This book charts the consequences for banking supervision of two stylized developments that over the last decade have characterized the global financial landscape: the integration of cross-sector and cross-border financial services. Both developments inevitably call for a supervisory response and the authors discuss what form and direction this should take. They also address a number of other important subjects including the new Capital Accord (Basel 2), the convergence of supervisory practices, procyclicality, financial conglomerates, deposit insurance and a brief history of the interplay between banking supervision and bank behaviour. The important practical and theoretical issues highlighted in this volume clearly demonstrate that banking supervision currently stands at a crossroads. The detailed, objective discussions of these themes and the sensible conclusions drawn will undoubtedly help policymakers to decide which path to take. The original contributions from high-level practitioners and academics from around the world will also be of great interest to commercial bankers, and academics and researchers of banking, finance and monetary economics.

This book reflects on the innovations that central banks have introduced since the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers to improve their modes of intervention, regulation and resolution of financial markets and financial institutions. Authors from both academia and policy circles explore these innovations through four approaches: ‘Bank Capital Regulation’ examines the Basel III agreement; ‘Bank Resolution’ focuses on effective regimes for regulating and resolving ailing banks; ‘Central Banking with Collateral-Based Finance’ develops thought on the challenges that market-based finance pose for the conduct of central banking; and ‘Where Next for Central Banking’ examines the trajectory of central banking and its new, central role in sustaining capitalism.

"Higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean has expanded dramatically in the past 15 years, as the average gross enrollment rate has more than doubled, and many new institutions and programs have been opened. Although higher education access has become more equitable, and higher education supply has become more varied, many of the 'new' students in the system are, on average, less academically ready than are their more advantaged counterparts. Furthermore, only half of higher education students, on average, complete their degree, and labor market returns to higher education vary greatly across institutions and programs. Thus, higher education is at a crossroads today. Given the region's urgency to raise productivity in a low-growth, fiscally constrained environment, going past this crossroads requires the formation of skilled human capital fast and efficiently. 'At a Crossroads: Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean' contributes to the discussion by studying quality, variety, and equity of higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean. The book presents comprehensive evidence on the recent higher education expansion and evolution of higher education labor market returns. Using novel data and state-of-the-art methods, it studies demand and supply drivers of the recent expansion. It investigates the behavior of institutions and students and explores the unintended consequences of large-scale higher education policies. Framing the analysis are the singular characteristics of the higher education market and the market segmentation induced by the variety of students and institutions in the system. At this crossroads, a role emerges for incentives, information, accountability, and choice."

Changes in the field of central banking over the past two decades have been nothing short of dramatic. They include the importance of central bank autonomy, the desirability of low and stable inflation, and the vital role played by how central banks communicate their views and intentions to the markets and the public more generally. There remains considerable diversity nevertheless in the institutional framework affecting central banks, the manner in which the stance of monetary policy is determined and assessed, and the forces that dictate the conduct of monetary policy more generally. The global financial crisis, which began in the United States in 2007, only serves to highlight further the importance of central bank policies. The aim of this volume is to take stock of where we are in the realm of the practice of central banking and considers some of the implications arising from the ongoing crisis.

‘His best novel yet ... A Middlemarch-like triumph’ Telegraph

This book discusses the role of central banks and draws lessons from examining their evolution over the past two centuries.

This book takes you on a journey through post-crisis regulatory reform, highlighting the unintended consequences of some of the measures on transaction banking, a business that provides the backbone of financial markets.