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This study researches a rapidly growing area of interest in the financial services industry, that is,operational hsk management, with special focus on the mitigation phase. Operational risk management has accelerated in importance in the financial services over the last two decades for many reasons, not least of which is the well-known catastrophic failure of large banks such as BCCI, Barings and Indymac, as well as the recent Global Financial Crisis. One of the main drivers behind such bank failures was the failure of the banks' managements to manage effectively and efficiently their operational risk exposure. The focus of this study is operational risk mitigation in the United Arab Emirates Commercial banking industry. A controversial issue with operational risk was deciding on an agreed and accepted definition within the financial services industry. It has been defined by Basel Committee on Banking Supervision as "the risk of loss resulting from inadequate or failed internal processes, people and systems or from external events. This definition includes legal risk, but excludes strategic and reputational risk." This definition captures a wide spectrum of risk categories such as fraud risks, people risks, legal risks and compliance risks, to name a few. Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, a Committee of banking supervisory authorities established by the central bank Governors of the Group often countries in 1974, published in June 2006 a document called the "International Convergence of Capital Measurement and Capital Standards - A Revised Framework Comprehensive Version" known as Basel II Accord, which requires banks, among many other things, to sustain capital adequacy to cover their operational risk exposures. This Accord was the result of a number of consultative documents issued by the same Committee which focused increasing attention on the need for operational risk adequate and efficient management. Bank managements are facing increasing pressure to ensure that operational risk exposures are being managed effectively and efficiently. This extended the main momentum for the study, being the first independently sponsored study of how the UAE commercial banks have developed their operational risk management frameworks as a basis for mitigating the range of operational risk exposures they encounter. The operational risks that prompted the current Financial Crisis and how they were mitigated in the context of the UAE commercial banks gave further momentum to the research. The study addresses the various key players in operational risk management and is, therefore, interdisciplinary. The foundations from which the field work was undertaken were based on theoretical propositions in the area of decision making since the process of mitigating an operational risk is rooted in making a decision. Multiple case studies were used in the design for the research to answer the research question and establish the practices in operational risk mitigation in the UAE commercial banking industry. Leading UAE commercial banks were carefully chosen as representatives of this industry. The findings of the research are in line with the conclusions of Basel Commiltee on Banking Supervision that the main responsibility for operational risk management, and therefore mitigation, is vested in operational managers. The analysis demonstrates that (hey do not do this independently, but are supported by other experienced people in this field. A model and check-lists of operational risk management, and therefore mitigation, is proposed demonstrating the complexity of the whole process due to the nature and the scale of operational risks. The thesis concludes by discussing some further potential research suggestions in this ever-growing area of interest.

This paper investigated the change in corporate debt levels in South Africa from 1994 to 2016. Included is an analysis of factors that companies take into consideration when determining the company's capital structure. This study used data from companies, largely from the mining sector, within sectors listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), including chemicals, general industries, oil and gas. Four different leverage measures were used to determine the change in capital structure for the period under review, as well as six of the most commonly used determinants of capital structure. A high-level interpretation of the results reflected the following; a slight but relatively consistent increase in the use of debt relative to equity over the period for both the total sample and the mining sector. An increase in the use of long- relative to short term debt was also found, as well as a convergence between the use of current and non-current liabilities. Results from the analysis of the capital structure determinants varied, with some showing statistical significance. Asset tangibility was positively correlated to debt, while profitability and growth had a negative relationship. The relationship between company size, tax and cost of debt and leverage was varied.

Thesis (MComm (Statistics and Actuarial Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / Financial institutions invest in financial securities like equities, options and government bonds. Two measures, namely return and risk, are associated with each investment position. Return is a measure of the profit or loss of the investment, whilst risk is defined as the uncertainty about return. A financial institution that holds a portfolio of securities is exposed to different types of risk. The most well-known types are market, credit, liquidity, operational and legal risk. An institution has the need to quantify for each type of risk, the extent of its exposure. Currently, standard risk measures that aim to quantify risk only exist for market and credit risk. Extensive calculations are usually required to obtain values for risk measures. The investments positions that form the portfolio, as well as the market information that are used in the risk measure calculations, change during each trading day. Hence, the financial institution needs a business tool that has the ability to calculate various standard risk measures for dynamic market and position data at the end of each trading day. SAS Risk Dimensions is a software package that provides a solution to the calculation problem. A risk management system is created with this package and is used to calculate all the relevant risk measures on a daily basis. The purpose of this document is to explain and illustrate all the steps that should be followed to create a suitable risk management system with SAS Risk Dimensions.

Financial sustainability is underrepresented in both the research on and practice of sustainability management and reporting. This article proposes a conceptual measure of financial sustainability and examines its association with capital market returns. The measure is positioned at the intersection of sustainability management, risk management and risk governance. Financial sustainability is regarded as a crucial control parameter complementing shareholder value and can be viewed by riskaverse investors as a secondary condition of investment decisions. It reduces refinancing and insolvency risks, leading to risk-adjusted excess returns in an imperfect capital market with financing restrictions and insolvency costs. We propose measuring a firm’s financial sustainability in terms of four conditions: (1) firm growth, (2) the company’s ability to survive, (3) an acceptable overall level of earnings risk exposure, and (4) an attractive earnings risk profile. We show that the application of a conditions-based investment strategy to European firms with high financial sustainability (i.e., firms fulfilling all four conditions) over the period from July 1990 to June 2019 results in monthly excess returns of 0.39%. This portfolio’s risk is lower than the risk of market investment. We find that the excess returns increase when incrementally adding each of the four conditions to the investment strategy.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:32:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sergio de Jesus.pdf: 1304758 bytes, checksum: d93f4a2c0b7a9f80ad1636906381440d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-02-14 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / The process of credit risk management of banks is an extremely important activity for the correct identification of the risks inherent in banking to lend funds to third parties. Thus, bank s managers should be alert to best market practices and efficient processes for the timely and accurate identification of credit risks in its loan portfolio and act appropriately to minimize their potential losses. Worldwide, the process of credit risk management has changed to improve the measurement of risks by banks through the new agreement of Capitals - Basel II. Through this new agreement the banks can build and use their own models of credit risk management, with the inclusion of financial and nonfinancial information. Currently, studies demonstrate the importance of intangible assets of enterprises, including those related to intellectual capital, for its ability to generate value and future cash flows for companies. However, due to the difficult identification and measurement of these assets, the current processes for credit risk management still do not include these assets (Intellectual Capital) into their risk analysis. Thus, this study investigates the structure of current models of credit risk management of Brazilian banks, from the Basel II s perspective, to see the possibility to contemplate the intangible assets related to intellectual capital in these models. It was also a scope of the research, a proposal for improving the process of Banco Titânio (unreal name), through the identification, measurement and inclusion of such assets in the process of credit risk management of the bank. The research is exploratory and descriptive and it was conducted in two phases: Initially, the data collection was conducted through an electronic research sent to eight Brazilian banks, and the data were processed by descriptive analysis and content analysis. In the second phase, the research was conducted like a case analysis with the Banco Titânio, and the data were processed through the verification in loco of the current processes of the bank. The results showed that intangible assets related to Intellectual Capital are viewed by managers of banks as important informations to the process of managing credit risk, but because there is no systematic way for its inclusion in the models, these assets still are not included in the processes of credit risk management of Banks that formed the sample; therefore, we proposed a systematic way to improve the management models of banks' credit risk with the inclusion of these assets. / O processo de gerenciamento de risco de crédito dos bancos é uma atividade de extrema importância para a correta identificação dos riscos inerentes à atividade bancária de emprestar recursos financeiros a terceiros. Dessa forma, os gestores dos bancos precisam estar atentos às melhores práticas de mercado e ter em mãos processos eficientes para a tempestiva e correta identificação dos riscos de crédito de sua carteira de empréstimos e agir de maneira adequada para minimizar suas possíveis perdas. Mundialmente, o processo de gerenciamento de risco de crédito passa por significativas mudanças de forma a melhorar a mensuração de riscos por parte dos bancos, devido ao novo acordo de capitais da Basileia II. Segundo este novo acordo, os bancos podem construir e utilizar modelos próprios de gerenciamento de riscos de crédito com a inclusão de informações financeiras e não financeiras. Atualmente, estudos demonstram a importância dos ativos intangíveis das empresas, inclusive os relacionados ao Capital Intelectual, por sua capacidade de geração de valor e de fluxos de caixas futuros para as empresas. Porém, em função da difícil identificação e mensuração desses ativos, os processos atuais de gerenciamento de risco de crédito não incluem esses ativos em suas análises. Sendo assim, esse estudo buscou conhecer a estrutura atual dos modelos de gerenciamento de risco de crédito de bancos brasileiros, pela ótica do novo acordo de capitais da Basileia II, de forma a se verificar a possibilidade de se contemplar os ativos intangíveis relacionados ao Capital Intelectual nesses modelos. Também foi escopo do trabalho sugerir uma proposta de aperfeiçoamento do processo do Banco Titânio (nome fictício), com a identificação, mensuração e inclusão desses ativos no processo de gerenciamento de risco de crédito do banco. A pesquisa é descritiva e exploratória e foi conduzida em duas fases: Na primeira fase, a coleta de dados foi efetuada por meio de questionário eletrônico enviado para oito bancos brasileiros, sendo que os dados foram tratados por análises descritivas e análises de conteúdo. Na segunda fase da pesquisa, foi efetuada uma análise de caso com o Banco Titânio, sendo que os dados foram tratados por meio da verificação in loco dos processos atuais do banco. Os resultados demonstraram que os ativos intangíveis relacionados ao Capital Intelectual são vistos pelos gestores dos bancos como informações importantes para o processo de gerenciamento de risco de crédito, porém por não existir uma forma sistematizada para sua inclusão nos modelos, esses ativos ainda não são contemplados nos processos de gerenciamento de risco de crédito dos bancos que compuseram a amostra; sendo assim, foi proposta uma sistemática para o aperfeiçoamento dos modelos de gerenciamento de risco de crédito dos bancos com a inclusão desses ativos.

University of Macau / Faculty of Law

Energy conservation, efficiency and renewable energy have become a vital part of everyday life and business. The increase in energy cost and the consequences of greenhouse gas emissions necessitates energy management and in particular energy risk management within organisations. Organisations need to manage the possible negative effect that the increased costs will have within the organisation. The present research investigated the introduction of a structured approach to energy risk management within the financial services sector of South Africa. The research followed a quantitative, non-experimental research design by using a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was sent to managers within the financial services sector. The research investigated the criteria for the implementation of a structured approach to energy risk management such as organisational requirements (culture, corporate social responsibility, management, and finance), governance, energy strategies (energy conservation, efficiency and renewable energy), risk identification, risk management and lastly communication and review. The research found that the structured approach to energy risk management should include the context within the organisation namely organisational requirements, governance and energy strategies. Thereafter the risks within the energy strategies need to be identified, analysed and evaluated, and control measures need to be implemented. It is important to monitor the various energy strategies continuously in order to identify corrections and implement preventative actions. The strategies need to be reviewed and communicated in terms of the various strategies to all stakeholders within the organisation in order to set continual improvement plans. Risk management should form part of the energy management strategies of organisations. The research showed that energy risk management plays an important role in the overall business strategy and that the vast majority of financial services organisations have already implemented some form of energy management. There are however aspects that are still lacking within management strategies that need attention. / D. Phil. (Management Studies) / Business Management

The emerging financial industry of asset-backed short-term finance was investigated by this study. Literature indicated that banks, locally and globally, are forced by regulation and the use of information technology, to rely less on human judgement and more on programmed decision-making, when evaluating loan applications. This leads to time-consuming processes with non-standard loan applications and loss of opportunities for business persons. Asset-backed short-term finance is a market response to this tendency. Due to the emerging nature of this industry, no previous academic description of or investigation into this industry could be found – a gap in academic literature which this study aims to fill. The industry is strategically positioned in relation to banks by focusing on functionality for urgent non-standard loan applications (period between application and decision, and access to decision-makers) as value proposition, where banks are found lacking. Relatively high interest rates form the profit proposition, as firms in this industry have limited access to funds. Collateral is central as risk-mitigating strategy, forming a part of the profit proposition. The people proposition is essential, as the industry is distinguished by individualised decision-making. A survey among customers of this industry identified four clusters of potential customers: The first had no needs unfulfilled by banks, while the other three clusters were attracted by either functionality, or the evaluation of collateral in contrast to repayment ability, or a combination of the two. A survey among providers revealed hesitance to supply information and a low level of agreement on strategic matters – possibly due to the emergent nature of the industry. It is asserted that the basis for further study was laid. / Business Management / D. Com. (Business Management)