In the first chapter of my thesis titled "The Spanish Financial System", I introduce a concept of a financial system in general and a historical development of the Spanish financial system including legislation from the beginning of the 20th century till today. The second part describes a current structure of the Spanish financial system and component entities operating within its framework structured from a point of supervising institutions. The last and crucial chapter is focused on reforms of the Spanish banking sector which have got no parallel in a modern history of the country. Restructuring and consolidation of the banking sector have been primarily carried out by mergers of traditional savings banks which became vulnerable during a period of an international liquidity crisis and an excessive exposure to the construction industry and real estate developments. I explain reasons for reforms, their starting points, progresses and difficulties during the restructuring processes. In conclusion I assess their results and impacts not only on credit institutions but the whole society as well.

Financial ratios are key units of analysis in most quantitative financial research including bankruptcy prediction, performance and efficiency analysis, mergers and acquisitions, and credit ratings, amongst others. Since hundreds of ratios can be computed using available financial data and given the substantial overlap in information provided by many of these ratios, choosing amongst ratios has been a significant issue facing practitioners and researchers. An important contribution of the present thesis is to show that ratios can be arranged into groups where each group describes a separate financial aspect or dimension of a given firm or industry. Then by choosing representative ratios from each group, a small, yet comprehensive, set of ratios can be identified and used for further analysis. Whilst a substantial part of the financial ratio literature has focused on classifying financial ratios empirically and on assessing the stability of the ratio groups over different periods and industries, relatively little attention has been paid to the classifying of financial ratios of the banking sector. This study aims to explore the classification patterns of 56 financial ratios for banks of different type, size and age. Using data from the Uniform Bank Performance Report (UBPR), large samples of commercial, savings, and De Novo (newlychartered) commercial banks were obtained for the period between 2001 and 2005, inclusive. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed on a yearly basis to classify the banks' ratios after applying the inverse sinh transformation to enhance the distributional properties of the data. The number of patterns were decided using Parallel Analysis. The study also uses various methods including visual comparison, correlation, congruency, and transformation analysis to assess the time series stability and cross-sectional similarity of the identified ratio patterns. The study identifies 13 or 14 ratio patterns for commercial banks and 10 or 11 ratio patterns for savings banks over the period on which the study is based. These patterns are generally stable over time; yet, some dissimilarity was found between the ratio patterns for the two types of banks – that is, the commercial and savings banks. A certain degree of dissimilarity was also found between the financial patterns for commercial banks belonging to different asset-size classes. Furthermore, four ratio patterns were consistently identified for the De Novo commercial banks in the first year of their operations. However, no evidence of convergence was found between the ratio patterns of the De Novo commercial banks and the ratio patterns of the incumbent (that is, long established) commercial banks. The findings of this study bring useful insights particularly to researchers who employ bank financial ratios in empirical analysis. Methodologically, this research pioneers the application of the inverse sinh transformation and parallel analysis in the area of the ratio classification literature. Also, it contributes to the use of transformation analysis as a factor comparison technique by deriving a significance test for the outputs of this analysis. Moreover, this is the only large scale study to be conducted on the classification patterns of bank financial ratios.

El presente trabajo de investigación tiene como objetivo determinar el impacto financiero de la aplicación los conceptos de la NIA 315 (Identificación y valoración de los riesgos de incorrección material mediante el conocimiento de la entidad y de su entorno) en el proceso de otorgamiento de créditos en las cajas municipales en la Provincia de Barranca, durante el año 2017. Para el desarrollo del presente trabajo, hemos realizado una investigación mixta (cuantitativa y cualitativa). Para la primera metodología se utilizaron la herramienta de Encuestas con Escalas y el Análisis de Casos, para la segunda metodología se utilizó las Entrevistas a Profundidad. Para validar nuestra hipótesis general e hipótesis específicas, se han realizado trabajos de campo en las principales cajas municipales de ahorro y créditos localizados en la Provincia de Barranca, a las cuales se realizaron encuestas a los asesores de negocios y, además, se contactó y realizo entrevistas a profundidad a expertos en el sector microfinanciero. Finalmente, se realizó un caso práctico para evaluar el impacto financiero de la presente investigación. De los resultados analizados se llegó a la conclusión de que las prácticas de la NIA 315 generan un impacto financiero positivo en el proceso de otorgamiento de créditos. / The objective of this research is to determine the financial impact of the application of the concepts of the IAS 315 (Identification and assessment of material misstatement risks through knowledge of the entity and its environment) in the process of granting loans in the municipal funds in the Province of Barranca, during the year 2017. For the development of this investigation paper, we have conducted a mixed research (quantitative and qualitative). For which we used the Surveys with Likert Scales and the Case Analysis, while for the qualitative work we used the In-Depth Interviews to experts in the Field. To validate our general hypothesis and specific hypotheses, fieldwork has been carried out to the main savings and credit local savings banks located in the Province of Barranca, to which business advisors were surveyed and, in addition, experts were contacted. The microfinance sector, to which it was interviewed and finally, a case study was carried out to evaluate the financial impact of the present investigation. From the results analyzed, it was concluded that the practices of IAS 315 generate a positive financial impact in the process of granting loans. / Tesis

The 19th century was a time when a large number of voluntary associations were being formed both in Sweden and in Europe as a whole. Their ambition was to engage in health care and poor relief issues as well as in the educational system. Furthermore, the general idea was to promote temperance and foster a sense of thrift among the poor and the working class population. While the starting-point of the thesis was the question as to why the voluntary associations founded various charitable activities as well as how the philanthropy was designed, organised and modified throughout the century, the aim has been to elucidate the motive force and incentives for their social reforms. In order to answer the two main questions of the dissertation, the association De Badande Wännerna (the DBW), which engaged in several philanthropic activities in the Swedish province of Gotland as early as the 1810s, has been selected for a case study. In the literature a number of different reasons have been stressed as to why voluntary associations chose to engage in charitable activities. In order to shed light on what factors that underlay their philanthropic work, the process of negotiation regarding the various institutions established by the DBW, as well as the practical layout of the establishments, have been analysed from the perspectives of a theoretical model based on affinity groups. The study has shown that the incentives of philanthropy were complex. Furthermore, the incentives changed concurrently with the expansion of the public poor relief and educational system, which from the middle of the 19th century took over many of the humanitarian efforts hitherto run by the voluntary associations. The result of this development was that the voluntary associations created new spheres of activity. They continued to fulfil important societal functions, but their establishments also fulfilled a more internal desire for pleasure and delights.

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Les banques sont des institutions à part, car elles sont au coeur du fonctionnement des économies et de la dynamique de croissance des pays. Leurs services représentent de ce fait un bien public, et il est donc primordial de les maintenir éloignées autant que possible du risque de faillite. Toutefois, des crises bancaires surviennent régulièrement et affectent les sociétés, souvent de manière durable et profonde, à l’image de la crise financière des subprimes qui a éclaté en 2007, et dont nous ne connaissons pas encore toutes les conséquences désastreuses. Pour prévenir le risque de faillite et de crises bancaires, les autorités de régulation nationales ont développé des filets de sécurité qui, en partie, suivent les standards internationaux de réglementation et de supervision bancaire développés par le Comité de Bâle sur le contrôle bancaire, sous l’égide de la Banque des Règlements Internationaux. Cependant, les crises récurrentes se produisent et nous montrent les limites de la régulation bancaire et, surtout, nous indiquent que celle-ci doit être en permanence revue et adaptée, de façon dynamique, à l’évolution des systèmes bancaires et de l’innovation financière. L’un des principaux objectifs est de s’assurer que les banques soient suffisamment et solidement capitalisées pour faire face à des pertes exceptionnelles inattendues. Par ailleurs, il est primordial, afin d’assurer une stabilité financière durable, que les superviseurs bancaires soient à même de contrôler efficacement les banques et d’entreprendre les actions nécessaires pour que ces dernières demeurent à des niveaux de risques engagés raisonnables et qui ne menacent ni leur solvabilité, ni celle de l’ensemble du système bancaire. Enfin, les banques sont censées être régulées par le marché (discipline de marché), sur la base des informations qu’elles sont tenues de divulguer publiquement, sur leur santé financière. Dans ces politiques de régulation bancaire et de prévention du risque de crise, il ne faut pas oublier le rôle de l’assureur dépôt, à qui certains économistes et instances internationales veulent prêter de plus en plus de pouvoir sur les banques. Nous montrons dans notre travail de thèse, à travers des analyses empiriques menées sur des données contemporaines, les insuffisances des politiques de régulation et de supervision bancaire, les erreurs commises dans l’approche de la régulation bancaire, et nous présentons les aspects qu’il serait souhaitable de prendre en compte, pour approcher une politique de réglementation et de supervision bancaire plus efficace, et dynamique, dans l’objectif de maintien de la stabilité bancaire. Nous avançons notamment qu’il est nécessaire de mieux prendre en compte la nature de l’activité des différents types d’institutions financières qui composent les systèmes bancaires, et dont la nature et le degré d’exposition aux risques ne sont pas les mêmes. Il est également important de considérer les caractéristiques de l’environnement institutionnel dans lequel évoluent les banques, de manière à développer une structure de supervision adaptée et efficace. En définitive, nous étudions dans cette thèse un large ensemble de déterminants économiques et institutionnels, susceptibles d’impacter la stabilité bancaire, de manière à identifier celles des politiques de régulation qu’il s’agirait de mettre en oeuvre, afin d’assurer dans l’avenir un meilleur maintien de la stabilité financière des banques. / Banks are special institutions because they are central to the functioning of economies and to economic growth. Their services represent a public good. Therefore, it is essential to keep them as far as possible from risk of bankruptcy. However, banking crises occur regularly and affect societies, often dramatically and over a long period, like the current subprime financial crisis which burst into 2007, and which consequences are still not very well perceived. To prevent the risk of bankruptcy and banking crisis, the national authorities of regulation have developed safety nets. These follow partially the international standards of regulation and banking supervision developed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision under the aegis of the Bank for International Settlements. However, recurrent crises occur and show us the limits of the banking regulation and, especially, indicate that the latter should be continually revised and adapted to the evolution of banking systems and financial innovations. One of the main goals is to make sure that banks are enough capitalized to face unexpected large losses. In order to achieve long-lasting financial stability, it is essential that banking supervisors can monitor efficiently banks. By doing so, the risk taken by banks would be sustainable and would not threaten either their own solvency or the whole banking system solvency. Finally, banks are supposed to be regulated by the market (market discipline) on the basis of information about their financial health which should be disclosed publicly. Along the policies of banking regulation and crisis risk prevention, one should not forget the role of the deposit insurers. Indeed, some economists and international authorities want to attribute more power over banks to deposit insurers. In our research, the empirical analysis, based on contemporary data, show the weakness of the actual regulation and banking supervision policies and the mistakes in banking regulation. Different features of the banking system that should be taken into account for an efficient implementation of regulation and banking supervision policies are also discussed in this work. Hence, we suggest that the type of financial institutions' activities should be better taken into account as it changes with the degree of risk exposure. We also find that it is important to consider the characteristics of the institutional environment in which banks evolve in order to develop a suitable and efficient supervision agency. To summarize, we study in this thesis a large range of economic and institutional determinants of the banking system, which are likely to affect the banking stability. By doing so, we are able to identify the regulation policies which would be the most likely to preserve the financial stability of banks.

The diploma thesis deals with architecture of financial institutions in Prague - banks, savings banks and insurance companies - from the middle of the 19th century (when the first representative headquarters of financial institution in Prague was built) to 1939. The research of the thesis is focused on territory of Prague New Town, which is included in town area of Prague 1, where the highest concentration of these financial buildings was in whole research period. The diploma thesis will register and interpret individual headquarters of financial institution in Prague in historical, economic and political context within the Czech lands and the Habsburg monarchy, then also within the Czechoslovak Republic; and in the context of urban and wider architectural development in Prague and Europe too. Key words: Architecture, urbanism, banks, savings banks, insurance companies, 19th and 20th century, Prague, Bohemia, Czechoslovakia, historic style, Art Nouveau, cubism, neo-classicism, functionalism.

<p>The primary aim of this thesis has been to analyse the transformation of the Swedish capital market from a household perspective. The investigation shows that the transition from a mostly private credit market to a more institutionalised credit market took place at the end of the nineteenth century. At this time there were several actors in the credit market that were able to fulfil the diverse needs of credit that different households might have. This need was very much correlated to the household’s particular stage in its life-cycle. In accordance with the life-cycle theory and the permanent income hypothesis, households displayed a savings and consumption pattern that was dependent on income and the burden of expenditure. Households also seemed to have particular difficulty meeting expenditures, so-called life-cycle squeezes, when the household was first started, when the household size was at its peak and when the head of family reached old age, which coincided with a declining capacity to work. The investigation also shows that household savings were meant for old age. Contrary to the assumption made in life-cycle theory, households seemed to intend to provide heirs with an inheritance. This finding is more in keeping with the permanent income hypothesis, which states that households were expected to maintain their assets intact over the course of a life-time.</p>

The primary aim of this thesis has been to analyse the transformation of the Swedish capital market from a household perspective. The investigation shows that the transition from a mostly private credit market to a more institutionalised credit market took place at the end of the nineteenth century. At this time there were several actors in the credit market that were able to fulfil the diverse needs of credit that different households might have. This need was very much correlated to the household’s particular stage in its life-cycle. In accordance with the life-cycle theory and the permanent income hypothesis, households displayed a savings and consumption pattern that was dependent on income and the burden of expenditure. Households also seemed to have particular difficulty meeting expenditures, so-called life-cycle squeezes, when the household was first started, when the household size was at its peak and when the head of family reached old age, which coincided with a declining capacity to work. The investigation also shows that household savings were meant for old age. Contrary to the assumption made in life-cycle theory, households seemed to intend to provide heirs with an inheritance. This finding is more in keeping with the permanent income hypothesis, which states that households were expected to maintain their assets intact over the course of a life-time.