Ghanaian banks struggle to maintain sufficient capital after the Bank of Ghana increased the minimum capital requirement as a buffer against the 2008 financial crisis. Grounded in the efficient structure theory (EST), the purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationships between efficiency, size, risk, and ownership structure on banks' performance when minimum capital requirement increases. Archival data were collected from PricewaterhouseCoopers website covering all Ghanaian banks with available data for the 5-year period ending 2013. Initial one tail paired sample t tests revealed significant increases over time for efficiency, t(21) = 3.849, p -?¤ .001, net interest margin (NIM), t(21) = 5.201, p -?¤ .001, return on equity (ROE), t(21) = 1.833, p -?¤ .041, and risk t(21) = 3.614, p -?¤ .001. The results of the multiple regression analysis indicated the EST models could significantly predict bank performance for the 5-year period ending 2013. X-efficiency model could predict NIM F(8, 123) = 6.94, p =.00, R2 = .288, efficiency and ownership type were statistically significant with efficiency (t = 6.09, p -?¤ .001) denoting higher to the model than foreign banks (t = 2.96, p -?¤ .004). While, scale efficiency model could predict ROE, F(8, 123) = 5.18, p =.00, R2 = .133, ownership type and size were statistically significant with State banks (t = -2.26, p -?¤ .025) denoting more to the model than size (t = 2.00, p -?¤ .047). Society can benefit from the results of this doctoral study because investors, bank of Ghana, and bank managers could better predict the banks' performance based on the information from the study, which may lead to a higher families' confidence in the positive contribution of banks in their communities.

Sänkningen av aktiekapitalkravet från 100 000 till 50 000 SEK den 1 april 2010, förverkligades för att förbättra de institutionella villkoren för de privata aktiebolagen och för att fungera som ett incitament till att öka småföretagande. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om de privata aktiebolagen har valt att lösgöra eller behålla sitt aktiekapital efter denna nya regel och varför. Dessutom ämnar studien att undersöka om det finns skillnader mellan de som väljer att minska eller att behålla sitt aktiekapital avseende bransch, ålder och omsättning. Studien baseras på en enkätundersökning som innefattar 212 respondenter. De resultat som denna undersökning kommer fram till är:  Att majoriteten av de privata aktiebolagen har valt att behålla sitt aktiekapital. Att anledningen bakom att behålla aktiekapitalet är att bevara företagets kreditvärdighet, att använda aktiekapitalet i verksamheten och för att proceduren med att sänka aktiekapitalet anses vara krångligt och tidskrävande. Framförallt anser inte dessa företag att en minskning av aktiekapitalet har någon större betydelse då det mesta av minskningen antingen försvinner i form av beskattning eller att mängden 50 000 SEK inte anses vara en väsentlig summa. Skillnaderna mellan de privata aktiebolagen utgörs endast av omsättningsvolym. För företag med omsättning över 3 000 000 SEK/år tenderar en minskning av aktiekapitalet att avta helt och förkommer bland företagen med mindre omsättning än 3 000 000 SEK/år.  Detta innebär att de privata aktiebolagen som ingår i studien inte upplever möjligheten till att sänka aktiekapitalet som en förbättring av de institutionella villkoren eller som ett incitament, där regeln inte alls anses ha någon inverkan för företagen. / The reduction of share capital requirement from 100 000 to 50 000 SEK, which was implemented April 1, 2010 to improve the institutional conditions for the private limited companies and to act as an incentive to increase small businesses. The purpose of this essay is to examine whether the private limited companies have chosen to reduce or maintain its share capital after this new rule and why. In addition, the study intends to investigate whether there are differences between those who have chosen to reduce or maintain its share capital regarding branch, age and revenue. The study is based on a survey involving 212 respondents. The results of this study are the following: The majority of the private limited companies have chosen to maintain their share capital. The reason behind keeping the share capital is to maintain the company’s credit rating, to use the share capital in their respective the business and because of the process of lowering the share capital is considered to be complex and time consuming. Above all, these companies do not consider a reduction of share capital having a greater significance when most of the reduction either disappear in the form of taxation or the amount of 50 000 SEK is not considered as a substantial amount.  The differences among the private limited companies consist only of revenue. For companies with revenue of more than 3 000 000 SEK/year, tends a reduction of share capital to subside completely and occurs among the companies with turnover less than 3 000 000 SEK/year. This means that the private limited companies do not perceive the possibility of lowering the share capital as an improvement of the institutional conditions or as an incentive where the reduction of share capital requirement is not considered to have any impact on businesses.

This thesis studies project Solvency II, which is focused on the integrated regulation of insurance market in the European Union. It presents basic division and capital requirements arising from it. It describes division of the project into the three areas, refered to as pillars in practice. The thesis summarizes the basic methods for measuring the risk (Value at Risk, Tail Value at Risk), necessary in the calculation of the solvency capital requirements. The thesis studies the method of calculation of the solvency capital requirement SCR and the minimum capital requirement MCR. The calculation of the SCR is focused mainly on the method of the calculation of the capital requirement using the standard formula. Lastly, capital requirements are calculated using concrete data set.

Title: Capital requirements imposed on insurance companies in Solveny II and their quantification Author: Bc. Martin Kožár Department: Department of probability and mathematical statistics Supervisor: Mgr. Martin Pleška Abstract: This thesis studies project Solvency II, which is focused on the integrated regulation of insurance market in the European Union. It pre- sents basic division and capital requirements arising from it. It describes division of the project into the three areas, refered to as pillars in practice. The thesis summarizes the basic methods for measuring the risk (Value at Risk, Tail Value at Risk), necessary in the calculation of the solvency capital requirements. The thesis studies the method of calculation of the solvency capital requirement SCR and the minimum capital requirement MCR. The calculation of the SCR is focused mainly on the method of the calculation of the capital requirement using the standard formula. Lastly, capital requi- rements are calculated using concrete data set. Keywords: Solvency II, solvency capital requirement SCR, minimum capital requirement MCR 1

O mercado financeiro brasileiro é caracterizado pela elevada concentração bancária, onde os cinco maiores bancos detêm a maior parte dos ativos financeiros. Bancos pequenos e médios têm que disputar espaços com os grandes conglomerados financeiros. Questões como economia de escala e custo de observância às normas são essenciais para a sobrevivência destas instituições menores. A aprovação para a constituição de instituições financeiras no País é dada pelo Banco Central do Brasil, que estabelece os valores de capital mínimo, em função da modalidade de instituição. Por sua vez, o Comitê de Supervisão Bancária de Basiléia estabelece os padrões máximos de alavancagem, o que indica qual volume de carteira pode ser contratado, dado este patrimônio. Este trabalho tem como objetivo verificar se os valores de capital mínimo estabelecidos pelo Banco Central do Brasil são compatíveis com a estrutura de custo das instituições, e com o objetivo de retorno dos acionistas. Serão utilizados dados dos demonstrativos das instituições financeiras e, com base em modelo de regressão de dados em painel estático, será construída uma curva de retornos em função do porte da instituição. Este retorno, comparado com o custo de capital calculado pelo CAPM indicará a partir de que porte uma instituição financeira é viável. / The Brazilian financial market is characterized by its huge banking concentration, where the five largest banks hold most part of the assets. Small and medium size financial institutions have to compete with the larger financial conglomerates. Economy of scale and cost of compliance issues are essential for the survival of the smaller institutions. The approval of a new financial institution is given by the Brazilian Central Bank, who establishes the minimum equity value, depending on the type of institution intended. Additionally, the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision fixes the maximum leverage standards, what indicates the maximum credit portfolio possible, given this equity value. This thesis aims to verify if the minimum equity value established by the Brazilian Central Bank is compatible with the banks operational cost and the shareholder return objective. Data of the financial statements will be used in conjunction with static panel regressions, to construct the return curve regarding the dimension of the institution. This will be compared with the shareholder cost of capital, estimated by de CAPM, to indicate the minimum dimension, which makes feasible the institution.

O mercado financeiro brasileiro é caracterizado pela elevada concentração bancária, onde os cinco maiores bancos detêm a maior parte dos ativos financeiros. Bancos pequenos e médios têm que disputar espaços com os grandes conglomerados financeiros. Questões como economia de escala e custo de observância às normas são essenciais para a sobrevivência destas instituições menores. A aprovação para a constituição de instituições financeiras no País é dada pelo Banco Central do Brasil, que estabelece os valores de capital mínimo, em função da modalidade de instituição. Por sua vez, o Comitê de Supervisão Bancária de Basiléia estabelece os padrões máximos de alavancagem, o que indica qual volume de carteira pode ser contratado, dado este patrimônio. Este trabalho tem como objetivo verificar se os valores de capital mínimo estabelecidos pelo Banco Central do Brasil são compatíveis com a estrutura de custo das instituições, e com o objetivo de retorno dos acionistas. Serão utilizados dados dos demonstrativos das instituições financeiras e, com base em modelo de regressão de dados em painel estático, será construída uma curva de retornos em função do porte da instituição. Este retorno, comparado com o custo de capital calculado pelo CAPM indicará a partir de que porte uma instituição financeira é viável. / The Brazilian financial market is characterized by its huge banking concentration, where the five largest banks hold most part of the assets. Small and medium size financial institutions have to compete with the larger financial conglomerates. Economy of scale and cost of compliance issues are essential for the survival of the smaller institutions. The approval of a new financial institution is given by the Brazilian Central Bank, who establishes the minimum equity value, depending on the type of institution intended. Additionally, the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision fixes the maximum leverage standards, what indicates the maximum credit portfolio possible, given this equity value. This thesis aims to verify if the minimum equity value established by the Brazilian Central Bank is compatible with the banks operational cost and the shareholder return objective. Data of the financial statements will be used in conjunction with static panel regressions, to construct the return curve regarding the dimension of the institution. This will be compared with the shareholder cost of capital, estimated by de CAPM, to indicate the minimum dimension, which makes feasible the institution.

This dissertation explored the efficacy of the new Basel III banking standards in SACU, grounded on the conjecture that they are not reflective of economies of SACU, but are merely an intensification of Basel II, rather than a substantial break with it. Firstly, loans and assets were tested for causality, since Basel III believes growth in these variables led to securitization. The leverage ratio has been introduced in Basel III as an anti-cyclical buffer. The OLS technique was employed to test for its significance in determining growth in bank assets. SACU feels the impact of debt, with credit is marginally treated in Basel III and is not introspective of the realities of its economies. ANOVA tests using debt, credit and GDP were done to determine a better method of addressing cyclicality. The leverage ratio was insignificant in Namibia, with debt and credit having momentous impacts on GDP in SACU. / Economics / M. Com. (Economics)

This dissertation explored the efficacy of the new Basel III banking standards in SACU, grounded on the conjecture that they are not reflective of economies of SACU, but are merely an intensification of Basel II, rather than a substantial break with it. Firstly, loans and assets were tested for causality, since Basel III believes growth in these variables led to securitization. The leverage ratio has been introduced in Basel III as an anti-cyclical buffer. The OLS technique was employed to test for its significance in determining growth in bank assets. SACU feels the impact of debt, with credit is marginally treated in Basel III and is not introspective of the realities of its economies. ANOVA tests using debt, credit and GDP were done to determine a better method of addressing cyclicality. The leverage ratio was insignificant in Namibia, with debt and credit having momentous impacts on GDP in SACU. / Economics / M. Com. (Economics)

Les entrepreneurs n’ont pas manqué de soulever l’importance et la nécessité d’une structure européenne flexible pour répondre aux besoins des PME. En effet l'introduction d'une société à conception contractuelle dans le droit européen revêt de multiples intérêts. D'une part, elle intègre les PME dans la continuité du processus de construction du marché intérieur. D’autre part, elle offre une liberté d’action appréciée par les entrepreneurs qui évoluent dans un marché fortement concurrentiel. Enfin, le caractère contractuel permet au législateur européen de revenir sur la définition des libertés d'établissement et de circulation des capitaux.Aussi encourageant que soit ce projet, il n'en demeure pas moins source d'interrogations et d'inquiétudes. La liberté contractuelle comporte des risques si elle n'évolue pas dans un cadre juridique adapté et protecteur. Cette thèse a pour objectif d’analyser les effets de la transposition de la liberté contractuelle dans le droit européen des sociétés. Pour comprendre la portée de l’adoption du texte relatif à la SPE, cette thèse tentera de définir la liberté contractuelle au sens communautaire, de souligner ses avantages et d’analyser ses inconvénients. / Entrepreneurs consider flexible structures are important to meet European SMES needs. Indeed, the transposition of a contractual company in the European law are very valuable. On the one hand, it includes SMES in the process of construction of internal market. On the other hand, it offers to entrepreneurs a freedom to manage their companies in order to be more competitive. Finally the contractual aspect of the company allows the European parliament to reconsider the definition of freedom of establishment and free movement of capital. As encouraging as this project is, it remains a source of questions and concerns. Contractual freedom could involve risks if it doesn’t evolve in a suitable protective legal framework. This thesis aims to analyze the effects of the transposition of contractual freedom in the European company law. To understand the scope of the adoption of the text relating to the SPE, this thesis will try to define the contractual freedom in EU terms, to emphasize its advantages and disadvantages analyzed

The financial stability of the insurers is important to fulfil its role as a risk transfer mechanism and to protect the purchasers of their products. The European Union is introducing the Solvency II to modernise the current Solvency I regime and to harmonise the different insurance legislation of the members of the European Union. Solvency II introduces an architecture consisting of three pillars, with Pillar I setting the solvency capital requirements, Pillar II the governance and risk management requirements and Pillar III the reporting requirements. The South African Regulator initiated Solvency Assessment and Management for implementation in 2016 to align the South African prudential regulatory framework to meet the Solvency II requirements for third country equivalence. The problem that this study addressed is the possible effect that the introduction of Solvency Assessment and Management may have on the sustainability of short-term insurers in South Africa. The results of a empirical component of the study indicated that small and medium short-term insurers may be negatively impacted due to the costs incurred to implement and comply with the requirements of the new regulatory framework. The effect on the South African short-term industry can be that cover is concentrated among a few large short-term insurers. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)