Banking Globalization: International Consolidation and Mergers in Banking

This paper surveys recent literature on international mergers and acquisitions in banking. We focus on three main questions. First, what are the determinants of cross-border mergers of commercial banks? Second, do cross-border mergers affect the efficiency of banks? Third, what are the risk effects of international bank mergers? We begin with a brief summary of the stylized facts, and we conclude with implications for policymakers.mergers and acquisition, international banking, survey

Cross-Border Bank Mergers: What Lures the Rare Animal?

Although domestic mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the financial services industry have increased steadily over the past two decades, international M&As were relatively rare until recently. This paper uses a novel dataset of over 2,300 mergers that took place between 1978 and 2001 to analyse the determinants of international bank mergers. We test the extent to which information costs and regulations hold back merger activity. Our results suggest that banks operating in more regulated environments are less likely to be the targets of international bank mergers. Hence, the lifting of regulations can spur growth in cross-border bank mergers. Also, mergers tend to be less frequent if information costs are high

A JOURNEY FROM THE OCTONIONIC ℙ2 TO A FAKE ℙ2

We discover a family of surfaces of general type with K2 = 3 and pg = q = 0 as free C13 quotients of special linear cuts of the octonionic projective plane Oℙ2. A special member of the family has 3 singularities of type A2, and is a quotient of a fake projective plane. We use the techniques of earlier work of Borisov and Fatighenti to define this fake projective plane by explicit equations in its bicanonical embedding

THE IMMUNOLOGY OF EXPERIMENTAL CHAGAS' DISEASE : III. REJECTION OF ALLOGENEIC HEART CELLS IN VITRO

Experiments that consisted of incubation of Trypanosoma cruzi-sensitized lymphocytes derived from chronically infected rabbits and from rabbits repeatedly immunized with a small particle or membrane fraction derived from homogenates of T. cruzi forms, showed destruction of allogeneic, parasitized and nonparasitized heart cells in vitro. Mononuclear cells collected from peripheral blood were incubated for 1 h at 37°C to isolate the lymphocytes. Following incubation, over 99% of the cells in the supernate were lymphocytes, which were utilized in these experiments. At the start of these experiments, 70–80% of the sensitized lymphocytes were unattached, small and round, with sparse filipodia. In the ensuing hours, marked heart cell destruction, similar to that seen in an active lesion when lymphocytes invade heart tissue, were observed. After 18 h incubation, about 65–70% of the lymphocytes were attached, larger, and rough surfaced. Inhibition of monocyte migration tests, each in the presence of the antigens of subcellular fractions of T. cruzi organisms and of allogeneic heart myofibers, indicated the presence of a cross-reacting antigen common to both the parasite and the heart in the small particle or membrane fractions. The particulate antigens of the 30,000 g, 35-min fraction of heart muscle gave rise to inhibition of monocyte migration as did the counterpart fraction derived from T. cruzi organisms. The destruction of nonparasitized target heart cells by T. cruzi-sensitized lymphocytes is an in vitro model of the chronic myocarditis of Chagas' disease, and the recognition of cross-reactive antigens of the host cell by T. cruzi-sensitized lymphocytes is believed to be the pathogenic basis for subsequent tissue injury in the chronic phase of this disease

Plant Biomarker Pattern, Apples grown with various availability of organic nitrogen and with or witout the use of pesticides

In the recent years there has been an increasing focus on the quality and health value of organic plant products compared with conventional products. The use of pesticides and concentrated fertilisers in conventional agriculture implies a risk of effects on plant composition, which may affect health of the consumer (Brandt & Mølgaard, 2001). To determine if organically grown plant food could provide more or less benefits to health than conventional food, a first step is to investigate the differences in the composition and relative concentration of natural compounds in the plant products. In this project apples were grown with two levels of nitrogen availability and with or without the use of pesticides. The apples were screened for changes in the phytochemical composition and concentration. The work is affiliated to the project "Organic food and health" supported by the Danish Research Centre for Organic Farming (DARCOF). Biomarkers and biomarker patterns were presented in plants cultivated with low and high N and with pesticides. One biomarker was related to: • the type of N with and without pesticides • pesticides at high N and type of N without pesticides • pesticides at low and high N One biomarker pattern was related to: • the type of N • the type of N without pesticides • pesticides at low N and type of N without pesticides • pesticides at high N and type of N with pesticide