Foreign-currency transactions and the recovery of German industry in the aftermath of the First World War: the case of Schering AG

While historians have for a long time recognized the importance of the First World War to the general flow of history, business economists do not fully appreciate the impact of the war on commercial relationships. The First World War transformed the political, economic, and social context, in which business was done, forcing companies to develop new strategies and activities, some of which were almost unimaginable before August 1914. This article focuses on one aspect of doing business: foreign exchange management. It argues that Schering AG and its parent, like many German companies after the First World War, were obliged to refocus their activities around their foreign exchange exposures and that the management of foreign exchange issues contributed to a much tighter relationship between businesses, government, and business associations than had existed before the war and for which some aspects of Germany's system of corporate control were not well adapted to handle.     

加入WTO与我国银行市场营销的发展

加入WTO使我国原有的银行市场垄断格局被逐渐打破 ,市场被重新分割 ,客户被重新组合 ,并由此促进我国商业银行“营销致胜”理念的形成 ,加快中外资商业银行营销融合 ,改善我国银行营销环境 ,提升我国商业银行营销管理水平。     

银行监管的微观基础和战略监管体系选择

本探讨了银行监管的微观基础，认为在信息不对称以及银行业不完全竞争的作用下，银行业具有内在的不稳定性，需要外部监管力量的支撑来维护稳健经营，但是政府机构监管作为监管垄断力量会引发一系列新的道德危害从而导致监管失灵。中详细分析了各种重要的监管措施带来的正负影响，在此基础上提出监管的战略体系至少应当包括监管、激励结构、市场约束和公司治理。     

Development and efficiency of the banking sector in a transitional economy: Hungarian experience

The paper analyzes the experiences and developments of Hungarian banking sector during the transitional process from a centralized economy to a market-oriented system. The paper identifies that early reorganization initiatives, flexible approaches to privatization, and liberal policies towards foreign banks’ involvement with the domestic institutions helped to build a relatively stable and increasingly efficient banking system. Foreign banks and banks with higher foreign bank ownership involvement were associated with lower inefficiency.     

美国银行关联交易监管演变考及借鉴

美国对银行业对外关联关系监管经历从“状态限制”到“行为限制”的发展过程,其理论基础是基于对银行独立市场判断能力的维护。我国应借鉴美国经验,加强对银行业关联交易的立法和外部监管,强化商业银行的内部控制;在监管中要兼顾效率和公平,加大对非公允关联交易的处罚力度,并赋予监管者一定的自由裁量权;不断修改、完善监管制度。     

墨西哥银行业重组经验对我国银行业改革的启示

1991-2003年,墨西哥银行业先后经历了依靠内资的私有化改革阶段和依靠外资的自由化改革阶段,改革成效迥异。本文对其两个阶段改革过程和改革成效进行了较为深入的分析,指出从墨西哥改革经验来看,引入境外战略投资者比单纯依赖国内投资者更有利于银行业的发展,但同时也必须防范引进外资可能带来的负面影响。最后从引资目标、会计准则、产权制度、存款保险制度、法律环境等方面阐述了墨西哥银行业重组对我国银行业改革的启示。     

世界银行卡产业发展研究

随着全球经济的复苏和银行卡受理环境的改善,近年来世界银行卡产业保持着迅捷的增长势头,银行卡作为支付手段对现金和支票的替代作用也日益明显。本文从总量指标和人均指标两方面对当前世界主要国家和地区银行卡产业的交易状况进行了实证研究,分析了全球银行卡市场在区域和品牌上的分布结构,并对该产业近年来的发展趋势进行了总结与探讨。     

The Evidence on Product-Market Diversifying Acquisitions and Joint Ventures by U.S. Banks

We examine the acquisition and joint venture strategies of U.S. banks from 1980 to 1998 to diversify into non-banking sectors. We find that the market responds favorably to both types of expansions, with the gains being shared between acquiring banks and their targets and venture banks and their non-bank partners, respectively. Acquisitions expose acquiring banks to significant increases in nonsystematic, market, and total risk, while joint ventures result in significant decreases in the nonsystematic and total risk measures for participating banks. Our results suggest that product-market expansions, in general, provide U.S. banks with value-enhancing opportunities, and that joint ventures may improve both the return and risk characteristics of the partner banks.     

WTO financial services commitments: Determinants and impact on financial stability

The paper investigates the factors that have influenced WTO members to take on their chosen level of liberalization commitments in the framework of liberalization of trade in financial services and the impact of such commitments on financial sector stability. The most important factors are economic growth, current account, trends in banking sector development, policy restrictiveness, and peer-group effects. The econometric evidence suggests that more liberal commitments may be associated with greater vulnerability to currency and banking crises—most likely a short-term effect, which should be mitigated with time through increased market efficiency and better resource allocation.     

Announcement effects of bank mergers in Europe and the US

We investigate the announcement effect of large bank mergers in the European and US stock market. Cumulative abnormal returns are calculated on the basis of the performance vis-à-vis the market and a sector index. Mergers result in small positive abnormal returns. Target banks realize significantly higher returns than bidders. In many respects, there is a difference between the announcement effects of European bank mergers compared to those in the US.