This is the first systematic source which tries to explain how and why the 233-year old and the World's oldest merchant bank went into bankruptcy in a few days. It includes three parts with 10 chapters. Part I first describes what happened, then traces back the birth and historical glory of the Barings bank and family, and finally describes how it was sold to the Internationale Nederlanden Groep (ING). As many terms of financial derivatives are used in the first part, we try to provide an easy and systematic way to clarify the related financial derivatives products in Part II. This part first gives a general discussion of financial derivatives and a brief review of the historical development, growth, and magnitude of the financial derivatives markets. It then concentrates on futures and options in two chapters. Finally, we explain the hedging and speculating functions of financial derivatives and how they can be used in combination to achieve particular objectives. Part III provides necessary information on the Japanese financial markets and then analyzes how a single trader could have so much power as to bring about Barings fall. Finally, we try to provide the lessons from this event.

This is the first systematic source which tries to explain how and why the 233-year old and the World's oldest merchant bank went into bankruptcy in a few days. It includes three parts with 10 chapters. Part I first describes what happened, then traces back the birth and historical glory of the Barings bank and family, and finally describes how it was sold to the Internationale Nederlanden Groep (ING). As many terms of financial derivatives are used in the first part, we try to provide an easy and systematic way to clarify the related financial derivatives products in Part II. This part first gives a general discussion of financial derivatives and a brief review of the historical development, growth, and magnitude of the financial derivatives markets. It then concentrates on futures and options in two chapters. Finally, we explain the hedging and speculating functions of financial derivatives and how they can be used in combination to achieve particular objectives. Part III provides necessary information on the Japanese financial markets and then analyzes how a single trader could have so much power as to bring about Barings fall. Finally, we try to provide the lessons from this event.

This highly acclaimed text, designed for postgraduate students of management, commerce, and financial studies, has been enlarged and updated in its second edition by introducing new chapters and topics with its focus on conceptual understanding based on practical examples. Each derivative product is illustrated with the help of diagrams, charts, tables and solved problems. Sufficient exercises and review questions help students to practice and test their knowledge. Since this comprehensive text includes latest developments in the field, the students pursuing CA, ICWA and CFA will also find this book of immense value, besides management and commerce students. THE NEW EDITION INCLUDES • Four new chapters on ‘Forward Rate Agreements’, ‘Pricing and Hedging of Swaps’, ‘Real Options’, and ‘Commodity Derivatives Market’ • Substantially revised chapters—‘Risk Management in Derivatives’, ‘Foreign Currency Forwards’, and ‘Credit Derivatives’ • Trading mechanism of Short-term interest rate futures and Long-term interest rate futures • Trading of foreign currency futures in India with RBI Guidelines • Currency Option Contracts in India • More solved examples and practice problems • Separate sections on ‘Swaps’ and ‘Other Financial Instruments’ • Extended Glossary

This book analyzes the evolution and impact of the concept of risk on processes of transnational banking and financial market regulation, as well as the externalities generated by speculative financial activity in developing and emerging market economies. The author provides an alternative theory for the study of international financial market regulation by applying elements of a post-structural methodology to the topic. Inspired by Michel Foucault’s framework of critical discourse analysis in The History of Sexuality, the argument dissects the rules of formation that govern the evolving discourse on risk. The author argues that the mathematically formal technology of risk emerges from within specific institutions and economic formations; thereby limiting its utility in the regulation of global financial markets. Exploring how the applied technology of risk has been implicated for fueling a major financial crisis, his work also demonstrates how the regulation of global financial markets and abstruse financial instruments in advanced industrialized countries impacts the lives of the poorest people in developing countries and emerging markets.

Through creative use of examples, case studies and exercises from organizations worldwide, this book demonstrates the many levels at which globalization impacts on contemporary businesses, society and organizations.

Should we fear financial derivatives, or embrace them? Finance experts Simon Grima and Eleftherios I. Thalassinos explore what financial derivatives are, and whether the investment world should consider them useful tools, or a complete waste of time and money.

This work offers a comprehensive examination of the development and structure of the provisions for the control of international financial markets. It explores the background to the major financial crises of the late 20th-century and the nature of the global response.

The Economics of Financial Markets presents a concise overview of capital markets, suitable for advanced undergraduates and for beginning graduate students in financial economics. Following a brief overview of financial markets - their microstructure and the randomness of stock market prices - this textbook explores how the economics of uncertainty can be applied to financial decision-making. The mean-variance model of portfolio selection is discussed, with analysis extended to the capital asset pricing model (CAPM). Arbitrage plays a pivotal role in finance and is studied in a variety of contexts, including the APT model of asset prices. Methods for the empirical evaluation of CAPM and APT are also discussed, together with the volatility of asset prices, the intertemporal CAPM and the equity premium puzzle. An analysis of bond contracts leads into an assessment of theories of the term structure of interest rates. Finally, financial derivatives are explored, focusing on futures and options contracts.

Dieses Buch ist die sorgfältig umgeschriebene und redigierte Bearbeitung von Reden und Aufsätzen des Nobelpreisträgers Merton Miller, die seine persönlichen Einschätzungen des Marktes widerspiegeln. Gut verständlich wird die Problematik der Derivative sowie wichtige Themen der modernen Finanzwelt - jedoch ohne mathematische Formeln - erörtert. (10/97)

[This book] analyzes ... the chains of blunders and bad judgments that led to fifteen legendary debacles, including the Firestone tire recall, EuroDisney, and Quaker's failed acquisition of Snapple. In each case, [the author] pinpoints exactly how and where the decision-making process went wrong and shows what managers in any organization can learn from these monumental fiascoes. Based on his analysis of 400 strategic decisions made by top managers in areas such as products and services, pricing and markets, personnel policy, technology acquisition, and strategic reorganization, [the author] estimates that two-thirds of all decisions are based on failure-prone or questionable tactics. He uses the fifteen monumental decision-making disasters to illustrate the potential consequences of these common tactical errors and traps ... He then details successful alternative approaches to decision-making.-Back cover.