Published Article / The financial crisis of the 21st century arising from the credit and sub-prime crisis has resulted in the accounting for financial instruments being placed under intense scrutiny. In reaction to this, the International Accounting Standards Board commenced a comprehensive review of financial instruments and the related accounting standards. This article analyses the disclosure of financial instruments by performing a literature review of the principles underlying financial instruments disclosure, followed by an empirical study of the current practices of the disclosure of financial instruments by selected companies on the JSE Limited. This article indicates that in certain aspects of the disclosure practices related to financial instruments, the "through the eyes of management" approach is not followed in the companies selected - a principle established in International Financial Reporting Standard 7 (IFRS 7).

Instantaneous rate models, although theoretically satisfying, are less so in practice. Instantaneous rates are not observable and calibra- tion to market data is complicated. Hence, the need for a market model where one models LIBOR rates seems imperative. In this modeling process, we aim at regaining the Black-76 formula[7] for pricing caps and °oors since these are the ones used in the market. To regain the Black-76 formula we have to model the LIBOR rates as log-normal processes. The whole construction method means calibration by using market data for caps, °oors and swaptions is straightforward. Brace, Gatarek and Musiela[8] and, Miltersen, Sandmann and Sondermann[25] showed that it is possible to con- struct an arbitrage-free interest rate model in which the LIBOR rates follow a log-normal process leading to Black-type pricing for- mulae for caps and °oors. The key to their approach is to start directly with modeling observed market rates, LIBOR rates in this case, instead of instantaneous spot rates or forward rates. There- after, the market models, which are consistent and arbitrage-free[6], [22], [8], can be used to price more exotic instruments. This model is known as the LIBOR Market Model. In a similar fashion, Jamshidian[22] (1998) showed how to con- struct an arbitrage-free interest rate model that yields Black-type pricing formulae for a certain set of swaptions. In this particular case, one starts with modeling forward swap rates as log-normal processes. This model is known as the Swap Market Model. Some of the advantages of market models as compared to other traditional models are that market models imply pricing formulae for caplets, °oorlets or swaptions that correspond to market practice. Consequently, calibration of such models is relatively simple[8]. The plan of this work is as follows. Firstly, we present an em- pirical analysis of the standard risk-neutral valuation approach, the forward risk-adjusted valuation approach, and elaborate the pro- cess of computing the forward risk-adjusted measure. Secondly, we present the formulation of the LIBOR and Swap market models based on a ¯nite number of bond prices[6], [8]. The technique used will enable us to formulate and name a new model for the South African market, the SAFEX-JIBAR model. In [5], a new approach for the estimation of the volatility of the instantaneous short interest rate was proposed. A relationship between observed LIBOR rates and certain unobserved instantaneous forward rates was established. Since data are observed discretely in time, the stochastic dynamics for these rates were determined un- der the corresponding risk-neutral measure and a ¯ltering estimation algorithm for the time-discretised interest rate dynamics was pro- posed. Thirdly, the SAFEX-JIBAR market model is formulated based on the assumption that the forward JIBAR rates follow a log-normal process. Formulae of the Black-type are deduced and applied to the pricing of a Rand Merchant Bank cap/°oor. In addition, the corre- sponding formulae for the Greeks are deduced. The JIBAR is then compared to other well known models by numerical results. Lastly, we perform some computational analysis in the following manner. We generate bond and caplet prices using Hull's [19] stan- dard market model and calibrate the LIBOR model to the cap curve, i.e determine the implied volatilities ¾i's which can then be used to assess the volatility most appropriate for pricing the instrument under consideration. Having done that, we calibrate the Ho-Lee model to the bond curve obtained by our standard market model. We numerically compute caplet prices using the Black-76 formula for caplets and compare these prices to the ones obtained using the standard market model. Finally we compute and compare swaption prices obtained by our standard market model and by the LIBOR model. / Economics / D.Phil. (Operations Research)

Credit rating agencies (CRAs) play an integral part in today's financial markets. Through ratings they express considered opinion about future creditworthiness of an obligor and thus lower information asymmetry in the capital markets. Recently, CRAs have been brought in the spotlight as they are often blamed for being the triggers of the recent market turmoil. Critics often argue that ratings of tranches of structured finance instruments, backed by subprime mortgages, were unjustifiably high, downgrades were too late and the overall integrity of the rating process was compromised through numerous conflicts of interests CRAs face. However, in this thesis I argue that CRAs were put in this position rather through external factors than their own actions. Massive regulation usage of ratings, rapid growth of structured securities market, overdependence on the rating and the overall ignorance of the meaning of rating itself are the actual causes to blame.

This final thesis deals with the reporting and measurement of financial assets under IAS 39 and IFRS 9. Besides the basic characteristics of financial instruments, there is a comparison of the two standards and the reasons which prompted the IASB to create a new standard. All work is supplemented by practical examples mainly on revaluation of financial assets.

This thesis discusses the options households have when it comes to investing in capital markets in the Czech Republic. The issue of investing and capital market options is analyzed. Following this analysis comes the description of financial instruments, their characteristics, and the usability of these instruments by small investors. On the basis of the theory presented, a study was conducted to examine the usage of individual financial products. The collected data was processed using modern software tools, which helped in drawing several conclusions, results, and recommendations for investors and financial instrument providers alike.

My dissertation thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of the principles of securitization techniques, of their attendant shortcomings, their regulatory treatment and the recent proposals for reducing complexity in accounting standards with relevance for securitizations. The explosion of securitization and related innovative credit risk transfer products largely expanded the magnitude and diversity of issuers, investors and securities. With this expansion numerous market participants began to wrongly believe that risk was not only shared more widely, but also that it disappeared from the system altogether. The application, or to be more precise, the misapplication of securitization in the mortgage market had fatal consequences for the financial sector worldwide. Before securitization, sub-prime mortgage lenders retained the loans that they originated on their balance sheets and therefore cared about their credit quality. Securitization techniques and related innovative financial instruments enabled the export of sub-prime mortgage structural problems from the United States globe-wide via the financial intermediaries. More over, securitization techniques and related credit risk transfer products enabled single banks to reduce their individual risk while at the same time transferred new and greater risks to the financial system. Meanwhile a lot was written on the causes for the recent financial crisis. In most cases inadequate ratings provided by the credit rating agencies and different principal agent problems were addressed. I present both for completeness in my work. However, I argue that not only the credit rating agencies are to blame for the inadequate reflection of securitization and related financial innovations and subsequently for the financial turmoil. The international and national financial supervisors in fact supported the credit rating agencies to further establish their businesses. What turned obvious during and after the financial turmoil started mid-2007 is that financial regulation failed to reach its main goal - ensuring stability of the financial system. It failed despite of the "regulatory achievements within Basel II" elaborated over the past ten years. In particular, securitization and related credit risk transfer products were not adequately treated in Basel II. Securitization-related products such as Credit Derivatives on Securitization Underlyings and numerous other complex financial innovations, as presented in my thesis, were not even thought of in Basel II. In fact, Basel II turned to do little to make the financial system more resilient. The need for further revisions in banking regulation is currently more than obvious. Furthermore, it is time to ask if the developments in Basel II are the right way to address the current risks within the financial system and hence if Basel II is the right way of banking regulation and supervision altogether. With the development of both Basel Accords (Basel I and Basel II) capital ratios became the center of banking regulation. However, capital ratios are obviously not sufficient as a measure for a systemic financial stability. These questions arise at least when financial stability and soundness are still the intended objectives and believed to be ensured through Basel II. My merits in this dissertation work root in the multi-facet analysis of securitization techniques that I provide. Up to date a comparable analysis of securitization techniques which addresses the wide spectrum of securitizations' issues - such as (i) their treatment and the related attendant flaws within the regulatory framework Basel II, (ii) the various microeconomic deficiencies related to securitizations, and (iii) the implicit macroeconomic threads of exporting credit risk and de-balancing financial stability through securitization techniques - has not been provided in the comprehensive way I built up my analysis. As a basis for my analysis, I provide a new classification of the characteristics of securitization techniques which were pre-crisis wrongly perceived as benefits. I analyze the reasons for the turmoil in the financial markets in their interplay and complexity and consider securitization techniques as a key driver for the financial crisis. I comprehensively criticize the current regulatory treatment. I present in detail why the recent financial crisis should be considered a clear regulatory failure due to the up to date short-sightedness of financial regulation. Through providing partial solutions and professional author's assessment of selected regulatory and accounting changes to securitizations I deliver an expert's contribution to the topic. My conclusions are that securitization markets, as they have been operating until today, brought a negative net macroeconomic effect which has been largely damaging to the global economy. I argue that international and national financial supervisors established an inadequate framework for financial regulation and supervision, and among other failures, even supported credit rating agencies to further establish their businesses. Further on, I show that early warning indicators of systemic risk in the financial sector and signs of the coming turmoil were irresponsibly ignored at the time they were perceived. What turned obvious during and after the recent financial turmoil is that capital regulation failed to reach its main goal -- ensuring stability of the financial system. In particular, securitization and related credit risk transfer products were adequately treated neither in Basel I nor in Basel II. Finally, I conclude that capital ratios as established with the development of both Basel Accords are not sufficient as a central measure for banking regulation and ensuring systemic financial stability.

Uma crítica que corrobora a não convergência entre o Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) e o International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) baseia-se na discordância quanto a mensuração a valor justo de alguns tipos de instrumentos financeiros, pois argumenta-se que essa prática pode aferir volatilidade aos resultados das empresas, o que impactaria o desempenho de suas ações no mercado de capitais. Assim, o presente trabalho propõe-se a verificar se a adoção das International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) no tocante a mensuração e reconhecimento dos instrumentos financeiros, mais especificamente para o grupo classificado em \"Ativos e Passivos Financeiros Mensurados a Valor Justo por meio do Resultado\", levou a uma maior volatilidade dos resultados contábeis. Para isso, optou-se por analisar o caso brasileiro, porque tal país passou pelo processo de Full Adoption das IFRS. Desse modo, adotou-se testes estatísticos que analisaram a diferença entre as variâncias dos lucros líquidos que consideram instrumentos financeiros avaliados a valor justo e a custo histórico amortizado, no período entre 2010 e 2016, das empresas brasileiras de capital aberto não financeiras e bancos com maior Presença em Bolsa. Após analisar o efeito dos ganhos e perdas não realizados, oriundos do ajuste a valor justo, de instrumentos financeiros sob o resultado, constatou-se uma tendência a suavização, redução da volatilidade, dos lucros líquidos, tanto para a amostra de empresas não-financeiras quanto para a de bancos, e não de aumento da volatilidade como era argumentado por alguns críticos a adoção do valor justo. Com base nas análises da amostra de empresas não-financeiras, o reconhecimento do ajuste a valor justo de instrumentos financeiros no resultado afetou significativamente a volatilidade do resultado contábil, contudo, segundo essas analises não se pode afirmar quanto ao efeito desse impacto, se houve propensão ao aumento da volatilidade ou a suavização dos lucros. Ao realizar as análises descritivas dessa amostra, observou-se um efeito de suavização na média, uma vez que o desvio-padrão do lucro líquido que considera instrumentos financeiros avaliados a valor justo apresentou uma média e um desvio-padrão inferiores ao do desvio-padrão do lucro líquido que os considera a custo histórico. Já as análises da amostra de bancos evidenciaram que o reconhecimento do ajuste a valor justo de instrumentos financeiros no resultado tendeu a reduzir significativamente a volatilidade, observando-se em média uma suavização do resultado contábil. Essa tendência a redução da volatilidade pode ser advinda de: gestões de risco responsáveis; uso de instrumentos financeiros, predominante, para fins de hedge; uma provável escassez do uso da classificação de \"instrumentos financeiros avaliados a valor justo por meio do resultado\"; ou, gestões que realizem escolhas do tipo \"cherry-pincking\". Inclusive, um dos modelos aplicados identificou, em ambas amostras, indícios da realização da prática de \"cherry-pincking\", um tipo de gerenciamento de resultado baseado em escolhas operacionais vantajosas e oportunistas que têm consequências na classificação contábil. Além disso, tal tendência a redução da volatilidade pode apresentar um impacto positivo na avaliação dessas empresas pelo mercado de capitais e por seus credores, já que tais usuários primários da informação contábil apresentam uma preferência por lucros consistentes ao longo do tempo, devido a sua aversão ao risco / One of the criticisms that supports the non-convergence between the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is based on disagreement with the measurement at fair value of certain types of financial instruments, because it is argued that this practice can measure volatility to earnings, which would impact the performance of its shares in the capital market. Thus, this study aims to verify whether the adoption of standards International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) regarding the measurement and recognition of financial instruments, specifically for the group classified as \"Financial Asset or Financial Liability at Fair Value through Profit or Loss\" or \"Held for Trading\", caused greater volatility of earnings. For this, we chose to analyze the Brazilian case, because that country passed through the Full Adoption of IFRS process. Accordingly, it adopted statistical tests that analyzes the difference between the variances of the net incomes that consider financial instruments measured at fair value and amortized historical cost of Brazilian publicly traded non-financial companies and banks, with a greater Presence on the Stock Market, during the period between 2010 and 2016. After analyzing the effect of the unrealized gain and loss, resulting from the adjustment to fair value, of financial instruments recognized in net income, there was a tendency to income smoothing, reduce volatility, both for non-financial companies and for banks, rather than increased volatility as some critics argued the adoption of fair value. Based on the analysis of the non-financial companies sample, the recognition of the fair value adjustment of financial instruments in the result significantly affected the volatility of the accounting profit, however, according to these analyzes, it cannot be stated as to the effect of this impact, if there was a trend increasing volatility or smoothing profits. When conducting the descriptive analyzes of this sample, a smoothing effect was observed in the mean, since the standard deviation of the net profit that considers financial instruments evaluated at fair value presented a mean and a standard deviation lower than the standard deviation of the net profit that considers them at historical cost. The analysis of the banks sample showed that the recognition of the adjustment to fair value of financial instruments in the result tended to significantly reduce the volatility, observing, on average, a smoothing of the accounting profit. This trend to reduce volatility can be derived from: responsible risk management; use of financial instruments predominantly for hedge purposes; a probable shortfall in the use of the classification of \"financial instruments measured at fair value through profit or loss\"; or, cherry-pincking choices. In addition, one of the applied models identified, in both samples, indications of the practice of cherry-pincking, a type of result management based on advantageous and opportunistic operational choices that have consequences in accounting assignment. Furthermore, this trend of reducing volatilitymay have a positive impact on the valuation of these companies by the stock markets and by their creditors, since such primary users of accounting information show a preference for consistent profits over time due to their risk aversion

O objetivo principal desta dissertação foi estudar as relações dos valores de mercado, dos patrimônios líquidos contábeis e da utilização do valor justo como base única de mensuração para ativos e passivos financeiros nos bancos listados em três importantes bolsas de valores que requerem ou permitem o arquivamento de demonstrações financeiras no padrão IFRS, a BM&FBOVESPA, a LSE e a Euronext. Mais precisamente, sob três pontos: (i) se o uso de uma contabilidade plena ao valor justo torna os patrimônios contábeis próximos dos valores de mercado das instituições; (ii) se as empresas que se utilizam em maior extensão do valor justo como base de mensuração apresentam patrimônios contábeis mais próximos ao valor de mercado e (iii) se os lucros líquidos e resultados abrangentes totais das entidades seriam significativamente diferentes caso fosse utilizada a contabilidade plena ao valor justo. As análises foram efetuadas tomando a amostra conjuntamente, segregada por bolsa e também por porte a um nível de significância (?) de 5%. O procedimento estatístico utilizado foi o de confecção de Testes de Hipóteses de Médias para Amostras Emparelhadas (t-Student ou Wilcoxon). Os resultados apontam que: (i) o uso do valor justo como base de mensuração única aproxima os valores contábeis dos patrimônios de seus pares de mercado, porém sem significância estatística; (ii) tanto as instituições que usam em maior extensão o valor justo quanto aquelas que se utilizam em menor nível apresentam patrimônios contábeis significativamente diferentes de seus respectivos valores de mercado e (iii) o uso do valor justo como base única de mensuração não altera significativamente os valores dos lucros líquidos e resultados abrangentes totais contábeis. / The main objective of this dissertation was to study the relations between the market values, the accounting equities and the use of the fair value as the single measurement basis for financial assets and liabilities for the banks listed at three important stocks exchanges that require or allow the filling of the financial statements in the IFRS standard, the BM&FBOVESPA, the LSE and the Euronext. More specifically on three points: (i) if the use of the full fair value accounting make the accounting equities closer to the institutions\' market values; (ii) if the enterprises that use in higher extension the fair value as measurement basis presents accounting equities closer to the market values and (iii) if the entities\' net income and total comprehensive income would be significantly different if it was used the full fair value accounting. The analysis were carried out taking the sample in conjunction, segregated by stock exchange and also by size at a significance level (?) of 5%. The statistical procedure used was the making of the Hypothesis Tests for Means of Matched Samples (t-Student or Wilcoxon).The results show that: (i) the use of fair value as the single measurement basis approximates the accounting values of the equities to their market peers, but without statistical significance; (ii) both the institutions that use fair value in higher extension and those that use in lesser level present accounting equities significantly different from their respective market values and (iii) the use of fair value as the single measurement basis does not change significantly the values of the net income and the total comprehensive income.

This thesis aims to summarise the theoretical principles, concepts and considerations pertaining to accounting for and reporting of derivatives and to describe and analyse the development of major accounting standards dealing with related issues. Sections 1 and 2 provide a basic overview of derivative instruments'categorisation, mechanics, valuation and uses. Section 3 studies the principles that ensure the provision of useful financial information, with specific focus on financial instruments. Sections 4, 5 and 6 trace the development of US and international accounting standards pertaining to derivatives and financial instruments in general. The focus of the thesis lies with their measurement, recognition and disclosure.

This thesis aims to provide a general overview of a cost and benefit analysis of incorporating a battery energy storage system within unit commitment model. The deregulation of the electricity market in the U.S. has only been around for the last two decades. With renewable energy and energy storage systems becoming less expensive, a decentralized market scheme is becoming more popular and plausible. The scope of this work is to provide a fundamental understanding of unit commitment and a cost analysis of applying a battery energy storage system to an already established power system. A battery energy storage system (BESS) was placed within a unit commitment schematic and modeled for a 7 day/168 hour forecast. Three models were generated, two with and one without the battery energy storage device (BESS). The comparison between the three systems was conducted to produce a visual economic justification to the feasibility of a BESS.