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October 2020 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Francisco Partners Private Credit Opportunity Fund

By: Luis M. Viceira, John D. Dionne, Soracha Prathanrasnikorn and Ari Sunshine

In April 2020, Scott Einsenberg, the Head of Credit at the private equity firm Francisco Partners, is deciding whether to go ahead with extending a private lending agreement to Eventbrite, Inc. (NYSE: EB), a leading global event management and online ticketing... View Details

Keywords: Private Debt; Private Credit; Industry Evolution; Private Equity; Investment; Analysis

31 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

Why Competition May Not Improve Credit Rating Agencies

In the run-up to the global financial crisis, credit rating agencies gave high marks to such risky financial vehicles as collateralized debt obligations, which few people understood. It has been argued that these ratings misled investors... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

13 Jun 2012
HBS Case

HBS Cases: A Startup Takes On the Credit Ratings Giants

For most of the 20th century, three bond ratings agencies—Moody's, Fitch, and Standard & Poor's—dominated the credit ratings industry, recently controlling 97 percent of the market. But the status quo was disrupted by the 2008 global... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Banking; Financial Services

23 Jan 2023
Research & Ideas

After High-Profile Failures, Can Investors Still Trust Credit Ratings?

During the financial crisis of 2008, major credit rating agencies faced sharp criticism for failing to recognize and warn of the risks of emerging instruments like mortgage-backed securities. Since that time, the results of a new study... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

December 1961 (Revised January 1994)
Case

Plowman Poultry Farm

By: Samuel L. Hayes III

A poultry farmer wanted to expand production greatly and sought a large extension of his line of credit from his bank in addition to his existing loan on which he had not made payment. The Board of Directors must review a detailed account of events leading to this... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Expansion; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financing and Loans; Commercial Banking; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

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October 2017 (Revised April 2019)
Case

Data Breach at Equifax

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Quinn Pitcher and Jonah S. Goldberg

The case discusses the events leading up to the massive data breach at Equifax, one of the three U.S. credit reporting companies, the organizational and governance issues that contributed to the breach, and the consequences of the breach. The case supplement provides... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Information Management; Cybersecurity; Technology Industry; United States

Research Summary

Overview

By: Olivia S. Kim

My research examines how firms and households make financial decisions, with a focus on the role of the family. My work evaluates how financial regulations shape credit and consumption disparities within the household and the extent to which business owners' family... View Details

Keywords: Household Finance; Entrepreneurship; Corporate Finance; Financial Intermediation

June 2012
Article

Managing Risks: A New Framework

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Anette Mikes

Risk management is too often treated as a compliance issue that can be solved by drawing up lots of rules and making sure that all employees follow them. Many such rules, of course, are sensible and do reduce some risks that could severely damage a company. But... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Governance Controls; Corporate Strategy; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Framework

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August 2001 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Shinsei Bank (A)

By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Perry Fagan

In a deal marking the first acquisition of a domestic Japanese financial institution by foreigners, a consortium of Western investors purchased the assets of the Long Term Credit Bank (LTCB) of Japan in March 2000. The new management renames the bank Shinsei Bank,... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Assets; Banks and Banking; Investment; Business or Company Management; Managerial Roles; Organizational Structure; Failure; Adaptation; Banking Industry; Japan

Article

The Economic Consequences of Hospital Admissions

By: Carlos Dobkin, Amy Finkelstein, Raymond Kluender and Matthew Notowidigdo

We use an event study approach to examine the economic consequences of hospital admissions for adults in two datasets: survey data from the Health and Retirement Study, and hospitalization data linked to credit reports. For non-elderly adults with health insurance,... View Details

Keywords: Personal Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Insurance; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Health Care and Treatment

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July 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

Pershing Square's Pandemic Trade (A)

By: Emil N. Siriwardane, Luis M. Viceira, Dean Xu and Lucas Baker

This case explores the decision that Bill Ackman, CEO and founder of the hedge fund Pershing Square Capital, was considering in late February 2020 about hedging the exposure of the fund’s portfolio from the potential financial fallout ensuing from an extreme event like... View Details

Keywords: Health Pandemics; Financial Liquidity; Cost Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Risk Management

21 Jul 2009
First Look

First Look: July 21

for making CBA more effective, rather than eliminating CBA as a decision-making tool. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-001.pdf Reputation and Competition: Evidence from the Credit Rating Industry (revised) Authors:Bo... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

March 2025
Case

Silicon Valley Bank: Gone in 36 Hours

By: Jung Koo Kang, Krishna G. Palepu, Charles C.Y. Wang and David Lane

This case examines factors contributing to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in March 2023, an event as unpredicted as it was quick. SVB funded nearly half of all U.S. venture-backed startups and at the end of 2022 held $173 billion in deposits, largely... View Details

01 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

How Politics Drives Business Decisions in a Polarized Nation

executive suites, start-up firms, and even entire professions and industries. Within finance, in particular, decisionmakers’ political views influence investment returns, credit ratings, asset allocations, loan terms, and bond yields,... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

October 1999 (Revised July 2000)
Case

MasterCard International: World Championship Soccer Sponsorship

By: David J. Arnold and David Lane

MasterCard must decide whether to renew the sponsorship of the World Cup and other soccer events in light of a 100% increase in the sponsorship fee and a strategic realignment by MasterCard. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Credit Cards; Marketing Strategy; Sports; Financial Services Industry; Sports Industry