About the MSc programmes
Applicants for the MSc Finance and Economics and MSc Finance and Economics (Research) programmes should have a strong undergraduate background in economics, or an applied mathematical sciences background with at least a year of economics courses.
Minimum entry requirements are a good upper second class honours degree (preferably in economics) from a UK university or equivalent in an overseas degree. This degree should have had strong analytical content, including courses in microeconomic theory, econometrics, calculus and matrix algebra. All applicants must also submit a GRE or GMAT test score. GRE/GMAT scores must show a strong performance in the quantitative segment (above the 85th percentile). Decisions will not normally be made in the absence of this test result. Please see Admissions Enquiries System. Applicants to the MSc programme may be exempted from submitting GRE/GMAT scores only in exceptional circumstances. This may include cases where the requirement proves difficult for the individual to meet (eg the test not being offered in the applicant's home country or where test centres only have limited spaces available for testing). Where this is the case, applicants should complete and submit the online GMAT/GRE waiver form on the Graduate Admissions Office web page. Graduate Admissions will subsequently advise whether a waiver can be granted. Candidates are advised that requests for a waiver of this test are seldom granted. Applicants from developing countries may be eligible to be considered for one of the Lord Dahrendorf Scholarships (sponsored by Deutsche Bank). For more information, please see the Department of Finance website.
Both programmes cover investments and asset pricing, option and derivatives pricing, and portfolio management. They provide a thorough exposure to econometric methods, including time series analysis, with applications to financial models and data. The MSc Finance and Economics programme will be of interest if you plan a career in a financial institution or in a role in industry which calls for advanced analytical skills. It is also good preparation for doctoral research in the area. The MSc Finance and Economics (Research) programme will be of interest if you intend to pursue doctoral research, and more particularly, if you are applying for funding under the ESRC 1+3 scheme.
Students are required to attend pre-sessional September courses in mathematics, statistics, economics and econometrics. This allows students to review topics such as matrix algebra, multivariate calculus and differential equations. During September and throughout the Michaelmas term, students will also be required to attend an introductory course on Quantitative Methods for Finance. This provides an introduction to some of the concepts underlying the theory of stochastic processes in continuous time, with a view to finance applications. On completion of the September courses, students will take examined courses to the value of four full units, one of which will include writing a dissertation as part of the assessment.
Compulsory courses
Microeconomics for MSc students
Financial Economics
Financial Econometrics
Options
(* half unit)
Choose to the value of one full unit from the following list of half unit options:
Applied Corporate Finance*
Corporate Finance Theory*
Financial Intermediaries*
Financial Risk Analysis*
Fixed Income Markets*
Forecasting Financial Time Series*
Global Financial System*
International Finance*
Trading and Institutions*
Portfolio Management*
To fulfill the programme requirements, you must also complete a dissertation of not more than 6,000 words on an agreed topic in one of the optional half unit courses, and take an examination in the other.
About the research programme
Compulsory courses
Microeconomics for MRes Students
Financial Economics
Financial Econometrics
Plus choose one of the half unit optional courses listed above and write a 10,000 word dissertation in place of the other half unit course.
EC441 Microeconomics for MRes Students
This information is for the 2008/09 session.
Teachers responsible
Professor A Prat, R522 and Professor M Piccione, S477
Availability
This course is for the MRes/PhD Economics and PhD Finance. It is also available, subject to regulations and with the permission of the course proprietor, to students on MSc Economics, MSc Econometrics and Mathematical Economics and MSc Finance and Economics (Research).
Pre-requisites
A good undergraduate knowledge of economic theory and calculus is required.
Course content
The aim of the course is to:i. introduce the basic analytical tools that are necessary to conduct research in any field in economics.ii. give the students a full understanding of the classic Microeconomic Theory and of the modern developments of Microeconomic Theoryiii. enable students to address a microeconomic problem by structuring it as a mathematical model and to obtain useful economic predictions though the use of mathematical tools.
Topics include: Consumer theory, producer theory, general equilibrium, welfare, choice under uncertainty, game theory, economics of information, agency theory, contracts, topics in mechanism design.
Teaching
Lectures EC441: 60 hours MT and LT.
Classes EC441.A: 30 hours sessional.
Formative coursework
Exercises are set for each class. There will in addition be a test at the end of the MT and a one-and-a-half-hour mock examination at the start of the ST.
Reading list
The main texts are Mas-Collel, Whinston & Green, Microeconomic Theory, OUP and D Fudenberg & J Tirole, Game Theory, MIT Press. Other sources include: D M Kreps, A Course in Microeconomic Theory, Harvester Wheatsheaf; H R Varian, Microeconomic Analysis (3rd edn), Norton; M J Osbourne & A Rubinstein, A Course in Game Theory, MIT Press; G A Jehle & P J Reny, Advanced Microeconomic Theory, Longman.
Assessment
A three-hour written examination in the ST.
FM436 Financial Economics
This information is for the 2008/09 session.
Teachers responsible
Dr J-P Zigrand, A454a and Dr Rohit Rahi, A351
Availability
Exclusively for MSc Finance and Economics, MSc Finance and Economics (Research) and PhD Finance students.
Pre-requisites
Mathematical background at the level of the September Courses in Mathematics and Quantitative Methods for Finance is assumed.
Course content
A required graduate course for the MSc Finance and Economics programme, on investors’ behaviour, market equilibrium, and asset pricing.
Will encompass topics in choice under uncertainty, complete and incomplete asset markets, mean-variance portfolio theory and equilibrium asset pricing, pricing with no arbitrage, intertemporal asset pricing, Black-Scholes option and other contingent claims pricing models, the term structure of interest rates under uncertainty, and the pricing of interest rate linked and other derivative securities.
Teaching
40 hours of lectures, 20 hours of classes.
Formative coursework
15 problem sets in classes.
Reading list
Will be based on: Teaching notes, as well as C Huang & R Litzenberger, Foundations for Financial Economics, North-Holland, 1988; T Björk, Arbitrage Theory in Continuous Time, 2nd edn, Oxford University Press, 2004; M Baxter & A Rennie, Financial Calculus, Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Assessment
A three-hour written examination in the ST. Students attempt two out of three questions in Section A and two out of three in Section B.
FM437 Financial Econometrics
This information is for the 2008/09 session.
Teachers responsible
Dr A Patton, Dr X Lin and Professor Vassilis Hajivassiliou
Availability
Exclusively for MSc Finance and Economics, MSc Finance and Economics (Research) and PhD Finance students.
Pre-requisites
Mathematical background to the level of the course taught in September in the Economics Department is assumed.
Course content
The techniques of empirical investigation in economics and finance. Students are introduced to recent empirical findings based on asset pricing models.
The course includes a selection of the following topics: multivariate regression; maximum likelihood and methods of moments estimation; hypothesis testing; omitted variables and misspecification; asymptotic theory; measurement error and instrumental variables; time-series modelling; predictability of asset returns; event study analysis; econometric tests of the CAPM and multifactor models; volatility modelling; generalised method of moments estimation.
Teaching
40 hours of lectures and 20 hours of classes. The first half of this course is taught jointly with EC402 Methods of Economic Investigation.
Formative coursework
Exercises are provided each week and they are discussed in class.
Reading list
A complete reading list is available at the beginning of session. Will be based on Greene, Econometric Analysis, Prentice-Hall; Campbell, Lo & MacKinlay, The Econometrics of Financial Markets, Princeton University Press; selected published articles.
Assessment
A three-hour written examination in the ST.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
PhD in Finance
Department of Finance
Departmental website: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/finance
MPhil/PhD in Finance
Application code: N4ZC
Start date: 1 October 2009
Duration: MPhil/PhD 3/4 years (minimum 2)
Entry requirement: Taught master's degree in relevant area
English requirement: Standard
GRE/GMAT requirement: None
Fee level: See Tuition fees
Financial support: LSE scholarships and studentships (see Fees and Financial support). UK/EU students may apply for ESRC funding (see Economic and Social Research Council). Departmental doctoral scholarships may also be available to applicants from the UK/EU and overseas
Application deadline: None
Taught programmes
MSc Finance (Full-time programme)
MSc Finance (Part-time evening programme)
MSc Finance and Economics
MSc Finance and Economics (Research)
MSc Management and Regulation of Risk
MSc Accounting and Finance (Joint degree with Department of Accounting)
Diploma in Accounting and Finance (Joint degree with Department of Accounting)
About the Department
The Department of Finance is devoted to excellence in teaching and research in the full range of the subfields of finance including corporate finance, asset pricing theory, risk management, empirical analysis of capital markets, behavioural finance, portfolio analysis, derivatives pricing, microstructure and financial econometrics. It has grown in recent years to become one of the largest and most highly regarded finance groups in the UK and Europe. It is closely associated with LSE's Financial Markets Group which regularly hosts a wide variety of seminars, conferences and public addresses by leading academics and practitioners. With over 150 postgraduate students selected from a pool of top applicants worldwide, a faculty recruited from the best departments internationally, and a steady flow of distinguished visitors, we have a stimulating environment for research and learning that is on a par with the best worldwide.
LSE's reputation with employers opens up a broad range of career opportunities. The critical and analytical skills you will develop are attractive to investment banks, commercial banks, fund managers and the financial services sector generally as well as in management consulting. A number of graduates continue with further postgraduate work or take up top academic appointments.
Staff and their academic interests
Professor Ronald Anderson: Dynamic corporate finance; contingent claims analysis, risk management; financial market structure and regulation; structuring financial contracts and institutions.
Dr Elisabetta Bertero: Budget constraints and state-owned firms; French and Italian financial systems; interdependence of equity markets; international finance; sub-sovereign debt.
Professor Sudipto Bhattacharya: Corporate finance and governance; models of research and development and the dissemination of proprietary knowledge; financial intermediation; contract theory; regulation.
Professor Gregory Connor: Security market pricing; portfolio risk management; factor models of asset returns; multivariate stochastic volatility.
Dr Vicente Cunat: Corporate finance; applied theory; applied econometrics; industrial organisation; labour and personnel economics.
Dr Jon Danielsson: Financial risk analysis; value at risk; volatility modelling and forecasting; extreme value theory; financial engineering; regulation; financial crises.
Dr Amil Dasgupta: Information economics and game theory with applications to finance; the theory of financial crises; delegated portfolio management.
Professor Antoine Faure-Grimaud: Venture capital; capital structure and product market competition; corporate governance.
Dr Jack Favilukis: Consumption based asset pricing; incomplete markets; heterogeneity and inequality; limited participation and participation costs.
Professor Denis Gromb: Corporate finance; limited arbitrage; economics of organisations.
Dr Stephane Guibaud: International macro and finance; asset pricing; yield curve, recursive contracts; optimal debt management.
Dr Antonio Mele: Stock market volatility and the business cycle; the term structure of interest rates; information networks in financial markets; simulation based nonparametric methods and statistical inference for dynamic models in finance.
Dr Yves Nosbusch: Empirical asset pricing; credit risk; debt management; intergenerational risk sharing. Dr Andrew Patton: Financial econometrics; forecasting; volatility and dependence modelling; copulas; hedge funds.
Professor Christopher Polk: Asset pricing; corporate finance; hedge funds; macroeconomics.
Dr Rohit Rahi: Arbitrage in segmented markets; financial innovation and security design; asset pricing with asymmetric information; general equilibrium theory; incomplete markets.
Professor Dimitri Vayanos: Liquidity and asset pricing, information in asset markets, delegated portfolio management, behavioural finance.
Dr Michela Verardo: Empirical asset pricing; market efficiency and investment anomalies; trading behaviour of institutional investors; behavioural finance.
Professor David Webb: Financial economics; monetary theory, specifically analysis of bankruptcy and financial contracts.
Dr Jean-Pierre Zigrand: General equilibrium asset pricing; financial intermediation and delegation; continuous time asset pricing; herding, market crashes; foundations of arbitrage.
Opportunities for research
You should have a substantial academic background in finance or economics, typically at master's level. Satisfactory performance in the department's own MSc programmes may meet the entrance requirements.
The Department has a formally structured PhD Finance programme which has received research training recognition from the ESRC. The programme aims to produce students whose research is of the highest international quality, and is designed to provide a broad based training in theoretical and empirical research methods in finance.
The PhD in Finance programme has two routes – Route 1 is for students coming from relevant master's degree programmes (such as the MSc Accounting and Finance or MSc Management and Regulation of Risk programmes at LSE, or equivalent elsewhere) and Route 2 is for those students who have already completed the Department's MSc Finance and Economics or MSc Finance and Economics (Research) programmes or equivalent elsewhere. During their first year, Route 1 students will take courses in Theories of Finance, Advanced Microeconomics, Financial Econometrics and Forecasting Financial Time Series to build their core knowledge in these areas. In their second year, Route 1 students will take a course in Empirical Finance together with an optional course. Route 2 students will take Theories of Finance, Empirical Finance and an optional course. Route 1 and Route 2 students attend a PhD seminar in Finance throughout their PhD studies.
To progress at the end of each year, students in both programmes must pass their examined courses at grades specified by the Department and make satisfactory progress in their research. Progress is regularly monitored by the Department's Postgraduate Assessment Review Panel.
We encourage our research students to participate fully in the intellectual life of the Department, and in the research seminar and workshop programmes of the Department and related research centres such as the Financial Markets Group (FMG). The weekly Capital Markets Workshops provide exposure to the work of leading academics from the UK and overseas. In addition, the FMG hosts a number of conferences each year with leading researchers and practitioners.
Departmental website: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/finance
MPhil/PhD in Finance
Application code: N4ZC
Start date: 1 October 2009
Duration: MPhil/PhD 3/4 years (minimum 2)
Entry requirement: Taught master's degree in relevant area
English requirement: Standard
GRE/GMAT requirement: None
Fee level: See Tuition fees
Financial support: LSE scholarships and studentships (see Fees and Financial support). UK/EU students may apply for ESRC funding (see Economic and Social Research Council). Departmental doctoral scholarships may also be available to applicants from the UK/EU and overseas
Application deadline: None
Taught programmes
MSc Finance (Full-time programme)
MSc Finance (Part-time evening programme)
MSc Finance and Economics
MSc Finance and Economics (Research)
MSc Management and Regulation of Risk
MSc Accounting and Finance (Joint degree with Department of Accounting)
Diploma in Accounting and Finance (Joint degree with Department of Accounting)
About the Department
The Department of Finance is devoted to excellence in teaching and research in the full range of the subfields of finance including corporate finance, asset pricing theory, risk management, empirical analysis of capital markets, behavioural finance, portfolio analysis, derivatives pricing, microstructure and financial econometrics. It has grown in recent years to become one of the largest and most highly regarded finance groups in the UK and Europe. It is closely associated with LSE's Financial Markets Group which regularly hosts a wide variety of seminars, conferences and public addresses by leading academics and practitioners. With over 150 postgraduate students selected from a pool of top applicants worldwide, a faculty recruited from the best departments internationally, and a steady flow of distinguished visitors, we have a stimulating environment for research and learning that is on a par with the best worldwide.
LSE's reputation with employers opens up a broad range of career opportunities. The critical and analytical skills you will develop are attractive to investment banks, commercial banks, fund managers and the financial services sector generally as well as in management consulting. A number of graduates continue with further postgraduate work or take up top academic appointments.
Staff and their academic interests
Professor Ronald Anderson: Dynamic corporate finance; contingent claims analysis, risk management; financial market structure and regulation; structuring financial contracts and institutions.
Dr Elisabetta Bertero: Budget constraints and state-owned firms; French and Italian financial systems; interdependence of equity markets; international finance; sub-sovereign debt.
Professor Sudipto Bhattacharya: Corporate finance and governance; models of research and development and the dissemination of proprietary knowledge; financial intermediation; contract theory; regulation.
Professor Gregory Connor: Security market pricing; portfolio risk management; factor models of asset returns; multivariate stochastic volatility.
Dr Vicente Cunat: Corporate finance; applied theory; applied econometrics; industrial organisation; labour and personnel economics.
Dr Jon Danielsson: Financial risk analysis; value at risk; volatility modelling and forecasting; extreme value theory; financial engineering; regulation; financial crises.
Dr Amil Dasgupta: Information economics and game theory with applications to finance; the theory of financial crises; delegated portfolio management.
Professor Antoine Faure-Grimaud: Venture capital; capital structure and product market competition; corporate governance.
Dr Jack Favilukis: Consumption based asset pricing; incomplete markets; heterogeneity and inequality; limited participation and participation costs.
Professor Denis Gromb: Corporate finance; limited arbitrage; economics of organisations.
Dr Stephane Guibaud: International macro and finance; asset pricing; yield curve, recursive contracts; optimal debt management.
Dr Antonio Mele: Stock market volatility and the business cycle; the term structure of interest rates; information networks in financial markets; simulation based nonparametric methods and statistical inference for dynamic models in finance.
Dr Yves Nosbusch: Empirical asset pricing; credit risk; debt management; intergenerational risk sharing. Dr Andrew Patton: Financial econometrics; forecasting; volatility and dependence modelling; copulas; hedge funds.
Professor Christopher Polk: Asset pricing; corporate finance; hedge funds; macroeconomics.
Dr Rohit Rahi: Arbitrage in segmented markets; financial innovation and security design; asset pricing with asymmetric information; general equilibrium theory; incomplete markets.
Professor Dimitri Vayanos: Liquidity and asset pricing, information in asset markets, delegated portfolio management, behavioural finance.
Dr Michela Verardo: Empirical asset pricing; market efficiency and investment anomalies; trading behaviour of institutional investors; behavioural finance.
Professor David Webb: Financial economics; monetary theory, specifically analysis of bankruptcy and financial contracts.
Dr Jean-Pierre Zigrand: General equilibrium asset pricing; financial intermediation and delegation; continuous time asset pricing; herding, market crashes; foundations of arbitrage.
Opportunities for research
You should have a substantial academic background in finance or economics, typically at master's level. Satisfactory performance in the department's own MSc programmes may meet the entrance requirements.
The Department has a formally structured PhD Finance programme which has received research training recognition from the ESRC. The programme aims to produce students whose research is of the highest international quality, and is designed to provide a broad based training in theoretical and empirical research methods in finance.
The PhD in Finance programme has two routes – Route 1 is for students coming from relevant master's degree programmes (such as the MSc Accounting and Finance or MSc Management and Regulation of Risk programmes at LSE, or equivalent elsewhere) and Route 2 is for those students who have already completed the Department's MSc Finance and Economics or MSc Finance and Economics (Research) programmes or equivalent elsewhere. During their first year, Route 1 students will take courses in Theories of Finance, Advanced Microeconomics, Financial Econometrics and Forecasting Financial Time Series to build their core knowledge in these areas. In their second year, Route 1 students will take a course in Empirical Finance together with an optional course. Route 2 students will take Theories of Finance, Empirical Finance and an optional course. Route 1 and Route 2 students attend a PhD seminar in Finance throughout their PhD studies.
To progress at the end of each year, students in both programmes must pass their examined courses at grades specified by the Department and make satisfactory progress in their research. Progress is regularly monitored by the Department's Postgraduate Assessment Review Panel.
We encourage our research students to participate fully in the intellectual life of the Department, and in the research seminar and workshop programmes of the Department and related research centres such as the Financial Markets Group (FMG). The weekly Capital Markets Workshops provide exposure to the work of leading academics from the UK and overseas. In addition, the FMG hosts a number of conferences each year with leading researchers and practitioners.
SEC Actions During Turmoil in Credit Markets
"Today, we are continuing to build on that essential premise: that investors have a right to know the truth — and the risks — about the securities that trade in our public markets. Never in this agency's history has this fundamental mission been more relevant, and more urgent. The current credit crisis has shown the importance of transparency to a healthy marketplace — and how costly hidden risk can be."SEC Chairman Christopher CoxOpening Remarks at SEC Roundtable 10/8/08
SEC Actions During Turmoil in Credit Markets
The mission of the Securities and Exchange Commission is to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.
During the current turmoil in the credit markets, the SEC has worked closely with the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and other regulators in the U.S. and around the world to protect investors and the markets.
The SEC administers the federal securities laws, requires disclosure by public companies, and brings enforcement actions against securities law violators.
While other federal and state agencies are legally responsible for regulating mortgage lending and the credit markets, the SEC has taken the following decisive actions to address the extraordinary challenges caused by the current credit crisis:
Aggressively Combating Fraud and Market Manipulation Through Enforcement Actions
Undertaking sweeping enforcement measures against market manipulation, and aggressively combating fraud that has contributed to the subprime crisis and the loss of confidence in credit markets. More than 50 pending SEC investigations in the subprime area.
Enforcement Division announced what will be the largest settlements in the history of the SEC for investors who bought auction rate securities from Citigroup, UBS, Wachovia, Merrill Lynch, RBS Capital Markets Corp., and Bank of America.
Brought a landmark enforcement action against a trader who spread false rumors designed to drive down the price of stock.
Charged two Bear Stearns hedge fund managers for fraudulently misleading investors about the financial state of the firm's two largest hedge funds and their exposure to subprime mortgage-backed securities.
Charged two Wall Street brokers with defrauding their customers when making more than $1 billion in unauthorized purchases of subprime-related auction rate securities.
Charged five California brokers for pushing homeowners into risky and unsustainable subprime mortgages, and then fraudulently selling them securities that were paid for with the mortgage proceeds.
Charged Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with accounting fraud in 2006 and 2007 respectively, and the companies paid more than $450 million in penalties to settle the SEC's charges.
Taking Swift Action to Stabilize Financial Markets
Adopted a package of measures to strengthen investor protections against naked short selling, including rules requiring a hard T+3 close-out, eliminating the options market maker exception of Regulation SHO, and expressly targeting fraud in short selling transactions.
Issued an emergency order to enhance protections against naked short selling in the securities of primary dealers, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac.
In close coordination with regulators around the world, took temporary emergency action to ban short selling in financial securities.
Approved emergency rulemaking to ensure disclosure of short selling positions by hedge funds and other institutional money managers.
Provided guidance to banks about how to account for credit support of money market funds.
Wrote rules to strengthen the regulation of credit rating agencies and make the limits and purposes of credit ratings clearer to investors. Also performed examinations that have led to new rules to reduce rating agency conflicts-of-interest.
Entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Reserve to make sure key federal financial regulators share information and coordinate regulatory activities in important areas of common interest.
Initiated exams of money market funds to analyze portfolio holdings.
The Division of Investment Management worked closely with the Treasury Department to assist with the development and operation of the Temporary Guarantee Program for Money Market Funds.
SEC Chairman Christopher Cox has asked Congress to provide the statutory authority necessary for government oversight of the $58 trillion credit default swaps market.
Enhancing Transparency in Financial Disclosure
The Division of Corporation Finance asked financial institutions to provide additional disclosure regarding off-balance sheet arrangements and the application of fair value to financial instruments. The Division also sent letters to public companies in December 2007 and March 2008 identifying disclosure issues relating to fair value measurements and off-balance sheet arrangements.
The Office of Chief Accountant in coordination with FASB staff issued additional guidance to clarify issues regarding fair value accounting, commenced a Congressionally mandated study of fair value accounting, and scheduled a public roundtable on the topic.
Continues to look at lessons from the credit crisis and determine ways to give investors more transparent, useful, and timely information.
Compared to the SEC,China should establish a self-renewal mechnisam to effectively monitor and guide the market.
SEC Actions During Turmoil in Credit Markets
The mission of the Securities and Exchange Commission is to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.
During the current turmoil in the credit markets, the SEC has worked closely with the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and other regulators in the U.S. and around the world to protect investors and the markets.
The SEC administers the federal securities laws, requires disclosure by public companies, and brings enforcement actions against securities law violators.
While other federal and state agencies are legally responsible for regulating mortgage lending and the credit markets, the SEC has taken the following decisive actions to address the extraordinary challenges caused by the current credit crisis:
Aggressively Combating Fraud and Market Manipulation Through Enforcement Actions
Undertaking sweeping enforcement measures against market manipulation, and aggressively combating fraud that has contributed to the subprime crisis and the loss of confidence in credit markets. More than 50 pending SEC investigations in the subprime area.
Enforcement Division announced what will be the largest settlements in the history of the SEC for investors who bought auction rate securities from Citigroup, UBS, Wachovia, Merrill Lynch, RBS Capital Markets Corp., and Bank of America.
Brought a landmark enforcement action against a trader who spread false rumors designed to drive down the price of stock.
Charged two Bear Stearns hedge fund managers for fraudulently misleading investors about the financial state of the firm's two largest hedge funds and their exposure to subprime mortgage-backed securities.
Charged two Wall Street brokers with defrauding their customers when making more than $1 billion in unauthorized purchases of subprime-related auction rate securities.
Charged five California brokers for pushing homeowners into risky and unsustainable subprime mortgages, and then fraudulently selling them securities that were paid for with the mortgage proceeds.
Charged Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with accounting fraud in 2006 and 2007 respectively, and the companies paid more than $450 million in penalties to settle the SEC's charges.
Taking Swift Action to Stabilize Financial Markets
Adopted a package of measures to strengthen investor protections against naked short selling, including rules requiring a hard T+3 close-out, eliminating the options market maker exception of Regulation SHO, and expressly targeting fraud in short selling transactions.
Issued an emergency order to enhance protections against naked short selling in the securities of primary dealers, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac.
In close coordination with regulators around the world, took temporary emergency action to ban short selling in financial securities.
Approved emergency rulemaking to ensure disclosure of short selling positions by hedge funds and other institutional money managers.
Provided guidance to banks about how to account for credit support of money market funds.
Wrote rules to strengthen the regulation of credit rating agencies and make the limits and purposes of credit ratings clearer to investors. Also performed examinations that have led to new rules to reduce rating agency conflicts-of-interest.
Entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Reserve to make sure key federal financial regulators share information and coordinate regulatory activities in important areas of common interest.
Initiated exams of money market funds to analyze portfolio holdings.
The Division of Investment Management worked closely with the Treasury Department to assist with the development and operation of the Temporary Guarantee Program for Money Market Funds.
SEC Chairman Christopher Cox has asked Congress to provide the statutory authority necessary for government oversight of the $58 trillion credit default swaps market.
Enhancing Transparency in Financial Disclosure
The Division of Corporation Finance asked financial institutions to provide additional disclosure regarding off-balance sheet arrangements and the application of fair value to financial instruments. The Division also sent letters to public companies in December 2007 and March 2008 identifying disclosure issues relating to fair value measurements and off-balance sheet arrangements.
The Office of Chief Accountant in coordination with FASB staff issued additional guidance to clarify issues regarding fair value accounting, commenced a Congressionally mandated study of fair value accounting, and scheduled a public roundtable on the topic.
Continues to look at lessons from the credit crisis and determine ways to give investors more transparent, useful, and timely information.
Compared to the SEC,China should establish a self-renewal mechnisam to effectively monitor and guide the market.
Barclays PLC
NOVEMBER 1, 2008 .Barclays Agrees to Sell Big Stake Persian Gulf Investors Could Own 32% Of the Bank Under $11.6 Billion Deal .Under the pact, Barclays agreed to potentially sell as much as a 32% stake to Qatari investors and Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi's royal family. The deal bolsters Barclays' cushion against losses, meeting a new government benchmark set as part of the U.K. bank rescue plan.
The new capital will consist of £4.05 billion in convertible notes and £3 billion in instruments resembling preferred shares. Under its plans to raise capital, Sheikh Mansour would get a stake of as much as 16.3% in the bank, Qatar Holding as much as 12.7%, and Challenger Universal Ltd. of Qatar, as much as 2.8% if the investors exercise all their purchase rights. Barclays said that it would consider allowing the investors seats on its board if they were interested. Qatar and Sheikh Mansour each will invest £1.5 billion in securities resembling preferred shares, or so-called Reserve Capital Instruments, which will pay a hefty 14% through 2019. As part of this pact, the investors also will get warrants, offering them the right to £3 billion of Barclays shares. The warrants would have to be exercised for the investors to own as much as a third of the bank.
JULY 23, 2007.BARCLAYS ISSUES SHARES TO CHINA DEVELOPMENT BANK AND TEMASEK Barclays PLC today issued 201.39 million new ordinary shares to ChinaDevelopment Bank and 135.42 million new ordinary shares to TemasekHoldings (Private) Limited pursuant to the unconditional portions of thetransactions announced on 23 July 2007.Barclays announced that China Development Bank is spending €2.2bn (£1.5bn) on a 3.1% stake. It has also agreed to raise its investment to €9.8bn if Barclay's attempt to buy ABN Amro succeeds, could soon own 8% of the UK bank.
Barclays PLC (ADR) Barclays PLC (ADR) NYSE BCS 10.73 -2.88 (-21.16%) 22.45B
Barclays PLC (Public, LON:BARC) 178.90 -26.35 (-12.84%)
Open: 217.00 Mkt Cap: 14.97B P/E: 3.48 Dividend: -
High: 228.00 52Wk High: 611.00 F P/E: - Yield: -
Low: 159.60 52Wk Low: 159.60 Beta: - Shares: 83.70M
Vol: 177.42M Avg Vol: - EPS: 0.51 Inst. Own:
Key Stats & Ratios Quarterly Annual Annual (Jun'08) (2007) (TTM) Net Profit Margin 17.73% 21.69% 18.34% Operating Margin 22.89% 30.12% 24.51% EBITD Margin - - - Return on Average Assets 0.33% 0.46% 0.34% Return on Average Equity 15.04% 20.50% 16.19% Employees 146,600 - -
The new capital will consist of £4.05 billion in convertible notes and £3 billion in instruments resembling preferred shares. Under its plans to raise capital, Sheikh Mansour would get a stake of as much as 16.3% in the bank, Qatar Holding as much as 12.7%, and Challenger Universal Ltd. of Qatar, as much as 2.8% if the investors exercise all their purchase rights. Barclays said that it would consider allowing the investors seats on its board if they were interested. Qatar and Sheikh Mansour each will invest £1.5 billion in securities resembling preferred shares, or so-called Reserve Capital Instruments, which will pay a hefty 14% through 2019. As part of this pact, the investors also will get warrants, offering them the right to £3 billion of Barclays shares. The warrants would have to be exercised for the investors to own as much as a third of the bank.
JULY 23, 2007.BARCLAYS ISSUES SHARES TO CHINA DEVELOPMENT BANK AND TEMASEK Barclays PLC today issued 201.39 million new ordinary shares to ChinaDevelopment Bank and 135.42 million new ordinary shares to TemasekHoldings (Private) Limited pursuant to the unconditional portions of thetransactions announced on 23 July 2007.Barclays announced that China Development Bank is spending €2.2bn (£1.5bn) on a 3.1% stake. It has also agreed to raise its investment to €9.8bn if Barclay's attempt to buy ABN Amro succeeds, could soon own 8% of the UK bank.
Barclays PLC (ADR) Barclays PLC (ADR) NYSE BCS 10.73 -2.88 (-21.16%) 22.45B
Barclays PLC (Public, LON:BARC) 178.90 -26.35 (-12.84%)
Open: 217.00 Mkt Cap: 14.97B P/E: 3.48 Dividend: -
High: 228.00 52Wk High: 611.00 F P/E: - Yield: -
Low: 159.60 52Wk Low: 159.60 Beta: - Shares: 83.70M
Vol: 177.42M Avg Vol: - EPS: 0.51 Inst. Own:
Key Stats & Ratios Quarterly Annual Annual (Jun'08) (2007) (TTM) Net Profit Margin 17.73% 21.69% 18.34% Operating Margin 22.89% 30.12% 24.51% EBITD Margin - - - Return on Average Assets 0.33% 0.46% 0.34% Return on Average Equity 15.04% 20.50% 16.19% Employees 146,600 - -
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