UK companies have been making large contributions to reduce the deficits of their pension funds, and are believed to fund such contributions in part by reducing dividends. Using data from 2003-16, we find little evidence that large deficit-reduction contributions are associated with reductions...

High levels of investment in relation to cash flows, combined with high dividend payouts, have caused UK water companies persistently to borrow to meet their cash outflows. This behaviour is not adequately explained by mainstream theories of dividends. The intensive regulatory environment has...

The paper analyses how the returns to a shareholder and the returns for an event study are calculated during the three types of seasoned equity offer in use in the UK, namely rights issues, open offers and placings. The calculations differ across the two types of return and the three types of...

Much of the new equity declined by existing shareholders in UK SEOs is bought in a few large blocks, both by other existing holders and by new investors. The paper argues that a placing process via negotiation with investors facilitates the purchase of large blocks better than the alternative...

This study proposes a Foreign Banks' Branch Networks Index (FBBNI) to capture bank-level exposure to competition from foreign banks in terms of geographical proximity. The index takes account the rapidly expanded branch networks of both foreign and domestic banks in China and therefore serves as...

The majority view of the executives interviewed is that disclosure reduces the cost of equity up to the point at which a good-practice level of communication has been reached, after which there is little further effect. Greater disclosure to rating agencies and lenders reduces the cost of debt....