Most accounting studies use only public enforcement actions (SEC cases) to measure accounting fraud. However, private cases (securities class actions) also play an important enforcement role. We discuss the legal standards and processes for both public and private enforcement regimes, emphasize...

Trust in the independence of auditors is essential for the functioning of markets. If auditors are not independent or not believed to be independent, transaction costs will rise. In our view, structural weaknesses currently impair auditor independence. We therefore put forward several reform...

IFRS 9 was introduced by the IASB in 2014 and became mandatory for fiscal years starting in 2018. It bears fundamental changes in the accounting requirements for financial instruments, especially in the areas of recognition, categorisation and measurement, impairment and loan loss provision. As...

In March 2020, Covid-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Most European governments reacted with lockdowns. A drop in demand as well as supply disruptions affected the economy which also hit European banks with quite a lot of uncertainty, not only regarding possible...

Banks are crucial enablers of financial and economic development. They have an immense corporate social responsibility (CSR) towards society. Bank´s CSR activities are considered increasingly vital for their own success and sustainable growth, especially as they operate in a business...

Repurchase agreements are money market instruments that are used widely and for various purposes due to their simplicity and flexibility. The European repo market is quite concentrated, as 80% of the transactions is conducted be-tween the top 20 banks and 61.9% of the collaterals used in the...

Though now possible, no European state is competing for incorporations, and this is unlikely to happen in a general fashion. In this paper I argue, however, that the possibility of one state competing for one specific segment of the market for incorporations should not be ruled out altogether....

Fiduciary duties are often today held out as typical instruments of shareholder protection in the common law of both the US and the UK, which are sometimes held out as examples for a consensus model for what is considered good corporate law conducive to good capital market development. However,...

We analyze the German Capital Markets Model Case Law (KapMuG") enacted to reduce transaction costs in securities mass litigation. The KapMuG is often seen as a European role model trying to enhance investor rights without running the risk of frivolous claims known from US class actions. We show...