and the media. Little regard is paid to existing regulation or the lessons learned from earlier regulation. The result is the continuing enactment of redundant and overlapping disclosure laws. Since financial markets are often described as markets for information, the failure to ensure disclosure is at the heart of financial services regulation. This book argues that the solution to the failure of disclosure is a brief, easily understood, principles-based, plain English safety-net amendment to statute law such as "you must keep the financial market fully informed", a measure that would support effective mandatory continuous disclosure of information to financial markets. This book examines the reasons for disclosure regulation, and how the efficient operation of financial markets is dependent on disclosure. It examines the adequacy of common law and civil law concerning broker/client disclosure, and concludes that industry licensing in itself fails to keep the market informed. While recognizing the failures of securities commissions to achieve good disclosure in financial markets, it confirms the effectiveness of coregulation of disclosure by a commission with the support of the financial markets (such as the stock exchange). Coregulation builds on financial market self-regulation, and is best described in the words of one-time SEC Chairman William O. Douglas, who, in the 1930s, described it as a shotgun behind the door.

This book is an anthropological investigation into the different forms the economy assumes, and the different purposes it serves, when conceived from the perspective of Islamic micro-finance as a field of everyday practice. It is based on long-term ethnographic research in Java, Indonesia, with Islamic foundations active in managing zakat and other charitable funds, for purposes of poverty alleviation. The book explores the social foundations of contemporary Islamic practices that strive to encompass the economic within an expanded domain of divine worship and elucidates the effects such encompassment has on time, its fissure and synthesis. In order to elaborate on the question of time, the book looks beyond anthropology and Islamic studies, engaging attentively, critically and productively with the post-structuralist work of G. Deleuze, M. Foucault and J. Derrida, three of the most important figures of the temporal turn in contemporary philosophy.

This book is designed to start with simple examples that progressively develop the reader's confidence to take on more complex tasks. There is very little theoretical discussion about computer science, operations research algorithms, mathematics, or finance. The thrust of the book is to teach the reader to break complex tasks down into simple tasks. It then looks to implement those simple tasks into VBA code using a critical subset of the features of the language.

The tentative contents is: (1) Why? What? Who? Where? and How? (2) Common Sense (3) Securitizing A Loan Portfolio (4) Understanding the Excel Waterfall (5) Designing the VBA Model (6) Laying the Model Groundwork (7) Recorded Macros: A First Look at the VBA Language (8) Writing Menus: An Introduction to Data, Ranges, Arrays, and Objects (9) Controlling the Flow of the Model (10) Building Messaging Capabilities (11) Designing the Model's Reports (12) Main Program and Menus (13) Writing the Collateral Selection Code (14) Calculating the Cash Flows (15) Running the Waterfall: Producing Initial Results (16) Debugging the Model (17) Validating the Model (18) Running the Model (19) Building Additional Capabilities (20) Documentation of the Model (21) Managing the Growth of the Model (22) Building Portfolio Monitoring Model (23) Valuation Techniques: How do we Determine Price? (24) Challenging Times For the Deal (25) Parting Admonitions

Recently, students and scholars have expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of economics and have called for the reintroduction of historical perspectives into economic thinking. Supporting the idea that fruitful lessons can be drawn from the work of past economists, this volume brings together an international cross section of leading economists and historians of economic thought to reflect on the crucial role that money, crises and finance play in the economy. The book draws on the work of economists throughout history to consider afresh themes such as financial and real explanations of economic crises, the role of central banks, and the design of macroeconomic policies. These themes are all central to the work of Maria Cristina Marcuzzo, and the contributions both reflect on and further her research agenda. This book will be of interest to researchers in the history of economic thought, and those who wish to gain a deeper understanding of the variety and diversity in approaches to economic ideas throughout history.

A comprehensive and profoundly relevant history of interest from one of the world's leading financial writers, The Price of Time explains our current global financial position and how we got here In the beginning was the loan, and the loan carried interest. For at least five millennia people have been borrowing and lending at interest. The practice wasn't always popular--in the ancient world, usury was generally viewed as exploitative, a potential path to debt bondage and slavery. Yet as capitalism became established from the late Middle Ages onwards, denunciations of interest were tempered because interest was a necessary reward for lenders to part with their capital. And interest performs many other vital functions: it encourages people to save; enables them to place a value on precious assets, such as houses and all manner of financial securities; and allows us to price risk.All economic and financial activities take place across time. Interest is often described as the "price of money," but it is better called the "price of time: " time is scarce, time has value, interest is the time value of money.Over the first two decades of the twenty-first century, interest rates have sunk lower than ever before. Easy money after the global financial crisis in 2007/2008 has produced several ill effects, including the appearance of multiple asset price bubbles, a reduction in productivity growth, discouraging savings and exacerbating inequality, and forcing yield starved investors to take on excessive risk. The financial world now finds itself caught between a rock and a hard place, and Edward Chancellor is here to tell us why. In this enriching volume, Chancellor explores the history of interest and its essential function in determining how capital is allocated and priced.

The role of a financial manager is to maintain a firm's liquidity and solvency by providing the cash flows necessary to satisfy its obligations and acquiring and financing the current and fixed assets needed to achieve its goals. However, the management of a firm's assets is not exclusively in the hands of a financial manager. Other functional departments, especially purchasing and marketing, play a significant role.

Finance For Non-Financial Managers thus provides an understanding of the principles of financial management as required to contribute favourably to the long-term success of a firm. Finance for non-financial managers explains the financial goals of a firm and illustrates how the principles of finance should be applied in creating wealth as opposed to simply maximising profit. With its ideal for anyone who has little or no prior knowledge of accounting or financial management.

In particular, Finance For Non-Financial Managers deals with the following:

• the long-term goal of creating value and the short-term goals of profitability and liquidity;
• analysing and interpreting financial statements;
• using a financial calculator;
• managing cash flow (liquidity), accounts receivable and inventory (stock).

Finance For Non-Financial Managers is aimed at managers involved in marketing, human resources, information technology and supply chain management, and for professionals such as engineers, architects, attorneys and medical professionals in private practice.

In the last twenty years, several periods of turmoil have shaped the financial and economic system. Many regulatory policies, such as Basel III, have been introduced to overcome further crises and scandals. In addition, monetary policy has experienced a transition from conventional to unconventional frameworks in most industrialized and emerging economies. For instance, turning to hedge and diversification of portfolios, commodities markets have attracted increasing interest. More recently, new forms of money have been introduced, such as virtual money. These changes have influenced governance features at both macro and micro levels. Therefore, calls for ethical and sustainable standards in financial and economic spheres have been growing since 2007.Financial and Economic Systems: Transformations and New Challenges provides readers with insights about future transformations and challenges for financial and economic systems. Prominent contributors focus on different aspects, providing a global overview of crisis implications. The book is split into four main areas: Changes in the Real Sphere, covering issues related to yields, risk, unconventional monetary policy, and macroprudential policy; Financial Markets and Macroeconomics, covering uncertainty in finance and economics; CSR, Sustainability and Ethical Finance, highlighting the emergence of corporate social responsibility; and Digitalization, Blockchain and FinTech and the consequences of these transformations on markets and economic systems.

A fully up-to-date, cutting-edge guide to the measurement and management of liquidity risk

Written for front and middle office risk management and quantitative practitioners, this book provides the ground-level knowledge, tools, and techniques for effective liquidity risk management. Highly practical, though thoroughly grounded in theory, the book begins with the basics of liquidity risks and, using examples pulled from the recent financial crisis, how they manifest themselves in financial institutions. The book then goes on to look at tools which can be used to measure liquidity risk, discussing risk monitoring and the different models used, notably financial variables models, credit variables models, and behavioural variables models, and then at managing these risks. As well as looking at the tools necessary for effective measurement and management, the book also looks at and discusses current regulation and the implication of new Basel regulations on management procedures and tools.

Sukuk markets have grown significantly worldwide since their emergence- in Islamic jurisdictions as well as conventional jurisdictions including the US, the UK, Germany, China, France and Singapore. The practices of sukuk markets, however, have come under close scrutiny. The legal and regulatory risks arising from the existing general legal environment and their impact on those investing and trading in sukuk markets has not received adequate attention. The topic of sukuk has been subject to extensive research and academic discussion from different perspectives, but the existing literature has not adequately addressed the issues associated with these markets. This book examines the contemporary issues encountered in the foundation and operation of sukuk markets by providing an in-depth discussion of the issues facing sukuk markets from legal and regulatory perspectives and focusing attention on how soundness can be ensured in the wider context. These issues go to the heart of what the sukuk market is really about, as recent debate has recognised in sukuk the replication of conventional bonds in ways that are considered unsatisfactory from an Islamic law point of view.

McClean argues that a collective move towards stewardship within the financial industry is necessary to restore ethical behaviour and public confidence. Drawing on practical examples and offering new policy recommendations, this unique philosophical study paints a picture of what a truly ethical trading culture of the future might look like.