Bank crisis resolution and foreign-owned banks

In many countries in recent years, failure to efficiently resolve large insolvent banks has come at a high cost both to taxpayers and to the countries’ aggregate income. The increasing entry of foreign banks has complicated the resolution process. ; This article explores some special problems in the efficient resolution of insolvent banks raised by cross border banking, particularly weighing the costs and benefits of foreign bank entry via branches versus subsidiary banks. These problems lie primarily in the cross country differences in both the closure rule and the deposit insurance structure. ; The authors propose a four-point program for resolving insolvent institutions efficiently but note that the presence of foreign-owned banks may make adhering to these principles difficult. To mitigate these problems, the authors propose several policies: central multinational deposit insurance, a single insolvency resolution agency, and common or harmonized laws regarding insolvency resolution and enforcement. ; In the absence of such policies, the authors suggest that entry by way of subsidiaries rather than branches presents the lesser set of problems for the host country. For all forms of entry, they conclude, resolution costs can be most effectively controlled through the universal adoption of well-designed and enforced prompt corrective action policies and legal closure rules based on market values of assets and liabilities.Bank failures

Cross-border banking: Challenges for deposit insurance and financial stability in the European Union

This paper examines the implications that alternative regulatory structures may have for resolving failed banking institutions. We place our emphasis on the European Union (EU), which is both economically and financially large and has several features relating to cross-border banking in the form of direct investment that may heighten the problems we consider. We propose four principles to ensure the efficient resolution of bank failures, should they occur, with minimum, if any, credit and liquidity losses. These principles include prompt legal closure of institutions before they become economically insolvent, prompt identification of claims and assignment of losses, prompt reopening of failed institutions, and prompt recapitalizing and reprivatization of failed institutions. Finally, we propose a mechanism to put such a scheme into place quickly in the case where a cross-border banking organization seeks to take advantage of the liberal cross-border branching provisions in the single banking license available to banks in the EU. In return for the privilege of such a license, the bank agrees to be subject to a legal closure rule as a positive capital ratio established by the EU or the home country

Recovery of the biological activity in a vineyard soil after landscape redesign: A three-year study using the bait-lamina method

To detect changes in the biological activity (checked as soil animals feeding activity), the bait-lamina test (VON TÖRNE 1990) was used in a vineyard and a fallow soil (old meadow) during a three-year study. Situated in the vine-growing region of Rheinhessen near Mainz, Germany, the vineyard was part of an intensive redesign of the landscape accompanied by soil restoration. In 1994 new grapevines were planted in a two-row-system: 1) uncovered, 'open' soil, 2) green-covered soil (grass and clover). The new vineyard soil was in a 'raw' soil stage (humus: <1.7 %) whereas the fallow soil (reference soil) was undisturbed (humus: approx. 5 %). At the onset of the experiment in spring 1997 the soil faunal feeding activity in the vineyard soil was close to zero while in the fallow soil the activity was 23 %. In the following tests the feeding activity increased in both, the green-covered and uncovered soil; the highest level of feeding activity was finally found in the covered soil. The results indicate that under the local climatic conditions soil faunal activity recovers within a few years after soil restoration and that the rate of biological activity depends on soil management

Indications for rootstock related ecological preferences of grape phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae Fitch)

By parasitizing the roots of Vitis species, grape phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae Fitch, Phylloxeridae) is one of the most devastating pests in viticulture. Grafting susceptible scions (Vitis vinifera) to tolerant Vitis rootstocks is a common practice to control grape phylloxera in wine growing regions worldwide. However, grape phylloxera populations still develop on the roots of most grafting combinations. Questions remain as to whether or not the impact of environmental factors on grape phylloxera population dynamics is related to Vitis rootstock cultivars. In the presented field study, we investigated the influence of two closely related mature Vitis berlandieri x Vitis riparia rootstock varieties on the relations between the dynamics of root feeding grape phylloxera populations, root morphology and abiotic factors. The investigation took place on a commercial vineyard in Geisenheim/Germany on Teleki 5C/V. vinifera 'Weisser Riesling' and Kober 125AA/V. vinifera 'Weisser Riesling'. Samples of roots, attached grape phylloxera populations and soil were taken in the field 19 times between August 2007 and August 2009. Grape phylloxera population structure was recorded by the occurrence of root-feeding wingless females, fundatrices and nymphs and the pigmentation and position of root galls were assessed. Root morphological parameters were assessed using WinRhizo Pro. Soil abiotic parameters were assessed in the laboratory. Results of a principal component analysis showed rootstock related differences considering the impact of abiotic factors on grape phylloxera population structure. Especially soil temperature and soil organic matter were indicated to have a lower impact on grape phylloxera population structure on roots of 5C than on roots of 125AA. Our data indicate that ecological factors have a lower impact on the development of grape phylloxera on more supportive rootstocks

First record of a plasmodiophorid parasite in grapevine

In the context of an interdisciplinary project on grape pests and pathogens in Rheingau (Germany), the fine root system of grafted rootstocks has been screened for pathogenic fungi associated with root galls induced by grape phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae (Fitch)). In several insect-induced galls, masses of resting spores of a plasmodiophorid could be seen. An additional selective screening revealed the occurrence of the plasmodiophorid parasite also in samples of gall-free rootlets: cortical cells of small necrotic areas were crowded with resting spores or other developmental stages of its life cycle. According to current taxonomic concepts, this plasmodiophorid could be identified as a member of the genus Sorosphaera Schroeter, resembling S. veronicae Schroeter. This is the first record of a plasmodiophorid parasite in grapevine

Distribution and host range of the grapevine plasmodiophorid Sorosphaera viticola

Sorosphaera viticola, an obligate parasite of grapevine, was first detected in 2003 in roots of Vitis berlandieri x V. riparia rootstocks in a vineyard in the German Rheingau. To estimate the distribution and the abundance of S. viticola, other German and Austrian winegrowing areas (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Rhineland-Palatinate, Weinviertel) were screened. Vineyards planted with different rootstocks or own-rooted V. vinifera vines were chosen to elucidate the host range of this plasmodiophorid within the genus Vitis. S. viticola was found in different V. berlandieri x V. riparia hybrids and in roots of V. vinifera. Root samples from wild V. riparia from the Niagara Peninsula (Canada) were also found to be infested by S. viticola. This is the first record of S. viticola outside of Europe

Structure and functions of the ventral tube of the clover springtail Sminthurus viridis (Collembola Sminthuridae)

YesSpringtails (Collembola) are unique in Hexapoda for bearing a ventral tube (collophore) on the first abdominal segment. Although numerous studies have been conducted on the functions of the ventral tube, its fine structure has not been thoroughly elucidated to date. In this paper, we observed the jumping behavior of the clover springtail Sminthurus viridis (Linnaeus, 1758) and dissected the ventral tube using light microscopy to elucidate the fine structure and the possible function of the ventral tube. The results show that a pair of eversible vesicles can be extended from the apical opening of the ventral tube. The eversible vesicles are furnished with numerous small papillae, and can be divided into a basal part and a distal part. The eversible vesicles have a central lumen connected to the tiny papillae and leading to the body cavity. The eversible vesicles can reach any part of the body, and may serve as following functions: (a) absorbing moisture; (b) uptaking water; (c) cleaning the body surface; and (d) fastening the body on a smooth surface

PetaQCD : En Route for the automatic code generation for lattice QCD

International audienceNew computer architectures with various weak and strong characteristics appear with increasing speed. We present our work in progress for the tool-chain aimed at rapid prototyping of the novel dirac matrix inversion algorithms for emerging architectures. From scientific description of the algorithm on the front end to the several back ends we discuss how symbolic manipulation may be used to create and optimize lattice calculations on the fly

Resolving Troubled Systemically Important Cross-Border Financial Institutions: Is a New Corporate Organizational Form Required?

This paper explores the advantages of a new financial charter for large, complex, internationally active financial institutions that would address the corporate governance challenges of such organizations, including incentive problems in risk decisions and the complicated corporate and regulatory structures that impede cross-border resolutions. The charter envisions a single entity with broad powers in which the extent and timing of compensation are tied to financial results, senior managers and risk takers form a new risk-bearing stakeholder class, and a home-country-based resolution regime operates for the benefit of all creditors. The proposal is offered 1) to highlight the point that even in the face of a more efficient and effective resolution process, incentives for excessive risk taking will continue unless the costs of risk decisions are internalized by institutions, 2) to suggest another avenue for moving toward a streamlined organizational structure and single global resolution process, and 3) to complement other proposals aimed at preserving a large role for market discipline and firm incentives in a post-reform financial system

The Failure of Northern Rock: A multi-dimensional Case Study

In August 2007 the United Kingdom experienced its first bank run in over 140 years. Although Northern Rock was not a particularly large bank (it was at the time ranked 7th in terms of assets) it was nevertheless a significant retail bank and a substantial mortgage lender. In fact, ten years earlier it had converted from a mutual building society whose activities were limited by regulation largely to retail deposits and mortgages. Graphic television news pictures showed very long queues outside the bank as depositors rushed to withdraw their deposits. There was always a fear that this could spark a systemic run on bank deposits. After failed attempts to secure a buyer in the private sector, the government nationalised the bank and, for the first time, in effect socialised the credit risk of the bank. It is now a fully state-owned bank..