The master thesis deals with the issue of the development of regulation and supervision of the financial systems in the US and the EU. The thesis is primarily focused on the regulatory and supervisory bodies and the area of capital adequacy in both, the US and the EU and changes in these areas in response to the global financial crisis. In order to meet the theses objectives the thesis is divided into three chapters, which are logically and chronologically connected. The first chapter covers the period before the financial crisis. This chapter analyzes American and European system of regulation and supervision in the period before the crisis, as well as Basel I and Basel II and the reaction of the US and the EU on these agreements. The second chapter focuses on the period of the financial crisis. Chapter analyzes the causes that led to this crisis and also its actual progress. Next section of the second chapter analyzes the US and the EU response to the crisis and the steps which the US and the EU have taken in an effort to save their financial systems. The last chapter covers the post-crisis period. This chapter is devoted mainly to the new concept Basel III and its implementation in the US and the EU. The conclusion of the thesis will be devoted to an overall summary and to comparison of obtained information.

This work analyses development of economic and politic relationships of Great Britain with the European Communities (EC) and the European Union (EU) since the beginning of European integration till the contemporary debt crisis of the Eurozone. It deals with British European policies before and after Britain's accession to the EC and puts emphasis on British influence over negotiations about the main policies and institutional changes of the EC and EU, as well as on British internal views on European integration, first of all on often misunderstood British euroscepticism. From the analysis of historical and contemporary data author infers not only possible scenarios of the future relationship between the Great Britain and Europe, but also the influence of this member state on the development of the EU.

This study examined the nexus between bank performance and regulatory requirements in South Africa. The panel regression approach was used, which applied panel data from 12 banks that were registered in terms of the Bank Act 94 of 1990 over the period 2009 to 2019. A quantitative research approach was used to investigate the nexus between bank performance, bank regulations, bank-specific factors and some macroeconomic factors. A regression analysis was conducted on four bank performance ratios using pooled ordinary least square regression, fixed effects, random effects and generalised methods moments. The two-step generalised system methods of moments approach was preferred over the other methods because it eliminated the problem of endogeneity. The results showed that capital adequacy and size have both a positive and negative significant effect on bank performance, while interest rates, non-performing loans, liquidity coverage ratios and net stable funding ratios had a negative and significant effect on bank performance. The study concluded that South African banks could enhance their performance by tightening their credit risk assessment framework to be more prudent in their lending practices in order to improve the lending quality of their loan books. It is recommended that banks keep their capital levels at a minimum to avoid excessive risk-taking, and that they by embark on efficient revenue enhancement activities such as increasing retained earnings. Banks must further look at their clients on an overall basis, not just a transactional basis, as this will improve their non-interest revenue income by introducing innovative products. Lastly, the banks must lower their liquidity risk exposure by collectively managing their capital adequacy ratio, size of the bank, interest rates, non-performing loans, liquidity coverage ratio and net stable funding ratio. The South African Reserve Bank should tighten regulatory requirements by improving its supervision and oversight functions; banks must to adhere to lending practices and foster a healthy and adequately capitalised balance sheet. Lastly, the SARB must align its macroeconomic forecast for lending rates with regulatory requirements to ensure that economic performance is a catalyst for bank performance. This study contributes to the empirical research repository on the nexus of bank performance and regulatory requirements. More importantly, it identifies the significant factors that affect South African bank performance, by identifying the deficiencies in South Africa’s regulatory requirements, which will provide the South African Reserve Bank with insight into ways of enhancing its regulatory requirements to improve the performance, management practices and sound capital adequacy of the banking sector. / Finance, Risk Management and Banking / M.. Com. (Business Management (Finance)

PhD (Economics) / Department of Economics / This is the first study to investigate the impact of working capital management on the performance (profitability and value) of South African firms listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) before, during and after the 2008/2009 global financial crisis. Richards and Laughlin’s (1980) Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) theory was used as the theoretical framework for analysing and linking working capital management to firm performance. In addition, the study investigates how the separate working capital management components impact the performance of firms. The study used both accounting and market based secondary data obtained from I-Net Bridge/BFA McGregor database and the JSE for 75 firms for the 10 year period, 2003 to 2012. Panel data regression models were used in the analyses. The key findings from the study indicate the following. First, the average profitability (ROA) for the sample firms decreased from 27% (before the financial crisis) to 20.2% during the crisis period and increased to 25.9% after the financial crisis. Second, the average market capitalisation (firm value) decreased from R18.9 billion before the crisis to R16.3 billion during the crisis period, and thereafter increased to a high of R24.4 billion after the crisis. Third, the average firm’s CCC was 28.4 days before the crisis and decreased to 12.5 days during the crisis period and later increased to 16.2 days after the crisis. Fourth, and interestingly, of the four working capital management variables, only accounts receivable conversion period is significantly negatively related to profitability during the financial crisis. Fifth, the three firm-specific variables (size, financial leverage, and current assets to total assets ratio) have no significant relation with profitability during the crisis period. Sixth, the external variable, change in GDP growth rate, has a significant positive relation with profitability. This suggests firms perform better when the economy is booming and otherwise during economic downturns, which is consistent with economic theory. Finally, and perhaps the most important contribution is that the study found an inverted U-shape relationship between working capital management (proxied by cash conversion cycle) and firm value before the crisis. This implies that there exists an optimal level of investment in working capital for which the sampled firms’ value is maximized. At this point, costs and benefits are balanced. Thus corporate managers should aim to keep as close to the optimal level as possible and try to avoid any deviations from it that destroy firm value. On the contrary, the results have not established any such relationship between working capital management and profitability for any of the three financial crisis periods. Based on the findings, it is recommended that firm managers should aim at keeping as close to the optimal working capital level as possible and try to avoid any deviations from it that may destroy firm value. / NRF

MCom (Cost and Management Accounting) / Department of Accountancy / The relationship between a firm’s investment behaviour, financial constraints and the level of internally generated cash flows has been a subject of extensive discussion in finance literature. The discussion revolves around the effectiveness of investment cash flow sensitivity (ICFS) as a measure of financial constraints with contradicting conclusions. Empirical literature is also not in agreement about the best firm-specific proxy to distinguish firms into financially-constrained versus financially-unconstrained ones and the effect of the 2007 to 2009 global financial crisis on the ICFS of South African firms is still to be determined. There are very limited studies that have investigated ICFS in developing economies. This is important as institutional differences and capital market developments between developed and developing economies justify a separate study of South Africa as a developing economy. This study used data drawn from 131 Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed non-financial firms for the period 2003 to 2016 to establish the most suitable criterion for distinguishing firms into financially constrained versus unconstrained, to determine the effect of the 2007 to 2009 global financial crisis on the ICFS and to determine if ICFS is a good measure of financial constraints. The data for the 131 sampled firms was obtained from the financial statements on the IRESS database. The dataset was split into constrained versus unconstrained firms using three firm specific splitting variables: firm size, cash flow holding and dividends pay-out. The data was further split into panel 1 (2003 to 2006 covering the period before the global crisis); panel 2 (2006 to 2010 covering the period including the global financial crisis period) and panel 3 (2010 to 2016 covering the post global financial crisis period). The study utilised the system generalized moments method (GMM) regression model that yields consistent estimates even with unbalanced panel data sets and the Fixed Effects estimator. The models were both implemented on STATA 15 software. Samples split based on the dividend pay-out showed the highest ICFS for financially-constrained firms before, during and after the global financial crisis period. ICFS is highest during the period including the global financial crisis years compared to samples split using firm size and cash flow holding. The study concludes that dividends pay-out is the best criterion to distinguish firms into financially-constrained versus unconstrained; the global financial crisis constrained all firms; and that ICFS can be a good measure of financial constraints. The main limitation to the study was that it used a small sample size in relation to other international studies. / NRF

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The Diploma Thesis deals with the banking crisis and aims to account for different approaches to the understanding of the nature of banking crisis. The Thesis further aims to provide answers why the banking crisis are caused and why so far there are no measures that would effectivelly prevent such crisis. At first, the Thesis states the definition of banking with the emphasis on banks as the institutional backbone of the current functioning of the financial system. The Thesis pays specific attention to the characteristics of two basic legal banking instruments, particulary loans and deposits. While acknowledging the loan expansion, the thesis argues the role of regulatory authorities and the limits of their competences in regards to the prevention of crisis. Followingly, the Thesis offers a view on a banking crisis phenomenon with appropriate historical overview outlining the banking crisis in Czechoslovakia in years 1918 to 1939 and after 1989, the loan expension influence on the business cycles and approaches to banking crisis solving in respect to stabilization of the banking system and restructuring of banks. At last but not least, the Thesis sums up the global financial crisis that started as a banking crisis, respectively as a crisis of one segment of the banking market in the United States...

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1978年中國大陸實行改革開放政策，造就中共30餘年來高度的經濟增長率，中共在1990年代中期確立社會主義市場經濟的發展體制，結合有中國特色的社會主義和西方的市場經濟體制，時至今日中共仍然在調整社會主義（國家）和市場經濟體制之間的權力關係，中共政府雖然接受市場經濟體制在資源配置的作用，但代表社會主義的中共政府，仍牢牢掌握對整體經濟的宏觀調控能力，但對於中共而言，更加複雜多變的政經環境以及融入世界經貿體系的因素，改變社會主義和市場經濟體制對於資源配置的作用程度。 本論文從1997年亞洲金融危機和2008年國際金融危機的爆發，造成中國大陸經濟發展的困境、提出的應對措施和發展目標的轉變，檢視中共使用宏觀經濟調控政策中，財政政策和貨幣政策的差異。另外在金融危機後，中共又是如何在堅持社會主義（國家）的控制能力，以及提昇市場經濟的作用程度之間，做出適當的調整，以配合宏觀經濟調控政策達成經濟增長、調整結構、促進改革等目標的平衡發展。

The dissertation is composed of three empirical research papers analyzing the development on credit derivatives markets in recent years characterized by the global financial crisis in 2007- 2009 and subsequent European sovereign debt crisis. The basic motivation of the thesis is to contribute to the clarification of the turbulent development on credit derivatives markets. The first paper addresses main flaws of a collateralized debt obligation (CDO) market during the global financial crisis. The second paper examines the impact of the Greek debt crisis on sovereign credit default swap (CDS) reliability. The third paper analyzes whether a resulting change in CDS terms restored confidence in CDS contracts. An introductory chapter presents a common framework for the three papers. In the first paper, we examine valuation of a Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO) in 2007- 2009. One Factor Gaussian Copula Model is presented and five hypotheses regarding CDO sensitivity to entry parameters are analyzed. Four main deficiencies of the CDO market are then articulated: i) an insufficient analysis of underlying assets by both investors and rating agencies; ii) investment decisions arising from the valuation model based on expected cash-flows and neglecting other factors such as mark-to-market losses; iii)...