CONTINGENT CAPITAL: INTEGRATING CORPORATE FINANCING AND RISK MANAGEMENT DECISIONS

Financial executives of companies that face a sharp increase in business or financial risks have two basic ways of protecting the solvency and strategic viability of their organizations: they can transfer those risks using insurance or derivatives; or they can raise additional capital, typically by issuing equity, to cushion the firm against the higher expected volatility. But CFOs now also have a third means of managing risk, known as "contingent capital," that effectively combines capital raising and risk management.
A contingent capital facility gives a company the right to raise capital after the realization of a loss arising from one or more specified risks, thus ensuring access to capital in potentially difficult times. For example, Swiss Re recently granted Michelin a five-year right to issue ten-year subordinated debt at a fixed spread over LIBOR, though only under conditions in which the tire maker expects its own earnings to be down. To the extent that it eliminates the need to keep more capital on the balance sheet, the use of such contingent capital has the potential to increase shareholder value by reducing a company's overall cost of capital. This article provides an introduction to some recent innovations in contingent capital, along with discussion of their role in integrating corporate finance and risk management.     

新资本协议下如何强化风险管理——访中国光大银行副行长李杰

金融危机引发了国际社会对现行监管框架的全面反思,不同国家、地区推出了一系列金融监管体制改革和监管框架改革的举措。尤其是在BASELⅢ公布之后,我国商业银行必须主动适应更加严格的监管标准,强化资本运用效率,不断提升风险管理水平。对此,主管风险防控的中国光大银行副行长李杰颇有体会。     

HUMAN CAPITAL AND LIFE-CYCLE EFFECTS ON RISK AVERSION

This paper provides additional evidence on life-cycle patterns of relative risk aversion, using spline functions generated on Consumer Expenditure Survey data. Human capital is hypothesized to affect relative risk aversion; age has been used in previous work as a proxy for human capital. The objective of this study is to determine whether there is a life-cycle pattern that is independent of the effect of human capital. The results suggest an affirmative answer. Moreover, this independent life-cycle pattern is the opposite of that estimated in a previous study that used age as a proxy.     

RISK MANAGEMENT AND INSURANCE FACULTY INTERNSHIPS

Abstract: The author examines the benefits of faculty internships including professional development and improved teaching skills. He also examines the ARIA internship program.     

BANK REGULATIONS,CAPITAL STRUCTURE,AND RISK

The joint influence of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) discount window credit and reserve requirements and FDIC's deposit insurance on a bank's optimal capital structure and asset risk choices is analyzed. The specific seniority of such regulatory claims, and potentially strong negative correlation between bank asset classes, significantly alters our traditional view of such regulatory influences on bank behavior. I find that the discount window's presence does not always prompt bank risk taking and leverage, but it does partially offset such incentives under certain conditions. In addition to its cost, a reserve requirement provides the bank with an indirect subsidy that may encourage deposit funding. Thus, regulatory reforms, such as the FDIC Improvement Act of 1991, which curtail banks' access to the discount window, may not always be appropriate to resolve a bank's incentive for moral hazard behavior. The Fed's presence needs to be more comprehensively examined to design effective regulatory policy.     

REAL OPTIONS AND CORPORATE RISK MANAGEMENT

By formulating an integrated strategy that combines the creation and exercise of real options together with other risk management techniques, management can reduce risk and thereby increase firm value. For example, a company that is in a position to delay investing without losing its competitive edge, to abandon a project that becomes unprofitable, or to adjust its operating strategy at low cost can avoid risks and exploit profitable opportunities. But, even when real options are used in this way to limit the risk profile of the firm, financial derivatives can help to hedge any residual risk that would otherwise affect the value of the real options and the overall firm.
An integrated risk management approach requires a careful process of diagnosing a company's risk exposure. First, management must decompose the company's risk exposure to understand the fundamental sources of risk. Second, the company's capacity to bear risk must be determined, which requires an understanding of why individual risks (if left unmanaged) would reduce the value of the firm. Third, different approaches for addressing risk should be explored, ranging from diversification to use of financial derivatives and other contracts to investing in (or exercising) a wide array of real options. Fourth, the firm must properly integrate the different risk management solutions to optimize its strategy.     

LIABILITY RISK MANAGEMENT AND CORPORATE SOCIAL PERFORMANCE

Reputations travel fast and far. Poor corporate citizenship anywhere in the world is increasingly likely to be reported everywhere in the world. Human rights abuses and environmental accidents and pollution have put many well-known companies on the defensive, and once in the spotlight, all actions tend to be carefully scrutinized.
Corporations risk losses due to fines and lawsuits stemming from poor citizenship, but even more significant is the potential loss of reputation—a significant portion of most companies' value. A damaged corporate reputation can hurt sales and damage employee morale.
The ensuing financial losses expose executives and boards of directors to shareholder derivative lawsuits for not having policies in place to protect the corporation from such scandals. As providers of liability insurance, insurance companies have a direct interest in these losses.
Corporate adoption of effective environmental and social accountability program—which are likely to prevent scandals in the first place, will limit the liability of corporations and their officers if a scandal does occur.     

信用风险对冲技术与我国商业银行的信用风险管理

信用风险过渡集中一直是摆在银行业面前的一大挑战.过去银行主要是运用风险分散的手段来降低资产组合的风险集中度.然而,单一的风险分散手段会导致银行业务小型化、运作成本增加和破坏银行的客户网络等弊端.90年代以后发展起来的信用风险对冲思想使这个难题得到部分解决.本文首先介绍了信用风险对冲技术的几个基本理论问题;在此基础上,重点探讨了信用风险对冲技术在我国商业银行运用的现实性;最后得出结论认为,信用风险对冲技术是一种对宏观环境、金融机构素质、监管机构水平要求很高的风险管理手段,完善以上各方面是该项技术为我国商业银行利用的前提条件.     

MODELING IMPERFECT KNOWLEDGE IN RISK MANAGEMENT AND INSURANCE

Abstract: The author examines the problems for risk managers associated with knowledge imperfections. He describes how fuzzy logic can be used to deal with situations when there is a lack of knowledge