Publications

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November 2016 (Revised March 2018)
Case

Deutsche Bank: Structured Retail Products

By: Boris Vallée and Jérôme Lenhardt

Describes how Deutsche Bank, a leading European bank, is deciding whether or not to launch a new structured retail product in Germany: an autocallable note. Will this product find a market and how does it fit into the bank’s product portfolio? The case investigates how... View Details

22 Aug 2024
Research & Ideas

Reading the Financial Crisis Warning Signs: Credit Markets and the 'Red-Zone'

clarity. “Financial crises come out of periods of overheated credit markets.” Rachel Layne: Part of your research with HBS Professor Samuel Hanson explores market behavior, including examining the origin of financial crises. Where do... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Banking

December 2011
Case

Bergerac Systems: The Challenge of Backward Integration

By: David A. Garvin and Sunru Yong

Bergerac Systems is a small, rapidly growing manufacturer of diagnostic instruments used in veterinary practices. The company introduced the OmniVue chemistry analyzer, which enables veterinarians to run a wide range of blood and blood chemistry tests on their animal... View Details

Keywords: Financial Analysis; Manufacturing Strategy; Strategy; Production; Supply Chain Management; Vertical Integration; Performance Capacity; Financial Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

January 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Supplement

Fixed Income Arbitrage in a Financial Crisis (C): TED Spread and Swap Spread in November 2008

Investment manager Albert Mills confronts an apparent arbitrage opportunity during the global financial crisis of 2008 when he notices an unusually low-- and briefly negative-- thirty-year U.S. dollar fixed-floating swap spread. Mills must decide if there is an... View Details

Keywords: Bonds; Financial Management; Investment Return; Financial Crisis; Financial Services Industry; United States

January 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Supplement

Fixed Income Arbitrage in a Financial Crisis (B): US Treasuries in December 2008

The B case briefly recounts the action that investment manager James Franey takes in the matter of two U.S. Treasury bonds with identical maturity dates but widely different yields. He must decide what to do next. View Details

Keywords: Bonds; Financial Management; Investment Return; Financial Crisis; Financial Services Industry; United States

September 2009
Article

How to Fix Wall Street: Regulation Alone Can't Right the Financial System

By: Lynn S. Paine

Keywords: Stocks; Financial Institutions; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Finance; System

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June 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Case

Membership Rewards® from American Express

By: Shelle Santana, Frances X. Frei and Lauren G. Pickle

Credit and charge card issuer American Express (Amex) had developed a strong reputation among consumers due in part to its Membership Rewards (MR) loyalty program, first established in 1991. Through MR, all Amex cardholders could accumulate and redeem “points” based on... View Details

Keywords: Financial Services; Customer Loyalty; Credit Cards; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Brands and Branding; Customer Value and Value Chain; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; North America; United States

March 2016 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Michael Milken: The Junk Bond King

By: Tom Nicholas and Matthew G. Preble

Michael Milken, an investment banker who dominated the junk bond market in the 1980s, was sentenced to jail in 1990 after pleading guilty to a number of securities and tax-related felonies. In the preceding decade, Milken had helped usher in a new wave of leveraged buy... View Details

Keywords: Junk Bonds; High-yield Bonds; Financial Innovation; Shareholder Value; Bonds; Capital; Capital Structure; Cost of Capital; Crime and Corruption; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Finance; Investment Banking; Leveraged Buyouts; Mergers and Acquisitions; Ownership; Private Equity; Restructuring; United States

March 1996
Case

Telmex PRIDES

By: Kenneth A. Froot and Mark Seasholes

The case examines an issue by a Mexican development bank of PRIDES written on Telmex stock. PRIDES are a dividend-enhanced security which are exchangeable into shares of the underlying stock. The focus is on pricing these instruments, which involve large... View Details

Keywords: Financial Derivatives; Securities; International Finance; Banks and Banking; Financial Instruments; Valuation; Mexico

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January 2011
Supplement

Fixed Income Arbitrage in a Financial Crisis (D): TED Spread and Swap Spread in May 2009

The D case briefly recounts the action that investment manager Albert Mills takes in the matter of an unusually low U.S. dollar fixed-floating swap spread. He must decide what to do next. View Details

Keywords: Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Interest Rates; Financial Crisis

January 2024 (Revised August 2024)
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

October 2022
Case

Star Magnolia Capital: Becoming Experts at Finding Experts

By: Lauren Cohen, Hao Gao, River Ewing and Grace Headinger

Shinya Deguchi, Founder and Managing Partner of Star Magnolia Capital, a Shanghai-based multi-family office (MFO), considered how to convince a new prospective family that the MFO’s endowment model approach would best suit their needs. In recent decades, there has been... View Details

Keywords: China; Asia; Family Office; Shanghai; Financial Industry; Asset Management; Financial Instruments; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Investment; Investment Return; Investment Portfolio; Human Capital; Family Business; Financial Services Industry; China; Shanghai

2020
Working Paper

The Effects of Information on Credit Market Competition: Evidence from Credit Cards

By: C. Fritz Foley, Agustin Hurtado, Andres Liberman and Alberto Sepulveda

We show empirically that public credit information increases competition in credit markets. We access data that cover all credit card borrowers in Chile and include details about relationship borrowers have with each lender. We exploit a natural experiment whereby a... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Credit; Financial Intermediaries; Credit; Information; Competition; Credit Cards; Financial Institutions

SSRN

January 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Lyons Document Storage Corporation: Bond Math

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

In 2009 a recent MBA must analyze the possible refunding of bonds issued in 2000 when interest rates were much higher. She must consider the possible consequences of repurchasing company bonds outstanding using cash that might be obtained by issuing new bonds at a... View Details

Keywords: Financial Accounting; Quantitative Analysis; Securities; Debt Securities; Bonds; Cash Flow; Mathematical Methods; Accounting; Interest Rates

1998
Report

National Park Bonds: A Patch or A Panacea?: A Report on Meeting the Financial Needs of Our National Parks

By: Dutch Leonard, Henry Lee, Jay H. Walder, Peter Zimmerman and Wendy Vanasselt

Keywords: Bonds; Sovereign Finance; Environmental Sustainability

January 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Teaching Note

Lyons Document Storage Corporation: Bond Math (Brief Case)

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

Teaching Note to 3215 View Details

Keywords: Financial Accounting; Quantitative Analysis; Securities; Debt Securities; Cash Flow; Mathematical Methods; Accounting

February 2019 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Banorte and the Capital Call Facility: Infrastructure Finance in Mexico

By: John D. Macomber, Carla Larangeira and Fernanda Miguel

As a result of Mexico´s pension industry deregulation, pension funds were able to invest in energy and infrastructure projects through a variety of financial instruments, particularly through Capital Development Certificates (CKDs), an asset class that served as a... View Details

Keywords: Financial Products; Fund Management; Capital Call Facility; Pension Funds; Infrastructure; Energy; Finance; Decision Making; Investment Funds; Financial Instruments; North America; Mexico

April 2024 (Revised August 2024)
Teaching Note

Silicon Valley Bank: Gone in 36 Hours

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

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 124-001. View Details

Keywords: Accounting Standards; Bank Runs; Financial Accounting; Financial Reporting; Social Media; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Investment Portfolio; Interest Rates; Debt Securities; Risk and Uncertainty; Financial Statements; Risk Management; Financial Services Industry; United States

2020
Working Paper

Accounting for Product Impact in the Consumer Finance Industry

By: George Serafeim and Katie Trinh

We apply the product impact measurement framework of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Initiative (IWAI) in two competitor credit card providers within the consumer finance industry. We design a monetization methodology that allows us to calculate monetary impact estimates... View Details