This book is intended to lay out, in a clear and intuitive as well as comprehensive way, what we know - or think we know - about mergers and acquisitions in the financial services sector. It evaluates their underlying drivers, factual evidence as to whether or not the basic economic concepts and strategic precepts are correct. It looks closely at the managerial dimensions in terms of the efficacy of merger implementation, notably the merger integration process. The focus is on enhancing shareholder value creation and the execution of strategies for the successful management of mergers. It...

This book is about the demographic and funding crises that threaten continental European systems of pension and retirement income. The author argues that state-sponsored social security will not deliver promised retirement incomes for the baby-boom generation; European monetary union and the imperatives of global finance has made such promises untenable thereby undercutting nation-state social solidarity. Globalization has set many challenges for European countries not least of which is providing pension security for theory citizens. At the same time, global finance has opened-up options for...

Asset management is a major industry playing an increasingly important role in economic activity around the world. Traditionally, it has been primarily associated with the 'stock market' economies of the UK and the USA, but as this book shows some of the most spectacular growth in activity of recent years has occurred in continental Europe. This has presented opportunities and challenges. New forms of financial instruments and institutions have emerged in countries that have traditionally relied on debt and non-market forms of intermediation. Competition has intensified and entry has occurred...

Scandals in financial institutions, weakness in the world economy, and volatility in financial markets bring to the fore front issues of regulation and consumer protection. This comparative survey of how investors are currently protected in a range of countries in Europe and the United States is set in an accessible and theoretical framework. It will be invaluable for academics and students involved in the analysis of financial markets and regulation as well as practitioners in financial institutions and regulatory authorities.