This book deals directly with the risk/return multiple trade-offs coming out of the closely intertwined relationship between banking and real estate. The authors explore how banks could embrace a more proactive approach to make the most of their, mostly ‘long only’, exposure to real estate, and create positive spillover effects on their real estate counterparts and the sector as a whole. It provides a "state of the art" representation and analysis of the strategies that best practices in banking are adopting to manage these issues and plan for a new set of interrelations, driving a "virtuous circle" as opposed to the current one. Banking, Lending and Real Estate is built on the academic knowhow and professional expertise of the authors, who have been researching, writing and working on this joint topic for over a decade. With its pragmatic approach, it allows the reader to capture which leading hedge active and holistic approaches are available today and proven to treat, for example, the banks’ overexposure to this asset class; to manage "unlikely to pay" and sub-performing positions; and to optimize the recovery value coming from the work out of real estate related NPL (and underlying assets). Case studies and relevant examples are provided, leveraging on the authors’ experience in consulting projects in the EMEA region and from working with global, regional and domestic banks and the real estate players acting across its value chain. This book will appeal to both academics and business practitioners within the banking, financial services and real estate sectors, as well as professionals from financial and strategic/industrial advisory working in those fields.

Global cities are facing an almost unprecedented challenge of change. As they re-emerge from the Covid 19 pandemic and get ready to face climate change and other, potentially existential threats, they need to look for new ways to support wealth and wellbeing creation - leveraging Big Data and AI and suing them into their physical reality and to become greener, more inclusive and resilient, hence sustainable. This book describes how new digital technologies could be used to design digital and physical twins of cities that are able to feed into each other to optimize their working and ability to create new wealth and wellbeing. The book also describes how to increase cities' social and economic resilience during crisis time and addressing their almost fatal weaknesses - as it became all too obvious during the recent COVID 19 crisis. Also, the book presents a framework for a critical discussion of the concept of "smart-city", suggesting its development into a "cyber" and "meta" one - meaning, not only digital systems can allow physical ones (e.g. cities, citizens, households and companies) to become "smarter", but also the vice versa is true, as off line data and real life behaviours can support the optimization and development of virtual brains as a sum of big data and artificial intelligence apps all sitting "over the cloud". An analysis of the fundamental dynamics of this emerging "info-telligence" economy, and of the potential role of big digital players like Amazon, Google and Facebook is then paving the way to discuss a few strategic forays on how traditional sectors such as financial services, real estate, TMT or health could also evolve, leveraging Big Data and AI in a cyber-physical integrated setting. Finally, a number of thought provoking use cases that could be designed around individuals, and to improve the success and the resilience of households and companies living and working in urban areas are discussed, as an example of one of the most exciting future markets to come: the one of global, sustainable cities

This book explains how to restructure and successfully turn around a bank or financial institution at a time when the global financial system is facing a new wave of disruption ushered in by innovation from digital financial technology, or FinTech. It is argued that within banking this process of creative destruction will entail unprecedented challenges for traditional institutions as well as opportunities for new, mostly digital, players. A great deal of restructuring, turnaround, and transformation will be required. While information on these topics is widely available with respect to corporates, this is not the case for banks. The book addresses this neglected area in detail, analyzing the changes that have been set in motion, examining how creative destruction can be anticipated by both old and new players, and explaining how to better manage restructuring and innovation in banking. The book will appeal to top and middle managers of banks and financial institutions, advisers, regulators, academics, and students.

This book discusses the most critical issues relating to the recovery of bad loans - a major problem that European banks urgently need to address and resolve. The book describes, in an innovative but also pragmatic way, the new approaches, techniques, and models for optimal management of non-performing loans (NPLs) and the maximization of their recovery value. Drawing on a rigorous academic background and the latest real-life experiences of major European banks, it details a novel means of dealing with NPLs based on velocity, the holistic use of tools and "accelerators", and the active management of collaterals. Also, there is a specific focus on the smart use of "big data" and on the development of "bad banks", at both the single bank and the system-wide level. Ultimately, credit workout is defined as a core capability for any competitive bank - and as a quite interesting business opportunity for independent, specialized "alpha" players.

This book discusses the most critical issues relating to the recovery of bad loans - a major problem that European banks urgently need to address and resolve. The book describes, in an innovative but also pragmatic way, the new approaches, techniques, and models for optimal management of non-performing loans (NPLs) and the maximization of their recovery value. Drawing on a rigorous academic background and the latest real-life experiences of major European banks, it details a novel means of dealing with NPLs based on velocity, the holistic use of tools and "accelerators", and the active management of collaterals. Also, there is a specific focus on the smart use of "big data" and on the development of "bad banks", at both the single bank and the system-wide level. Ultimately, credit workout is defined as a core capability for any competitive bank - and as a quite interesting business opportunity for independent, specialized "alpha" players.

This book analyzes the set of forces driving the global financial system toward a period of radical transformation and explores the transformational challenges that lie ahead for global and regional or local banks and other financial intermediaries. It is explained how these challenges derive from the newly emerging post-crisis structure of the market and from shadow and digital players across all banking operations. Detailed attention is focused on the impacts of digitalization on the main functions of the financial system, and particularly the banking sector. The author elaborates how an alternative model of banking will enable banks to predict, understand, navigate, and change the external ecosystem in which they compete. The five critical components of this model are data and information mastering; effective use of applied analytics; interconnectivity and "junction playing"; development of new business solutions; and trust and credibility assurance. The analysis is supported by a number of informative case studies. The book will be of interest especially to top and middle managers and employees of banks and financial institutions but also to FinTech players and their advisers and others.

Global cities are facing an almost unprecedented challenge of change. As they re-emerge from the Covid 19 pandemic and get ready to face climate change and other, potentially existential threats, they need to look for new ways to support wealth and wellbeing creation - leveraging Big Data and AI and suing them into their physical reality and to become greener, more inclusive and resilient, hence sustainable. This book describes how new digital technologies could be used to design digital and physical twins of cities that are able to feed into each other to optimize their working and ability to create new wealth and wellbeing. The book also describes how to increase cities' social and economic resilience during crisis time and addressing their almost fatal weaknesses - as it became all too obvious during the recent COVID 19 crisis. Also, the book presents a framework for a critical discussion of the concept of "smart-city", suggesting its development into a "cyber" and "meta" one - meaning, not only digital systems can allow physical ones (e.g. cities, citizens, households and companies) to become "smarter", but also the vice versa is true, as off line data and real life behaviours can support the optimization and development of virtual brains as a sum of big data and artificial intelligence apps all sitting "over the cloud". An analysis of the fundamental dynamics of this emerging "info-telligence" economy, and of the potential role of big digital players like Amazon, Google and Facebook is then paving the way to discuss a few strategic forays on how traditional sectors such as financial services, real estate, TMT or health could also evolve, leveraging Big Data and AI in a cyber-physical integrated setting. Finally, a number of thought provoking use cases that could be designed around individuals, and to improve the success and the resilience of households and companies living and working in urban areas are discussed, as an example of one of the most exciting future markets to come: the one of global, sustainable cities

This book deals directly with the risk/return multiple trade-offs coming out of the closely intertwined relationship between banking and real estate. The authors explore how banks could embrace a more proactive approach to make the most of their, mostly 'long only', exposure to real estate, and create positive spillover effects on their real estate counterparts and the sector as a whole. It provides a "state of the art" representation and analysis of the strategies that best practices in banking are adopting to manage these issues and plan for a new set of interrelations, driving a "virtuous circle" as opposed to the current one. Banking, Lending and Real Estate is built on the academic knowhow and professional expertise of the authors, who have been researching, writing and working on this joint topic for over a decade. With its pragmatic approach, it allows the reader to capture which leading hedge active and holistic approaches are available today and proven to treat, for example, the banks' overexposure to this asset class; to manage "unlikely to pay" and sub-performing positions; and to optimize the recovery value coming from the work out of real estate related NPL (and underlying assets). Case studies and relevant examples are provided, leveraging on the authors' experience in consulting projects in the EMEA region and from working with global, regional and domestic banks and the real estate players acting across its value chain. This book will appeal to both academics and business practitioners within the banking, financial services and real estate sectors, as well as professionals from financial and strategic/industrial advisory working in those fields.

The book tries to map the key innovation initiatives and emerging competitive advantages for banks, drawing examples from real cases of banks and fintech/digital challengers, and from the international consulting experience of the author. A methodological approach is taken to discuss the hypothetical ""singularity bank,"" a bank that could make redundant most of its human resources. AI apps would take control across all kind of processes, from compliance to capital allocation, from risk underwriting to customer advisory and sale. This book discusses also how this would cause key processes in the bank to change, and how organization and governance should evolve as a consequence. Also discussed is how human resources could rise to the challenge of the change brought by AI and the robotization of the banking business.

Aeroporti internazionali e treni superveloci, grand hotel e grattacieli delle capitali finanziarie europee, mediorientali e americane fanno da scenario quotidiano alle avventure del consulente. Che si tratti del fracking per l'estrazione dello shale gas o di bolle immobiliari costruite sulla sabbia del deserto, o di immaginare la banca del futuro, a portarlo in giro per il mondo sono questioni di business che spesso impongono di guardare oltre: alle forze distruttive dell'economia in azione, agli orizzonti delle nuove frontiere geopolitiche, alle sfide che donne e uomini di ogni latitudine si trovano ad affrontare. Perche il suo mestiere e consigliare al meglio i potenti della terra - e i presunti tali - sui temi critici di oggi e di domani. Da un ricevimento negli avveniristici Emirati Arabi a un Giappone consumista e decadente, dalle riunioni dei leader globali tra le nevi di Davos alla mirabolante e barocca Las Vegas, il perpetuo roadshow del consulente per metropoli e paesi e anche il diario di un viaggio di formazione in una babele di lingue, di usanze, di culture. Dove alla fine cio che conta davvero non e il viaggio, e neppure la meta, ma l'insegnamento che ne puoi trarre.