This paper focuses on the development of reference interest rates in the Czech Republic after the currency crisis of May 1997 and covers the period to the years 2002/2003 (that is to the time just before the country’s entry into the European Union) when the currency exchange of the Czech...

This paper outlines the changing financial scene in The Czech Republic, which is following the global pattern of institutional investors taking over the role of commercial banks as relationship banking is gradually giving way to transaction-driven banking. Investment-grade companies have become...

Starting in January 2005, all companies located in the European Union (EU) have to use the accounting standards promulgated by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). At a stroke, accounting standards for the consolidated accounts of companies whose shares are listed on an EU stock...

The key concept underlying the Basel II framework for risk measurement and corresponding equity capital standards is that the existing regulations pertaining to credit risk will be individualised through reference to the internal ratings of banks. In accordance with the regulatory guidelines,...

[From the Introduction]. Economic deregulation in many industrialised countries during the 1980s, the liberalisation of capital movements within the European Union (EU) in 1990, and the establishment of the single market for financial services have radically transformed the regulatory framework...

EU trade policy operates in a framework which has tended to ignore governmental assistance to non-domestic multinational operations setting up/expanding in EU countries. At the same time, support for indigenous industries is illegal except in extreme, agreed circumstances. This differential...

Summary. Controversies over “national champions” in Europe raise the question of where exactly is “home” for a modern corporation. This survey of Europe’s 100 largest listed companies shows that their home market is increasingly Europe as a whole rather than any particular country...

The IFRS 8 standard on operating segments was included in the IASB-FASB convergence program in February 2006 and subsequently adopted by the IASB in November 2006, in spite of widespread negative sentiment about it among investors and other users of financial statements, which the IASB should...

[From the foreword]. What are the features of European firms that successfully compete in international markets? To what extent do they contribute to productivity and employment? What are the policies that can improve a nation’s foreign trade performance? What policies can promote the...

[From the introduction]. This paper tries to understand whether the EU system of interest representation is indeed Americanizing. How important are sector-wide groups at the European and at the national level for the political activities of their members? Are comprehensive business groups...