"Global climate change is occurring at an accelerating pace, and the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that are forcing climate change continue to increase. Given the present pace of international actions, it seems unlikely that atmospheric composition can be stabilized at a level that will...

Financial consumer protection sets clear rules of conduct for financial firms regarding their retail customers. It aims to ensure that consumers: 1) receive information to allow them to make informed decisions, 2) are not subject to unfair or deceptive practices, and 3) have access to recourse...

Over the last decade, consumer credit in the Russian Federation has expanded from almost nothing to 9.2 percent of GDP in 2008, at 84 percent average annual growth in 2003-2008 year for five years. Yet, the increases have been uneven throughout the Russian population: more than 40 percent are...

Eight years of strong economic growth in Ukraine in 2000-2008, at an average of seven percent per year, ended with a sharp 15 percent decline in 2009. The national currency plummeted and the banking sector nearly collapsed, with non-performing loans increasing from 2.3 percent to 11.2 percent of...

Eight years of strong economic growth in Ukraine in 2000-2008, at an average of seven percent per year, ended with a sharp 15 percent decline in 2009. The national currency plummeted and the banking sector nearly collapsed, with non-performing loans increasing from 2.3 percent to 11.2 percent of...

In 2010, over 92 percent of the assets in the Nicaraguan financial system were concentrated in the banking sector, while microfinance managed over 5 percent, and all the remaining segments covered less than 3 percent. Starting in the late 1990s and until 2007, the microfinance sector in...