Download or read book Conflicts of Interest in the Financial Services Industry written by Andrew Crockett and published by Centre for Economic Policy Research. This book was released on 2003 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fifth report in this series focuses on conflicts of interest that arise when a firm combines multiple lines of business, creating multiple interests. Conflicts between research and underwriting in investment banking and between auditing and consulting in accounting firms are investigated, as are the problems that arise from rating agencies providing consulting services and from universal banks combining commercial and investment banking. In the recent stock market collapse, confidence in the financial industry was shaken by numerous scandals. Beginning with Enron in 2001, scandals brought about the demise of prominent financial figures, damaged the reputation of premiere firms and destroyed the global accounting giant Arthur Andersen. Central to this crisis was the exploitation of conflicts of interest. Research analysts at investment banks were found to be distorting information at the behest of underwriting departments eager to promote new issues. Auditors appeared to sanction misleading accounting in order to gain business for the consulting side of their firms. Policy response in the United States was quick. Large fines were levied and regulators compelled the separation of financial security function, constraining financial conglomerates. But are these new regulations and safeguards adequate protection? What costs do they impose on the industry? This fifth title in the ICMP/CEPR series of Geneva Reports on the World Economy examines the problem of conflicts of interest in the financial system. Conflicts of interest lead to a decrease in information that makes it harder for the system to provide savers wit the accurate, essential information that induces them to provide credit to borrowers. This study focuses on conflicts of interest that arise when a firm combines multiple lines of business, creating multiple interests. Conflicts between research and underwriting in investment banking and between auditing and consulting in accounting firms are investigated, as are the problems that arise from rating agencies providing consulting services and from universal banks combining commercial and investment banking. Determining the appropriate remedy for a conflict is a challenge because the elimination of conflicts may also eliminate benefits from economies of scope. This study examines five generic remedies: market discipline, regulation for increased transparency, supervisory oversight, separation of financial activities by function, and socialization of the collection and distribution of information. The authors apply this framework to assess critically the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Global Settlement between American regulators and investment banks.

Download or read book Conflict of Interest in Universal Banking written by Hedva Ber and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using a unique newly constructed data set on Israeli IPO firms in the 1990s, we study costs and benefits of universal banking. The post-issue accounting profitability of firms underwritten by bank affiliated underwriters that were also borrowers from the same bank in the IPO year, is significantly better than average. This is interpreted as evidence that universal banks use their superior information regarding underwritten firms to float the cherries, not the lemons. We also find, however, that the stock price performance of these firms during the first year following the IPO is lower than average. Furthermore, among these firms, the stock price performance of firms whose equity was purchased by an investment fund that is affiliated with the underwriting and lending bank is even lower. We also compute first day returns for the IPO stocks. The first year underperformance is interpreted as IPO overpricing, which is consistent with the first day returns. Thus, bank managed funds pay too much for bank underwritten IPOs at the expense of the investors in the funds. We conclude that there is conflict of interest in the combination of bank lending, underwriting, and fund management. Although universal banks use their superior information regarding underwritten firms to float the cherries, investors in bank managed funds end up paying too much for the equity of these firms.

Download or read book Conflict of Interest in Universal Banking and Price Stabilization in IPOs written by Antonio Gledson De Carvalho and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We investigate the effect of conflict of interest in universal banking on the price stabilization in IPOs and their short-term returns. We find that loan-based conflict increases the probability of the issue being stabilized but not on the intensity of the stabilization. We do not find evidence that loan based conflict do not bear consequences on pricing. Equity-based conflict increases the probability of the issue being fully overalloted and being stabilized, and increases the intensity of the stabilization. Equity-conflicted IPOs do not underperform non-stabilized ones during the stabilization period. For the post-stabilization period, returns on equity-conflicted IPOs are 8-9% lower than on non-conflicted ones. Evidence suggests that underwriters use price stabilization to disguise such overpricing. This has policy implication because it shows that universal banks can behave opportunistically and harm investors when there is opportunity for it. We also contribute to the price stabilization literature by showing that the three decisions involved in price stabilization (overallotment, repurchase of share and intensity of repurchase) has distinct determinants.

Download or read book Conflict of Interest in Universal Banking written by Hedva Ber and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Conflict of Interest in Universal Banking Evidence from Brazilian IPOs written by Antonio Gledson De Carvalho and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We investigate conflict of interest in universal banking through IPO short run-returns. Two of the main obstacles to detect mispricing in IPOs are the price stabilization performed by the underwriter that can distort secondary market prices and the absence of data on the ex-ante demand for the offering. In this article we take advantage of a Brazilian institutional feature that forces the underwriter to disclosure information on the price stabilization process and on the ex-ante demand for the offering. We found no evidence for mispricing for the cases in which the underwriter lends money to a firm and later on underwrites its IPOs. Things are different when the underwriter buys equity: for the stabilization period, there is no evidence of mispricing. However, for the post-stabilization period, there is evidence. Returns for equity-conflicted IPOs in the post stabilization are 8-9% lower than for non-conflicted ones. Evidence suggests that underwriters use price stabilization to disguise such overpricing. This has policy implication because it shows that universal banks can behave opportunistically and harm investors when there is opportunity for it.

Download or read book Conflict of Interest in Universal Banking written by Hedva Ber and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Conflict of Interest in the Issuance of Public Securities written by Paul A. Gompers and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 45 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this paper we investigate potential conflicts of interest in the issuance of public securities in a setting analogous to a universal bank, i.e., the underwriting of initial public offerings by investment banks that hold equity in a firm through a venture capital subsidiary. We contrast two hypotheses. Under anticipate the conflict. The suggests that investment banks are able to utilize superior information when they underwrite securities. The evidence supports the rational discounting hypothesis. Initial public offerings that are underwritten by affiliated investment banks perform as well or better than issues of firms in which none of the investment banks held a prior equity position. Investors do, however, require a greater discount at the offering to compensate for potential adverse selection. We also provide evidence that investment bank-affiliated venture firms address the potential conflict by investing in and subsequently underwriting less information-sensitive issues. Our evidence provides no support for the prohibitions on universal banking instituted by the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933.

Download or read book Conflict of Interest in the Issuance of Public Securities written by Paul Alan Gompers and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this paper we investigate potential conflicts of interest in the issuance of public securities in a setting analogous to a universal bank, i.e., the underwriting of initial public offerings by investment banks that hold equity in a firm through a venture capital subsidiary. We contrast two hypotheses. Under anticipate the conflict. The suggests that investment banks are able to utilize superior information when they underwrite securities. The evidence supports the rational discounting hypothesis. Initial public offerings that are underwritten by affiliated investment banks perform as well or better than issues of firms in which none of the investment banks held a prior equity position. Investors do, however, require a greater discount at the offering to compensate for potential adverse selection. We also provide evidence that investment bank-affiliated venture firms address the potential conflict by investing in and subsequently underwriting less information-sensitive issues. Our evidence provides no support for the prohibitions on universal banking instituted by the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933

Download or read book Conflict of Interest and Reputation in the Issuance of Public Securities written by Paul A. Gompers and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this paper we investigate potential conflicts of interest in the issuance of public securities in a setting analogous to a universal bank, i.e., the underwriting of initial public offerings by investment banks that hold equity in a firm through a venture capital subsidiary. We contrast two hypotheses. Under quot;rational discounting,quot; all market participants fully anticipate the conflict. The quot;naive investorquot; hypothesis suggests that investment banks are able to utilize superior information when they underwrite securities. The evidence supports the rational discounting hypothesis. Initial public offerings that are underwritten by affiliated investment banks perform as well or better than issues of firms in which none of the investment banks held a prior equity position. Investors do, however, require a greater discount at the offering to compensate for potential adverse selection. We also provide evidence that investment bank-affiliated venture firms address the potential conflict by investing in and subsequently underwriting less information-sensitive issues. Our evidence provides no support for the prohibitions on universal banking instituted by the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933.

Download or read book Banking written by and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Taming the Megabanks written by Arthur E. Wilmarth Jr and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020 with total page 601 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Banks were allowed to enter securities markets and become universal banks during two periods in the past century - the 1920s and the late 1990s. Both times the ensuing unsustainable booms led to destructive busts - the Great Depression of the early 1930s and the Global Financial Crisis of2007-09. Both times, universal banks made high-risk loans and packaged them into securities that were sold as safe investments to poorly-informed investors. Both times, governments were forced to arrange costly bailouts.Congress passed the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 in response to the Great Depression. The Act broke up universal banks and established a decentralized financial system composed of three separate and independent sectors: banking, securities, and insurance. That system was stable and successful for overfour decades until the big-bank lobby persuaded regulators to open loopholes in Glass-Steagall during the 1980s and convinced Congress to repeal it in 1999.In Taming the Megabanks, Arthur Wilmarth, Jr. argues that we must separate banks from securities markets again to avoid another devastating financial crisis and ensure that our financial system serves Main Street business firms and consumers instead of Wall Street bankers and speculators. Wilmarth'scomprehensive and detailed analysis of the roles played by universal banks in the two worst financial catastrophes of the past century demonstrates that a new Glass-Steagall Act would make our financial system much more stable and less likely to produce boom-and-bust cycles. And giant universalbanks would no longer dominate our financial system or receive enormous subsidies.Congress did not adopt a new Glass-Steagall Act after the Global Financial Crisis. Instead, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act. Dodd-Frank's highly technical reforms tried to make banks safer but left the dangerous universal banking system in place. Universal banks continue to pose unacceptablerisks to financial stability and economic and social welfare. They exert far too much influence over our political and regulatory systems because of their immense size and their undeniable "too-big-to-fail" status.Taming the Megabanks forcefully makes the case for a a new Glass-Steagall Act to break up universal banks. A more decentralized and competitive system of independent banks and securities firms would not only provide better service to Main Street businesses and ordinary consumers but also bringstability to a volatile financial system.

Download or read book Universal Banking in the United States written by Anthony Saunders and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1994-01-06 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1933 and 1956, the United States sharply limited the kinds of securities activities, commercial activities, and insurance activities banks could engage in. The regulations imposed on banks back then remain in place despite profound changes in the economic environment, in the structure of the national and international financial markets, and in technology. In this span of time many industries, especially those confronting global competition, have transformed themselves dramatically in their efforts to survive and prosper. Not so in the American financial services sector, banks have largely remained stuck in an antiquated regulatory structure which has placed the burden of responding to the needs of market-driven structural change on the shoulders of the regulators and the courts in a constant search for loopholes in the law. The purpose of this book is to evaluate the case for and against eliminating the barriers that have so long existed between banking and other types of financial services in the United States. Universal Banking in the United States studies the consequences of bank regulation in the U.S. as it relates to competition in international financial markets. Anthony Saunders and Ingo Walter examine universal banking systems in other countries, especially Germany, Switzerland, and the U.K., and how they work. They then apply the lessons to U.S. banking, paying particular attention to the benchmarks of stability, equity, efficiency, and competitiveness against which the performance of national financial systems should be measured. In the end, the authors propose the outlines of a level playing field on which any number of forms of organization can grow in the financial services sector, in which universal banking is one of the permitted structures, and where regulation is linked to function.

Download or read book A Practitioner s Guide to Conflicts of Interest in the Financial Services Industry written by Dick Frase and published by Sweet & Maxwell. This book was released on 2012 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title examines in a practical manner the complex law and regulations that now exist in the United Kingdom, the United States of America and various other important jurisdictions concerning the concept of conflicts of interest and how the principles have been applied in the financial services industry

Download or read book Conflict of Interest in Global Public and Corporate Governance written by Anne Peters and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-11-29 with total page 489 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Conflict of interest occurs at all levels of governance, ranging from local to global, both in the public and the corporate and financial spheres. There is increasing awareness that conflicts of interest may distort decision-making processes and generate inappropriate outcomes, thereby undermining the functioning of public institutions and markets. However, the current worldwide trend towards regulation, which seeks to forestall, prevent and manage conflicts of interest, has its price. Drawbacks may include the stifling of decision-making processes, the loss of expertise among decision-makers and a vicious circle of distrust. This interdisciplinary and international book addresses specific situations of conflict of interest in different spheres of governance, particularly in global, public and corporate governance.

Download or read book Handbook of International Banking written by A. W. Mullineux and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2003-01-01 with total page 830 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'The Handbook is especially recommended to MBA students and faculty and belongs in the reference collections of academic and research libraries. Although each chapter may serve as a self-contained unit, readers will want to look at the larger picture by comparing and contrasting articles found in each part of the work. It should prove to be a helpful source for those studying international banking, economics and finance, and international business.' – Lucy Heckman, American Reference Books Annual 2004 The Handbook of International Banking provides a clearly accessible source of reference material, covering the main developments that reveal how the internationalization and globalization of banking have developed over recent decades to the present, and analyses the creation of a new global financial architecture. The Handbook is the first of its kind in the area of international banking with contributions from leading specialists in their respective fields, often with remarkable experience in academia or professional practice. The material is provided mainly in the form of self-contained surveys, which trace the main developments in a well-defined topic, together with specific references to journal articles and working papers. Some contributions, however, disseminate new empirical findings especially where competing paradigms are evaluated. The Handbook is divided into four areas of interest. The first deals with the globalization of banking and continues on to banking structures and functions. The authors then focus on banking risks, crises and regulation and finally the evolving international financial architecture. Designed to serve as a source of supplementary reading and inspiration, the Handbook is suited to a range of courses in banking and finance including post-experience and in-house programmes for bankers and other financial services practitioners. This outstanding volume will become essential reference for policymakers, financial practitioners as well as academics and researchers in the field.

Download or read book Universal Banking and the Performance of German Firms written by Gary Gorton and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Universal banking is an alternative mechanism to a stock market for risk-sharing, for providing information for guiding investment, and for contesting corporate governance. In Germany, where the stock market has historically been small, banks hold equity stakes in firms and have proxy voting rights over other agents' shares. In addition, banks lend to firms and have representatives on corporate boards. If a banking relationship is a substitute for the stock market, then interaction with a bank should improve the performance of firms. But, if banks have private information about firms that they lend to and have monopolistic control over access to external capital markets, then bank interests may conflict with those of other equityholders, especially those whose shares are voted by the banks in proxy. We empirically investigate the influence of banks on the performance of German firms taking account of banks' equity holdings, the extent of banks' proxy voting rights, and the ownership structure of the firms' equity. We test for conflicts-of-interest in bank behavior and ask whether the relationship between banks and firms has changed between the 1970s and 1980s.

Download or read book Risk Management written by Michael Frenkel and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2005-12-06 with total page 842 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dealing with all aspects of risk management that have undergone significant innovation in recent years, this book aims at being a reference work in its field. Different to other books on the topic, it addresses the challenges and opportunities facing the different risk management types in banks, insurance companies, and the corporate sector. Due to the rising volatility in the financial markets as well as political and operational risks affecting the business sector in general, capital adequacy rules are equally important for non-financial companies. For the banking sector, the book emphasizes the modifications implied by the Basel II proposal. The volume has been written for academics as well as practitioners, in particular finance specialists. It is unique in bringing together such a wide array of experts and correspondingly offers a complete coverage of recent developments in risk management.