0000000000698076
AUTHOR
Simon Grima
The Impact of Financial Development and Macroeconomic Fundamentals on Nonperforming Loans among Emerging Countries: An Assessment Using the NARDL Approach
The relationship between financial development indicators and non-performing loans (NPLs) has garnered significant attention, especially in emerging countries. The puzzle of whether financial sector development increases or decreases Non-performing Loans (NPL)s has not been resolved to the satisfaction of the curious mind. This research attempts to answer the above question by studying the asymmetric and symmetric association between financial sector development and NPLs, by utilizing the novel non-linear autoregressive distribution lag (NARDL) and the linear autoregressive distribution lag (ARDL) approach. Moreover, to make the study inclusive, we have added a series of proxies to measure …
The Interactions between COVID-19 Cases in the USA, the VIX Index and Major Stock Markets
With this study, we aimed to determine (1) the effect of the daily new cases and deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States on the CBOE volatility index (VIX index) and (2) the effect of the VIX index on the major stock markets during the early stage of the pandemic period. To do this, we collected and analysed the daily new cases and death numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic period in the United States and the country indexes of the USA (DJI), Germany (DAX), France (CAC40), England (FTSE100), Italy (MIB), China (SSEC) and Japan (Nikkei225) to determine the impact of the VIX index on the major stock markets. We then subjected this data to the Johansen co-integration test and …
Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive and its Impact on Malta’s Financial Service Industry
The introduction of the Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM Directive 2011/61/EU) in 2013 means a radical transformation of the EU regulatory landscape for the whole alternative investment fund industry. Taking into account the growing meaning of the alternative investment fund industry in Europe, the aim of the paper is to assess the impact the Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMD) will have on the Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMs) managing Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) in the EU. The research is based on the case of Malta, which is a quickly growing financial centre. The main findings are based on an analysis of questionnaire respon…
The Challenges for Regulation and Control in an Environment of Rapid Technological Innovations
Currently, amplified use of the ITC-technologies and digitalization in almost all industries has changed the value and significance of the information. The use of these new technologies offer tremendous opportunities for innovation and development, but at the same time ask for regulation and control policies to ensure appropriate storage and use of information and avoid illicit utilization of data. Moreover, use of innovative technologies such as blockchain-based technology, artificial intelligence, cloud technology, and others has complicated and disrupted the landscape of the financial services providers and their ancillary service providers such as auditors, underwriters, advisors, actua…
<p>A Country Pandemic Risk Exposure Measurement Model</p>
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop a Pandemic Risk Exposure Measurement (PREM) model to determine the factors that affect a country’s prospective vulnerability to a pandemic risk exposure also considering the current COVID-19 pandemic Methods: To develop the model, drew up an inventory of possible factor variables that might expose a country’s vulnerability to a pandemic such as COVID-19 This model was based on the analysis of existing literature and consultations with some experts and associa-tions To support the inventory of selected possible factor variables, we have conducted a survey with participants sampled from people working in a risk management environment carrying o…
Comparative Analysis of the EU Public Sector Internal Audit Methodology and Requirements
Abstract. There is currently no standard or requirement guiding the approaches taken by the European Union (EU) Public Sector internal audit. Therefore, the approaches taken by each country, although having some similarities are different. The aim of this research is to compare the Latvian state administration internal audit approach with approaches of the following specific European countries: United Kingdom, Malta, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland and evaluate each country’s internal audit approach according to internal audit maturity determinants. The latter have been determined from literature, the Compendium report. Thereby, shedding light on the Latvian’s internal audit approach …
The Challenges Faced by Life Insurance Companies in the Baltic States
The Baltic life insurance market is a young steadily growing market. It began its development in the early 1990s when all three Baltic States, specifically Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, have regained their independence. The Baltic life insurance market is limited due to a relatively small size with approximately six million inhabitants in all three countries. Additionally, the operations have deteriorated due to the low interest rates and the negative fluctuations in the financial market. The lessons learnt by the life insurers in the Baltic States are useful to other small countries in the European Union (EU) as well as to the larger States, to help bring to light the challenges of those …
FinTech Study Latvia 2020
This study provides an overview of the current state and the developments in the Latvian FinTech environment. This is also the first attempt of the research team at the Faculty of Business, Management and Economics of the University of Latvia to explore the Latvian FinTech landscape and increase the visibility of Latvian FinTechs and is part of a larger European survey targeting FinTechs in Eastern Europe.
Digital Banking in Northern India: The Risks on Customer Satisfaction
The widespread use of digital technologies and the current pandemic (COVID) have fueled the need and call for digital transformation in the banking sector. Although this has various benefits, it is a disruption to the norm to which a bank customer has to become accustomed. This variance means that customers would have to make some changes to their routine. This can constitute risks in terms of maintaining customer satisfaction at previous levels. These risks are associated with customer retention because a service or product needs to be aligned with customer expectations to avoid them switching to other service providers. Moreover, it can also have an effect on reputa- tion. Offering digita…