Banking Books

Book SynopsisThe Wealth of Nations, is the magnum opus of the Scottish economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith. First published in 1776, the book offers one of the world''s first collected descriptions of what builds nations'' wealth, and is today a fundamental work in classical economics. By reflecting upon the economics at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the book touches upon such broad topics as the division of labour, productivity, and free markets.The Wealth of Nations is considered to be the most important substantive proposition in all of economics and a foundation of resource-allocation theory. It is that, under competition, owners of resources (labour, land, and capital) will use them most profitably, resulting in an equal rate of return in equilibrium for all uses. With more than 36,000 scholarly citations, Smith''s work is the second most cited book in the social sciences published before 1950, behind Karl Marx''s Das Kapital.This case laminate collector''s edition includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket.

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Book SynopsisThe dramatic story of the last fifty years of the Speyer banking dynasty, a Jewish family of German descent, is surprisingly little known today, yet at the turn of the 20th century, Speyer was the third largest investment banking firm in the United States, behind only Morgan and Kuhn, Loeb. It had branches in London, Frankfurt and New York, and the projects it financed included the Southern Pacific Railroad, the London Underground and the infrastructure of the new Cuban republic. Later, it was the first major banking firm to finance Germany's Weimar Republic, as well as providing League of Nations loans to Hungary, Greece and Bulgaria. Yet, the firm was doomed by the nationalist passions aroused by World War I. Its English partner was denaturalised and exiled; its American partner enjoyed reduced standing because of his connection to Germany; and the Frankfurt branch closed with the coming of the Third Reich, its German partner fleeing into exile. The firm was dissolved in 1939, a surprisingly anticlimactic end to one of the great international banking companies of modern times. George W. Liebmann here tells the story of the firm and the family - shedding new light on the protagonists of a remarkable dynasty, who came undone in the dramatic years of the early 20th century.Table of ContentsIntroduction Early Days ENGLAND The London Tube / English Philanthropy / The House of Music / The Scott Expeditions / Leonora / Influence on the Liberal Party / Anti-Germanism and Its Consequences AMERICA Mediation Efforts / Ellin / U.S. Railway Promotions / Cuban Loans / Philippine Railroads / Mexican Railroads / Brazilian Loans / Industrial and Municipal Investments GERMANY Rehabilitating Central Europe / Last Days in Germany Epilogue: James Speyer Kronthal

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Book Synopsis​Our money system is a toxic left-over from a time when theft on a grand scale – war and empire-building – was glorified. Today, we need to move on from a system that allows and encourages the worst in us (and the worst among us) to prosper. We take the money system for granted. » We accept that banks have the right to create, rent out and then destroy money. » We accept that banks have a right to charge us (and our government) interest on this money. » We accept that the system enhances inequality, drives climate change, degrades our planet, promotes war and conflict, and has always led to eventual disaster. But why do we accept this manifestly undemocratic money system, which serves only to concentrate power and wealth in the hands of organisations and individuals that have profit – not our collective interests – at heart? Curious to find the answer, researcher and writer Ivo Mosley set out to uncover – and tell – the story of how money-creation works and how it came to be this way. Many years in the writing, this book is not an attack on individuals or a rant against bankers. Rather it’s a remarkably clear and comprehensive examination of a system that supports unaccountable and destructive power. It also points the way to the simple reforms that are necessary if we wish to create a more just and equitable world. Easily accessible to readers with no previous knowledge of economics and finance, this is a book for anyone interested in creating a fairer and more sustainable society in the face of economic, financial and environmental crisis.Table of ContentsIntroduction CHAPTER ONE: The Money Supply CHAPTER TWO: Laws That Make Robbery Legal CHAPTER THREE: How Money Works Today: A Quick Summary CHAPTER FOUR: Early Days CHAPTER FIVE: Bubbles and Adam Smith CHAPTER SIX: America, Won and Lost CHAPTER SEVEN: Secrets, Ignorance and Lies CHAPTER EIGHT: Negotiable Debt: A Bit of History CHAPTER NINE: Reform Bibliography Appendix 1: Sir John Holt’s remarks on promissory notes Appendix 2: Extract from The Promissory Notes Act, 1704 Glossary Index

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Book SynopsisThis book provides a comprehensive treatment of credit risk assessment and credit risk rating that meets the Advanced Internal Risk-Based (AIRB) approach of Basel II. Credit risk analysis looks at many risks and this book covers all the critical areas that credit professionals need to know, including country analysis, industry analysis, financial analysis, business analysis, and management analysis. Organized under two methodological approaches to credit analysis—a criteria-based approach, which is a hybrid of expert judgement and purely mathematical methodologies, and a mathematical approach using regression analysis to model default probability—the book covers a cross-section of industries including passenger airline, commercial real estate, and commercial banking. In three parts, the sections focus on hybrid models, statistical models, and credit management. While the book provides theory and principles, its emphasis is on practical applications, and will appeal to credit practitioners in the banking and investment community alongside college and university students who are preparing for a career in lending.Table of Contents

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Book SynopsisEconomic cycles are driven by financial flows, namely quantities of savings and credits, and not by high street inflation or interest rates. Their sweeping destructive powers are expressed through Global Liquidity, a $130 trillion pool of footloose cash. Global Liquidity describes the gross flows of credit and international capital feeding through the world’s banking systems and wholesale money markets. The huge jump in the volume of international financial markets since the mid-1980s has been boosted by deregulation, innovation and easy money, with financial globalisation now surpassing the peaks of integration reached before the First World War. Global Liquidity drives these markets: it is often determinant, frequently disruptive and always fast-moving. Barely one fifth of Wall Street’s huge gains over recent decades have come from earnings: rising liquidity and investors’ appetite for riskier financial assets have propelled stock prices higher. Similar experiences are shared worldwide and even in emerging markets, such as India, flat earnings have not deterred waves of foreign money and domestic mutual funds from driving-up stock prices. Now with central banks actively pursuing quantitative easing policies, industrial corporations flush with cash and rising wealth levels among emerging market investors, the liquidity theory of investment has never been more important.International spill-overs of these rapacious cross-border flows sets off capital wars and exposes the unattractive face of liquidity called ‘risk.’ As the world grows bigger, it becomes ever more volatile. From the early 1960s onwards, the world economy and its financial markets have suffered from three broad types of shocks – labour costs, oil and commodities, and global liquidity. Financial markets spin on fragile axes and the absence of liquidity often provides a warning of upcoming troubles. Global Liquidity is a much-discussed, but narrowly-researched and vaguely-defined topic. This book deeply explores the subject by clearly defining and measuring liquidity worldwide and by showing its importance for investors. The roles of central banks, shadow banking, the rise of Repo and growth of wholesale money are discussed. Additionally, covering the latest developments in China’s increasingly dominant financial economy, this book will appeal to practitioners, policy-makers, economists and academics, as well as those with a general interest in how financial markets work.Trade Review“Michael J. Howell’s Capital Wars: The Rise of Global Liquidity is a must-read for anyone trying to navigate the vagaries of inflation, bond yields, risk and volatility in global markets.” (Melissa Davies, spe.org.uk, March 8, 2021)“As a description of the workings of the modern global financial system and the interrelationship of finance and the real economy, it has no current rival. Not for beginners, but essential reading for market practitioners.” (John Plender, Financial Times, July 12, 2020)Table of Contents1. Introduction: Capital Wars.- 2. Global Money.- 3. Synopsis: A Bigger, More Volatile World.- 4. The Liquidity Model.- 5. Real Exchange Adjustment.- 6. Private Sector (Funding) Liquidity.- 7. The Central Banks: Don't Fight the Fed, Don't Upset the ECB and Don't Mess with the PBoC.- 8. Cross-border Capital Flows.- 9. China and the Emerging Markets.- 10. The Liquidity Transmission Mechanism: Understanding Future Macro-valuation Shifts.- 11. Financial Crises and Safe Assets.- 12. The Financial Silk Road: Globalisation and the Eastwards Shift of Capital.- 13. Measuring Liquidity: The Global Liquidity Indexes.- 14. Conclusion: A High Water Mark?.

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Book SynopsisIn response to the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, central banks have used all available instruments in their monetary policy tool-kit to avoid financial market disruptions and a collapse in real economic activities. These actions have expanded the size of their balance sheets and altered the composition of the asset-side. This edited book highlights how these assets are managed, providing an intellectual and practical contribution to an under-researched field of central bank responsibilities. It first reviews the sources and uses of domestic and international assets and how they complement—or possibly conflict with—the implementation of monetary policy goals. Next, the book examines the asset management mandate in a balance sheet context before turning to the investment decision-making process from strategic and tactical asset allocation to investment strategies, risk management, governance, reporting and control. Finally, it presents new developments in the field of managing assets at central banks. The individual chapters are written by central bankers, academics, and representatives from International Financial Institutions, each representing a particular aspect of the asset management practice.Practical and powerful insights from a hall of fame of investors, central bankers and scholars, are packed into this one volume. If you could have only one book on central bank asset management, this would be it. —Peter R. Fisher, Clinical Professor, Tuck School of Business at DartmouthJacob Bjorheim draws on his long experience in sovereign asset management to pull together a rich collection of insights from a broad range of expertise. Asset management at central banks has evolved and expanded considerably over the past decade. This book is a timely source of information and guidance. —Guy Debelle, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of AustraliaCentral bank balance sheets have grown at a tremendous pace over the last decade and a half. Drawing on contributions from scholars and experienced central bankers from around the world, this timely and insightful book sheds light on how central banks are, and should be, managing their growing balance sheets. —Kjell G. Nyborg, Chaired Professor of Finance, University of Zurich, Author of Collateral Frameworks: The Open Secret of Central BanksCentral banks and monetary authorities are charged with, and being held accountable for, managing portfolios of foreign currency assets of unprecedented size. The essays in this admirable book, written by some of the worlds most highly experienced officials, cover the full range of why and how this is currently being done and how new developments are affecting old practices. Interesting conceptually and immensely useful practically. —William White, Senior Fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute, former Head of the Monetary and Economic Department with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and chairman of the Economic and Development Review Committee at the OECDAn excellent and timely review of modern international reserve management, which ought to be read by everyone working with, or simply interested in, international asset management and finance as well as monetary and economic policy. The spectrum of authors is broad and their combined insight is very valuable. —Tom A. Fearnley, Investment Director, Norwegian Ministry of FinanceWith “Asset Management at Central Banks and Monetary Authorities”, Jacob Bjorheim has achieved an editorial tour de force. The book assembles the insightful views of the leading experts in the field, both from an academic and practitioners’ perspective. It bridges the gap between the macroeconomics of central banks and the financial management of their reserves. A must read to understand how central banks are special in the group of institutional investors. —Eric Bouyé, Head of Asset Allocation and Quantitative Strategies, Treasury Department, The World BankThe balance sheet is a large and important toolbox for any central bank and specifically the foreign exchange reserves constitute one the more powerful of these tools. This book provides excellent insight in the various perspectives of managing reserves at a central bank. —Heidi Elmér, Director of Markets Department, Severiges RiksbankThe world of international reserves has changed since the global financial crisis. In this volume, Jacob Bjorheim has assembled a stellar cast of experts to explain how and what that means for reserves management. With chapter authors like Andrew Ang, Jennifer Johnson-Calari, Robert McCauley, Ravi Menon, Simon Potter and Philip Turner, it is a book that every reserve manager must read. —Eli Remolona, Professor of Finance and Director of Central Banking, Asia School of Business in collaboration with MIT SloanJacob Bjorheim has succeeded in bringing together a first-class team of experts, and organising their contributions in an articulated journey from the central banks’ policy mandate to their asset management practices. An indispensable post-crisis update of the subject and a a required reading for anyone professionally involved with central bank’s asset management, or simply curious about a topic benefitting otherwise from limited research. —Louis de Montpellier, Former Global Head, Official Institutions Group, SSGA, and former Deputy Head, Banking Department, Bank for International Settlements (BIS), BaselAt last, a book that shares with a wider audience, deep insight in a unique, challenging and ethical approach of asset management developed and implemented in the secretive world of central banks. If you wonder how to manage funds that stand ready for use at short notice in times of stress then this book is for you. Two features make it such a valuable read and a must-have reference: First, the very comprehensive list of themes covered from a rich diversity of angles. Second, the very impressive list of prominent institutions and authors that have contributed and shared their analysis and practical approaches of the issues presented. What is better than to get the information directly from first-hand practitioners, experts and managers themselves in their own words? —Jean-Pierre Matt, Former Head of Financial Analysis at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and founder of QuanteisThis book holds the promise to become the go-to guide for anyone wishing to learn more about the management of official foreign exchange reserves. Central bankers in particular, but also those providing services to central banks, will find benefit from the broad scope in subject matter and varied perspectives being presented. I am yet to see a compendium on official reserve management with similar reach in subject matter. —Leon Myburgh, Former Head Financial Markets Department, South African Reserve Bank (SARB), PretoriaThis is an immensely timely book at a time when central bank operations, and their balance sheets, remain “larger for longer”. Following the Financial Crisis 10 years ago, and with the Covid-19 Recession about to break, central bank balance sheets are at the forefront of the authorities’ response to economic issues as never before. Yet the management of their now large-scale assets remains a little known and little studied area. The authors of this book combine extensive technical and practical experience, and their observations will fill an important gap in the literature at a critical time. —Freyr Hermannsson, Former Head of Treasury, Central Bank of Iceland, ReykjavíkTrade Review“This excellent book fills a critical gap that has existed since the IMF guidelines were revised. It offers important insights and learning for those interested in the practicalities of asset management, how that is evolving and may continue to change, and the interface between the operation of monetary policy and the financial management of official asset portfolios.” (Graeme Wheeler, Central Banking, centralbanking.com, February 18, 2021)Table of ContentsChapter 1. Asset Management at Central Banks and Monetary Authorities.- Chapter 2. Central Banks: Gatekeepers of Monetary Stability and Guardians of Public Interest.- Chapter 3. Larger Central Bank Balance Sheets: A New Normal for Monetary Policy?- Chapter 4. How Countries Manage Large Central Bank Balance Sheets.- Chapter 5. Reserve Accumulation, Sovereign Debt and Exchange Rate Policy.- Chapter 6. The cost of holding foreign exchange reserves.- Chapter 7. Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority: Why do central banks hold domestic and foreign currency assets?- Chapter 8. Safe assets: Made, not just born.- Chapter 9. Expansion and contraction of central bank balance sheets: Implications for commercial banks.- Chapter 10. Management of Canada’s Foreign Exchange Reserves.- Chapter 11. How the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) manages its assets.- Chapter 12. The South African Reserve Bank’s Strategic Asset Allocation Value Chain.- Chapter 13. European Central Bank: The investment decision-making process and its governance.- Chapter 14. Reserves management at Danmarks National Bank: Combining liquidity tiers with an adaptive risk budget.- Chapter 15. The Swiss National Bank’s investment decision-making process from a safe-haven currency perspective.- Chapter 16. The Strategic Asset Allocation Framework of Banco de México.- Chapter 17. Macro risk management in a commodity-dependent economy: The case of the Central Bank of Chile.- Chapter 18. Dynamic Strategic Asset Allocation at the National Bank of Belgium: Why and how to implement it in a central bank.- Chapter 19. Central Bank of Lithuania: Asset allocation in a risk parity framework.- Chapter 20. Good Governance: Principles, Pitfalls and Best Practice.- Chapter 21. Central Bank of Brazil: Investment decision-making in an integrated risk management framework.- Chapter 22. Governance, Risk Management, Reporting, and Control at the Central Bank of Columbia.- Chapter 23. Foreign exchange reserves at the National Bank of Poland: Adequacy, risk-budgets, tranching and financial implications.- Chapter 24. Central Banks as Bankers to Each Other: Overview, Trends, and Future Directions in Global Official Sector Service Provision.- Chapter 25. Modern central bank reserves management: Introduction and overview.- Chapter 26. Bank of Israel: Integrating equities into the foreign exchange reserves.- Chapter 27. Renminbi securities in portfolios of official institutions: A perspective from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.- Chapter 28. Responsible Investment and central bank asset management.- Chapter 29. BlackRock: Reserves Management with Factors and Reference Portfolios.

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Book SynopsisThis book explores the emerging field of risk management and risk analysis of cryptocurrencies, an area that has been generating considerable research. It begins by providing an introduction to digital finance and the concept of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. It then describes in detail the intrinsic risks involved in cryptocurrencies, an area that, to date, has not been fully documented or investigated. Lastly, it discusses the various types of risk, with a focus on design, operational, market and quantitative risks.Providing insights into the analysis and management of cryptocurrencies, and serving as a starting point for a more in-depth risk analysis, this book will appeal to professionals and researchers interested in familiarizing themselves with the risks in cryptocurrencies, including academics, portfolio managers, risk-managers, quants, financial professionals, regulators, economists, asset managers and traders.Table of Contents- Part I Introduction to Cryptocurrencies. - Blockchain. - Types of Cryptocurrencies. - Part II Risk in Dealing with Cryptocurrencies. - Qualitative Risks. - Quantitative Risks. - Futures and Options on Cryptocurrencies. - Portfolio Management. - Further Related Work. - Part III Summary and Conclusion. - Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisEnterprise management theories about the so-called bionic organization currently face a significant funding gap. Bionic theories have been mainly applied to enterprise lifecycle because of the presence of similarities between economic organizations and organisms. The digital transformation has offered advancements in the bionics research field which enable us to discuss bionic organizations for the first time as business realities in which humans and machines, especially robotic process automation systems and artificial intelligence tools, cooperate in executing operations.This book determines how a bionic organization can be defined and what are its fundamental elements in the case of banking. Specifically, it investigates the two pillars of bionic enterprise which are technology and humans, as well as the core objectives and outcomes. In order to provide an exhaustive overview, the book proposes a new conceptualization of the business model of a bionic organization on the basis of the Business Model Canvas framework. Ultimately, the study of bionic organizations is aimed to discover also how they evolved in the post pandemic phase as a result of the disruptive events generated by the spread of the pandemic. The research on the book has been conducted through a qualitative and descriptive methodology with the intent to build further knowledge about the topic starting from the information available in literature. To provide actual evidence of the reality of bionic financial services, the book includes case studies. The organizations observed in the study have been selected since they present some of the key traits identified by the bionic enterprise theory. The book demonstrates that bionic enterprise theory can be further enriched with the conceptualization of a bionic business model in which the paradigm of collaboration between humans and machines is a recurring element.Table of ContentsChapter 1: Bionic Banking Introduction.- Chapter 2: Bionic Banking.- Chapter 3: Bionic Banking Transformation.- Chapter 4: Bionic Banking Business Model.- Chapter 5: Bionic Banking Life Style.- Chapter 6: Bionic Banking Project.- Chapter 7: Bionic Banking Conclusions.

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Book SynopsisAs has been proven time and again, banks are the single most important business institution in any economy. If they fail, the whole economy fails. How to Build a Bank sets out, in a manner that is completely unprecedented, all the requirements for the core documentation essential for the operation of a bank. The book takes the reader through the core requirements to operate a bank, and then provides actual examples of the relevant regulatory documentation required for the bank‘s operation, the rationale for the documentation and the details and information required to complete the documentation. Each chapter of the book includes a template of the key regulatory documents required to operate a bank. The book thus simplifies a very complex area of regulatory and banking laws and rules to enable a better understanding of the banking sector and a better understanding of the key requirements for a successful long-term banking business. It is essential reading for bank executives, financial service executives, regulators, lawyers, accountants and professionals involved in bank and financial service authorisation and bank and financial service operations. It will also be very helpful for anyone wishing to understand how the most important business institutions in an economy work and the lessons that can be learned from understanding the detailed regulatory requirements to ensure their success and long-term viability.

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