Credit default swaps ("CDSs") were widely blamed as a primary cause of the recent financial crisis; CDSs fomented panic as the price of credit protection spiked and contributed to the Federal Reserve's decision to bail out American International Group. To reduce the likelihood that credit...

This paper analyzes the life cycles of hedge funds. Using the Lipper TASS database it provides category and fund specific factors that affect the survival probability of hedge funds. The findings show that in general, investors chasing individual fund performance, thus increasing fund flows,...

Banking systems are fragile not only within one country but also within and across regions. We study the role of regional banking system characteristics for regional banking system fragility in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the US. We find that regional banking system fragility reduces when...

We examine the performance life cycle of hedge funds. Performance declines with age are pervasive, not just for the average fund, but also for past winners and for funds with characteristics that predict cross-sectional returns. Fund growth and decreasing performance incentives appear to...

Futures market participants were caught off-guard when MF Global, a commodity futures broker, filed for bankruptcy on October 31st, 2011. By now, bankruptcies of financial firms are not unusual, so why did this one cause such consternation? Essentially, this episode educated industry...

Firms in the financial services industry have been faced with the dramatic and relatively recent emergence of new technology innovations, and process disruptions. The industry as a whole, and many new fintech start-ups are looking for new pathways to successful business models, the creation of...

We study the role of regional banking system characteristics for regional banking system fragility in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the US. We find that regional banking system fragility reduces when banks in the region jointly hold more liquid assets, are better capitalized, and when regional...

Background: The purpose of this study is to investigate how an increase in information-sharing bureaus affects financial access. Methods: We employed contemporary and non-contemporary interactive quantile regressions in 53 African countries for the period 2004–2011. Information-sharing bureaus...

The purpose of this study is to investigate how increasing information sharing bureaus affect financial access. For this reason, we have employed contemporary and non-contemporary interactive Quantile Regressions in 53 African countries for the period 2004-2011. Information sharing bureaus are...

The effects of the main macroeconomic determinants on the sovereign credit rating of Turkey assigned by Standard & Poor's are analyzed in this paper. As the main macroeconomic determinants, inflation rate, economic growth rate, foreign direct investment, external debt, current account debt and...