Valuing banks, insurance companies and investment banks has always been difficult, but the rolling market crises of the last few years has elevated the concern to the top of the list of valuation issues. The problems with valuing financial service firm stem from two key characteristics. The...

Purpose - It is clear that some firms are more forthcoming about their financial affairs than others, and that the financial statements of some firms are designed to obscure rather than reveal information about the firms. How does one reflect the transparency (or the opacity) of a firm's...