Publications

This paper examines the effect of pension policy on the structure of financial systems around the world. In particular, I explore the hypothesis that policies that promote pension savings also promote the development of capital markets. I present a model that... View Details

October 2013 (Revised December 2013)
Teaching Note

Blackstone and the Sale of Citigroup's Loan Portfolio Teaching Note

By: Victoria Ivashina and David Scharfstein

Keywords: Derivatives; Bankruptcy; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Private Equity; Restructuring; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Banks and Banking; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

15 Aug 2007
Op-Ed

3 Steps to Reduce Financial System Risk

and, second, a growing threat of politically motivated changes to regulatory regimes. There has been much talk recently about the extent to which the proliferation of derivative products has allowed banks to manage their balance sheets... View Details

Keywords: by Mohamed El-Erian; Financial Services; Financial Services

August 2011
Teaching Note

Lessons Learned? Brooksley Born & the OTC Derivatives Market (TN) (A) and (B)

By: Clayton Rose and Sally Canter Ganzfried

Teaching Note for 311-044 and 311-070. View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Trade; Financial Crisis; Markets

Winter 2013
Article

Mandatory IFRS Adoption and Financial Statement Comparability

By: Francois Brochet, Alan Jagolinzer and Edward J. Riedl

This study examines whether mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) leads to capital market benefits through enhanced financial statement comparability. UK domestic standards are considered very similar to IFRS (Bae et al., 2008),... View Details

Keywords: IFRS; Comparability; Private Information; Insider Trading; Ethics; Standards; Financial Statements

Find at Harvard

Read Now

Web

Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability

equilibrium, long term yields stay volatile. The authors derive several normative suggestions for policy makers. Related Themes: Credit Markets, Monetary Policy & Money Markets, Stabilization Policy & Regulation More Info The View Details

October 2019
Article

Limited Investment Capital and Credit Spreads

By: Emil N. Siriwardane

Using proprietary credit default swap (CDS) data, I investigate how capital shocks at protection sellers impact pricing in the CDS market. Seller capital shocks—measured as CDS portfolio margin payments—account for 12% of the time-series variation in weekly spread... View Details

Keywords: Credit Risk; Derivatives; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Capital Markets; Credit; Financial Institutions

Find at Harvard

Read Now

Article

Tread Lightly Through These Accounting Minefields

By: H. David Sherman and S. David Young

In the current economic climate, there is tremendous pressure—and personal incentive for managers—to report sales growth and meet investors' revenue expectations. As a result, more companies have been issuing misleading financial reports, according to the SEC,... View Details

Keywords: Derivatives; Benchmarking Performance; Accounting; Revenue Recognition; Assets

Find at Harvard

Register to Read

29 Sep 2008
Research & Ideas

Financial Crisis Caution Urged by Faculty Panel

result of deregulation, the derivatives market and the market for mortgage-related securities had exploded in both size and complexity. By the end of the decade, there were as an intentional result of deregulation, intense competitive... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

21 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty Debate Financial Reform Legislation

At the same time, shareholders and some debt holders will suffer losses, since their securities will no longer have value. Second, Congress dramatically reduced the risk of trading financial derivatives by... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

December 1997 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Mid Ocean Limited: Trading Catastrophe Index Options

By: Kenneth A. Froot and Markus Mullarkey

An insurance industry executive must evaluate the potential of a set of newly-offered catastrophe insurance derivatives. The background addresses the roles of traditional reinsurance and securitization efforts in providing risk transfer and risk financing in the "cat"... View Details

Keywords: Commodity Market; Derivatives; Insurance; Capital Markets; Natural Disasters; Risk Management; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Insurance Industry; Bermuda

January 2013 (Revised October 2014)
Case

Barclays and the LIBOR Scandal

By: Clayton S. Rose and Aldo Sesia

In June of 2012, Barclays plc admitted that it had manipulated LIBOR—a benchmark interest rate that was fundamental to the operation of international financial markets and that was the basis for trillions of dollars of financial transactions. Between 2005 and 2009... View Details

Keywords: Financial Systems; Financial Services; Corruption; Regulation; General Management; Management; Leadership; Economic Systems; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Culture; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom

2020
Working Paper

Currency Hedging in Emerging Markets: Managing Cash Flow Exposure

By: Laura Alfaro, Mauricio Calani and Liliana Varela

Foreign currency derivative markets are among the largest in the world, yet their role in emerging markets in particular, is relatively understudied. We study firms' currency risk exposure and their hedging choices by employing a unique dataset covering the universe of... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Currency Hedging; FX Derivatives; Foreign Currency Debt; Currency Mismatch; Trade Credit; Currency; Cash Flow; Emerging Markets

Read Now

Web

Research - Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability

financial market. The authors argue that the incentive to distort these benchmarks is severe given the benchmarks' polling nature and the sheer volume of the derivative market linked to these rates. The... View Details

Web

Supplemental Financial Information | Annual Report 2024

percent of total tuition for all students, in fiscal 2024. Average fellowship support per student totaled nearly $47,000 in fiscal 2024, representing an increase of 7 percent from the prior year. Financial support for scholarships is... View Details

01 Dec 2008
News

No Easy Fix for the Financial Crisis

How did we get into this mess, and how do we fix it? Those were the key questions that three separate expert panels — two convened by HBS and one by Harvard University — addressed for standing-room-only audiences in late September as the nation’s View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson;Martha Lagace; deregulation; moral hazard; the middle class; Finance

March 2013
Supplement

FX Risk Hedging at EADS

By: W. Carl Kester

Keywords: Derivatives; Foreign Exchange; Options; Forward Contract; Aerospace; Europe; Risk Management; Futures and Commodity Futures; Europe

January 2016 (Revised April 2017)
Case

The Galaxy Dividend Income Growth Fund's Option Investment Strategies

By: W. Carl Kester

This case is designed to provide an elementary introduction to options and option pricing for beginning finance students. Analysis of the case requires students to compare the prices of put and call options with various exercise prices and maturity dates on two... View Details

Keywords: Options; Option Contract; Option Pricing; Derivatives; Mutual Funds; Call Options; Put Options; Stock Options; Risk and Uncertainty; Volatility; Financial Services Industry; United States