Research into interlocking directorates and other organizational ties between large corporations dates back to the beginning of the century. In Germany and the United States interlocking directorates became an important means of coordination and control of large corporations and banks at the end of the nineteenth century and were, as a result, particularly subject to scientific investigation and public debate. Trusts were regarded with mistrust, especially in the United States, where John Moody's study from 1904 was significantly entitled The Truth about Trusts. In Germany much attention was paid to the role-or-the large Berlin banks in the economic development. The first large study in Germany carried the prolix title The Relationship between the Large German Banks and Industry with Special Reference to the Iron Industry (Jeidels, 1905). ---- --------- The studies in the United States were predominantly induced and even carried out by committees of the Federal Congress. In Europe, on the other hand, the labor movement soon became interested in the patterns of interlocking directorates. In the Netherlands, for example, Wibaut, a socialist leader, carried out a study on interlocking directorates, copying the research design of Jeidels. Accordingly, two different schools can be distinguished from the start: the Marxian school which developed the concept of finance capital to explain the existing interlocking directorates, and the institutional economists who used the concept of economic power to explain the same phenomenon.

Banking is an increasingly global business, with a complex network of international transactions within multinational groups and with international customers. This book provides a thorough, practical analysis of international taxation issues as they affect the banking industry. Thoroughly explaining banking’s significant benefits and risks and its taxable activities, the book’s broad scope examines such issues as the following: taxation of dividends and branch profits derived from other countries; transfer pricing and branch profit attribution; taxation of global trading activities; tax risk management; provision of services and intangible property within multinational groups; taxation treatment of research and development expenses; availability of tax incentives such as patent box tax regimes; swaps and other derivatives; loan provisions and debt restructuring; financial technology (FinTech); group treasury, interest flows, and thin capitalisation; tax havens and controlled foreign companies; and taxation policy developments and trends. Case studies show how international tax analysis can be applied to specific examples. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (OECD BEPS) measures and how they apply to banking taxation are discussed. The related provisions of the OECD Model Tax Convention are analysed in detail. The banking industry is characterised by rapid change, including increased diversification with new banking products and services, and the increasing significance of activities such as shadow banking outside current regulatory regimes. For all these reasons and more, this book will prove to be an invaluable springboard for problem solving and mastering international taxation issues arising from banking. The book will be welcomed by corporate counsel, banking law practitioners, and all professionals, officials, and academics concerned with finance and its tax ramifications.

In 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.

International Industrial Networks and Industrial Restructuring in Central and Eastern Europe analyses the role of international industrial networks in industrial restructuring and corporate growth in central Europe, Russia and Ukraine. It shows that two distinct patterns of international industrial integration - domestic vs. foreign led modernisations - have developed in these two regions which have significant effects on patterns of growth and integration of these economies. International Industrial Networks and Industrial Restructuring in Central and Eastern Europe is based on a number of industry and firm case studies which are analysed and interpreted within the current international business and political economy literature. The publication provides valuable insights to managers and policy-makers who are interested in understanding different strategic options for business activity in Central and East European countries. For the academic reader, it offers a new perspective on international, industrial networks in which theories on strategic management and on industry restructuring and corporate growth are merged into a new view of growth and transformation process.

This paper seeks to advance our understanding of global financial interconnectedness by (i) mapping aspects of the architecture of global finance and (ii) investigating critical fault lines related to interconnectedness along which systemic risks were built up and shocks transmitted in the crisis. It thus takes initial steps toward operationalizing enhanced financial sector and macro-financial surveillance called for by the IMF’s Executive Board and by experts such as de Larosiere et al. (2009). Getting a better handle on interconnectedness would strengthen the Fund‘s ability, together with the Financial Stability Board, to track systemic risk concentrations. It would also inform spillover and vulnerability analyses, and sharpen bilateral and multilateral surveillance.

This first report deals with some of the major development issues confronting the developing countries and explores the relationship of the major trends in the international economy to them. It is designed to help clarify some of the linkages between the international economy and domestic strategies in the developing countries against the background of growing interdependence and increasing complexity in the world economy. It assesses the prospects for progress in accelerating growth and alleviating poverty, and identifies some of the major policy issues which will affect these prospects.