This article looks at the changes in the insurance market which are being forced by new economy pressures. The author considers the squeeze created by consolidation in the financial services market and by globalisation and how companies have responded by creating asset management products and...

The author notes the proposals put forward by the Joint Working Group of Standard Setters on Financial Instruments and sets out the arguments why the banking community is against the concept of measuring financial instruments under a fair value accounting system. He suggests that the proposals...

Recent proposals to require all financial instruments to be measured at fair value are raising some pretty basic issues about bank accounting. The author, who headed up the UK end of the project to produce the new rules, argues whether, as bankers might suggest, they are overkill or whether they...

This extensive extract from the proposed rules on how to disclose financial instruments and similar items in the income statement of banks and other financial institutions develops the thinking of the joint working group set up to prepare global standards in this field. The extract covers the...

The purpose of this article, which is based on a recent presentation by Paul Van der Maas, is to give the reader a brief overview of common credit derivatives, the size and scope of their markets and their role in structured credit products. The case study uses as a reference a current deal that...

The author traces the history and philosophy behind the concept of risk transfer and concentrates on the underlying theory of insurance. He argues that the complexity of the modern business world has meant that the simplicity of the concept has been lost. To this has been added the additional...

Banks have more at stake than ever before through risk management. The authors, both London lawyers specialising in the financial services world, argue that technology has both made life easier and harder. But they stress that the same problems recur in every case of loss. They provide some...

Corporate governance in the financial services sector is influenced by factors peculiar to the industry. The author assesses the influence of analysts and points out that reporting timetables across the industry mean that peer pressure becomes an unusually influential factor. He assesses how...