We propose a totally new approach toward assessing sovereign risk by examining rigorously the health and aggregate default risk of a nation’s private corporate sector. Models such as our new Z-Metrics™ approach can be utilized to measure the median probability of default of the non-financial...

The regulatory framework established during the Great Depression was dismantled in stages after 1969. The deregulation of deposits at banks and savings institutions created incentives to widen the scope of investments that banks and thrifts could make. Novel instruments were created that should...

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform regulations and other postcrisis regulations and guidelines have put enormous pressure on financial institutions to optimize the use of their scarce capital and to improve their return on equity (ROE) which has been significantly compressed compared to historical...

This paper proposes a definition and assessment methodology for systemic financial risk that was inspired by systems accident research. Sociologist Charles Perrow found that industrial, aviation and marine systems are prone to failure if those systems are interactively complex and tightly...

Has the political influence of the financial industry had any bearing on financial regulation and, ultimately, the recent financial crisis? This paper discusses the findings of recent research that uses a detailed database of the lobbying activities, campaign contributions, political connections...

The financial crisis of 2007-2008 was a liquidity crisis. Thus we must both study the source of the crisis and evaluate the regulatory measures to address it. How was this liquidity crisis and its associated risk related to other forms of risk? What was the nature of the vicious cycle that...

The financial crisis has exposed deep-rooted problems with banks' financial reporting. Long neglected in analyses of bank performance, this article recommends a new focus on bank cash flows. We identify weaknesses and deficiencies in the existing literature on banking performance. Short case...

Does the 2007/08 market crisis herald the end of risk modeling and the empirical method? This paper supports the hypothesis that recent risk modeling problems were caused by the use of inappropriate risk models which are fixable rather than fundamentally flawed. An extensive analysis including...

This study takes a closer look at the role of risk (mis)management by financial institutions in the emergence of the Great Crash. It is explained that prior to the crisis too much reliance was placed on the quantitative side of risk management, while not enough attention was paid to qualitative...