Personal financial management is an integrated part of modern man's everyday life. It does not only involve spending his monthly income. It comprises his outlook on life, the way he handles all his financial affairs as well as the way he goes about minimizing his financial risks. The financial plan that the individual has to provide for his retirement, to take care of his dependants as well as the way that the assets he acquired during this lifetime, must be distributed after his death, also forms part of this personal financial management. The main purpose of the study is to determine the levels of personal financial management practiced by employees of NWK Limited, as well as to determine the need for guidance in this regard. The following aspects of personal financial management are researched in chapter 2. These aspects were used to determine to what extent personal financial management was performed by having the study population anonymously complete a customized questionnaire. The following aspects were applied: * Attitude towards money. * Management style with regards to money. * Time value of money. * The financial plan. * Investments. The results of the study confirmed that there is a definite need for guidance with regard to personal financial management, especially under the younger employees as well as the personnel in the lower job levels of the company. Through the rendering of a tailored guidance programme, productivity as well as the quality of life, especially after retirement, could be improved significantly. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Personal financial management is an integrated part of modern man's everyday life. It does not only involve spending his monthly income. It comprises his outlook on life, the way he handles all his financial affairs as well as the way he goes about minimizing his financial risks. The financial plan that the individual has to provide for his retirement, to take care of his dependants as well as the way that the assets he acquired during this lifetime, must be distributed after his death, also forms part of this personal financial management. The main purpose of the study is to determine the levels of personal financial management practiced by employees of NWK Limited, as well as to determine the need for guidance in this regard. The following aspects of personal financial management are researched in chapter 2. These aspects were used to determine to what extent personal financial management was performed by having the study population anonymously complete a customized questionnaire. The following aspects were applied: * Attitude towards money. * Management style with regards to money. * Time value of money. * The financial plan. * Investments. The results of the study confirmed that there is a definite need for guidance with regard to personal financial management, especially under the younger employees as well as the personnel in the lower job levels of the company. Through the rendering of a tailored guidance programme, productivity as well as the quality of life, especially after retirement, could be improved significantly. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The agricultural sector plays an important role in the South African economy through job creation and earning foreign exchange. The role of agricultural co-operatives increased substantially over the last few decades. The research focuses firstly on the identification of derivative instruments in the market and their applicability to mitigate financial risks co-operatives experience. Secondly, research is conducted about the extent to which co-operatives use these derivatives to hedge financial risks. The research shows that most co-operatives are exposed to financial risks through different activities. It is, however, evident that although the derivative instruments are available, not all co-operatives make use of these instruments. Recommendations for further research include the development of a risk management framework and determining the different economic factors that have an influence on the use of derivatives by South African agricultural co-operatives. / Business Management / M.Comm.

Par rapport au système financier conventionnel qui a vécu ces dernières années des épisodes de forte instabilité liés en partie à une mauvaise gouvernance, le système financier islamique a montré des signes de robustesse et de pérennité. Sa capacité à surmonter les événements défavorables a incité plusieurs parties prenantes à proposer la finance islamique comme solutionaux déficits financiers et substitut potentiel au système bancaire actuel. Les partisans de cette finance ont fait valoir que la récente crise financière aurait pu être évitée si la finance islamique avec une bonne gouvernance et un cadre réglementaire solide avait été introduite au lieu de la finance conventionnelle. Pour ces raisons, l’objectif de cette thèse est d’une part d’examiner si la finance islamique pourrait garantir la stabilité en période de crise et être une alternative au système financier traditionnel, et d’autre part d’évaluer l’effet des mécanismes internes et externes de gouvernance bancaire sur le risque des banques islamiques par rapport à leurs homologues conventionnelles. Pour y arriver, nous avons élaboré trois chapitres avec desévidences empiriques en utilisant un échantillon de 95 banques islamiques et 130 banques conventionnelles (38 banques dont 14 banques islamiques sont exclues dans le dernier chapitre) dans 18 pays des régions MENAP et Asie du Sud-Est, durant la période 2006-2013. Le premier chapitre porte sur les spécificités et le risque de la banque dans un système financier islamiquepar rapport au système conventionnel. Les résultats trouvés indiquent que la taille et le capital de la banque ainsi que la croissance du PIB sont des facteurs clés de la solidité des deux systèmes bancaires de tous les pays étudiés, notamment des pays du Golfe. Cependant, d’autres résultats ne sont pas assez robustes pour savoir si les banques islamiques sont plus ou moins risquées que les banques conventionnelles. Par conséquent, nous concluons que le système bancaire islamique ne peut pas se substituer au système traditionnel, mais il est plutôt un complément financier qui a ses propres limites. Le deuxième chapitre examine l’effet des mécanismes internes de gouvernance bancaire, à savoir le conseil d’administration et le conseilde surveillance de la charia comme un organe de contrôle spécifique, sur le risque des banques conventionnelles par rapport aux banques islamiques. Les résultats ne montrent pas de différence significative entre les deux groupes bancaires,sauf pour les banques islamiques des pays du Golfe qui font preuve d’une plus grande solidité financière, grâce notamment auxcompétences de spécialistes en finance et en droit islamique, et au recrutement des administrateurs étrangers. En outre, nous trouvons que, dans les pays du Golfe en particulier, l'effet indésirable d'une taille importante du conseil d'administration et celui de la dualité des fonctions sur les risques des banques conventionnelles, disparaissent avec la présence d'un nombre élevé d’administrateurs indépendants. En traitant la question de la dimension externe de gouvernance bancaire dans le dernier chapitre, l’accent est mis sur l’effet probable des récentes réformes bancaires relatives aux banques conventionnelles et aux banques islamiques, à la lumière de Bâle III et du CSFI-12/15, sur le risque de ces banques. Les résultats trouvés montrent que si les exigences réglementaires de ces deux normes internationales de solvabilité avaient été appliquées durant notre période d'étude, elles auraient probablement amélioré la stabilité des deux systèmes bancaires des pays étudiés. Cependant, cet effet n’est pas uniforme pour toutes les banques, en particulier pour les banques conventionnelles des pays d’Asie du Sud-Est qui semblent moins stables et plus exposées au risque de crédit que le reste des banques.L’ensemble de ces résultats apporte une nouvelle dimension de la recherche en gouvernance dans une perspective islamique ... / Compared to the conventional financial system, which has experienced periods of high volatility in recent years partly due to poor governance, the Islamic financial system has shown signs of robustness and sustainability. Its ability to overcome the unfavorable events has encouraged several stakeholders to propose Islamic finance as a solution to financial deficits and as a potential alternative to the current banking system. The supporters of this finance argued that the recent financial crisis could have been avoided if Islamic finance with good governance and a solid regulatory framework had been introduced instead of conventional finance. For these reasons, the purpose of this thesis is twofold. First, we examine whether Islamic finance could guarantee stability in times of crisis and be a substitute for the traditional financial system. Second, we assess the effect of internal and external mechanisms of banking governance on the risk of Islamic banks compared to their conventional counterparts. To this end, we have developed three chapters with empirical evidence using a sample of 95 Islamic banks and 130 conventional banks (38 banks including 14 Islamic banks are excluded at the last chapter) in 18 MENAP and Southeast Asian countries, during the period 2006-2013. The first chapter analyzes the specificities and the risk of the bank in an Islamic financial system compared to conventional system. The results indicate that the size and capital of the bank as well as the GDP growth are crucial factors for the soundness of the two banking systems of all surveyed countries, especially of the Gulf region. However, other results are not strong enough to answer whether Islamic banks are more or less risky than their conventional counterparts. We therefore conclude that the Islamic banking system cannot replace the traditional system, but is, rather, a financial supplement that has its own limitations. The second chapter examines the effect of internal mechanisms of banking governance, such as the board of directors and the sharia supervisory board as a control organ specific to Islamic banks, on the risk of conventional banks compared to their Islamic counterparts. The findings show no significant difference between the two banking systems, except for the Islamic banks of Gulf countries, which demonstrate greater financial solidity thanks particularly to the skills of the specialists in finance and Islamic law, and the recruitment of foreign directors. In addition, we find especiallyin Gulf countries that the harmful effect of a large board size and dual functions on the risks of conventional banks disappear with the presence of a significant number of independent directors. In investigating the issue of the external dimension of banking governance, the focus is on the probable effect of recent banking reforms relating to conventional and Islamic banks, in light of Basel III and IFSB-12/15, on the risk of the two banking systems. Our findings support that if the regulatory requirements of these two international solvency standards had been applied during our sampling period, they would probably have improved the stability of the two banking systems of the surveyed countries. However, this effect is not uniform for all banks. In particular, conventional banks of Southeast Asian countries seem less stable and more exposed to credit risk than the other ones. All of these results bring a new dimension of governance research from an Islamic perspective, which could be a valuable source ofknowledge for both bankers and regulators in the banking sector.

La liberté contractuelle du banquier est une liberté parmi d’autres. Cependant, elle est la plus sensible dans lamesure où elle peut avoir des répercussions sur son activité. A priori sans limites aujourd’hui, cette liberté auraitmême des conséquences indéniables sur la sécurité du système financier en facilitant le phénomène des« bulles ». Le contrat, situé au coeur de l’activité bancaire et financière, serait ainsi la cause de cette réalité. Leschocs récents, telles les crises financières, imposent l´examen détaillé des opérations bancaires nationales maisaussi internationales, notamment celles les plus dangereuses. Encore méconnue, la mesure de la libertécontractuelle du banquier s’avère nécessaire pour en proposer une relecture. L’objectif n’est donc pas d’excluretoute liberté au banquier mais de définir le degré de liberté contractuelle à lui accorder pour chaque opération.L´idée étant de lui octroyer un niveau satisfaisant de liberté tout en assurant la sécurité du système financier.L’enjeu repose finalement sur la conciliation de l’impératif contractuel, résultant de la liberté contractuelle dubanquier, avec l’impératif de sécurité du système financier, nécessaire à la pérennité des banques et del’économie mondiale. / The contractual freedom of the banker is a freedom among the others. However, it is the most sensitive in so faras it can affect on his activity. Apparently unlimited today, this freedom would have even undeniableconsequences on the safety of the financial system by facilitating the phenomenon of “speculative bubbles”. Thecontract, situated in the heart of the banking and financial activity, would be thus the cause of this reality. Therecent shocks, such as financial crises, require the detailed examination of the national but also internationalbank transactions, especially the most dangerous. Still ignored, the measurement of the contractual freedom ofthe banker proves to be necessary to propose a review. The aim is not thus to rule any banker’s freedom out butto define the degree of contractual freedom to grant to him for each transaction. The idea being to grant him asatisfactory level of freedom while ensuring the safety of financial system. The stake rests finally on theconciliation of the contractual requirement, resulting from the contractual freedom of the banker, with the safetyrequirement of the financial system, necessary for the sustainability of banks and worldwide economy.