Financial regulation is a subject that is more often than not regarded as distant and yet another level of bureaucracy that has to be endured by both the public and private sectors. The significance of creating and maintaining an efficient and effective system to regulate financial markets, financial institutions and financial service providers is a salient feature in the development of a country’s economic health. The recent global economic crises of 2007/2008 and the economic hurdles accompanying those events are perhaps the most dramatic instances of how necessary the implementation of efficient and effective financial regulation is. The international financial system has experienced a retinue of changes in the last two decades. One of the main challenges of financial regulators has been to keep abreast of as well as adapt to these changes, which are of an international nature. In a majority of countries, the financial sector is one of the most intensely regulated and supervised industries. Over a period of time, it has become evident that regulatory arrangements have a formidable impact on: i. The size, structure and efficiency of a financial system; ii. The business operations of financial institutions and markets; iii. Competitive conditions both overall and between sub-sectors of the system. The impact of regulation can either be stagnant or progressive; this depends on how the objectives of regulation are defined and how efficiently regulatory arrangements are related to their objectives. The issue at hand is to engage regulatory institutions, structures and mechanisms for supervision and enforcement need to be implemented because they are pertinent to the formal regulatory requirements in the overall regulatory regime. Effective financial regulation would be unable to exert its objectives in the absence of efficient supervision and enforcement. In numerous countries the institutional structure of regulation has experienced change or is in the process of change. Different models of institutional structure are availed such as the single/consolidated model, the twin-peak model and the multiple regulator model. For example, the United Kingdom has embraced the single/consolidated regulator model while Australia has employed the twin-peak regulator model. Kenya operates on the multiple regulator model. This report addresses the role of financial regulators in the Kenyan economy. The objectives of the research are to: Provide comprehensive information about the theory and practice of financial regulation; Identify the financial regulators in Kenya and define their roles; Address the issue of multiple regulators and the duplicity of roles; Discuss international trends in regulation and examine different regulatory regimes; Consider the viability of a single/consolidated regulatory regime in Kenya; Suggest a possible future regulatory regime for Kenya and identify the key issues associated with such a regime; Suggest areas for further investigation and research.The approach of this report will constitute the following: Chapter 1 discusses the rationale for the research, objectives, scope and scale of the research, preliminary literature review and the research methods to be employed. Chapter 2 focuses on financial regulatory systems in general as well as an extensive analysis of financial regulators in Kenya. Chapter 3 combines the research methods employed and also contains a comparative analysis of the regulatory regime. Chapter 4 examines the findings of the research, the lessons learnt and the regulatory responses. Chapter 5 includes recommendations towards improvement of regulatory systems and an executive summary of outstanding policy issues and priorities in Kenyan financial regulation.

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This diploma thesis deals with taxation of financial institutions with focus on banking sector in the Czech Republic. The aim is to analyze effective tax rate of the Czech banks, define issues that might have influenced the evolution of the effective tax rate and make comparison with effective tax rate of other Czech corporations and European banks. The first chapter characterizes financial institutions, development of taxation of the financial sector and briefly describes the global financial crises. In the next chapter specifics of the value added tax and corporate income tax are described from the point of view of the financial institutions according to the Czech law followed by description of the financial transactions tax and financial activities tax. In the third chapter is analyzed effective tax rate of the Czech banks for period from 2007 to 2014 based on data gained from annual reports of the analyzed banks. Data for comparison of the effective rates of Czech and European banks were gained from the database S&P Capital IQ. In the conclusion of the thesis are analyzed reasons that might have caused changes in the effective tax rate in the banking sector.

This work deals with the insurance of the banking products, i.e. with the insurance products, which explicitly insure or are closely connected to some banking product. Therefore, an interaction of banking and insurance activities is present in this area of insurance. The overview of both of the financial institutions' activities opens this thesis in order to explain the interaction between the activities of banks and insurance companies. Possible ways of integration of this interaction, which allowed increased efficiency, follow the opening introduction. Bancassurance as a way of selling insurance through banks is explained in a separate part. After a short overview of the banking products, the thesis is completed by the analysis of the key insurances of them.

The diploma thesis focuses on the financial institutions taxation. First part provides the analysis reasons for taxation and against taxation of financial institutions. Taxation of financial institutions in the Czech republic is analysed as well. Next chapter deals with theoretical concept of bank tax from J.M.Keynes and J.Tobina. This chapter is accompanied by the analysis of the bank tax variants. The third chapter topic is about the implementation of the financial transaction tax in the European Union. The end of diploma thesis deals with analysis of the bank tax in Great Britan, Sweden, Brazil and France.

The Thesis analyses the impact that humanly devised institutions, defined as “formal and informal constraints on political, economic, and social interactions”, have on international trade and the patterns comparative advantage. The key assumption of the Thesis is that although institutions impact on the whole economy they may influence some sectors more than others. Industry‘s dependence on institutions is a technological feature of production. Hence, for example, industries that require a large number of intermediate inputs for production will be more dependent on the quality of contract enforcement regulation for their growth. The Thesis analyses 4 different sub-components of institutional quality: contract enforcement, financial development, property rights and labour market institutions. The Thesis’ hypotheses regarding each of these sub-components are as follows: 1. Countries with more efficient contract enforcement regulations will specialize (have a comparative advantage) in more complex sectors that depend on contracts with suppliers/producers for their growth.2. Countries with more secure property rights will specialize in sectors that are more dependent on intangible assets for production.3. Countries with higher financial development will have a comparative advantage in sectors that are more dependent on external finance for their growth.4. Countries with more flexible labour markets will specialize in more volatile industries. In order to test these assumptions we construct three econometric models (Chapters 4-6). In Chapter 4 we assess how contract enforcement regulations, financial development, property rights and labour market institutions impact on trade volumes using a well-known gravity model. In Chapter 5 we test whether these sub-components have an impact on growth of value-added at industry level. Finally, in chapter 6 the impact on firms’ productivity is tested. The results show that contract enforcement regulations and financial development affect countries’ comparative advantage by affecting countries trade flows, value-added and productivity in a way consistent with the hypothesis. The results regarding the other two institutional sub-components are mixed but we do find some evidence the countries with more secure property rights export more and have higher value-added growth in sectors that are more dependent on intangible assets. These results are robust to different specifications. Using a novel set of instrumental variables we show that causality runs from institutions to trade, value-added and productivity rather than the reverse. We supplement the empirical evidence with a case-study of Lesotho’s textiles and garment industry and also find some evidence that this export-oriented industry emerged in Lesotho at least partly due to this country’s good institutions that are better than its African competitors. From a policy perspective our results imply that institutional and regulatory reform - especially in enforcement of contracts and financial sector regulations - may enhance the capacity of poor countries to move up to specialization into higher-valued products and to reap benefits from international integration.

M.B.A. / Assessment of the service quality in the banking sector is necessary to obtain general performance result for both bankers and customers. Barclays presence in Mauritius dates back to 1919, and since that time the Bank has played a key role in the expansion of business on the island. Barclays currently holds a sixteen percent market share with the two local banks Mauritius Commercial Bank and State Bank Mauritius dominating their presence with a forty percent and thirty percent market share respectively. Barclays Bank Sub Sahara Africa has recently embarked on a major customer service revolution. This study attempted to examine any significant gaps between actual methods used to measure service quality within Barclays Bank Mauritius and empirically tested models in service quality and suggest how service can be better measured at Barclays by measuring service areas where significant gaps are identified between actual methods and empirically tested models. Models have been developed to find measure and assess the determinants of service quality. The works of Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988, 1991, and 1994) led to the development of a service quality model (SERVQUAL) which is the result of a comparison of the expectations and perceptions of customers regarding a particular service and this model is used in this study. In view of improving customer service, Barclays Bank has been involved in a number of customer service surveys. For the purpose of this study, the researcher has used the results of existing surveys collected from 250 customers of Barclays in Mauritius. In addition, primary data was randomly collected in Mauritius at the main branch which is located in Port-Louis and a sample total sample size of 120 of which 60 were customers and 60 Barclay’s staff. iv Existing surveys shows that service is on the decline within Barclays Banks Mauritius. An overall gap of -1.2, performance (P) is less than expectation (E), showed that customers are dissatisfied with the overall level of service offered by Barclays Bank in Mauritius. An overall service gap of -1.04, performance (P) is less than expectation (E), showed that staff are dissatisfied with the overall level of service offered by Barclays Bank in Mauritius. Four new service dimensions were extracted from the customer data and six new service dimensions from the employee data which confirms that there is significant difference between customer and staff service dimensions at Barclays Bank Mauritius. Both the exiting surveys done by external researchers and the data in this study have the same overall conclusion, that is, service quality at Barclays Bank Mauritius is on the decline. Hence, no significant difference between theory and practice of customer service satisfaction at Barclays Bank Mauritius. A starting point to get service right within an organization has to start with the service providers themselves, all too often organizations steam ahead with service initiatives and campaigns but do not have the support and buy in of their staff. This study concludes that if employees are not properly equipped and motivated, service quality is adversely affected. Training is of prime importance to assist the company in increasing the level of service. Areas of further research has been identified for other industries in the country, banks and other institutions in the region and internationally.

This thesis deals with the financial system of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The main area of interest are economic characteristics of the country, important sectors of the british economy, economic condition, and recession, which was started by the financial crisis. The thesis also concentrates on the very structure of the financial system of United Kingdom. The major part is mainly focused on financial institutions, specifically on the banking sector, including its historical development. In this thesis are described troubles of banking institutions after the outbreak of the financial crisis, also are described origins of these problems, their impact on the financial system and a many of measures that had to be established because of ensuring stabilization and protection of the brithis financial system. This thesis also deals with the insurance sector and british financial markets. The conclusion of this thesis describes the regulation and supervision in the United Kingdom and upcoming reform that will significantly changes the current structure of british regulation, the main aim is increased efficiency and prevent from repeating mistakes of the past.

El propósito de la investigación ha sido desarrollar las metodologías correspondientes a la valoración de organizaciones empresariales de tipo financiero, debido a que no existe un método definido para valorar a este tipo de instituciones. En el mercado existe una gran variedad de métodos de valoración, algunos de ellos no libres de dificultades en su aplicación práctica. Sin embargo, hay métodos que pueden ser adecuados para valorar a las entidades del sistema financiero, como el Flujo de caja para el accionista (Free Cash Flow Equity), que representa el valor de las acciones; y el Método de flujo de dividendos descontados (DDM por sus siglas en inglés: Dividen Discount Model), que es el precio de la acción de una compañía en función de los dividendos que va a repartir en el futuro; también se analiza el método de descuento de flujos, que literalmente es una de las metodologías menos complicadas; y, finalmente el método de Valorización de Utilidades Retenidas. Estos métodos de valoración permiten al inversionista estimar el valor; y, de esa manera, tomar una adecuada decisión de inversión. / The purpose of the research is to develop the methodologies corresponding to the valuation of business organizations of a financial type, because there is no established method for valuing this type of institutions. In the market there is a wide variety of valuation methods, some of them not free of difficulties in their practical application. However, there are methods that may be suitable for valuing the entities of the financial system, such as the Free Cash Flow Equity, which represents the value of the shares; and the Discounted Dividend Flow Method (DDM), which is the price of a company's stock based on the dividends it will distribute in the future; The flow discount method is also analyzed, which is literally one of the least complicated methodologies; and, finally, the method of Valorization of Retained Utilities. These valuation methods allow the investor to estimate the value; and, in that way, make an appropriate investment decision. / Trabajo de Suficiencia Profesional

"In Africa non-state actors (NSAs) are causing an alarming concern with the destruction of the environment and indigenous communities in the name of development; such environmental degradation leaves indigenous or economically marginalized groups in an unsatisfactory environment to their health, standard of living and basic necessitites of life and the land for future development. In most instances, the host country does not get good value from the vast amount of resource extraction. In other words, this kind of investment does not benefit the affected people; rather, it transfers a country's resources outside. In the end the poor pays for the lust of the rich. In some cases, African governments are simply not interested in the impact of the activities of NSAs on the people as they personally benefit from their presence due to corruption. As a result, it is correct to note that 'the local partners (African governments)' are selling indigenous communities on for their personal gain. In spite of the fact that some of these African countries have strong environmental laws in operation, they are often unwilling to force NSAs to comply with environmental rights and labour standards since they badly need the investment and capital that NSAs bring into their economies. Some of these NSAs pressurise national governments and even threaten them with lawsuits to open their doors for them. Others completely close down and relocate in order to blackmail the governments to follow through on the permits after exploration had started. Globalisation and an increase in international trade have joined with the growth of the human rights movement. These dual trends have cast an increasing attention on the role that NSAs play in environmental rights violation throughout the Sub-Saharan African region. The criitical issue in this period of globalisation, and which is also a challenge to it, is the liability and social responsibility of NSAs in times of violation of enviornmental rights, since today they figure prominently within the human rights field. Most of their activities are not in accordance with national or international environmental standards. While NSAs enjoy sovereign immunity within local jurisdictions, primary responsibility lies with states, which in most cases, are held liable for wrongful acts committed by NSAs, since they are regarded as the ultimate guardian of the welfare of their populations. As state authority declines, NSAs play a direct and indirect role in a wide range of environmental human rights violations, and this has now led to a point where there is a need to attach more concrete obligations to them. The thesis provides a framework with which th NSAs can be held directly and indirectly accountable for their role in fuelling the instability in the Sub-Saharan African region. The purpose of the thesis is to determine the approaches or guidelines that can be followed in order to ensure that NSAs behave appropriately in host states in realisation of the right to development by preserving the harmonious environment that local communities are entitled to. The creation of a viable and sustainable environment for everyone is of paramount importance in today's society." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2003. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM