Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Banks and banking – European Union countries'

This thesis develops a range of prediction models for the purpose of predicting the acquisition of commercial banks in the European Union using publicly available data. Over the last thirty years, there have been approximately 30 studies that have attempted to identify potential acquisition targets, all of them focusing on non-bank sectors. We consider that prediction models developed specifically for the banking industry are essential due to the unusual structure of banks' financial statements, differences in the environment in which banks operate and other specific characteristics of banks that in general distinguish them from non-financial firms. We focus specifically on the EU banking sector, where M&As activity has been considerable in recent years, yet academic research relating to the EU has been rather limited compared to the case of the US. The methodology for developing prediction models involved identifying past cases of acquired banks and combining these with non-acquired banks in order to evaluate the prediction accuracy of various quantitative classification techniques. In this study, we construct a base sample of commercial banks covering 15 EU countries, and financial variables measuring capital strength, profit and cost efficiency, liquidity, growth, size and market power, with data in both raw and country-adjusted (i.e. raw variables divided by the average of the banking sector for the corresponding country) form. In order to allow for a proper comparative evaluation of classification methods, we select common subsets of the base sample and variables with high discriminatory power, dividing the sample period (1998-2002) into training sub-sample for model development (1998-2000), and holdout sub-sample for model evaluation (2001-2002). Although the results tend to support the findings of studies on non-financial firms, highlighting the difficulties in predicting acquisition targets, the prediction models we develop show classification accuracies generally higher than chance assignment based on prior probabilities. We also consider the use of equal and unequal matched holdout samples for evaluation, and find that overall classification accuracy tends to increase in the unequal matched samples, implying that equal matched samples do not necessarily overstate the prediction ability of models. The main goal of this study has been to compare and evaluate a variety of classification methods including statistical, econometric, machine learning and operational research techniques, as well as integrated techniques combining the predictions of individual classification methods. We found that some methods achieved very high accuracies in classifying non-acquired banks, but at the cost of relatively poor accuracy performance in classifying acquired banks. This suggests a trade-off in achieving high classification accuracy, although some methods (e.g. Discriminant) performed reasonably well in terms of achieving balanced overall classification accuracies of above chance predictions. Integrated prediction models offer the advantage of counterbalancing relatively poor performance of some classification methods with good performance of others, but in doing so could not out-perform all individual classification methods considered. In general, we found that the outcome of which method performed best depended largely on the group classification accuracy considered, as well as to some extent on the choice of the discriminatory variables. Concerning the use of raw or country-adjusted data, we found no clear effect on the prediction ability of the classification methods.

This study analyses the bank market competition and bank interest margins in the European Union member countries banking sector during the period 2007–2019, using panel data analysis and aggregated data for each country ́s banking sector. Our starting point is the theory about market structure and two structural indexes are used as proxies of the degree of market competition. The methodology is based on the model developed by Ho and Saunders (1981), where the bank is viewed as a risk averse dealer amongst borrowers and lenders. This model has later been extended to fit analyses on nationally aggregated levels, which is appropriate in this study. The result show that bank concentration is not statistically significant in explaining variability of interest margin in the EU banking sectors. Instead, the statistically significant determinants of interest margins are more bank specific variables, such as average operating cost and credit risk. Although this study cannot claim economic significance, it provides information that economic policies should be designed to lower average operating cost rather than market competition, in order to lower interest margin.
I denna studie analyserar vi konkurrensen på bankmarknaden och bankernas räntemarginaler i Europeiska unionens medlemsländers banksektor under perioden 2007–2019, genom paneldataanalys och aggregerad data för varje lands banksektor. Vår utgångspunkt är teorin om marknadsstruktur och vi använder två strukturella mått för att mäta konkurrens på marknaden. Metoden är baserad på den modell som Ho and Saunders (1981) utformade, där banken ses som en riskavert förmedlare mellan låntagare och långivare. Modellen har sedan utökats till att lämpa sig för analyser på en nationellt aggregerad nivå, vilket är passande för denna studie. Resultatet visar att konkurrens på bankmarknaden inte på ett statistiskt signifikant sätt förklarar variabilitet i räntemarginalen. Istället visar resultatet att de statistiskt signifikanta faktorerna för räntemarginalen är mer bankspecifika variabler, såsom genomsnittlig operationell kostnad och kreditrisk. Trots att denna studie inte kan påvisa ekonomisk signifikans, ger den information om att ekonomiska policys bör utformas för att sänka den genomsnittliga operationella kostnaden snarare än att öka marknadskonkurrens, för att minska räntemarginalen.

Mestrado em Finanças
Nos anos anteriores, o Japão era visto como o segundo país mais rico do mundo. O Japão, os Estados Unidos e a Área Euro foram considerados como uma tríade no mundo financeiro. No entanto, o crescimento econômico do Japão terminou abruptamente. No presente trabalho são abordados os problemas relacionados a evolução da eficiência dos bancos japoneses, em comparação com a Alemanha e a Suíça. A análise é desenvolvida com base numa amostra constituída por cinco bancos de grande dimensão do Japão, Alemanha e Suíça, para o período entre 2000 e 2014. A fim de analisar a evolução de custo-eficiência dos bancos foi aplicado o método Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Para além da análise de eficiência, foi realizado um estudo sobre os rácios de desempenho financeiro. Os principais resultados apontam para o facto que a evolução da eficiência dos bancos japoneses é, em grande parte, instável. Além disso, a análise realizada sugere que o sector bancário japonês é mais eficiente que o da Alemanha, mas menos eficiente que o da Suíça.
In previous years, Japan was seen as the second richest large economy in the world. Japan, the United States and the Euro area were considered as a triad in the financial world. However, its economic growth ended abruptly. This paper addresses the issues with the evolution of Japanese banks efficiency, compared to Germany and Switzerland. The analysis is developed by a panel of five of the biggest banks in Japan, Germany and Switzerland, for the time period between 2000 and 2014. In order to investigate the cost-efficiency evolution of banks, this paper employs the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method. In addition to the efficiency analysis, a study on financial performance ratios was performed. The main findings point to the fact that the efficiency evolution of Japanese banks is mostly unstable. Furthermore, the realized analysis alludes that the Japanese banking sector is more efficient than Germany's, but less efficient than Switzerland's.
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Mestrado em Finanças
Assim que a falência do Lehman Brothers abalou os mercados financeiros mundiais, emergiu na Europa uma onda de injeção de capital em bancos, levando a que todos os responsáveis políticos desse lado do Atlântico soubessem, de forma imediata, que algo teria de mudar. Contudo, apenas cinco anos depois, a União Europeia deu o pontapé de saída para o Mecanismo Único de Resolução (SRM, na sigla anglo-saxónica). A 21 de maio de 2014, os então 26 Estados Membros chegaram a acordo para a criação do Fundo Único de Resolução (SRF, na sigla anglo-saxónica), a fundação daquela que é, atualmente, a rede de segurança da economia europeia perante os bancos. No entanto, terá esta medida sido bem sucedida? Isso é algo que só o tempo poderá responder. Por agora, este estudo procura compreender se o Mecanismo Único de Resolução teve um impacto imediato no risco sistémico dos bancos europeus. Como poderemos demonstrar mais à frente, com base em dados de mercado recolhidos nos períodos antes e depois do acordo, o risco sistémico dos bancos europeus, medido pelo beta, melhorou substancialmente, quando comparado com a média dos restantes sectores. Ao mesmo tempo, revelamos que houve uma redução da volatilidade dos bancos, ao passo que nas restantes empresas acabou mesmo por deteriorar-se. Finalmente, procuramos fazer uma análise regional comparando as empresas dos países "Centrais", "Nórdicos" e "Periféricos" da União Europeia, concluíndo que o primeiro grupo tirou maior partido deste processo, com base o beta.
As soon as the Lehman Brothers' file for bankruptcy rocked global financial markets, a wave of State capital injections into banks emerged in Europe, and every lawmaker on that side of the Atlantic knew straight away that something had to change. However, it was only five years later that the European Union set the first stone for the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM). On May 21st, 2014, the then 26 Member States agreed on the creation of the Single Resolution Fund (SRF), the foundation of what is now the European economy's safety-net before the banks. Yet, has this proven to be successful? That is something only time will be able to answer. For now, this study aims to understand if the Single Resolution Mechanism had an immediate impact on the European banks' risk. As we will be able to demonstrate further on, based on market data from before and after this agreement, the European Union banks' risk, measured by beta, was significantly reduced when compared to the average of every other sector. At the same time, we show that volatility also improved on banks, while actually increased among the other companies. Finally, we attempt a region analysis by comparing companies from the "Core", "Nordic", and "Peripheral" countries in the European Union, concluding the first group was able to take more advantage from this process based on their beta.
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This thesis provides empirical evidence on the degree of banking sector competition in the Central and East European (CEE) countries and the impact of competition on banks’ risktaking and interest margins. The thesis uses data on around 300 banks from 17 CEE countries for the period 1999-2009, and employs a variety of estimation methodologies. The first objective of the thesis is to measure the degree of banking sector competition in CEE countries. Using the Panzar-Rosse approach, we found that the banking sectors of the CEE countries have been characterized by monopoly behaviour. By distinguishing between the non-EU and EU countries of the region, we found that banks operating in the non-EU countries faced a lower degree of competition compared to banks operating in the EU members of the region. The separate estimation for Kosovo indicated that the competitive behaviour of banks operating in this country was consistent with monopolistic competition. The second objective of the thesis is to estimate the impact of banking sector competition on the degree of banks’ risk-taking. Using country-level Panzar-Rosse H-statistic estimates as a measure of competition, for the overall sample, we found that competition enhances the quality of the loan portfolio, thus providing evidence against the mainstream view on the trade-off between competition and stability. However, for the non-EU countries of our sample the impact of competition on banks’ risk-taking appeared positive, which implies that more effective authorities are needed in these countries to oversee the banks’ behaviour when competitive pressures increase. The third objective of the thesis is to estimate the impact of banking sector competition on banks’ interest margins. The results suggest that competition had a negative impact on net interest margins. The impact of competition in reducing the net interest margins was stronger in the non-EU countries compared to the EU countries of the sample. Overall, the results suggest that the banking sectors of the CEE countries are characterized by low levels of competition, implying higher risk and larger interest margin.

Les rapports entre le Trésor français et les banques centrales africaines de la zone franc sont fondés sur la garantie de convertibilité externe que la France accorde aux francs CFA. De la sorte, le Trésor français convertit de manière illimitée les francs CFA en euro et en d’autres monnaies. Par ailleurs, la BCEAO et la BEAC sont protégées contre le risque d’épuisement des réserves de change car, elles peuvent puiser théoriquement de façon illimitée en cas de rupture de changes sur les réserves françaises. La mise en oeuvre de cette solidarité repose sur un mécanisme particulier appelé : comptes d’opérations. Hérité de la période coloniale, ce principe oblige les instituts d’émission africains en vertu des accords de coopération monétaire signés avec la France au lendemain des indépendances et rénovés en 1972 et 1973, à déposer 65 % de leurs réserves de change sur ces comptes. Cette quotité a été ramenée depuis la réforme de 2005 à 50%. Le Trésor français verse des intérêts à ces comptes lorsqu’ils sont créditeurs alors qu’il prélève des intérêts en cas de débit. Cette coopération vise deux objectifs principaux : la solidarité monétaire et le développement économique par le biais d’une solidarité monétaire sécurisée. Cette coopération a donné naissance à des institutions qui oeuvrent en vue d’atteindre ces objectifs. Lors de l’adoption de l’euro à l’échelle européenne en 1999, la France a pu obtenir de ses partenaires européens la reconnaissance de la nature budgétaire des accords qui la lient à ses anciennes possessions d’Afrique pour continuer à garantir les francs CFA. Cette coopération comporte cependant beaucoup d’inconvénients qui incitent au dépassement du cadre actuel
The monetary agreements of France and the CFA franc zone are based on the permanent free convertibility of the CFA. In this case, the French Treasury supports the free convertibility of the CFA franc into Euros and other currencies with a fixed change rate. The BCEAO and the BEAC accordingly cannot suffer from the lack of changes risk for, they are both guaranteed by France. Such a parity and interdependence principles inherited from the colonial period was renewed in the 1960's up to 2005 reforms. The main goals of this cooperation are the economical development and monetary solidarity safety. Some institutions have been created in order to achieve those goals. In anticipation of the coming of the Euro in 1999, the competent French authorities convinced the European Union to maintain the monetary agreements France has with the African countries using the CFA currency. Nevertheless, such agreements compound some shortcomings which require new ideas

Questa tesi tratta sostanzialmente tre temi principali, inerenti l’efficienza e la competizione nell’ambito dell’investment bank, ognuno dei quali costituisce un capitolo della stessa. Il primo dei temi (Cap.2) ripercorre e recensisce la letteratura sull’argomento investment banking e fornisce una indicazione sulle tendenze più recenti nell’industria. Il secondo tema (Cap.3) analizza costo e guadagno di efficienza relativamente al caso di un investment banks per i paesi del G7 (Canada, Francia, Germania, Italia, Giappone, Gran Bretagna e Stati uniti d’America) e la Svizzera prima della recente crisi finanziaria. Si è adottata la metodologia proposta da Coelli et al. (1999) per adattare (o aggiustare) il costo stimato e gli scores del guadagno di efficienza alle influenze dei fattori ambientali inclusi i “key banks’ risks”, i fattori specifici del sistema bancario e di quello industriale e le condizioni macroeconomiche. I risultati a nostra disposizione ci suggeriscono che non tenere in considerazione i fattori ambientali può far spostare notevolmente gli scores registrati per i guadagni di efficienza dell’investment bannks. In particolare, il considerare i fattori di rischio bancario, (incluse liquidità ed esposizione al rischio) è stato molto importante per poter fissare accuratamente il guadagno di efficienza: vale a dire che i valori calcolati per il guadagno di efficienza sarebbero stati notevolmente sottostimati se non si fosse tenuto conto del rischio preso dalla banca. I dati ottenuti ci suggeriscono anche un altro fatto molto interessante, che la scala (o grandezza) influisce su entrambe i fattori; il costo e il guadano di profitto, sebbene ciò non implichi che mercati più concentrati siano per questo più efficienti. Per ultimo (Cap.4) si è cercato di investigare la relazione esistente tra potere di mercato ed efficienza e di esplorare le caratteristiche di condizioni competitive nell’investment banking mondiale. Al fine di condurre le analisi delle condizioni di competitività dei diversi paesi e del livello di efficienza regionale, abbiamo utilizzato inizialmente l’approccio delle frontiere stocastiche per creare il modello del costo efficienza e in un secondo momento abbiamo investigato l’indice di Lerner sul potere del monopolio per testare il grado di potere di mercato nell’industria dell’investment banking. Per comprendere più a fondo gli schemi di competizione in tale industria abbiamo utilizzato i modelli proposti da Panzer e Rosse per il calcolo del grado di competizione nell’investment banking mondiale. Da ultimo, per investigare la relazione esistente tra potere di mercato ed efficienza abbiamo applicato un test di casualità. I dati utilizzati sono stati quelli provenienti dal bilancio, dalle dichiarazioni di reddito e dai report annuali per i 15 paesi presi in esame nel periodo 2001-2008. Le analisi effettuate evidenziano il fatto che i mercati mondiali dell’investment banking hanno iniziato ad essere progressivamente più concentrati e con un costo efficienza minore. Comunque questo non è stato il caso di tutti i paesi. Inoltre, L’investment bank sembra aver ridotto i loro costi marginali più velocemente della caduta dei prezzi e questo ha condotto ad un aumento nell’indice di Lerner che suggerisce quindi un più elevato potere di mercato. I risultati provenienti dalle statistiche di H, ci portano a conclusioni analoghe, indicando l’esistenza di oligopoli in conflitto nel mercato. Le evidenze di una relazione tra potere di mercato ed efficienza non è immediata, e altri fattori (tra cui gli incentivi al rischio, il contesto e la struttura delle regole etc) potrebbero influenzare sia la grandezza che la direzione di tale relazione e quindi potrebbero essere presi in considerazione per gli sviluppi futuri della ricerca su questa tematica.
This thesis consists of three substantive essays on investment bank efficiency and competition, each constituting a separate chapter. The first essay (Chapter 2) reviews the literature on investment banking and provides indication on the recent trends in the industry. The second essay (Chapter 3) analyses cost and profit efficiency for a sample of investment banks for the G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and US) and Switzerland prior to the recent financial crisis. We follow Coelli et al. (1999)’s methodology to adjust the estimated cost and profit efficiency scores for environmental influences including key banks’ risks, bank and industry specific factors and macroeconomic conditions. Our evidence suggests that failing to account for environmental factors can considerably bias the efficiency scores for investment banks. Specifically, bank-risk taking factors (including liquidity and capital risk exposures) are found particularly important to accurately assess profit efficiency: i.e. profit efficiency estimates are consistently underestimated without accounting for bank risk-taking. Interestingly, our evidence suggests that size matters for both cost and profit efficiency, however this does not imply that more concentrated markets are more efficient. The final essay (Chapter 4) investigates the relationship between market power and efficiency, and explores characteristics of competitive conditions in worldwide investment banking. In order to conduct analysis of the countries competitive conditions and regional efficiency level, first we use stochastic frontier approach to model cost efficiency, and second we investigates Lerner index of monopoly power to test the degree of the market power in the investment banking industry. To further comprehend competition pattern in the industry we use Panzar and Rosse model to assess the degree of competition in worldwide investment banking. Lastly, to investigate the relationship between market power and efficiency, we apply a causality test. Data used was obtained from balance sheet, income statement and annual reports data for the 15 countries over 2001-2008 periods. The analysis highlights the fact that the investment banking markets worldwide are becoming progressively more concentrated and less cost efficient. However this is not the case for all the countries. Further, investment banks seem to have reduced their marginal costs faster than price falls and this led to an increase in the Lerner index thus suggesting greater market power. Results from H: Statistics lead to similar conclusions, hence indicating existence of colluding oligopoly in the market. The findings on the relationship between market power and efficiency is not straightforward and that other factors (such as among others, risk incentives, regulatory framework and contestability) may influence both the magnitude and the direction of the relationship and therefore should be accounted for in future research in this area.

La réalisation du marché intérieur européen par une meilleure intégration des marchés financiers est aujourd’hui devenue une réalité. L'objectif est toutefois loin d'être atteint en matière de crédit hypothécaire, nonobstant de nombreuses initiatives européennes. Compte tenu de ces difficultés et du postulat selon lequel il serait impossible d'harmoniser le droit des suretés immobilières en raison de leur ancrage culturel et national, une proposition alternative consistant dans la création d'une sûreté immobilière commune (euro-hypothèque), venant se superposer aux systèmes nationaux, a été formulée depuis un certain nombre d'années. La recherche analyse dans un premier temps la réalité du postulat précité à la lumière du droit comparé et conclut qu'en réalité, les différents systèmes trouvent non seulement leur origine dans un modèle identique, fondé sur le caractère accessoire de la sûreté, mais ont en outre connu une évolution similaire au cours de ces dernières années. Il apparaît que ce modèle constitue la meilleure base pour toute harmonisation européenne. Après avoir examiné l'interaction avec le droit international privé, sous l'angle de la protection du consommateur, et le droit européen, sous l'angle de la question de la compétence communautaire et du principe de subsidiarité, des pistes sont proposés pour opérer un rapprochement des législations nationales relatives au crédit hypothécaire. La proposition consiste à intégrer dans un seul instrument juridique contraignant (une directive européenne) les différentes propositions permettant d'opérer un rapprochement des législations nationales à trois niveaux :celui de la sûreté immobilière et de la publicité foncier, celui du contrat de prêt et enfin, celui relatif à la procédure de réalisation de l'immeuble.
Doctorat en droit
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Award date: 30 November 2015
Supervisor: Professor Giorgio Monti
The fundamental activity of commercial banks is the distribution of deposited capital through loans to firms and individuals. For a number of reasons, this role confers on commercial banks a degree of economic importance far in excess of a comparable firm in a relatively isolated market. The most significant reason for this heightened economic importance is that commercial banks increase the efficiency of capital allocation. The position of commercial banks enables them to carefully evaluate whether or not a firm or individual should be in receipt of capital in the form of a loan, and then to coordinate low worth firms and individuals to lend to them.

Award date: 30 November 2016
Supervisors: Professor Claire KILPATRICK and Professor Giorgio MONTI
The thesis assesses the developments and the current state of law in the area of EU banking supervision so as to assess its weaknesses and strengths. By arguing that the SSM constitutes an integrated administration of banking supervision in the European Union, we examine the influence of legitimacy’s normative standards on the institutional architecture of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, and, conversely, the ‘spillover effect’ of the design of the Single Supervisory Mechanism on its legitimacy. The thesis is structured by reference to the normative criteria of legitimacy. The output element of legitimacy introduces a performance criterion under which the delegated decision-making can be assessed. The input element of legitimacy is concerned with the accountability mechanisms that hold the SSM’s decision-making accountable.

Defence date: 6 June 2017
Examining Board: Professor Sven Steinmo, European University Institute (Supervisor); Professor Mark Blyth, Brown University; Professor Philipp Genschel, European University Institute; Professor Leonard Seabrooke, Copenhagen Business School
For all its powers, we know little about how the European Central Bank (ECB) makes its decisions and why. In light of its ever-increasing importance in European governance and the criticism this has attracted, this is particularly regrettable. Often a welcome scapegoat, the ECB has been accused of doing first too little, then too late. Compared to other major central banks, the ECB has indeed long been a laggard – regarding both conventional interest rate policies and unconventional balance sheet operations. Why? I argue that central bankers’ policy experiments after the financial crisis are a prime example of policymaking under conditions of Knightian uncertainty. Faced with an unprecedented situation, central bankers were unable to draw on historical experience and had to resort to their beliefs about how the economy works instead. Based on a survey among 422 central bank economists, I quantify these different ways of thinking. My survey data shows a) that certain beliefs matter for policy preferences and b) that both are unevenly distributed among central banks. In particular, the ECB leans more towards orthodox beliefs and hawkish inflation preferences than the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England. It is considerably more conservative. Within the Eurosystem, different national central banks are clustered regarding both beliefs and preferences, revealing a dividing line in economic philosophy between core and periphery. This suggests that the frequently surfacing conflicts inside the ECB’s Governing Council reflect a battle of ideas rather than a conflict of interests between creditor and debtor states. Proponents of activist monetary policy at the ECB had to overcome enormous resistance from within before they could follow the examples set by others. I argue that this is why the ECB first did too little to support the economy, and only changed its orthodox stance very late.

Defence date: 20 July 2018
Examining Board: Professor Stefan Grundmann, European University Institute; Professor Klaus Heine, Erasmus University Rotterdam; Professor Giorgio Monti, European University Institute; Professor Pietro Sirena, Università commerciale Luigi Bocconi
In the past 20 years, the European integration process has been mostly successful at establishing a single European market. However, no such success can be attributed to the establishment of an economic and monetary union. The recent financial and sovereign debt crisis dramatically exposed all the flaws and weaknesses of this ambitious project, which led the European Union into a deep economic and political crisis. In this context, the task of scholars and academics should be to explore new effective and efficient alternative in order to strengthen and create “a more perfect union”. On these premises and considerations, the present research will analyze the current legal framework of the European Monetary Union in order to assess and understand its success, and explore possible alternative institutional designs which could be more effective in achieving its objectives and, at the same time, be potentially more efficient and legittimate. More in details, after examining in the first chapter, the origin and evolution of the economic and monetary integration from its very foundation, and, in the second chapter, the current legal structure of the economic union; the last and third chapter represents the normative claim of thesis. In an attempt to reconcile both law and economics, this normative part will involve a balancing exercise between the economic concepts of effectiveness and efficiency, and the legal concepts of legitimacy. The analysis will first understand and assess the effectiveness of the present governance structure. We will argue that the fundamental problem of the present governance structure is given by its many internal inconsistencies. On these premises, we will claim that it is possible to design an alternative regime which could potentially solve such issues and thus be more effective. The resulting three different alternative regimes will then be compared and evaluated in terms of their efficiency, according to the new institutional economics approach. The purpose of the efficiency evaluation is not to identify the single most efficient system of governance, but rather to understand the distinctive strenghts and weaknesses of the various alternatives in comparison with the current structure. Ultimately, the chapter will also evaluate the current EMU structure under a legitimacy standpoint. In particular, it will try to assess and understand whether these potentially more effective and efficient alternative arrangements would also improve the EMU under a legitimacy standpoint.

Defence date: 20 March 1995
Examining board: Prof. Dr. Werner Abelshauser, Bielefeld (Doktovater) ; Prof. Dr. Richard T. Griffiths, Florenz ; Prof. Dr. Gerd Hardach, Marburg ; Prof. Dr. Peter Hertner, Florenz ; Prof. Dr. Alan S. Milward, London
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digitised archive of EUI PhD theses completed between 2013 and 2017

Defence date: 25 October 2004
Examining board: Prof. Neil Walker, EUI (co-supervisor) ; Prof. Jean-Victor Louis, ULB, Brussels/EUI (supervisor) ; Dr Christos Hadjiemmanuil, LSE London ; Dr Chiara Zilioli, Deputy General Counsel, Head of Institutional Law Division, DG-Legal Service of the ECB, Frankfurt
First made available online on 24 September 2013.
This dissertation provides a doctrinal and “applied” overview of the main developments in the post-Maastricht transfer of monetary sovereignty from the member states to supranational institutions. In so doing, it concentrates on three areas of particular interest, complexity and tension between different forces. One area is simply the configuration of supranational institutions involved and their relationship, and in particular the tensions among the independent ECB, the national dimension of the broader ESCB and the state-dominated Ecofin Council. A second area concerns the well-known tension between monetary and broader economic union – and in particular the asymmetry between the significantly centralized monetary institutions and the retention of fiscal authority at national level. A third area concerns the internal and external dimension of monetary authority (exchange rates) from broader macro-economic consideration, and, reflecting this, the continuing absence of a definitive legal and institutional resolution of the extent of external monetary sovereignty transferred to central EU institutions. Here there emerges an analysis of the framework of good governance for the new multilayered system of monetary union. The key question addressed by the author of this study is whether the shift in monetary authority does or should involve a reconceptualization of the question of where sovereignty lies in Europe, both over monetary matters specifically or more generally.

Defence date: 12 June 2006
Examining board: Prof. Jean-Victor Louis (Supervisor, Former EUI Professor and Honorary Professor, University of Bruxelles - ULB) ; Prof. Fabrizio Cafaggi (European University Institute) ; Prof. Rosa Maria Lastra (Center for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary, University of London) ; Mr. Mauro Grande (Director, Directorate Financial Stability and Supervision, European Central Bank, Frankfurt - ECB)
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digitised archive of EUI PhD theses completed between 2013 and 2017
The financial market events in 2007–9 have spurred renewed interest and controversy in debates regarding financial regulation and supervision. This dissertation takes stock of the developments in EU legislation, case-law and institutional structures with regards to banking regulation and supervision, which preceded and followed the recent financial crisis. It does not merely provide an update, but anchors these developments in the broader EU law context, challenging past paradigms and anticipating possible developments. The author provides a systematic analysis of the interactions between the content of prudential rules and the mechanisms behind their production and application. European Prudential Banking Regulation and Supervision includes discussions of the European banking market structure and of regulatory theory that both aim to circumscribe prudential concerns. It scrutinises the content of prudential norms, proposes a qualification of these norms and an assessment of their interaction with other types of norms (corporate, auditing and accounting, consumer protection, competition rules). It also features an analysis of the underpinning institutional set-up and its envisaged reforms, focusing on the typical EU concerns related to checks and balances. Finally, the book attempts to revive the debate on supervisory liability, in light of the developments discussed. This dissertation will be of great value to all those interested in financial stability matters (practitioners, policy-makers, students, academics), as well as to EU law scholars.

Supervisor: F. Snyder
Defence date: 6 March 1992
First made available online on 10 September 2013.
This research is an interdisciplinary approach to the EEC banking harmonization process. The methodology employed consists in focusing the subject from the legal, economic and political Science perspectives. Therefore, the underlying purpose of the research is to study the legal outcomes within their context. The research is subdivided in several parts. The first part is a legal approach to both the first and second Banking Directives as the cornerstones of the EEC banking harmonization process. The detailed analysis of both Directives from an EEC legal perspective is a condition precedent for the understanding of how is being shaped the Community Financial Policy. The Second Part is a political science approach to the role of interest within the EEC decision making process. More specifically, it is an attempt to show how banks can influence legislators for the achievement of their objectives. An additional study to this second part, is constituted by the analysis of the Community policies in consumer protection. This sector provides us with comparative information for an estimation of the importance of "interest” within the shaping of regulatory policies within the EEC. A socioeconomic approach to credit institutions strategies1 for the controlling of financial markets is the subject of the third part. Through the study of the United States current "deregulatory" trends, we show the interrelationship between the world financial markets. A second stage of this part connects the European context with the other representative world financial markets. Thus, similar behaviours can be remarked, which leads the author to the conclusion that neither national governments, nor the European Institutions are currently capable to regulate financial markets without a previous “consensus" with the financial institutions. The fourth part of the research consists in a critical approach to the institutional behaviour of the Community as regards policy-making for the achievement of an integrated financial market by 1992. This analysis shows that credit institutions, whose profits are greatly affected by public policy, have an extraordinary capacity to innovate and adapt, notably as a way of lawfully avoiding the effects of "public Controls”. Each of the four parts of the research used the same methodology. First, there is an introduction to establish the guidelines of the research approach to the subject. Secondly, there is a detailed analysis of the main issues constituting the field of the study. Thirdly, we draw some conclusions from the research.

Defence date: 05 September 2017
Examining Board: Prof. Hans-W. Micklitz (EUI Supervisor); Prof. Giorgio Monti, European University Institute; Prof. Mads Andenas, University of Oslo; Prof. Takis Tridimas, King’s College London
The thesis examines the role of private law and private enforcement in the post crisis EU retail financial markets. Whilst private law and private enforcement have been traditionally regarded as 'foreign bodies' in EU financial regulation, the thesis argues that after the global financial crisis, private law and private enforcement, through courts and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms, have become essential tools to compensate retail clients against mis-selling and mitigate systemic risk. To substantiate this argument, the thesis analyzes how the national and EU supervisory authorities, ADRs and courts, in Italy, Spain, France and UK, have interpreted and enforced the EU investor protection regulation (conduct, product and disclosure rules) before and after the global financial crisis. This institutional and comparative analysis shows that the EU regulatory duties, via regulation, 'administrative rule-making', out-of-court dispute resolution and litigation, increasingly influence the interpretation of national private law (Europeanization) and determine its consequent instrumentalization to achieve a high level of investor protection and ensure the stability of the financial market. The thesis argues that this form of instrumentalization has led to the creation of private law remedies and procedures which, albeit based on national law, have become tools to ensure the effective protection of the EU-derived rights (hybridization). After the crisis, the process of hybridization is driven not only by the investor protection objective but also by the financial stability objective which can determine a limitation of the private law law rights and remedies of the investor vis-à-vis the financial firm in order to mitigate the systemic risk, arising, in particular, from vexatious litigation. The thesis discusses the complex relationship between the investor protection and the financial stability objectives of EU financial regulation and examines the extent financial stability concerns can lead to a limitation of the investors rights and remedies in financial disputes.

Defence date: 9 March 2009
Examining Board: Prof. Gráinne De Búrca, EUI- Fordham Law School- Harvard Law School (Supervisor); Prof. Marise Cremona, EUI (Internal Advisor); Prof. Takis Tridimas, Financial Law Unit, Queen Mary, University of London; Prof. Niamh Moloney, London School of Economics and Political Science- Financial Markets Group, University of London
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
Financial markets help allocate capital efficiently across the economy, thereby boosting economic growth- hence the salience of the creation of a single market in financial services within the EU single market project. Nevertheless, despite the EU's financial regulatory programme, it appears that a fully-fledged single European financial market is yet to be achieved. According to some, the substantive context of EU financial regulation is partially to account for this failure. More recently, though, both in policy and academic circles, the focus has been shifting towards the governance of EU financial law. Within this context, this thesis analyses the institutional arrangements for EU financial market regulation and supervision - crystallized in the so-called Lamfalussy framework- and explores the potential and problems of the prospect of institutional consolidation (in the form of one or more EU financial authorities) as an alternative to that framework. The debate, which seemed to have subsided in recent years, is now again coming to the fore, in light of the ongoing international financial crisis. This evidences the close relationship between substance and governance: the quality of rules ultimately depends both on the input that produced them, as well as -if not more- on the quality of the implementation, application and enforcement of the rules. This discussion on the future of EU financial governance is undertaken in two parts. The thesis examines firstly the interaction of 'classical' financial law aims (achieving efficient and stable financial markets) with 'integrationist' aims (the commitment to create a single European financial market, as a response to growing international competition). The thesis then situates the institutional question within the broader context of the EU public law framework in a more deliberate and systematic way than has hitherto been done in the existing scholarly literature. The result is an argument in favour of institutional consolidation in the EU financial sector, with an emphasis on supervision. The case of the US SEC, whose success is arguably based on its enforcement function, is used to illustrate that institutional consolidation is not synonymous with 'one size fits all' solutions, but that flexibility can be incorporated in an authority's regulatory tools. To be sure, further discussion is necessary in order to achieve this balance; but the thesis argues that we do better to focus on the details of the 'how' best to design such institutions, rather than on omphaloskeptical questions of 'whether' they are needed. Indeed, at a closer look, arguments against this approach rarely dispute the need itself for some institutional consolidation, but rather point to the difficulties in its design.

Defence date: 4 June 1997
Examining board: Prof. Michael Artis, EUI, Supervisor ; Prof. Barry Eichengreen, University of California at Berkeley ; Prof. Mandred Neumann, University of Bonn ; Prof. Spyros Vassilakis, EUI, Co-supervisor
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digitised archive of EUI PhD theses completed between 2013 and 2017

Switzerland and the European Union share common values and have peaceful and well functioning economic and political agreements. Nevertheless, the Swiss banking secrecy is definitely a thorn in the EU's flesh, especially because of tax fraud or money laundering. Since the existence of the Swiss banking secrecy it has been associated with holocaust money, tax evasion, potentates' money etc. and also has been confronted with espionage attacks by foreign authorities and various other disputes. Recent global events have shed light on the Swiss banking secrecy's wider international agenda. A newly debate about the Swiss banking secrecy started with the global economic crisis and the Euro crisis. Finally, not a day goes by where there is no report or article in the media regarding the banking secrecy, the Swiss banks and its issues concerning the European Union or the United States. This writing focuses on the relationship between Switzerland and the European Union which is affected by Swiss banking secrecy: By explaining the history and importance of the Switzerland as a financial centre, its banking secrecy and the differences to other systems, possible issues and conflicts can be outlined. This thesis covers existing issues with EU member states. What regulations and restrictions were enforced by the...

Defence date: 3 July 2013
Examining Board: Professor Hans-Wolfgang Micklitz, European University Institute (EUI Supervisor); Professor Giorgio Monti, European University Institute; Professor Mads Andenæs, Universiteteti Oslo; Professor Jan Wouters, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
This thesis studies and analyzes the current paradigm governing the legal protection of retail investors in the United States and the European Union, by framing both of the legal systems within the transnational financial regulatory arena. In order to do so, the thesis carries out an evolutionary analysis of the European and American statutes dealing with financial markets regulation and gives an account, also grounded on the previous professional experience of the author, concerning the relationship between a retail investor and an investment services provider. It, then, examines whether and how far the US and EU legal systems either are affected by or affect transnational financial regulation, namely those (soft-law) rules adopted by the International Organization of Securities Commissions IOSCO, in particular as regards the protection of retail investors. Subsequently, the thesis describes the Organization’s governance structure, the decision-making process, the content of its financial rules and how far these are implemented into national domestic legislation. The third and last part of the thesis gives an analysis of the different legal tools provided by the European and American systems for public and collective private enforcement mechanisms, with the purpose to check whether a set of tools is preferred over the other (private VS public), and how far retail investors have the chance to concretely protect their rights. At the end, an assessment will be provided regarding the workability of the current paradigm from the point of view of retail investors.

This dissertation contributes with new findings regarding the relationship between both, informal institutions and performance, and operational risk disclosures in the European Union banking industry. The first essay concludes that, in higher individualism and long-term orientation countries, voluntary operational risk disclosures are of higher quality for regional/local banks, where managers haven’t developed a global mindset. The second essay shows that in countries with higher religiosity there is more compliance with regard to mandatory operational risk disclosures. Finally, the third essay finds that voluntary operational risk disclosures are used by banks’ management as a legitimizing tool to compensate for low performance, and that higher disclosure has a positive impact on market performance.

Dissertação de Mestrado em Direito apresentada à Faculdade de Direito
This dissertation deals with banks and their markets. In the first place, I am going to examine banks within the framework of the financial institutions. Then, a collection of risks faced by banks as a result of their specific features regarding enterprises from other economic sectors is going to be looked at. Later on, after a literature review on the structure of markets and their effects on the fixing of interest rates in the deposit and loan markets follows a reflection supported by studies that establish the dichotomy between competition-fragility and competition-stability. Moreover, the effects that regulation may have on the structure of banking markets are going to be highlighted.In the second part of this thesis, I shall present the legislation to be examined, in particular, the legislation about the European Banking Union project, analyze the main characteristics of each of the three pillars of that banking system and draw conclusions on the results of those laws on the structure of banking markets, and consequently also on the effects on banking risk and economic growth.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------
A dissertação versa sobre os bancos e os seus mercados, realizando num primeiro ponto uma classificação da entidade bancária no quadro das instituições financeiras. Em seguida, procura-se realizar uma recolha dos riscos enfrentados pelos bancos, em razão da sua especificidade em relação às empresas dos restantes sectores económicos. Depois, procede-se a uma revisão da literatura sobre a estrutura dos mercados e respetivos efeitos sobre a fixação das taxas de juro nos mercados de depósitos e nos mercados de empréstimos, para depois evoluir para uma reflexão, apoiada na literatura que estabelece a dicotomia entre concorrência-fragilidade e concorrência-estabilidade. Por outro lado, procura-se os efeitos que a regulação pode ter sobre a estrutura dos mercados bancários.Na segunda parte da tese, introduzimos a legislação a analisar, designadamente, a legislação proveniente do projeto União Bancária Europeia, analisando as principais características de cada um dos três pilares estabelecidos, para concluir sobre os resultados desta na estrutura dos mercados bancários, e consequentemente também sobre os efeitos no risco bancário e no crescimento económico. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The cross-border insolvency of international banks is magnified by the unresolved multi-jurisdictional cross-border conflicts that ensue between jurisdictions. The recent global financial crisis has shown that the big insolvency cases produce adverse consequences worldwide because of significant and complex legal issues.

The thesis deals with the emergence of bank and non-bank entities that provide a range of unique transaction-based payment services broadly called Mobile Financial Services (MFS) to unbanked, underserved and underbanked persons via mobile phones. Models of MFS from Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), banks, combinations of MNOs and banks, and independent Mobile Financial Services Providers are covered. Provision by non-banks of ‘bank-type’ services via mobile phones has been termed ‘transformational banking’ versus the ‘additive banking’ services from banks. All involve the concept of ‘branchless banking’ whereby ‘cash-in/cash out’ services are provided through ‘agents.’ Funds for MFS payments may available through a Stored Value Product (SVP), particularly through a Stored Value Account SVP variant offered by MNOs where value is stored as a redeemable fiat- or mobile ‘airtime’-based Store of Value. The competitive, legal, technical and regulatory nature of non-bank versus bank MFS models is discussed, in particular the impact of banking, payments, money laundering, telecommunications, e-commerce and consumer protection laws. Whether funding mechanisms for SVPs may amount to deposit-taking such that entities could be engaged in the ‘business of banking’ is discussed. The continued use of ‘deposit’ as the traditional trigger for the ‘business of banking’ is investigated, alongside whether transaction and paymentcentric MFS rises to the ‘business of banking.’ An extensive evaluation of ‘money’ based on the Orthodox and Claim School economic theories is undertaken in relation to SVPs used in MFS, their legal associations and import, and whether they may be deemed ‘money’ in law. Consumer protection for MFS and payments generally through current statute, contract, and payment law and common law condictiones are found to be wanting. Possible regulatory arbitrage in relation to MFS in South African law is discussed. The legal and regulatory regimes in the European Union, Kenya and the United States of America are compared with South Africa. The need for a coordinated payments-specific law that has consumer protections, enables proportional risk-based licensing of new non-bank providers of MFS, and allows for a regulator for retail payments is recommended. The use of trust companies and trust accounts is recommended for protection of user funds. | vi
Public, Constitutional and International Law
LLD