Loan loss provisioning in the commercial banking system of Barbados: practices and determinants

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process of loan loss provisioning within the commercial banking system of Barbados. It uses questionnaires and interviews to ascertain how banks set their provisional standards and levels. In addition, the results from this approach reveal, for the first time in Barbados, the individual banks‟ procedures for loan loss provisioning. An evaluation of the impact of macroeconomic and bank specific factors on commercial banks‟ provisions utilising panel dynamic ordinary least squares is also undertaken. Both sets of factors are found to influence the level of provisions. In particular, loan loss provisions are heavily dependent upon the performance of the real economy and competition in international markets is shown to have serious implications for the banking sector in both the short and long run. Moreover, this study asserts that larger banks in Barbados are better able to screen loans and avoid defaults.Loan Loss Provisioning; Banking System; Loan Classification

ILLEGAL BOWLING ACTIONS LAWS, DO THEY REALLY MATTER?

The purpose of this study was to compare performance variables and upper body kinematics between cohorts of pathway (illegal and legal action) and elite level (legal) finger-spin (FS) bowlers. Results indicated that pathway illegal bowlers place significantly more revolutions on the ball compared with bowlers of the same level, reflecting that of the higher elite level bowlers. These differences are driven by various upper body kinematic differences at the trunk, elbow and wrist. This research highlights that when bowling with an illegal action, a possible performance benefit exists, reinforcing the current illegal action laws (the law does matter)

Molecular recognition between functionalized gold nanoparticles and healable, supramolecular polymer blends – a route to property enhancement

A new, healable, supramolecular nanocomposite material has been developed and evaluated. The material comprises a blend of three components: a pyrene-functionalized polyamide, a polydiimide and pyrene- functionalized gold nanoparticles (P-AuNPs). The polymeric components interact by forming well-defined p–p stacked complexes between p-electron rich pyrenyl residues and p-electron deficient polydiimide residues. Solution studies in the mixed solvent chloroform–hexafluoroisopropanol (6 : 1, v/v) show that mixing the three components (each of which is soluble in isolation), results in the precipitation of a supramolecular, polymer nanocomposite network. The precipitate thus formed can be re-dissolved on heating, with the thermoreversible dissolution/precipitation procedure repeatable over at least 5 cycles. Robust, self-supporting composite films containing up to 15 wt% P-AuNPs could be cast from 2,2,2- trichloroethanol. Addition of as little as 1.25 wt% P-AuNPs resulted in significantly enhanced mechanical properties compared to the supramolecular blend without nanoparticles. The nanocomposites showed a linear increase in both tensile moduli and ultimate tensile strength with increasing P-AuNP content. All compositions up to 10 wt% P-AuNPs exhibited essentially quantitative healing efficiencies. Control experiments on an analogous nanocomposite material containing dodecylamine-functionalized AuNPs (5 wt%) exhibited a tensile modulus approximately half that of the corresponding nanocomposite that incorporated 5 wt% pyrene functionalized-AuNPs, clearly demonstrating the importance of the designed interactions between the gold filler and the supramolecular polymer matrix

THE EFFECT OF PERFORMANCE LEVEL ON INITIAL BALL FLIGHT KINEMATICS IN ELITE AND PATHWAY WRIST-SPIN BOWLERS

The aim of this study was to provide foundation knowledge for 3D ball kinematics for elite and pathway wrist-spin (WS) bowlers, enabling performance measures that discriminate between skill levels to be identified. Results indicated that elite bowlers deliver the ball with significantly higher velocity and spin axis azimuth angle and with a lower seam azimuth angle. These differences all have the potential to positively influence the flight characteristics, and as such can be used as performance measures to discriminate between skill levels of cricket spin bowlers

Loan loss provisioning in the commercial banking system of Barbados: practices and determinants

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process of loan loss provisioning within the commercial banking system of Barbados. It uses questionnaires and interviews to ascertain how banks set their provisional standards and levels. In addition, the results from this approach reveal, for the first time in Barbados, the individual banks‟ procedures for loan loss provisioning. An evaluation of the impact of macroeconomic and bank specific factors on commercial banks‟ provisions utilising panel dynamic ordinary least squares is also undertaken. Both sets of factors are found to influence the level of provisions. In particular, loan loss provisions are heavily dependent upon the performance of the real economy and competition in international markets is shown to have serious implications for the banking sector in both the short and long run. Moreover, this study asserts that larger banks in Barbados are better able to screen loans and avoid defaults

Loan loss provisioning in the commercial banking system of Barbados: practices and determinants

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process of loan loss provisioning within the commercial banking system of Barbados. It uses questionnaires and interviews to ascertain how banks set their provisional standards and levels. In addition, the results from this approach reveal, for the first time in Barbados, the individual banks‟ procedures for loan loss provisioning. An evaluation of the impact of macroeconomic and bank specific factors on commercial banks‟ provisions utilising panel dynamic ordinary least squares is also undertaken. Both sets of factors are found to influence the level of provisions. In particular, loan loss provisions are heavily dependent upon the performance of the real economy and competition in international markets is shown to have serious implications for the banking sector in both the short and long run. Moreover, this study asserts that larger banks in Barbados are better able to screen loans and avoid defaults

Magnetic-field dependence of electron spin relaxation in n-type semiconductors

We present a theoretical investigation of the magnetic field dependence of the longitudinal ($T_1$) and transverse ($T_2$) spin relaxation times of conduction band electrons in n-type III-V semiconductors. In particular, we find that the interplay between the Dyakonov-Perel process and an additional spin relaxation channel, which originates from the electron wave vector dependence of the electron $g$-factor, yields a maximal $T_2$ at a finite magnetic field. We compare our results with existing experimental data on n-type GaAs and make specific additional predictions for the magnetic field dependence of electron spin lifetimes.Comment: accepted for publication in PRB, minor changes to previous manuscrip