Publications

11 Apr 2000
Research & Ideas

routine part of most people's lives, there is no doubt that technology—especially Internet technology—is having a huge impact on the financial services industry. With much hype and headlines, Web trading has revolutionized the securities... View Details

Keywords: by Susan Young

January 2003 (Revised December 2003)
Case

Financial Performance Reporting

By: David F. Hawkins

Students must evaluate the Financial Accounting Standards Board/International Accounting Standards Board's tentative decisions on comprehensive income statements. View Details

Keywords: International Accounting; Income; Decision Making; Financial Reporting; Corporate Governance; Accounting Industry

June 1997
Case

Olympic Financial Ltd.

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Sarayu Srinivasan

Olympic Financial is a sub-prime lender in the auto financing industry. Several other financing companies have been wrought with accounting fraud and business mismanagement. Olympic's debt has been downgraded, and its stock has been denigrated although the company is... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Crime and Corruption; Valuation; Financial Reporting; Credit; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

January 2004 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial (RJF) currently sells financial services through two channels. It is considering adding a third in the "middle" of the other two. The current strategy has one channel with employees and another with independent contractors. These attract very... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Salesforce Management; Marketing; Distribution Channels; Human Resources; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

March 2017 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Ant Financial (A)

By: Feng Zhu, Ying Zhang, Krishna G. Palepu, Anthony K. Woo and Nancy Hua Dai

Headquartered in Hangzhou (China), Ant Financial has grown into a fintech “Unicorn.” The fintech empire that the company established spanned verticals such as mobile and online payment (Alipay), money market fund (Yu’e Bao), wealth management (Ant Fortune),... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Finance; Opportunities; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

September 2001
Background Note

Financial Reporting Environment, The

By: Paul M. Healy, Amy P. Hutton, Robert S. Kaplan and Krishna G. Palepu

Provides a framework for understanding the role of financial reporting and various intermediaries as mechanisms for reducing both adverse selection and moral hazard problems in capital markets. Financial reports reduce adverse selection by providing basic information... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Financial Statements; Capital Markets; Venture Capital; Corporate Disclosure; Conflict of Interests

September 2006 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Providian Financial Corporation

By: John R. Wells

On October 3, 2005, Washington Mutual acquired Providian Financial Corporation, the ninth-largest credit card issuer in the U.S., for $6.5 billion. At the time, Providian had approximately 10 million customer relationships and a balance of $18.6 billion. For some... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Restructuring; Customer Relationship Management; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Credit Cards; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Financial Services Industry; United States

March 2022
Case

In Data We Trust: Be Mobile Africa and Furthering Financial Inclusion Across the African Continent

By: Lauren Cohen, Grace Headinger and Pierre Marchesseault

To Cédric Jeannot, leveraging technology to promote financial inclusion was personal. After no established financial institution would accept his technology platform to lower transaction costs for free, Jeannot launched FinTech company Be Mobile Africa in May 2020.... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Fintech; Emerging Market; Fundraising; Financial Inclusion; Strategy; Expansion; Management; Entrepreneurship; Personal Finance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Africa; Togo; Nigeria; Ghana

Teaching Interest

Strategic Financial Analysis

By: Suraj Srinivasan

In a competitive climate, how do some companies outperform others? Managers, consultants, analysts, and investors must understand financial analysis to answer that question and make strategic decisions that drive business profitability and... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Change; Restructuring; Strategy

Research Summary

Financial Risk Management

By: Richard F. Meyer

Richard F. Meyer is exploring the theory and practice of financial risk management in corporations worldwide. Three primary objectives of his research are: to understand the underlying sources of risk and corporations' exposure to them; to identify appropriate,... View Details

Article

Sustainability in Financial Services Is Not About Being Green

By: Robert G. Eccles and George Serafeim

Keywords: Sustainability; Financial Services; Banks; Insurance Companies; Risk; Risk Management; Insurance; Accounting; Banks and Banking; Financial Services Industry

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January 2002 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Massachusetts Financial Services

By: Brian J. Hall and Jonathan Lim

This case describes the compensation and performance evaluations at an investment management company. The senior management team of Massachusetts Financial Services (MFS) Investment Management was contemplating an introduction of hedge funds at the firm, but many... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Management Teams; Compensation and Benefits; Financial Services Industry; Massachusetts

2022
Working Paper

Markups to Financial Intermediation in Foreign Exchange Markets

By: Jonathan Wallen

On average from 2013 to 2020, foreign asset managers in net sold forward 1.1 trillion U.S. dollars. This forward sale of dollars hedges the currency mismatch of foreign investment in U.S. dollar assets. By accommodating this demand, U.S. and European banks earn an... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Exchange; Financial Intermediation; Arbitrage; Market Power; Regulations; Currency; Assets; Interest Rates; Banking Industry

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2001
Book

Financial Performance

By: R. Knight and Marc L Bertoneche

Keywords: Finance; Performance

Research Summary

Anti-Competitive Financial Contracting

Joint work with Giacinta Cestone, Institut d'Analisi Economica, Barcelona

This paper presents the first model where entry deterrence takes place through financial rather than product-market channels. In standard models of the interaction between product and... View Details

March 1994
Case

Fremont Financial Corporation (A)

Fremont Financial is an asset-based lender to middle-market companies. This case considers two options for Fremont to raise capital to finance its loan portfolio. Fremont can: 1) extend its existing bank line of credit, or 2) issue commercial paper through a special... View Details

Keywords: Financial Markets; Capital; Corporate Finance; Financial Services Industry

June 1994
Supplement

Fremont Financial Corporation (C)

Supplements Fremont Financial (B). View Details

1983
Chapter

Financial Economics

By: Robert C. Merton

Keywords: Finance; Economics

October 2021
Case

Financial Reporting at Mattel

By: Aiyesha Dey, Trung Nguyen, Marshal Herrmann and Julia Kelley

In September 2020, Diana Ferguson was nearing her first Audit Committee meeting as the newly appointed Audit Committee chair of Mattel, Inc. Mattel was just recovering from an accounting scandal which had revealed the company’s poor internal controls and weak board... View Details