Objectives: 1) Describe relationships between student pharmacists’ personal finance perceptions and projected post-graduation indebtedness; 2) Examine the association between personal finance perceptions, demographic characteristics, and post-PharmD career intentions. Method: Student cohorts at two colleges of pharmacy (N= 226) completed a self-administered 39-item questionnaire assessing personal finance perceptions, behaviors, student loan indebtedness, and post-PharmD career intentions. Parametric and nonparametric independent t-test and one-way ANOVA equivalents, and logistic regression techniques were used to examine differences across and relationships between study variables. Results: A 73% usable response rate was obtained. On average, students anticipate $169,323 (± $81,641) in post-graduation student loan debt and expect to pay off debt in 8.0 (± 6.4) years. Over 75% of students feel pressured to get out of debt upon graduation and 55% have a plan for debt repayment. Projected student loan debt did not differ across students who anticipate pursuing postgraduate training versus those planning to enter practice directly. However, students intending to directly enter practice were 2.6 times as likely to indicate debt influences their post-PharmD career plans compared to individuals intending to pursue postgraduate training (p=0.001). Students intending to practice in community pharmacy settings were 3.3 times as likely to indicate debt influences their post-PharmD career plans compared to individuals planning to enter all other practice settings (pImplications: Our study adds to recent literature exploring the relationship between student indebtedness and career decision-making. Further research is warranted to explore interventions that foster increased personal finance self-awareness in student pharmacists and minimize student indebtedness.

The significant problem addressed in this research was the increasing default rate among federal student loan borrowers who attended non-degree-granting proprietary colleges in Florida (i.e., career and technical colleges). The purpose of this study was to identify, better understand, and predict which borrower characteristics increased the likelihood of student loan default at proprietary non-degree-granting colleges. The research was based on the structural-functional and planned behavior theories and utilized a quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional design to explore the relationship between academic success, age, college graduation status, ethnicity, gender, high school class ranking, and federal student loan default. Self-reported data were obtained from students who attended private, for-profit, less than 2-year colleges in Florida. To determine which student borrower characteristics predicted an increase in the likelihood that borrowers would default on their student loan payments, one hypothesis was proposed to evaluate six borrower characteristics. Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the statistical relationships and found that academic success, age, and gender were statistically significant in predicting student loan default among students who attended private, for-profit, less than 2-year colleges in Florida. This study may facilitate positive social change by aiding educational institutions in identifying at-risk borrower characteristics and by providing various default prevention strategies that could be incorporated into specific counseling messages to reduce future student loan defaults and lower institutional cohort default ratings.

The performance of financial institutions is significantly influenced by the actions of loan officers. The process by which lending decisions are made is therefore of critical interest to management, shareholders, and regulators alike. Indeed, the drain on bank capital that has often accompanied credit quality problems in the past has encouraged the search for new approaches towards the management of lending and related activities. / This thesis seeks to examine whether existing governance and incentive techniques found in banks are sufficiently comprehensive in guiding loan decision-making. In the context of lending to the corporate sector, the study investigates the endogenous and exogenous influences surrounding the lending role, and assesses the implications for how loan officers are monitored, evaluated, and motivated to act in a financial institution’s best interests. / By first developing an expanded model that conceptualizes the loan offer function, and then grounding this framework within a business cycle context, the study demonstrates the potential for governance and reward systems, that are constant through time, to have variable outcomes/effects. Support for this hypothesis is provided based on publicly available financial market information and other material gathered from private sources. A proposal is then advanced for the development of a management information system that identifies changes in credit standards being applied, thereby enabling banks to benchmark and influence loan officer performance in the context of cyclically changing attitudes to risk and the effects on negotiating power.

The performance of financial institutions is significantly influenced by the actions of loan officers. The process by which lending decisions are made is therefore of critical interest to management, shareholders, and regulators alike. Indeed, the drain on bank capital that has often accompanied credit quality problems in the past has encouraged the search for new approaches towards the management of lending and related activities. / This thesis seeks to examine whether existing governance and incentive techniques found in banks are sufficiently comprehensive in guiding loan decision-making. In the context of lending to the corporate sector, the study investigates the endogenous and exogenous influences surrounding the lending role, and assesses the implications for how loan officers are monitored, evaluated, and motivated to act in a financial institution’s best interests. / By first developing an expanded model that conceptualizes the loan offer function, and then grounding this framework within a business cycle context, the study demonstrates the potential for governance and reward systems, that are constant through time, to have variable outcomes/effects. Support for this hypothesis is provided based on publicly available financial market information and other material gathered from private sources. A proposal is then advanced for the development of a management information system that identifies changes in credit standards being applied, thereby enabling banks to benchmark and influence loan officer performance in the context of cyclically changing attitudes to risk and the effects on negotiating power.

<p> </p><p><p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p></p><strong><strong><p>Titel:</p><p><strong>Datum: </strong>16/1-2009</p><p><strong>Ämne/kurs: </strong>Företagsekonomi, C-uppsats i redovisning, 15 p</p><p><strong>Författare: </strong>Hanna Ekdahl, Gabriel Oktay, Tigran Zacharjan</p><p><strong>Handledare: </strong>Ann Wetterlind Dörner</p><p><strong>Bakgrund och problem: </strong></p><p>När banker lånar ut pengar tar de av de medel som kunder satt in på banken. För att skydda kunder måste banken ha en viss kapitaltäckning. På grund av behov av en mer anpassad riskkänslighet har nya kapitaltäckningsregler i form av Basel II tagits fram. Genom dessa regler samt ett internationellt anpassat regelverk vill vi undersöka hur banker värderar och hanterar sina lånefordringar.</p><p>De frågeställningar som vi besvarar i uppsatsen är:</p><p> Hur värderar banker sina lånefordringar och hur hanteras de risker som en lånefordran för med sig?</p><p> Hur har Basel II bidragit till en bättre riskhantering av lånefordringar?</p><p> Är det skillnad nu när det råder lågkonjunktur?</p><strong><strong><p>Syfte:</p><p>Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur banker värderar och hanterar sina lånefordringar när Basel II har börjat gälla. Vi vill också ta reda på om det blir någon förändring under rådande lågkonjunktur.</p><p><strong>Metod: </strong></p><p>Genom tre semistrukturerade intervjuer har en kvalitativ undersökning genomförts. Intervjuerna som gjordes var med Handelsbanken, KPMG och Finansinspektionen. Valet av respondenter är baserade på att få en bred syn på våra frågeställningar.</p><p><strong>Slutsatser: </strong></p><p>Vid utgivning av ett lån är det återbetalningsförmågan som är det mest centrala. Beroende på hur det ekonomiska läget är i företaget som banken har utgivit en kredit till görs sedan en uppföljning av krediten med olika tidsintervall. En tätare uppföljning kan till exempel gälla utsatta branscher under lågkonjunkturen. I övrigt är det inte någon större förändring av hanteringen av lånefordringar under konjunkturnedgången. Om det finns ett behov av att skriva ned en lånefordran krävs ett objektivt belägg som är varaktigt. Ett tredje kriterium som måste uppfyllas är att banken ska riskera att förlora pengar. Lånefordran skrivs sedan ned med hänsyn till säkerhetens värde. Implementeringen av Basel II är inte klar ännu men förändringar har skett. Fler parametrar vägs in för att öka riskkänsligheten. Räntan har diversifierats och banker jobbar mot de avancerade verktygen som finns i regelverket.</p></strong></strong></strong>Krediter – En studie om hur banker hanterar och värderar sina lånefordringar</strong></p> / <p><strong><p>Title:</p><p>Credits - a study about how banks handle and evaluates their loan requirements</p><p><strong>Date: </strong>16/1-2009</p><p><strong>Course: </strong>Business Economics<strong>, </strong>Candidate essay, major accounting, 15 p <strong>Authors: </strong>Hanna Ekdahl, Gabriel Oktay, Tigran Zacharjan</p><p><strong>Advisor: </strong>Ann Wetterlind Dörner</p><p><strong>Background and problem: </strong>When banks give out credits they take of the means that customers place in the bank. In order to protect customers, the bank has to have certain capital coverage. Because of the need of tailored tools that are more risk aware, new capital coverage rules in the form of Basel II have been developed. Through these rules and an international tailored legislation we want to examine how banks evaluate and handle their loan requirements.</p><p>The questions that we answer in this essay are:</p></strong></p><p> How do banks evaluate their loan requirements and how do they handle the risks that a loan requirement brings?</p><p> How has Basel II contributed to a better risk handling of loan requirements?</p><p> Is there any difference when we are experiencing recession?</p><p><strong><p>Purpose:</p><p>The purpose with the essay is to examine how banks evaluates and handles their loan requirements when Basel II has begun to apply. We also want to examine the differences in a state of recession.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong></p><p>Through three semi-structured interviews, a qualitative survey has been implemented. The interviews has been addressed to Handelsbanken, KPMG and Finansinspektionen. The choice of respondents is based on the ambition of getting a broad view on our issues.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong></p><p>The most central requirement during credit give outs is the repayment ability. Depending on how the economic situation is in the company that takes the credit, a follow-up with different intervals are done. A more frequent follow-up can for example concern exposed sectors during recession. In other respect, there is no bigger change of the handling of loan requirements during recession. If there is a need of writing down a loan the requirements are an objective proof that is permanent. A third criterion is that the bank is experiencing a risk of losing funds. Loan requirement is writhed down with regard of the security's value. The implementation of Basel II is yet not finished but already changes are taking form. More parameters are weighed in, in order to increase the risk sensitivity. The interest has been diversified and banks are working toward the more advanced tools that are in the legislation.</p></strong></p>

The purpose of this thesis is to study how names for phenomena in Swedish society are expressed in Finnish language newspaper texts in Sweden. As part of the thesis the question of whether the newspapers use Finnish or Swedish names is investigated. Additional questions taken up in the thesis include the extent to which the Finnish names concur with the recommendations of The Finnish Language Council in Sweden, and the bases for the Council’s recommendations. The primary material consists of volumes 1983, 1990 and 1997 of the newspaper Viikkoviesti and issues 6-50/2003 of the daily newspaper Ruotsin Sanomat. A total of 591 phenomena and 1277 names are investigated. The results show that 95% of the names used are Finnish although there is some variation among different types of names. Approximately 78% of the Finnish names found in the material follow the recommendations of The Finnish Language Council in Sweden. Most of the Finnish names that are established in Sweden are translation loans, common to Standard Finnish or modified according to a Standard Finnish model. It is sometimes difficult to decide whether a name is part of Standard Finnish or if it is only a translation loan, since both alternatives often seem equally plausible. The results of the study show that the Sweden-Finnish newspapers investigated have accepted and employed the recommendations of The Finnish Language Council to a great extent. The recommendations of the Council can thus be considered normative. This implies that The Finnish Language Council has developed realistic and prudent principles for the composition of their recommendations.

Titel: Datum: 16/1-2009 Ämne/kurs: Företagsekonomi, C-uppsats i redovisning, 15 p Författare: Hanna Ekdahl, Gabriel Oktay, Tigran Zacharjan Handledare: Ann Wetterlind Dörner Bakgrund och problem: När banker lånar ut pengar tar de av de medel som kunder satt in på banken. För att skydda kunder måste banken ha en viss kapitaltäckning. På grund av behov av en mer anpassad riskkänslighet har nya kapitaltäckningsregler i form av Basel II tagits fram. Genom dessa regler samt ett internationellt anpassat regelverk vill vi undersöka hur banker värderar och hanterar sina lånefordringar. De frågeställningar som vi besvarar i uppsatsen är:  Hur värderar banker sina lånefordringar och hur hanteras de risker som en lånefordran för med sig?  Hur har Basel II bidragit till en bättre riskhantering av lånefordringar?  Är det skillnad nu när det råder lågkonjunktur? Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur banker värderar och hanterar sina lånefordringar när Basel II har börjat gälla. Vi vill också ta reda på om det blir någon förändring under rådande lågkonjunktur. Metod: Genom tre semistrukturerade intervjuer har en kvalitativ undersökning genomförts. Intervjuerna som gjordes var med Handelsbanken, KPMG och Finansinspektionen. Valet av respondenter är baserade på att få en bred syn på våra frågeställningar. Slutsatser: Vid utgivning av ett lån är det återbetalningsförmågan som är det mest centrala. Beroende på hur det ekonomiska läget är i företaget som banken har utgivit en kredit till görs sedan en uppföljning av krediten med olika tidsintervall. En tätare uppföljning kan till exempel gälla utsatta branscher under lågkonjunkturen. I övrigt är det inte någon större förändring av hanteringen av lånefordringar under konjunkturnedgången. Om det finns ett behov av att skriva ned en lånefordran krävs ett objektivt belägg som är varaktigt. Ett tredje kriterium som måste uppfyllas är att banken ska riskera att förlora pengar. Lånefordran skrivs sedan ned med hänsyn till säkerhetens värde. Implementeringen av Basel II är inte klar ännu men förändringar har skett. Fler parametrar vägs in för att öka riskkänsligheten. Räntan har diversifierats och banker jobbar mot de avancerade verktygen som finns i regelverket. Krediter – En studie om hur banker hanterar och värderar sina lånefordringar / Title: Credits - a study about how banks handle and evaluates their loan requirements Date: 16/1-2009 Course: Business Economics, Candidate essay, major accounting, 15 p Authors: Hanna Ekdahl, Gabriel Oktay, Tigran Zacharjan Advisor: Ann Wetterlind Dörner Background and problem: When banks give out credits they take of the means that customers place in the bank. In order to protect customers, the bank has to have certain capital coverage. Because of the need of tailored tools that are more risk aware, new capital coverage rules in the form of Basel II have been developed. Through these rules and an international tailored legislation we want to examine how banks evaluate and handle their loan requirements. The questions that we answer in this essay are:  How do banks evaluate their loan requirements and how do they handle the risks that a loan requirement brings?  How has Basel II contributed to a better risk handling of loan requirements?  Is there any difference when we are experiencing recession? Purpose: The purpose with the essay is to examine how banks evaluates and handles their loan requirements when Basel II has begun to apply. We also want to examine the differences in a state of recession. Method: Through three semi-structured interviews, a qualitative survey has been implemented. The interviews has been addressed to Handelsbanken, KPMG and Finansinspektionen. The choice of respondents is based on the ambition of getting a broad view on our issues. Conclusions: The most central requirement during credit give outs is the repayment ability. Depending on how the economic situation is in the company that takes the credit, a follow-up with different intervals are done. A more frequent follow-up can for example concern exposed sectors during recession. In other respect, there is no bigger change of the handling of loan requirements during recession. If there is a need of writing down a loan the requirements are an objective proof that is permanent. A third criterion is that the bank is experiencing a risk of losing funds. Loan requirement is writhed down with regard of the security's value. The implementation of Basel II is yet not finished but already changes are taking form. More parameters are weighed in, in order to increase the risk sensitivity. The interest has been diversified and banks are working toward the more advanced tools that are in the legislation.

Prior empirical research, mainly conducted in US under the US GAAP, has indicated that managers in listed banks use loan loss provisions as a primary tool for income smoothing activities. Since 2005 the accounting environment in the European Union (EU) changed, as all listed companies are required to comply with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Some arguments envisage that IFRS is a set of high quality standards that plug some inconsistencies relative to national General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The overall objective of the present study is to examine earnings management and in particular income smoothing through the use of loan loss provisions (LLP) to manage earnings under IFRS and national GAAPs. The sample consists of twenty large commercial banks listed in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) for the years 2004-2012 (including early adopters) and sixteen banks for the years 1996-2003 under each country’s national reporting regime. Furthermore we present the body of earning management literature in conjunction with agency theory in order to grasp managers’ opportunistic behavior. Finally we assess the institutional role of financial reporting standards and the arguments of how IFRS could restrict earnings management activities as proposed by some authors. Overall, our results indicate some degree of income smoothing activities through loan loss provisions by bank managers both under national GAAPs and IFRS. The study contributes to the broad literature body on earnings management, while testing income-smoothing activities on a single industry compared to previous studies where the samples comprises a variety of firms in different industries.

The audit expectation gap, generally known as the differences between what users of financialstatements expect from the auditor and what the auditor actually provides, is present andresulting to a widespread concern. This thesis aims to investigate the level and nature of the audit expectation gap betweenauditors and commercial loan officers. In addition, this thesis also asks the question ifeducation is a mean to reduce commercial loan officers’ audit expectation gap. A questionnaire containing seven-point Likert scales with bipolar adjectival statements wassent to auditors and commercial loan officers. The respondents were asked to choose anumber from the scale which identified their level of agreement to either one of thestatements. The results revealed substantial evidence of an audit expectation gap particularly on issuesconcerning auditors’ responsibilities in fraud detection and prevention. Education oncommercial loan officers could reduce the audit expectation gap.

Introduction: 1 November 2010  came the amendment about the audit requirement into force. The amendment concerned only micro-enterprises. The most common form offinancing for micro-enterprises are bank loans, therefore the banks play a major role in the business and wellness of micro-enterprises. Purpose: Purpose of this paper is to examine if the credit assessment has been affected by the removal of the audit requirement for micro-enterprises. Method: This study will be conducted by a qualitative study in the form of interviews. Five interviews were conducted, with four respondents from the large banks and    one respondent from Almi Företagspartner. Conclusion: All respondents agreed that the audit is seen as a mark of quality, some lenders will continue to request it from the micro-enterprise while other lenders look at other factors such as ownership, relationship or business concept.