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Various studies have empirically examined the effect of corporate strategy on firm performance, but this paper differs in its methodological scope regarding time, geographic, and variable constructs. To achieve external validity of the research findings, this paper uses a more modern estimation procedure-the system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM)-on a panel data (2007-2017) for multinational banks in sub-Saharan Africa. It adopts more relevant corporate strategy constructs for firms with operations in many environments. The paper investigates the role of corporate strategies-geographic diversification, debt and equity financing-on firm's performance as indicated by Return on Assets (ROA). The key question behind this inquiry is: Does it profit a firm to have operations in many countries, or through raising funds from debt or equity financing? Such corporate strategies are expected to have positive returns. The findings show that corporate strategy affects the profitability of multinational banks. Specifically, unlike debt financing strategy, geographical diversification and equity financing positively affect bank's profitability in terms of ROA. The underlying implication for researchers, investors and corporate managers is that corporate decisions regarding where to invest and source of funds should be well planned if banks are to be successful in a multinational environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lack of women directors in the upper rungs of the corporate has been a cause for concern for the social reformers, policy makers and stakeholders. The ever sensitive issue of gender diversity has been revisited in the Indian context in the special case of banking sector. The paper investigates the impact of women directors on the Indian banks' performance using Return on Assets (ROA) as a measure of performance. Using panel data analysis for 36 scheduled banks operating in India over a span of four years, the paper investigates the effect of women directors on bank's performance. The results highlight a strong statistical negative association between female directorship and performance measured through ROA, which defies the theories of ethics and economics. The results, though pave way for further investigations, undoubtedly establish women as important influencers of performance of banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's banking sector plays a vital role in the progression and upliftment of the economies. Hence, measuring and ranking the performance of banks assumes importance. Ranking the banks will lead to improvement, and this fact necessitates the banks to measure their performance. In the present paper, an attempt is made to measure, benchmark and rank various Indian public sector banks using AHP and VIKOR methods for the period 2015-16. The data used in this study was taken from the published data of various banks. The paper also examines the ranking results using multicriteria methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether insurance business helps in improving the efficiency of the banking sector. The previous literature had shown contradictory results regarding the impact of diversification on banks' performance. On the one hand, past studies argued that banks engaging in a variety of insurance selling activities can benefit from economies of scope, ultimately improving both their performance and market value. On the other hand, diversification could lead to the escalation of agency problems existing between corporate insiders and small shareholders, which would ultimately destroy the value of the firm within the market. This study examined the impact of bancassurance on the efficiency of public sector banks and private sector banks in India for the period 2011-2017. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used to measure the impact of bancassurance on all public sector and private sector banks in India. The results revealed that bancassurance made an impact on the efficiency of the banking sector. An average deviation of 7.28% has been observed between the overall technical efficiency scores without bancassurance income and with bancassurance income. The observed difference supports the positive impact of bancassurance on technical efficiency of the Indian banking sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of promotion of financial inclusion in India, Payments Banks (PBs) have a key role to play as they accept small deposits from the poor and offer them low value remittance services. The unique feature of PBs is the size of remittances performed through technology platform being too large and value of each transaction being too small. Consequently, risk in remittance services is high and increasing. Therefore, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed regulatory compliance norms on the part of PBs, which include minimum capital, Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), deployment of deposits in government securities, Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and best management practices. These are expected to ensure the financial soundness of PBs, strengthen safety in remittance services and protect the interests of small customers at large. Though the number of PBs is just six at present, considering the emerging business potential, a few more PBs are expected to come up. But from the study of financial analysis of PBs, it is observed that they face numerous issues which need to be addressed. Towards this end, the paper offers suggestions, besides discussing the origin, regulatory aspects, activity profile and performance review of PBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]