Importance of rating/credit rating agencies' role has recently significantly increased. Rating has become an integral part of the financial, capital markets. Yet this market (i.e. credit rating market) is not subject to regulation (the market works on the basis of a self-regulation principle) which is the fact widely used as a basis for the criticism of this industry in the light of recent events in the financial markets (the collapse of Enron, Parmalat, and other companies, lately followed by a collapse of the subprime mortgage market). The paper outlines the (monopoly) structure of the rating industry in the U.S. and the EU, discusses the new roles of rating in the regulation (e.g. regulation of the banking sector, BASEL II) as well as potential barriers for the market entry. The paper also addresses potential conflicts of interest and lack of regulation which can be observed in the industry.

The thesis is focused on the analysis of credit products offered by the credit unions in the context of Czech retail banking. The objective of the thesis is to compare the terms of specifi c loan products of banks and credit unions. The first part is devoted to the history of credit unions in the Czech Republic since the late 20th century. Then it discusses the various types of products off ered by these institutions. The last part is trying to assess the specifi c terms of the credit products off ered by selected credit unions and banks.

As of today, securitization is an established product on the capital market. The first transaction was made in the US in the 1970s. Since then the product has been developed and today there are several different structures of the product. Internationally securitization has been used for two reasons. Originally securitization was used to gain capital relief, but since capital requirements such as Basel II were implemented, the usage of securitization changed to more of a funding source. The purpose with this paper is to highlight the benefits and risks concerning securitization and to investigate the demand for securitization on the Swedish market. If the demand was found to be low, we would further examine why it’s low. We have investigated which assets are best suited for securitization and above all how the Swedish market will develop in the future. Securitization has been studied all across the world mainly due to the financial crisis, but studies from Sweden is lacking. Our literary sources are complemented with empirical knowledge through interviews of people with expertise in securitization. The paper is divided into three parts. The first part will deal with the theoretical aspects regarding securitization. The second part will process the empirical angels of securitization. In the third part we present an analysis and our own reflections on the subject. The Swedish securitization market has historically seen rather few transactions, despite the strength of the Swedish economy. Our research found that the assets used for securitization is mainly residential mortgage portfolios and consumer credits. These assets have certain characteristics and most importantly they are generating a good cash flow and can be structured in vast numbers to diversify a bank’s portfolio. How the market will develop in the future depends on how the bank sector will respond to Basel III requirements, the structure of future transactions and the competence of originators and buyers.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.

The New Capital Accord (henceforth, Basel II), is expected to impose dramatic changes on banks and other providers of corporate financing, as well as companies. Literature indicates that small and medium sized enterprises (henceforth SMEs), in general, and in particular German SMEs seem to be affected: Germany has the highest SME density with SMEs comprising 99.6% of all corporations (IMF, 2008), these SMEs are highly dependent on banks for financing (see Jacobson et al, 2006). However, there is huge controversy in the literature concerning how these changes will look, right before Basel II came into effect in the years 2007 / 2008 in the European Union. In order to explore this effect from a Post-Basel II perspective, the objective of this research project is to establish what effect Basel II will have on corporate financing of SMEs in Germany. The high impact on SMEs (in Germany), combined with controversial evidence from extant Pre-Basel II research, indicates a high relevance to academics and practitioners for this thesis. This thesis is probably the first from a Post-Basel II perspective which covers both the SMEs' as well as the financiers' perspective. Based on a structured literature review using the comparative method (Peters, 1998) 'Most Different Systems' evidence is provided that there is no consistent picture regarding the effect of Basel II. Therefore, further research is needed to determine whether the effect in Germany is consistent, from a Post-Basel II perspective, with regards to the conditions which trigger certain mechanisms, from a 'scientific realism' (Smith, 1998) perspective, because the literature indicates that 'positivist generalising' has limited validity. Building on Creswell (2003), an 'exploratory sequential' design was created to test three initial hypotheses (as confirmation or refutation of a theory, see Gujarati, 2003:8): a multi-method design is best suited to the author's philosophical stance of 'scientific realism' by means of triangulation (Robson, 2002:174). The result of the initial quantitative phase is based on the analysis of questionnaire data from 125 SMEs and financiers (banks, private equity companies, family offices, providers of alternative means of financing) derived from a probabilistic sample frame in the fourth quarter of 2008. Mathematical models for SMEs and financiers regarding the three initial hypotheses were set-up and tested using the appropriate statistical tests. In order to limit bias by means of a spill-over effect from the financial crises, control questions were used. The subsequent qualitative phase by means of semistructured elite interviews (Saunders et al, 2007:312) between March and May 2009 enabled a valid triangulation and provided in-depth insights into how SMEs can cope best with Basel II. The purposive sample, of 17 'important cases', included company owners and top-level financier executives. In a conclusive quantitative and qualitative synopsis, the three initial hypotheses were acknowledged. However, the qualitative in-depth analysis by means of 'causal networks' (Miles and Huberman, 1994) led to an amendment of the hypotheses as follows: 1. Corporate finance has become different for SMEs because the 'house bank principle' has changed to a 'core bank principle' due to Basel II. Shopping around regarding credits will be more difficult which makes financing more difficult. This could be overcompensated by major SMEs, by using non-credit corporate financing which leads to a reduction of the 'house bank' principle. 2. SMEs can cope best with the effect when they: a) proactively engage in rating and improve the parameters, or b) they adjust their strategy as stated in hypothesis 3. 3. Financiers (especially non-bank financiers) will engage in SME corporate finance when they have a sound financial basis / management and when they adjust their strategy in terms of growth with the aim of niche market leadership and when they open up for exit strategies.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the procyclical behavior of banks in terms of lending and loan loss provisioning, and its dynamics with regard to the adoption of the Basel II capital regulation. Using bank-level and country-level panel data spanning from 1996 to 2013 we answer this question for the OECD and BRIC countries. We find a positive effect of bank capitalization on loans growth, which, perhaps due to the recent financial crisis, weakened after 2008. Together with evidence of income smoothing and capital management we also find strong cyclical behavior of banks in terms of loan loss provisioning. At the same time, we do not find any robust changes to this behavior after the introduction of the Basel II capital regulation. We fill a gap in the empirical literature as there has been hardly any research done on changes brought forward by the adoption of the Basel II capital regulation. The results may be therefore of interest for regulators and other professionals. Moreover, we use in our analysis data for BRIC countries, which have been often neglected.

Au cours des siècles passés, la plupart des pays émergents, ont connu de graves crises bancaires. Depuis lors, ces pays nécessitent pour tant une attention particulière étant donné qu’ils sont caractérises par des marches financiers sous développes, une opacité accrue au sein de systèmes bancaires fragiles, un volume important de créances douteuses et litigieuses et parfois un environnement légal, institutionnel et réglementaire inadéquat. De là s'est posée la question sur le rôle de la réglementation bancaire comme un mécanisme indispensable pour prévenir le risque systémique, pour éviter les conséquences négatives de paniques et au maintien de la stabilité financière. Ce qui nous amène dans un premier temps, à étudier les causes et les facteurs explicatifs de la fragilité du système bancaire dans les pays émergents. Ensuite, nous citons une revue de la littérature théorique sur les fondements de la crise bancaire. Dans un second temps, nous présentons les fondements théoriques de la réglementation bancaire et son évolution. Suit à l’étude des aspects théoriques sur les fondements de la réglementation bancaire, nous allons étudier les effets de cadre réglementaire et du supervisons sur la probabilité d’occurrence des crises bancaires dans les pays émergents. Ensuite, nous effectuons une analyse descriptive des spécificités réglementaires et de supervision des secteurs bancaires dans les pays émergents, sur 21 pays d’Asie de l’Est, d’Europe et Asie centrale, et de Moyen orient et Afrique de Nord. Afin de compléter cette étude, nous réalisons un modèle Logit pour déterminer les variables explicatives de supervision et de réglementation qui expliquent le plus les crises bancaires. / Most of the emerging countries have experienced severe banking crises over the centuries which require them now to pay more attention. These countries are characterized by underdeveloped financial markets, increased opacity in fragile banking systems, a huge amount of bad and doubtful debts, and sometimes an inadequate legal, institutional and regulatory environment. This rises up the question of the role of banking regulation as an essential mechanism needed to prevent systemic risk, and to avoid the negative consequences of maintaining a financial stability. Seeking the answer for the latter question, we study here the causes and factors that explain well the fragility of the banking system in emerging countries, including a literature study on the theoretical foundations of the banking crisis, and the evolution of banking regulation. Moreover, a study on the effects of regulatory framework, and oversee of the banking crises probability in emerging markets is presented. Later, we perform a descriptive analysis of the specific regulatory and supervision of banking systems in emerging countries. This includes 21 countries from Europe East and Central, South Asia, and North Africa. Finally, we introduce a new logit model to determine the predictions of supervision and regulation that explain most of the banking crises in the presented countries.

Dissertation thesis deals with the topic of capital adequacy of financial institutions and tries to solve the problem of default and its prediction. In the theoretical part, the thesis provides summarization of historic and current approaches to capital adequacy of financial institutions and also presents currently used methodology of scoring models, which predict default of companies. Application part of the thesis aims to develop a scoring model, which would be usable by financial institutions for evaluation of their clients and their tendency to default.

A presente tese tem por objetivo desenvolver um estudo comparativo entre Brasil e Argentina no que se refere à implementação do Novo Acordo de Capitais da Basiléia publicado em 2004. Nesse sentido as legislações divulgadas pelos dois países sobre o tema foram analisadas. A metodologia utilizou documentos oficiais que tratam do tema da Basiléia e da integração financeira no âmbito do MERCOSUL. Adicionalmente foi utilizado o software estatístico SPSS para geração de demonstrativos gráficos do índice de Basiléia das instituições financeiras nos dois países. A tese constata que a implementação de Basiléia II foi importante para a discussão regulatória no âmbito do sistema financeiro dos países, mas não foi suficiente por conter a crise em curso. As exigências de adequação de capital encontradas em Basiléia II e na legislação de cada país podem contribuir para aumentar a solidez e estabilidade das instituições financeiras nos dois países, desde que sempre acompanhadas de supervisão constante e intervenção estatal nos momentos de crise. A tese também constata a existência de iniciativas de harmonização regulatória do setor financeiro no âmbito do MERCOSUL e neste sentido a implementação das diretrizes do Novo Acordo poderá interferir positivamente num processo futuro de integração financeira. / The present thesis develops a comparative study between Brazil and Argentina regarding the implementation of the New Basel Capital Accord published in 2004. In this sense, publications aiming this subject were analyzed for both countries. Official documents dealing with Basel as well as financial integration in MERCOSUL were used. In addition, measurements of Basel index for financial institutions of both countries were obtained and compared . Results evidence that, although Basel II implementation was important for financial systems regulation, it was not responsible to restrain ongoing crisis. Capital requirements found in Basel II and legislation of each country can contribute to increase financial institutions´ stability and must be followed by constant supervision and state intervention at moments of crisis. Results also evidence regulatory harmonization initiatives of financial sector in the scope of MERCOSUL, and in this sense the implementation of the New Accord, will be able to intervene positively with a future process of financial integration.

Jednou z možných odpovědí na vzrůstající kapitálové požadavky může být použití hybridního kapitálu. Hybridy jsou sofistikované a důmyslně strukturované instrumenty, které kombinují základní vlastnosti dluhu i equity. Kvalifikují se jako regulatorní TIER 1 kapitál a zároveň umožňují daňovou odečitatelnost dividendových plateb. Kvůli rostoucímu využívání hybridních instrumentů bankovní regulátoři sestavili řadu kritérií, která musí hybridní kapitál splňovat. Nejčastěji je posuzována jejich permanentnost, flexibilita dividendových plateb a schopnost absopce ztrát. Český regulatorní rámec zatím hybridní instrumenty nezná, ale s novou úpravou kapitálové přiměřenosti lze očekávat změnu v přístupu k tomuto druhu kapitálu. Modelovou aplikací hybridních instrumentů do kapitálové struktury skupiny ČSOB došlo ke zvýšení rentability vlastního kapitálu jak na úrovni skupiny, tak i na úrovni jednotlivých bank.