Building Society Industry Rle Banking Finance

In this book which has become the standard work on building societies, the author takes into account both economic and regulatory changes which took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The book is aimed primarily at students in the industry, and also those undertaking relevant undergraduate and postgraduate courses at university. In addition, this book will be invaluable to those working inside the building society industry and to those organizations which come into contact with societies.

In this book which has become the standard work on building societies, the author takes into account both economic and regulatory changes which took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The book is aimed primarily at students in the industry, and also those undertaking relevant undergraduate and postgraduate courses at university. In addition, this book will be invaluable to those working inside the building society industry and to those organizations which come into contact with societies.

This book presents an analysis of the role of UK building societies, their strengths and weaknesses, and their contribution to the industry, at a time where public confidence in banking is low. Chapters present the results of an empirical analysis of the comparative performance of UK building societies, since the large-scale demutualisation process ended in the year 2000. The authors highlight the substantial impact of the financial crisis on the sector, with 2008 and 2009 being particularly difficult years. The book discusses banks and building societies in the context of the improving economy and show that both groups have recovered some profitability, although not at the pre-crisis level. The reader will discover that building societies in particular have recovered well from the financial turmoil and they appear less risky than banks on a variety of measures.

The role of international banks within the developed economies has come under increasingly hostile public scrutiny, yet little attention has been paid to the structure and purpose of the banks themselves. Most existing studies concentrate on the part played by international banks as intermediaries in the domestic and international economy, failing to consider the foremost concern of the banks themselves – their success as business enterprises. This book examines the practical problems faced by the Universal Multinational banks (UMNBs) in the fields of strategic planning and business development. It explains the common constraints encountered by the UMNBs, showing that, whether they like it or not, current market pressures are governing their policies in all the developed economies. Through studying the management structures and business policies of these banks this book provides a much clearer picture of their activities in the world economy. Initially, it concentrates on the UMNBs of the USA since they have provided a strategic model for other global banking concerns. The UMNBs of Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Switzerland are then discussed to establish their similarities and differences: case studies are included at the end of each chapter to illustrate and reinforce the points made in the preceding text. Although written in 1984 the author successfully predicted many of the subsequent developments in the field of information technology and competition in world markets, which led to the emergence of global financial enterprises.

Banking and finance is one of the most successful and rapidly expanding sectors in the world economy. From the 1960s this whole area of employment has undergone profound changes. The banks diversified, adopted new corporate strategies, introduced new technologies and faced new and intense competition. This book examines the importance of employee relations strategies in contributing to a prosperous industry. Drawing upon a wide range of original and undocumented material derived from the banks and the unions, it explores both employer and union strategies and examines the continuing competition for predominance between the ‘orthodox’ trade unions and the staff associations.

This book is concerned with developments in three main areas of monetary history: domestic commercial banking; monetary policy; and the UK’s international financial position. For ease of analysis the 160 years under study are arranged into three clear chronological divisons. Part 1 covers the years 1826-1913, a period in which the UK emerged as the world’s leading economic power. It was in these years that an extensive and fully-operative domestic banking system was established. Part 2 covers 1914 to 1939 – the years which marked a break in the traditional monetary arrangements of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Part 3 covers 1939-1986 when the dominance of state influence within the domestic money markets was re-established by the Second World War and the acceptance by the authorities of the obligation to ‘manage’ the economy which meant that successive postwar governments took direct responsibility for the conduct of monetary and credit policy.

Beginning with a theoretical analysis of housing finance in the context of housing markets and financial intermediation generally, the authors then analyse, drawing on international experience, each of the main types of housing finance system: informal, deposit taking, contract and mortgage bank. Various aspects of the market are covered using examples drawn from the UK and elsewhere, including the regulatory framework, contemporary developments and securitization and secondary markets. Critical public policy issues, such as housing and the real economy, and housing subsidies, are analysed in detail. Finally the authors examine the future for housing and the housing finance market.