The European single market supported the creation of multinational banking groups. However, the European banking directives and the single license system were built along the model of the stand-alone bank and cannot keep pace with recent market developments. The national character of prudential...

This paper will propose a plan to reform international finance – the World Financial Authority (WFA) Plan. Under such a plan, the IMF and other existing international financial institutions would be reformed and coordinated around a newly created WFA. The WFA would have two core functions....

We use a large sample of non-US banks to examine the propagation of the 2007-2009 crisis. Using both stock market and structural variables we test whether the relative incidence of the crisis was better explained by crisis models or by the VaR-type analysis of the Basel system. Consistent with...

Since the beginning of the financial crisis, multinational banks have been accused of being among the major causes of the financial system's destabilization. But the available empirical evidence on the relationship between international diversification, value creation and riskiness of financial...

We use a large sample of non-US banks to examine the propagation of the 2007-2009 crisis. Using both stock market and structural variables we test whether the relative incidence of the crisis was better explained by crisis models or by the VaR-type analysis of the Basel system. Consistent with...

In this paper we discuss the continued transition of financial markets towards trade standardization and the clearing of transactions, outlining the role of central clearing counterparties CCPs in reducing systemic and idiosyncratic risk. We contrast this with a discussion on bespoke non-cleared...

Recent studies have conjectured that there may be a link between financial liberalization and financial instability in emerging economies. Most of these studies, however, do not investigate whether emerging economies are becoming structurally more vulnerable to currency and banking crises. In...

This paper proposes a comprehensive yet evolutionary reform of the global monetary non-system that evolved out of the breakdown of the original Bretton Woods arrangement in the early 1970s. It includes: (i) a global reserve system that mixes the multi-currency arrangement with an active use of...

Sovereign wealth funds have recently moved to the front and center of discussion, both within the investment world and the political arena. In this paper we evaluate the differences and common features of these funds. Utilizing an ownership database, we probe the ownership, geographic, and...

Since EMU represents a currency area with a GDP level and a world market share comparable to the United States, it is widely expected that the euro will become an important international currency. This paper suggests simple methods how to quantify the effects that EMU may exert on the roles of...