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In this paper, through regression analysis the effect of the insurance sector on the economic growth and the capital market in N. Macedonia was analyzed for the period 2014-2022. The main variables used in the analysis were GDP, Stock Market Capitalization, Bond Market Capitalization and Assets of Insurance Companies. Hence, considering the participation of 1.54% of the insurance sector in the N. Macedonian GDP, as well as the asset allocation of the insurance companies, the obtained results were according to the expectations. On one hand, the insurance companies showed negative effect on GDP, which may be due to the very low participation in the total GDP, but they showed positive effect on the stock market capitalization. Additionally, bidirectional causality with positive effect was determined between the GDP and Stock Market Capitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Stockbrokers' frauds in India frequently occur, causing investors significant financial loss. This study aims to unfold the various dubious practices adopted by stock brokers in the recent past to defraud investors and the necessary corrective regulations passed by the market regulator to prevent and detect fraud. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conduct exploratory research using a collective model of literature review, case studies and regulatory changes. Findings: The authors find tightening the system's loopholes and strengthening the regulatory system using technology helps in the early detection and prevention of fraud. Media activism and investors' awareness play a role in reducing incidences of fraud. Research limitations/implications: This study unfolds the practices followed by stock brokers to defraud investors, indicative of regulatory gaps and enforcement lapses. Regulators are evolving a robust system to curb these practices and make them on par with international standards. But, it has a long way to go. Practical implications: Robust fraud detection and prevention mechanism is desirable to restore investors' confidence in the stock market. Regulators should focus on investors' protection and education and whistleblowers' protection. Compared to the market regulators worldwide, the Securities and Exchange Board of India has less power to identify, detect and punish fraudulent brokers and needs to be empowered. Social implications: Besides the regulatory changes, strict enforcement and investor campaigns are required to increase public awareness and restore trust in the stock market to combat the recurrence of fraud. Originality/value: This paper can be helpful to regulators, investors and financial intermediaries like stock brokers and aid in strengthening the reliability of capital markets and restoring investors' confidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the corporate governance status for the information technology (IT) companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange for 2022, the most recent year for which the companies' annual reports are available. The paper is part of the authors' research series which focuses on SMEs from the Romanian IT sector, as one of the most dynamic sectors with growth perspectives nationally. Corporate governance is essential for the business success and sustainability of any company. It provides a framework made of principles, processes and practices for a company to be directed and controlled. In general, it covers aspects of efficiency and accountability for the board of directors, shareholders, management, statutory committees and control systems. For listed companies, these aspects are complemented by regulatory compliance, disclosure and transparency, as well as stakeholders' engagement. The research is based on a content analysis supplied by Bucharest Stock Exchange, the reports of the IT listed companies and local and international financial institutions. The corporate governance status of the listed companies and the sector overall is determined by using the provisions of the Bucharest Stock Exchange Corporate Governance Codes for the main market and junior SMEs market (called AeRO) and analyzing, through a binary analysis, the annual comply or explain statements of the listed companies. Results show that IT listed companies on the Bucharest Stock Exchange comply with the majority of the provisions of the Corporate Governance Code, even though certain gaps need to be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the current development status of the Romanian capital market and the opportunities it offers for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to finance their growth strategies through the stock exchange. It is well known that SMEs represent a growth engine for any economy in terms of contribution to GDP, employment rate, and tax contribution to the state budget. Their primary role of supplying goods and services dynamises the market landscape and creates the proper context for competition, innovation, and research and development. However, in this context, they are the most affected by the economic crisis, inflationary pressures, post-Covid uncertainties, and the war in Ukraine. Thus, their access to finance is now more important than ever. The paper's focus is on SMEs from the Romanian information technology (IT) sector and how their growth since listing could be a driver for other Romanian IT companies to list on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The stock exchanges offer SMEs medium and long-term financing opportunities, regardless of market conditions. Therefore, the more successful the SMEs business, the more significant their role as an economic growth engine is. The research is based on a quantitative approach-content analysis provided by Bucharest Stock Exchange and local and international financial institutions. The SMEs' performance profile is determined by using trading evaluation indicators for IT SMEs listed on the Exchange. Results show that, by listing, companies benefit from contextual market conditions, highlighting the recommendation for other companies from the IT sector to list their business on the stock exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review aims to examine the impact of increasing energy costs on the global economy, social cohesion, economic growth, and capital markets, with a particular focus on the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy crisis intensified by the war in Ukraine. The methodology involves an extensive review of recent academic literature to cast light on these impacts. The study identifies significant disruptions in supply chains and heightened volatility in international capital markets due to these crises. Furthermore, the findings highlight the resulting challenges for policymakers, academics, market analysts, and professionals in addressing corporate sustainability in an increasingly uncertain environment. This paper underscores the continued relevance of energy issues as a central concern, both independently and in connection with broader economic sectors. Additionally, it discusses the importance of policy measures to enhance energy security and the transition towards sustainable energy solutions to mitigate these challenges and foster economic resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the financial services industry is finalising the adoption and implementation of the shortened settlement cycle on 28th May, 2024, and its implications to procedures, technology and behaviour, this paper lays out the benefits, challenges and best practices to ensure a smooth transition and implementation to all participants. The implications of these changes are enormous and open companies up to a variety of risks. This paper informs best practices to ensure a seamless integration, including operational, risk and communications. In addition, the paper focuses on practical steps to automating processes, centralising data and utilising technology to create a more efficient future. It points out that by utilising technology as a mechanism for continuous improvement, not only will companies be able to meet implementation requirements of this T+1 mandate but also create a mechanism to continue to meet regulatory changes. By utilising technology to create an environment of continuous improvement, powered by work orchestration, a fundamental shift in workforce behaviour can begin. In doing so, companies can ensure that they meet the operational requirements of this mandate, leading to efficiencies throughout their organisation and an improved employee and client experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial globalisation has given issuers more freedom to carry out jurisdiction shopping. As a policy response, a growing number of stock markets have introduced the dual-class share structure to enhance global competitiveness. However, does the dual-class share structure help stock markets attract issuers? It is a question rarely examined empirically in existing scholarly work. This paper explores the practices of three jurisdictions with global financial centres, ie the US, China and Hong Kong, to narrow the research gap. Based on hand-collected data, it explains the infrequent listings with the dual-class share structure in China and Hong Kong in the post-reform era in two ways: low demand due to the use of substitutes; and limited allowance caused by the harsh ex ante regulation, and is the first comparative quantitative study in this field. Drawing on the empirical lessons, this paper recommends that China relax its ex ante regulation and suggests the wider community consider the necessity of introducing the dual-class share structure and the balance they aim to achieve between investor protection and market openness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In mid-April 2020, the global financial markets plunged into financial crisis from the unprecedented worldwide lockdowns for an extended period. This paper looks at the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the selected European stock markets and economies in comparison to USA, Israel, and China. The goal of the research is to find out if the pandemic affected different national economies and capital markets in the same way. An empirical investigation is conducted for daily returns from stock indexes characterizing 5 developed and 4 post-communist European stock markets together with the above mentioned 3 non-European ones, using statistical inference and a correlation analysis. Our study shows that the COVID-19 pandemic financial crisis had a similar impact on all of the analyzed economies. Although, the GDP growth rate and inflation differ among countries. GDP growth rates in 2021 did not offset the declines from the previous year in Czechia, Germany, France, Italy and the UK. GDP growth and inflation rates in 2021 are bigger in European post-communist countries than in developed countries. All markets apart from the NASDAQ100, SSE, DAX and MSCI Europe reported negative annual rates of return in 2020. The highest risk was observed in the pandemic shock period. In the pandemic stabilization period expected returns from all stock indexes (except FTSE100 and TA35) were significantly positive. A comparison of selected markets and economies in different stages of the pandemic. Our study shows that financial markets should now incorporate such an event caused by a pandemic as part of financial crisis studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the market responses to concurrent earnings and stock split announcements for evidence on the information content of stock splits. The majority of stock split research excludes splits announced with other information events due to confounding issues. However, it is difficult to extract the information content of splits by merely focusing on the standalone split announcement because stock splits are devoid of any information regarding firms' future cash flows. This study explicitly considers how a stock split is evaluated in conjunction with current earnings. This study shows that the market reacts more positively to earnings news concurrently announced with stock splits, consistent with the idea that splits are favorable news. Furthermore, this study finds that stock returns of concurrent split–earnings announcers exhibit a greater association with future cash flows, suggesting that investors should value stock splits favorably for more persistent earnings ahead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Econometrics is a branch of economics that uses mathematical and statistical methods to study quantitative and qualitative relationships within economic phenomena. The purpose of this article is to study the impact of the capital market (financial instruments) on economic growth in Kazakhstan and the CIS countries through an understanding of the concept of "econometrics". The task of the study is to determine the dependence of gross domestic product as a resultant factor over the past 20 years. Methods. The article determines the assessment of the impact of financial factors on economic growth in the short term. An econometric model was used for this purpose. The resulting factor was the gross domestic product over the past 20 years. Results. The results indicate that the capital market influences economic growth in Kazakhstan and the CIS countries. This paper presents a model of the GDP function for the economy of Kazakhstan. In the course of the study, coefficients and variables of the model were estimated to predict the level and future changes in the country's GDP. Thus, the size of the capital market (Y1) depends on the following variables tested in the model: the number of securities issuance transactions; the volume of securities issuance transactions; the number of transactions of non-residents with shares at the secondary auction of KASE; the rate of change of shares of leading issuers on KASE [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the extent to which carry trade operations affect the performance of equity and bond markets in a target country, South Africa, by considering the US and the euro area as the funding countries. A two- and three-factor capital asset pricing model (CAPM) is employed to assess whether the pricing of equity and bond markets in South Africa depends on the US dollar/rand and euro/rand carry trade returns. Moreover, the paper uses the quantile regression technique to assess whether this pricing varies with the distribution of the equity and bond returns. The findings support that the US- and euro-funded carry trade are essential factors for the pricing of equity and bond markets in South Africa. Moreover, the results of the two-factor model show a negative relationship between the equity excess return and the US-carry trade returns at lower quantiles of the equity market returns. The positive relationship is observed in the upper quantiles of the equity market. The negative relationship means that carry trade activities reduce equity market returns during a bear market as investors close out their position when conditions in the equity market become unfavourable. The results of the three-factor model, controlling for the global volatility or uncertainty, show that carry trade investors exit the equity market to invest in the bond market when global uncertainty rises. This finding shows that carry trade investors choose less risky assets during rising global uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trading in shares in the European Union (EU) is fragmented across a large number of execution venues applying varying degrees of transparency. The review of the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) aims at creating the right conditions for the establishment of an entity, the consolidated tape provider, that provides a consolidated picture of core trading data to the market. Co-legislators principally disagreed on whether or not such a consolidated picture should include close to real-time data on prices and volumes on all pre-trade transparent trading venues (pre-trade data). Authors argue that important use-cases require the inclusion of pre-trade data and that the provisional political agreement reached on 29th June rightly recognises this. The review of MiFIR also includes amendments to the conditions under which individual execution venues are required to publish such pre-trade data. While there are good reasons for allowing 'dark trading', too much dark trading could harm the quality of price formation for shares. There is no strong evidence that the 'volume cap' which caps certain variants of dark trading has positive effects. The authors argue in this paper that a holistic and data-based approach to capping dark trading can contribute to the quality of price formation for shares. The consolidated tape will provide relevant data for such an approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on how will capital markets look like in the future, identifying the new trends in this field. Given the fact that the main challenges of our time are finacing the transition to a green and low-carbon economy and dealing with digital disruption, the future capital markets will be digital due to innovation by technologies such as automated advice, robo-advisory service which involves a low cost of the financial advice service. Also the future of capital markets can be defined by the trading algorithms which quickly process information in high-frequency trading and by the distributed ledgers technology (DLT), which could change the backbone of the stock market, considering that modern technology enables stock markets to be faster and more complex than ever. As we gaze into the future of capital markets, one of the most promising trends is the utilization of AI to promote sustainability in finance. This paper delves into the transformative potential of AI in reshaping capital markets, highlighting emerging trends and its profound impact on promoting sustainability in financial ecosystems. So, the capital markets will undoubtedly evolve in the future as technological advancements, particularly the integration of new and traditional artificial intelligence capabilities, transform the financial ecosystem into a faster, smarter, and more efficient system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizational capabilities have a key influence on firm performance. Ordinary capabilities, a prominent classification advocated by capability scholars, allow a firm to perform its primary functional activities. Past research indicates that there are limits to the contributions of ordinary capabilities to firm performance, but largely has explored it via contingent effects in an industry context. We argue, however, that these limits also are a function of the development of market-supporting institutions. In this paper, we investigate the effect of capital market development – a key pillar of market-supporting institutions – on a firm's use of two ordinary capabilities, operations and marketing. We trace the heterogeneity of this effect for two key firm resources, investments in R&D and financial slack, that are indicative of different strategies pursued by firms. We test our three-way interaction model using a sample of Indian firms over a twenty-year period of institutional reforms. Our findings contribute to integrating the organizational capability and institutional theory literature and advancing research on the sustainability of firm profits in emerging economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the introduction of SICAV in Czech law, its development and the related difficulties including the tax perspective. Although this legal form helped to boost the collective investment sector in the Czech Republic, in particular for qualified investors' funds, it is under constant threat of law amendments, which have a negative impact on further progress in the popularity of SICAVs as well as other forms of investment funds. SICAV, as a legal form governed by both private (corporate) and public (regulatory) law, presents a good example of how the two sets of partly autonomous rules may clash and cause undesirable effects. The paper highlights the main inefficiencies and discrepancies, which lead to interpretation difficulties and legal uncertainty. The hypothesis of this paper lies in investigating how local factors in one country, such as the influence of other pieces of legislation and tax environment, negatively impact solutions and models which are standardised and successfully deployed across the EU. It is argued that not only legal and regulatory aspects determine the popularity of investment funds, but a wider landscape, including the activities and approach of the supervisory authority and network of professionals (legal and tax advisors or auditors), plays a crucial role in capital markets [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explain the benefits of securitization in Kenya's economy that is to both the government, the private sector, and the Kenya capital market. The paper provides a road map on how the government and private sector can diversify their funding sources, lower borrowing costs, improve liquidity, and transfer risk. It will help offer clear policy direction to government policymakers in efforts geared towards the introduction of asset securitization in the country which will increase liquidity, economic growth, and expansion of capital in the country. The regulator of the financial market Capital Market Authority (CMA) will therefore formulate guidelines and regulatory requirements that can enhance the performance of the securitization industry. The paper will also be useful to corporate strategists of companies as they seek to optimize return considerations in driving shareholder wealth margins. The paper is expected to motivate and be a key reference for future research work in the securitization industry in Kenya. Securitization is one of the innovative products that may be used by government and private firms and investors to increase wealth. Methodology: The study adopted a desktop methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library Findings: Securitization will bring benefits in terms of growth in the economy and expansion of capital markets and hence wealth creation. Securitization involves the conversion of a pool of assets with a regular and predictable cash income such as mortgage repayments receivables, and credit card receivables e,t,c into a security or marketable instrument that allows the institution to transact a large number of its assets, which would otherwise not be attractive as individual. The originator who will be the financial institution or the government then creates a legal entity known as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). The special purpose vehicle may be in the form of a Limited Liability Company, a trust, a partnership, or even a subsidiary of the Originator. These selected receivables are then transferred to the special purpose vehicle which then becomes the owner of these receivables. The securities to be issued by the special purpose vehicle are usually rated by a rating agency. This is due to the fact that such instruments are unsecured, which will require that investors are protected. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Profit maximising theory and theory of innovation can be used to anchor future studies on securitization enhancing liquidity. If the Government or the financial institution wants to issue 'AAA' rated asset-backed securities or mortgage-backed securities, collateralized mortgage securities, or collateralized debt obligations (CDOs)then they must choose first-class loans not prone to prepayment and default risk where originators conduct their own rating, they select all the best asset bundles for investment. In order to get a favorable rating, the special purpose vehicles can provide credit enhancement to the securities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractSMEs play a crucial role for inclusive development, but their growth is often hampered by lacking access to finance. This paper explores whether capital markets can be harnessed to foster SME finance. Given the negligible use of market-based financing by SMEs, it is analysed to what extent capital market development indirectly alleviates SMEs’ financing constraints by improving their access to loans. Thus, the study builds on the theoretical model by Song and Thakor (2010), which consolidated the view that markets and banks are complementary and co-evolve. Using a modification of the analysis framework by Rajan and Zingales (1998) for 68,712 firm-level observations from 50 mostly low- and middle-income countries for 2006-2019, it empirically investigates the central prediction of Song and Thakor (2010) that capital market development is associated with an increase in bank lending, in particular, towards smaller and riskier firms. I find a positive and significant effect; in support of Song and Thakor (2010), the effect runs through increased capital market usage by financial institutions and expanded loan availability. The findings underline that markets and banks co-evolve and that the most important contribution of capital markets to SME finance is their indirect effect on bank lending and loan availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Service-oriented technology operating models and cloud-based solutions such as Software as-a-Service (SaaS) and Platform as-a-Service (PaaS) are transforming enter prise business. These operating models shift the onus from traditional owner ship of software and technology from the data centre upwards to a model where hard ware and soft ware are consumed on a pay-per-use basis. Providers host and main tain the infrastructure and application from the ground up, simplifying the landscape for customers. 'As-a-service' is used to collectively describe these new consumption models, which are poised to deliver a paradigm shift in the capital markets industry, enabling Trading Systems as-a-Service. This paper gives the reader an insight into how market trends have evolved around the adoption of as-a-service offerings and where the market sees them heading. The industry drivers behind the shift will be explored and how it maps to parts of the capital markets organisation. The paper also outlines best practices for achieving this shift, including transforming the way business processes are structured and over coming potential pit falls during the journey. The over all aim is to help the reader look at their own organisation from a transformational per spective and determine how to begin the shift to as-a-service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our research is based on an examination of capital market dynamics in four European countries, namely Poland, Romania, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, during the pandemic crisis. The paper is divided into two parts and examines the relationship between macro-financial variables and the major stock market indices of Western European (UK, Germany, and Austria) and Eastern European markets. The analysis is based on the use of the autoregressive vector model (VAR), which shows that during the global pandemic crisis, macroeconomic factors had a significant impact on the financial performance of Eastern European countries' financial markets. In the second part, the correlation of the yields of the stock indices from the countries of Western and Eastern European countries is analyzed, using the multivariate GARCH model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper is a continuation of research in the series that examines the weak form of the efficient capital markets theorem in Southeast European transitioning economies. Model modifications are based on learnings through the previously established inapplicability of foreign exchange metrics. At the same time, the model is being expanded by incorporating new research markets, extending the time coverage to the longest duration to date, between 2005 and 2021, to cover economic bust and recovery periods and research inherent improvements in the capital market context, and adding new variables to provide more sturdiness and conclusiveness. Methodology: The paper applies the panel pooled mean group estimator by aggregating cross-country data. By using level series prime data instead of differentials, this method enables efficient use of information and resolves at best the identified market shallowness. Results: The statistical results of empirical research infer the inefficiency of the investigated markets with greater robustness and supplementary new information revealing more powerful corrective investor and policy behavior in collectively more mature markets. Conclusions: The findings firmly reiterate subpar capital markets performance in a prolonged and more comprehensive environment. The recommendations conclusively emphasize the importance of structural reforms to support sustainability through elementary setup drivers, such as transparency, governance, judiciary productivity, and policy support, inter alia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The price of stocks is a good indication of investors' expectations for the evolution of capital markets, comprising their fears and hopes regarding future developments. The information regarding a disruptive event such as a military attack spreads rapidly across countries affecting investors' perceptions and causing them to sell their stocks and target safer investments. The scientific literature on the topic is growing lately due to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war and its consequences. The research paper investigates the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on the capital markets from the Central and Eastern European region using the event study methodology. The paper studies the abnormal returns recorded by each capital market on the event day (February 24, 2022), as well as the cumulative abnormal returns for 6-day, 11-day and 16-day event windows following the attack. The findings show that most of the capital markets recorded sharp declines on the event-day, reaching a negative abnormal return event of 10% on February 24. For the longer event windows the negative impact persisted through cumulative abnormal returns recorded for most of the markets. The highest declines were recorded on the 6-day and 11-day event windows as all capital markets considered incorporating the bad news of the war outbreak and lost the initial hope of being a disinformation or a short-term military attack. Within 35 trading days following the invasion, 64% of the markets rebounded and returned to their pre-attack level. However, 4 capital markets recorded more than 200 trading days with a level lower than the one registered before the invasion. The paper contributes to literature extending the studies of capital markets' behavior during military conflicts focusing on neighboring countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the role of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors in explaining the crisis resilience of 1031 global emerging market (GEM) equities during the Covid-19 crisis downturn of Q1 2020. We use linear and quantile regressions (QR) and find a statistically significant negative relationship between a firm's ESG management score and crisis resilience as proxied by stock maximal drawdown. Our results suggest that companies with better ESG management were less crisis resilient, a finding consistent with agency-theory-based explanations found in the literature. Results are robust across all OLS and QR models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sought to analyze the possible disparity in the appropriation of tax benefits granted to incentivized debentures (in the form of Law No. 12,431/2011) via price mechanism. According to economic theory, markets under normal operating conditions do not present room for arbitrage, and assets endowed with the same risk conditions should not present incompatible values. Therefore, it is expected that the spread exhibited by incentivized debentures in the secondary market is equivalent to that of regular debentures when adjusted by the respective tax and risk factors. Thus, a methodology was proposed for evaluating the parameters that potentially define the remuneration of debentures, in order to isolate the effect of this tax incentive to determine its impact on price formation. The results pointed to the statistical irrelevance of this parameter, assuring market conformity to the no-arbitrage theory and preventing the rejection of the hypothesis of effective appropriation of the tax benefit by the debenture issuer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Private Investors are vital to materialize a sustainable transition in the fossil fuel sector. • This network analysis maps the market structure of equity ownership in fossil fuel firms. • Ownership is concentrated among a small subset of influential shareholders. • Just ten financial actors can accelerate a sustainable transition in the fossil fuel industry. • This paper bridges the gap in literature on finance, supply-side policy, and climate stability. Investors have a central role to play in sustainability transitions, due to their inordinate influence on the governance of the fossil fuel extraction industry. Using network analysis, this paper links fossil fuel firms to equity owners, by distinguishing ownership characteristics of top shareholders and establishing a ranked list of the most prevalent shareholders based on emissions potential and network centrality. Our study reveals that among the most prevalent owners, are government signatories of the Paris accord and prominent American investment managers. We conclude that a concentrated number of investors have the potential to influence the strategic direction and governance of these firms and should consequently be held accountable for financing the economic activities that contribute to climate instability. This paper directly contributes to the fragmented body of academic research on financial systems and sustainability transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unequal voting rights arrangements under dual class share structures are increasingly favoured by entrepreneurs and founders of technology companies, in order to retain a degree of control over the company that is disproportionate to their equity shareholdings. The rise of such share structures around the world has put competitive pressure on the UK Government and the country's financial regulator to relax the one share, one vote principle in the premium listing regime of the London Stock Exchange, to ensure the UK equities market remains world-leading and fit for the future development of the economy. There is, however, a long tradition of institutional investors' distaste for dual class share structures. In fact, the near extinction of dual class listings in the UK capital markets can be largely attributed to the opposition of large British institutions. Therefore, this paper will critically discuss the conflict between the demands to attract listings from high-tech and innovative companies and concerns of a race to the bottom in the UK context. It rebuts criticisms based on investor protection and argues that if dual class companies were permitted to list in the Premium Segment, the higher level of regulatory protection provided in the premium listing regime would help enhance minority shareholder protection and shareholder engagement. The additional safeguarding measures, as we have seen from other global financial centres, would also help to restrain the potential abuse of controllers' weighted voting power. Together with the market mechanism, permitting dual class listings in the Premium Segment should be welcomed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper investigates the factors that hinder the development of a green bond market in Brazil. Based on semi-structured interviews with representatives from the Brazilian capital markets, this study found that there are two sets of challenges. The first comprises structural barriers that curb the development of the local bond market and attraction of foreign investments, such as an unstable macroeconomic environment and inadequate legal protection for investors. The second comprises specific obstacles to the development of a green bond market, such as lower than expected risk-adjusted returns of low-carbon investments. We expect that the research findings will serve as a roadmap for policy-makers on which barriers must be tackled to develop a green bond market in Brazil, thus facilitating the transition to a low-carbon economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global development of integrated reporting (IR) is underpinned by the recognition of increased complexity of businesses and stakeholder demands for information relating to financial performance, management, corporate governance, and sustainability being provided in a single, coherent document which facilitates stakeholder decision making. This paper examines the lexical properties of IR following the introduction of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) Framework. Using an international sample, we find that when adopted voluntarily, IR are lengthier, use more complex language, and contain more boilerplate statements. Our findings suggest that without regulation, firms may continue to produce long and difficult to understand reports in fear of being perceived as omitting "bad news." This fear might be justified as we find loss of analyst following and greater analyst uncertainty when voluntarily adopted IR is concise. In the regulated setting of South Africa, however, we find IR has become more concise, and firms that produce longer and more complex documents suffer from a deterioration of their information environment. Our findings suggest that regulators and practitioners need to be cognizant of the potential for an increased volume in reporting to obfuscate the message rather than inform stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last five years, regulators have begun to focus on compliance and money laundering risks specific to securities markets. It is clear to them that the ways in which securities are issued, traded, cleared and settled create a series of opportunities for criminals and that these opportunities make the securities industry vulnerable to financial crime. This paper explains where the vulnerabilities lie in securities markets, explores the regulatory and financial consequences for individual firms of failing to address these vulnerabilities, identifies guides to action and obstacles to effective compliance and discusses how they can be overcome at affordable cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important, least-known documents of the American Revolution was a 25-page pamphlet published in Amsterdam early in 1787: An Explanatory Message Concerning the Funds by Pieter Stadnitski. Within a year of its publication Peter Stadnitski's Message quite literally revolutionized American sovereign finance. My paper will summarize in detail the report's content and analyze its arguments in light of Dutch archival materials including deeds, newspaper reports, and letters, as well as congressional records from American sources. It will describe what Dutch investors knew (and did not know) of the state of American public finance and American political landscape, and the Dutch financial community's view of the American future. Its essential argument is that thanks initially to Stadnitski's persuasive case and ultimately to the success of the trusts he pioneered, Dutch investment specialists came to see the American republic as a safe haven at a time that Dutch Republic's own future seemed increasingly perilous. If their dream of achieving a new Golden Age through trade and investment with the new nation ultimately proved illusory, the effects of Dutch capital in creating financial stability for the United States government and igniting the first peacetime economic expansion in American history were revolutionary indeed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper is a continuation of research in the series that examines the weak form of the efficient capital markets theorem in Southeast European transitioning economies. Model modifications are based on learnings through the previously established inapplicability of foreign exchange metrics. At the same time, the model is being expanded by incorporating new research markets, extending the time coverage to the longest duration to date, between 2005 and 2021, to cover economic bust and recovery periods and research inherent improvements in the capital market context, and adding new variables to provide more sturdiness and conclusiveness. Methodology: The paper applies the panel pooled mean group estimator by aggregating cross-country data. By using level series prime data instead of differentials, this method enables efficient use of information and resolves at best the identified market shallowness. Results: The statistical results of empirical research infer the inefficiency of the investigated markets with greater robustness and supplementary new information revealing more powerful corrective investor and policy behavior in collectively more mature markets. Conclusions: The findings firmly reiterate subpar capital markets performance in a prolonged and more comprehensive environment. The recommendations conclusively emphasize the importance of structural reforms to support sustainability through elementary setup drivers, such as transparency, governance, judiciary productivity, and policy support, inter alia.

Venture capital and private equity represent established asset categories utilized for funding formal entrepreneurial endeavors, often drawing investments from adept fund managers who typically refrain from engaging in informal ventures. However, it is not well investigated how informal economic activities impact resource allocation in private equity. In this paper, we analyze private equity data from 32 economies across Europe and the Asia Pacific region, spanning from 1996-2017. Utilizing a random effects estimation technique, we find that shadow economies have a strong negative impact on private equity investment and inhibit the positive effect of both stock markets and GDP per capita on private equity investment. This suggests that despite a thriving stock market for exit opportunities and favorable wealth conditions facilitating the supply side, economies witness constrained private equity investments due to the existence of informal sectors. This research makes a significant contribution to the cross-country private equity literature and offers valuable policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the introduction of SICAV in Czech law, its development and the related difficulties including the tax perspective. Although this legal form helped to boost the collective investment sector in the Czech Republic, in particular for qualified investors’ funds, it is under constant threat of law amendments, which have a negative impact on further progress in the popularity of SICAVs as well as other forms of investment funds. SICAV, as a legal form governed by both private (corporate) and public (regulatory) law, presents a good example of how the two sets of partly autonomous rules may clash and cause undesirable effects. The paper highlights the main inefficiencies and discrepancies, which lead to interpretation difficulties and legal uncertainty. The hypothesis of this paper lies in investigating how local factors in one country, such as the influence of other pieces of legislation and tax environment, negatively impact solutions and models which are standardised and successfully deployed across the EU. It is argued that not only legal and regulatory aspects determine the popularity of investment funds, but a wider landscape, including the activities and approach of the supervisory authority and network of professionals (legal and tax advisors or auditors), plays a crucial role in capital markets development

Regression regularization techniques show that deviations of accounting fundamentals from their preceding moving averages forecast drifts in equity market prices. Deviations-based predictability survives a comprehensive set of prominent anomalies. The profitability applies strongly to the long leg and survives value weighting and excluding microcaps. We provide evidence that the predictability arises because investors anchor to recent means of fundamentals. A factor based on our fundamentals-based index yields economically significant intercepts after controlling for a comprehensive set of other factors, including those based on profit margins and earnings drift. This paper was accepted by Gustavo Manso, finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Islamic finance (IF) holds significant potential for economic development and the enhancement of financial inclusion in Uzbekistan. Sukuk, as a key Islamic capital market instrument and Shari'ah-compliant investment alternative, plays an important role in this context. However, the demand for sukuk and its determinants are not well understood by policymakers and industry practitioners in Uzbekistan. This study aims to address this research gap by utilizing an ordinal logit model on primary data collected through a survey of 196 individuals from diverse demographic and professional backgrounds, with varying levels of IF and capital market knowledge and experience. The regression results indicate that factors such as prior investment experience, knowledge of sukuk, and a strong inclination toward Shari'ah-compliant investments positively influence an individual's intent to buy sukuk. Conversely, we found that residents of Tashkent (the capital city) are less likely to invest in sukuk compared to residents of other regions in Uzbekistan or those residing abroad. Based on this study's findings, several essential policy and practical recommendations are provided to relevant stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2010, the U.S. accounting rulemaker (FASB) updated its longstanding constitution to eliminate "reliability" as a fundamental accounting property. FASB argued that "reliability" was misunderstood in practice and that this amendment clarified its original intent. Drawing on primary archival resources and field interviews with regulators, I provide evidence that the change also sought to legitimize the rise of fair-value accounting. By eliminating the need for accounting to be "reliable," the change attempted to neutralize concerns about the subjectivity in fair-value estimates. Such subjectivity can facilitate accounting manipulation, and some fair-value rules can be attributed to lobbying by managers who stand to benefit. The change illustrates "conceptual veiling," wherein regulators, seeking to diffuse criticism, including suspicions of capture, manufacture costly conceptual narratives for justifying their actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A blockchain is a decentralized ledger of all transactions across a peer-to-peer network. Using this technology, participants can confirm transactions without a need for a central clearing authority. Potential applications can include fund transfers, settling trades, voting and many other issues. Blockchain, sometimes referred to as distributed ledger technology (DLT), makes the history of any digital asset unalterable and transparent through the use of decentralization and cryptographic hashing. The purpose of this paper leads to an analysis of the question: if Bitcoin is already here, why have thousands of additional cryptocurrencies been launched? The answer is that several other cryptocurrencies aim to compete with Bitcoin as general purpose currencies. Coins and tokens - all except Bitcoin are known as altcoins - and their purpose is to meet specific needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many firms use relative stock performance to evaluate and incentivize their CEOs. We document that such firms routinely disclose information that harms their peers' stock prices, and sometimes explicitly mention the harmed peers, by name, in these disclosures. Consistent with deliberate sabotage, peer‐harming disclosures appear to be aimed at peers whose stock price depressions are most likely to benefit the disclosing firms' CEOs. The pricing effect of these disclosures does not reverse, suggesting that the disclosures contain legitimate information regarding peers' prospects. In sum, our results suggest that relative performance evaluation in CEO pay motivates CEOs to internalize the externalities of their disclosures, and strategically disclose information that harms peers' stock prices, in order to improve their firms' relative standing within their peer group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The effect of environmental regulations or green policies on the financial health of businesses is still up for debate. The Prime Minister of India presented a bold plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070 at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow (UK). Following this announcement, numerous Indian companies voluntarily committed to becoming carbon neutral to support the ambitious emission reduction targets. A growing body of research examines the link between environmental standards compliance and businesses' sustainability measures, and how they affect their overall performance (profitability, stock returns, or output generation). Purpose: The research assesses the effect of these voluntary announcements on the stock performance of Indian companies in the context of voluntary commitments to reduce carbon emissions. Methodology: Concentrating on the announcement impact of carbon neutrality commitments/carbon emissions reductions of 52 Indian companies, the study considers carbon neutrality pledges/carbon emissions reduction from 2018 to 2022. The sample companies list was taken from various indices on the National Stock Exchange. A standard event study methodology is applied to compute abnormal returns during the event window of (−10, 10). Findings: The results show that companies announcing the carbon neutrality pledges/carbon emissions reduction received significantly negative abnormal returns of 0.49% on announcement day. The cumulative average abnormal returns for different windows are also negative. It signifies that investors don't value the environmentally sustainable actions of firms. It may also be because of investors' ignorance of carbon neutrality pledges and their importance, highlighting the need to educate investors about the significance of corporate sustainability initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]