Book Description

Author Dwight Ritter knows what is takes to forge a solid relationship with banking customers. As a bank consultant, he practices what he preaches by working in his client banks, cross-selling products to the customer. Relationship Banking is an action plan for developing the customer base by offering cystomers value, not pressure. Natural opportunities for cross-selling are identified and solutions are offered for the invevitable staff and customer objections. An existing staff and product line are used more effectively and profitably. By maximizing the potential of customers, staff and products of a bank, profits and performance can be maximized. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Relationship Banking
The title is very suggestive but the actual content of the book doesn't satisfy the quest for information on the subject. Unless you are a begginer in this field, buy something else. ... Read more

Book Description

Since the 1970s, the practice of financing major private and public sector capital-intensive projects has shifted to an ever-greater reliance on private funding sources, as opposed to direct financing through the issuance of corporate or government bonds. In the 1990s, these financing practices have undergone further changes with the increasing globalization of capital markets, the growth of derivative instruments, and the rapid increase in information technology that enhances cash-management practices. Today's project financing market is increasingly using sophisticated capital market, bank and agency financing mechanisms as well as using derivative instruments for asset and liability management. Thus, financial market innovations are bringing the once separate fields of project financing and international finance more closely together. This is the first book to treat both topics as an interrelated whole, for contemporary project financing cannot be fully understood without a good working knowledge of the international financial markets that have developed the various financing techniques and funding sources being used. The book provides an in-depth description of cross-border project financing as a technique for financing capital-intensive projects, as well as an overview of certain financing and derivative instruments currently available in the global financial markets.The first part of the book provides an overview of certain funding and derivative instruments currently used in the international financial markets, including a general overview of financial innovations that have occurred in recent decades. Topics covered include an introduction to the syndicated Euro-credit market; an overview of various marketable debt securities actively used in the international financial markets; an introduction to depositary receipt as an innovative way of raising cross-border equity capital; an elaboration of the derivative instruments most commonly used in the project financing arena, including interest rate, currency and commodity swaps; and finally an overview of banks' off-balance sheet activities as a critical driving force for the participation of banks in the international financial and derivative markets.The second part of the book provides an in-depth analysis of project financing that concentrates on the financier's perspective. Topics covered include a general overview of the project financing industry; a step-by-step description of a typical cross-border project finance transaction; a description of the main characteristics and advantages of project financing as opposed to more traditional corporate lending practices; an overview of appraisal techniques for assessing project financing; a comprehensive analysis of the different risk management techniques used in project financing for reducing, distributing and hedging risks; and a brief overview of certain limited-resource financing schemes. The book includes a special focus on the various stages of the risk management process for project financing, elaborating on the different stages of risk identification, risk assessment, risk reduction, risk distribution and hedging and insurance. The authors also provide a comprehensive glossary of terms relating to international finance and project financing. This book will fulfill the need for an essential text on project financing as well as a professional reference guide. ... Read more

Book Description

Multilateral development banks (MDBs) are increasingly expected to address environmental issues in their economic development lending. Yet the banks have been accused of failing to implement their own environmental policies, thereby contributing to environmental degradation in borrowing countries. In this book Tamar Gutner analyzes the environmental policies of three MDBs: the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the European Investment Bank. She compares their performance in Central and Eastern Europe, where the need for economic and environmental reform has been particularly urgent, and where these MDBs are among the largest donors.

Gutner finds many obstacles to efforts to "green" the three banks, most notably a mismatch between the environmental mandates and existing patterns of institutional design and incentives. The depth and scope of the banks green activities reflect the degree of shareholder commitment to environmental issues and how demand-driven the MDB is designed to be. Surprisingly, the World Bank, the most scrutinized and criticized of the three MDBs, has been rather more responsive than its counterparts to its environmental mandate in the region.

The discussion is framed by larger explorations of the behavior of international organizations and the sources of their innovation and inertia in addressing new policy issues. Gutner demonstrates the need to examine the impact of different stages of the policy process on new mandates and to incorporate both political and institutional variables when developing theories about the behavior of international institutions. ... Read more

Book Description

This is the first biography of William McChesney Martin, Jr. (1906-1998), the first paid president of the New York Stock Exchange and the chairman of the Federal Reserve System under Presidents Truman to Nixon. The extent of Martin’s influence on the course of American economic history was significant: arguably he has done more to strengthen and reform the nation’s most important financial institutions than has any other individual.

Chairman of the Fed tells Martin’s fascinating life story and explains his lasting impact on the NYSE and the Fed, both troubled institutions that Martin transformed. The book provides an inside look into the economic deliberations of five presidential administrations and describes Martin’s battles to bring about ethical and intelligent regulation of U.S. financial markets. His experiences shed light not only on the evolution of the American financial system but also on critical issues that confront the system today.

Robert P. Bremner has held positions in the World Bank and the investment banking industry. He is a former small business owner and currently serves as a public trustee for a large mutual fund management company.
... Read more

Book Description

The author, cofounder of Global Exchange, the San Francisco–based international human rights organization, argues that “free trade” is further widening the gap between rich and poor in all countries rather than improving the quality of life, labor, and the environment. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

How America Screws the Rest of the World
The American public is unaware about how the U.S. government conducts its foreign policy through the IMF and World Bank. The U.S. media has failed to explain to the American public how exactly the World Bank and IMF operate to economically control thrid-world countries. These two organizations actually promote the economic colonization of the third-world. Programs like CNN Pinnacle with Willow Bay provide misleading portrayals of World Bank leaders (i.e. JAMES WOLFENSOHN, PRESIDENT, WORLD BANK). This book fills the gap left by the news media. A very interesting and short read! ... Read more

Reviews (6)

It helped me
If you needed an overview of the industry that would allow you to not embarass yourself as you tried to have conversations or explore further, this book provides just that. As a complete novice to the industry- I had picked up lots of bits and pieces, but did not have a big picture of the industry & the types of roles. I was happy to get this from the book. People looking for more detailed info or with a lot of previous knowledge would probably not be satisfied with this book. But for me,, it was just the ticket!

Just a big advertisement really...
This is the second Vault guide that I have read, and the second disappointment that I have had with this series. I really isn't a career guide at all, just a very short back ground on what IB is. You can find a description of IB on the internet for free. The only redeeming value is the "day in a life of", but even then, there are only a dozen pages or so. In all, you can find most of what is in the book for free on the internet. I won't be buying any more vault products, as they have little information, and more pages of ads for other vault products than pages of usefull information.

Did you read any of the other books?
The following text appears on reviews of numerous investment banking books on this site. I suspect someone at the Vault is advertising for their own book on other author's pages. It make you wonder if they wrote their own book.

"This book is a good overview of the investment banking business, but it is quite expensive. I would strongly recommend instead or in addition the Vault Career Guide to Investment Banking.... The Vault guide includes more detailed overviews of all the departments and functions of an investment bank including corporate finance, M&A, sales, trading, private client services, credit, etc. If you are a job seeker in investment banking also try the Vault Guide to Finance Interviews, which contains actual investment banking finance interview questions and answers and which I found to be enormously valuable in my Wall Street job search."

Snake Oil
I have a feeling that the positive reviews and reccomendations for these books come from "Vault Staff" This book offers no detail, no history of banking, no detailed descriptions of banking operations, no examples of career paths, no information on how to get one's foot in the door, and no vision for the future of I-banking. This book was probably written by Googling "investment banking" and adding a few spelling errors.

There are much better books on the topic by respected authors such as Thomas Liaw and Charles Geisst.

Not Thorough, Not Great
As someone who finds it unnecessary to proclaim where I received my MBA, this book is weak. First, the price is ridiculous. The package containing this book was so thin, I thought Amazon was sending me a letter. Second, there are a disheartening number of misspellings in this book. For $30 run spell-check. Finally the book is not thorough at all. The title is "Career Guide to Investment Banking," but the title should be "What each person and department does in investment bank explained in minor detail." The problem is that the book is not written with the 'career' concept in mind enough. For instance there is no information about what educational backgrounds are useful or what your career path will be once you get a job. Also every time I talk about careers in investment banking you hear front, middle, and back office, but this book doesn't explain these terms adequately. It will leave you with a ton of questions: what are the names and websites of all the investment banks, how do I get an interview, what do I say at the interview, what job can I get if end up wanting to get out of investment banking, etc. 3 stars, and that's being generous. ... Read more

Book Description

Twenty-two years ago, Martin Mayer's original and bestselling The Bankers took readers into every corner of the banking industry. Since then, everything to do with money and banking has changed dramatically.Computer-driven data processing has led to new kinds of financial instruments, new opportunities for profit and loss, new relations between banks and their customers, and new affiliation between government and banks.Businessmen and householders need a new road map to banks' new abilities, challenges, and pitfalls. Mayer's completely new, completely rewritten 1997 edition on banking's immensely changed world answers that need. Among the many subjects explored in this timely book are:
The extremely fluid nature of money in an electronic age
The changing economic role of banks and other financial service institutions
The perilous voyages of today's banks on seas of computerized trading
The two-trillion-dollar-a-day flow of wholesale payments
The explosive growth and use of credit cards and ATM machines
The rapidly arriving world of "smart cards" and "internet banking."
Mayer shows the reader where the trends lead--and what the industry itself and its regulators can to do pluck the plums of progress from the messy confusion of great change itself. Accessible to any reader yet specific enough to capture the attention of the world's business professionals, The Bankers: The NextGeneration, explains the banking revolution of our time. This is every business reader's must-read book of the 1990s.
Martin Mayer is the most widely recognized name in banking and finance.The Bankers hardcover edition hit the bestseller lists of Business Week and the San Francisco Chronicle. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Very interesting book
This is the first and only book I've ever read on banking. But it is very well written, clear, concise, and filled with interesting bits of history. The author shows extreme mastery of the topic. If you read any book about the industry, this should be it.

A Book as Quirky as the Industry Portrayed by the Author
The financial services industry has always been something of an enigma to me. After reading THE BANKERS, it still is. Perhaps the lush reviews garnered by this book instilled unrealistic expectations: I expected a carefully researched, scholarly treatment of the banking business past-to-present. For better or worse, this book reads more like a quirky monologue by someone who knows the banking business well, but who prefers to deliver his knowledge by free association rather than by cogent and orderly description. The anecdotes are sometimes very entertaining, and the reader does pick up some valuable insights. But the return on effort extended is less than excellent. What's especially ironic is the book's chapters ARE cogently organized...it's only the follow-through that's lacking.

The book's high point is Chapter 3 (Paying Bills). Here the author does an admirable job of describing the excruciatingly convoluted process of check clearance. It would seem to be the dullest subject imaginable, but Mayer brings it to life -and I suspect he does such an admirable job because he has a flair for showing the quirkiness in any subject under the sun. The biggest disappointment of the book is how Mayer is compelled to entangle his journalistic prominence with whatever other point he wants to make ("A team of television journalists came from a Japanese network to visit me in Washington..."). Once again, there are some terrific insights, and some entertaining one-liners. It's just that the perspective one receives seems indulgently biased, and not particularly comprehensive.

Just read chapters 9 & 10
I run with a crowd of i-bankers, and I bought this book to try to better understand what they do all day. However, this book is a LOT of history, and the entire first Part of the book is VERY basic information relating to what "money" is.

If you learn well through anecdotes, you will find this book both informative and easy to read. If, on the other hand, you are considering this book thinking it will be information about the modern banking industry given in a straightforward way, you're out of luck. In order to understand the industry (or what pieces of it this book explores, anyway) you have to extrapolate larger themes from nearly 500 pages of amost exclusively history and anecdotal examples. In addition, Martin has a habit of describing people in the industry, e.g., "Mr. X, a swarthy fellow I knew while still a fencer at Penn and something of a womanizer besides..." For some, I'm sure this keeps the book from being too dry. I, on the other hand, found these descriptions annoying and diversionary.

In sum, if you're looking for information about the modern banking industry, just read chapters nine and ten, which are well-written, relatively complete, and exceptionally easy to understand. If, instead, you are looking for the story of how banking has evolved, or you just like to read businessmen's tales, then this is the book for you.

Enjoyable to read and packed with excellent information
Excellent book on modern day banking industry, extremely informative with lots of information, but easy to digest even for those who just wanted to learn a little more about the business.
It is well written and easy to understand overall. Making it unexpectedly enjoyable.

Very useful.
I just got hired as the Webmaster for a large .COM financial services firm and wanted to give myself a crash course on the history of banking as well as the various elements related to modern financial services. I found the book to be clear, concise, and very well written. I would recomend this book to anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of banking or financial services in general. ... Read more

Book Description

Saunders and Cornett's Financial Institutions Management: A Risk Management Approach 4/e focuses on managing return and risk in modern financial institutions.The central theme is that the risks faced by financial institutions managers and the methods and markets through which these risks are managed are becoming increasingly similar whether an institution is chartered as a commercial bank, a savings bank, an investment bank, or an insurance company.Although the traditional nature of each sector's product activity is analyzed, a greater emphasis is placed on new areas of activities such as asset securitization, off-balance-sheet banking, and international banking. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

A good entry-level book on Financial Institution Risk
Using only a minimal amount of mathematics,
Professor Saunders describes a very broad
range of risks run by a Financial Institution.

A particularly good description is given
for interest rate risk management of a
standard banking portfolio.

Excellent introduction to risk management
The book is very good and it starts describing the special nature of financial institutions and the industry. Then, in the second part you have complete chapters relating to every risk management: interest rate risk (maturity, repricing gaps and duration focuses, liquidity (e.g.maturity ladder), market risk (standarized Basel Committee and VaR approaches) credit risk (including Basel Committe standarized approach, defalult risk models like credit scoring), operating costs and technology risk, FX risk, sovereign risk.

In the last part there is a good section which describes how to manage risks , including liabilty and liquidity management,deposit insurance, capital adequacy, geographic diversification, derivatives, the new credit risk management techniques and securitization.

I had the chance to have Profesor Saunders as a risk management teacher and I only say that as his classes, his book is great. It shows you the best introduction to risk management. It discusses about financial institutions (banks, insurance and securities). That book just helped me to see financial institutions under the risk focus. I really recommend this book to understand risk management.

The Best Book on Financial Institutions. Period.
This is probably the best book in risk management available today. This is due to the combination of breadth and depth of the text. The author gently introduces the student to an important subject and explains with pains how to manage each and every kind of risk. The two chapters on Interest rate risk are absolutely fabulous. There is a sense of continuity because the concepts you learn in one chapter has applications in another. The problems at the end of the chapters are are also challenging and will require an in-depth understanding of the subject. This book is the ultimate.

One of the best books of market and financial rsik
I have read the second edition and this edition is better than the other. The tratment of market and financial rsk is simply and complete. I reccomend it, is one of the best books in this financial field. ... Read more

Book Description

International Bank Management provides current, integrated coverage of international banking issues, including foreign exchange markets, derivatives, country risk analysis, asset-liability management, and banking strategies.

Mehta & Fung utilize a variety of analytical frameworks to explain important decision-making processes and illustrate their applications through real-world examples. Learning objectives and end-of-chapter review questions reinforce key themes and concepts. A focus on the increasing globalization of financial markets in this text enables students to obtain the comprehensive, international perspective essential for a successful career in banking. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Martin Mayer's engaging examination of the much-talked-about but little understood U.S. Federal Reserve begins with the dramatic events of October 1998, a month in which the market closed "lock limit down" for the first time in almost a decade. At the same time, Alan Greenspan, the Fed's chairman, began radically reinventing his agency's role and its influence on the market. Indeed, while most of the rest of the world's countries were diminishing the role of their central banks, Congress was granting new powers and responsibilities to the Fed. Mayer's book--part history, part journalistic report, and all detailed analysis--looks at the significance of those powers, their benefits and risks, and what they mean to the markets. He also devotes chapters to the day-to-day inner workings of the Fed, its influence in international financial matters, and its possible role in coming years.

As a prolific author and respected economics scholar, Mayer has been immersed in the financial world for decades and provides both bird's-eye and long-range views of money's complicated maneuverings.Without his excellent storytelling abilities and fluid writing style, this book would be heavy going for anyone who doesn't speak the language of high finance. Though it is most definitely dense (and its structure somewhat erratic), Mayer manages to make a complicated subject accessible for those with more interest than actual knowledge. An informative look at a hitherto enigmatic but influential institution. --S. Ketchum ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Misleading Title
My main problem with this book is that the title really should have been "A Detailed History of The Fed." I think I was looking more for what the title implied, a book with a focus almost exclusively on modern times, and concentrating on the relationship between Fed actions and economic reactions. If this is what you, too, are seeking, don't read this book.

A secondary problem is that the recitation of Fed history that comprises nearly the entire book is almost unbearably dry.

This book's main (only?) good point is its detail. I personally found the amount of detail excessive and boring, but I can't fault the author for completion: the history that this book contains is broad and well-researched.

Badly written, packed with information
I bought this book in a bookstore, thinking it looked interesting. The testimonials seemed convincing. I wish I'd read these reviews first. Although the book clearly offers a wealth of information, I found it annoying to read. The author repeatedly interjects long parenthetical expressions in the middle of his sentences. By the time you reach the end of the sentence, it's hard to remember what he was trying to say. At times, it struck me as a stream-of-consciousness approach, or just laziness on the part of his editor. The problem isn't that the material is challenging. I have an MBA and expect to be challenged in books about banking and finance. But I expect far better writing than this. Mr. Mayer likely is a superb reporter and researcher, but in my view, his writing needs a heavier hand from an editor. I only read about 30 pages before tossing the book in the trash can. I hope to remember not to buy any more of his books by accident.

He should go back to high school and and retake Writing101.
My money is wasted in buying this book!

The Inside Story of the Fed, Just Like it Says
This book will be enjoyed by those who want to see the Fed as a very human institution with its own quirks and foibles. It helps to add a dimension of knowledge about the Fed that is hard to get anywhere else.

If you are a hard core economist with strong political views or an ardent fan of Friedman or Greenspan you won't like it. It shows the human side of many of the major figures.

I thought it was well done and enjoyed it immensely. I have read most of the major books on the Fed and read their open market operations briefs every day, and spend a lot of time on the various Fed websites.

This book is generally sound, and although there are those who would tend to dismiss Mayer, as he is not an economic scholar, the great strength of this book is that Mayer realizes that the Fed is not a university seeking truth. It is a political and financial institution not above the day to day fray, with its own sort of organizational politics.

I have also read most of the major books about Greenspan, and this one adds a dimension to his persona that connected the dots for me.

Not the Best Book on the Subject
"The Fed" by Martin Mayer is a look into how the Federal Reserve System has not only evolved since its founding in 1913 but also how it has reacted to changes in America's financial system, changes that have sometimes been wrought due to the Fed's own decisions.

Mayer is primarily a financial journalist who prides himself on personally knowing all the key players. Mayer has been actively involved in the formulation of the financial system that he reports on by having served on various Congressional and Presidential committees.

Mayer's knowledge of the Fed and its machinizations is first-rate; however, I felt that there should have been more output from this book. Mayer gives the reader lots of input on Fed decision making and the way in which it tries to influence the economy today. He even discusses the implications of certain decisions the Fed has made and not made regarding, primarily, bank supervision.

Those implications however are given no rational or backing. Mayer proposes them as if the reader should just accept them because they come from such an excellent source on the subject. I've never been one to blindly accept the determinations of others just because they are so-called experts.

As history, this isn't even all that extensive. Mayer would have done better if he had made this a history of the Fed instead of the limited policy discussion that it is. "The Fed" is certainly not the weakest book on its subject; but, it definitely is not the strongest. ... Read more

Book Description

A summary of how small-to-medium-size businesses fulfill their banking needs. Topics include understanding business loans and their details, account analysis, evaluating a bank's services and how they fit specific business needs, a list of internet resources, and much more. Titles in Barron's Business Library series are currently being revised and updated, and re-set in an attractive new paperback format. They are written especially for men and women starting a company or managing a small-to-medium-size business. Emphasis is on practical problem solving, and examples cited in these books are based on realistic business situations. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Basic introduction to banking
Includes a lot of information about banking but not in much detail. A handy reference afterall. But for the folks who want more in depth knowledge into banking, go for a larger volume.

Basic Banking
I purchased this book to gain a better understanding of the industry as a whole. It served it's purpose! I am new to working in banking and I will have to learn how my bank operates, but now I can ask the right questions to speed up the process. ... Read more

Book Description

The First International Bank of Grenada will go down in history as one of the biggest banking swindles of all time. Aided and abetted by a corrupt government, Van Brink and his satraps lured hundreds of innocent investors to place their savings in a bank he claimed “had a vision”. With evangelical zeal he preached the gospel of his bank, playing upon the religious and charitable aspect but also promising outlandish returns on investments.

From Oregon to Nauru, to Grenada, to Uganda, Van Brink left a trail of financial misery behind him.

One Big Fib is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the shady world of offshore banking.

Book Description

This volume contains two major papers prepared for the Bank of England's Tercentenary Symposium in June 1994. The first, by Forrest Capie, Charles Goodhart and Norbert Schnadt, provides an authoritative account of the evolution of central banking. The second paper, by Stanley Fischer, explores the major policy dilemmas now facing central bankers. Important contributions by six leading central bankers from around the world, and the related Per Jacobsen lecture by Alexander Lamfalussy, are also included in the volume. ... Read more

Book Description

*Market-specific to financial services * CD Rom providing KAM analysis software, and access to further support.* Practical tools, both in the text and the CD-ROMBuilding on the success of Peter Cheverton’s generic book, Key Account Management, (now in its third edition), Key Account Management in Financial Services follows a broadly similar structure but is aimed at sales and marketing people in the financial services (FS) sector. Designed for practitioners and managers responsible for implementation, the focus is on "making it happen", using real examples to illustrate tools and models, and to highlight success and failure. The book takes the readers through a developing process of understanding, analysis, planning, implementation, and performance monitoring, matching the development over time of their own plans. It is intended to be used as a "before, during, and after" guide to practical implementation.Targeted narrowly on financial services, the book addresses the changing environment and the new imperatives for KAM -- the rising cost of sales, regulatory bodies, globalization of customers, new customer organizations; the buying process in Financial Services; "Competitor Replacement Strategies", a particular feature of the FS market. Also included are a much expanded section on E-commerce and the Internet, and one on the management of non Key Accounts, vital to the success of any KAM strategy in these markets ... Read more

Book Description

This book presents a balanced blend of pure finance and contract theory in the presence of risk, alternative forms of information structures, and static and dynamic frameworks. In particular, it provides an introduction to the use of stochastic methods in financial economics and finance. The following topics are covered: financial risk and asset pricing and asset returns under alternative contractual arrangements, portfolio choice, individual behavior towards risk, general equilibrium under uncertainty in discrete and continuous time settings, indivisibilities and nonconvexities in a general equilibrium context, contract theory, mechanism design and principal–agent relationships in partial and general equilibrium contexts, credit markets, and option pricing. ... Read more