The Governance of the Black Holes of the World Economy: Shadow Banking and Offshore Finance

This paper focuses on regulatory challenges posed by the two interconnected structures of the global financial system – the economy of tax havens (or offshore financial centres), and the shadow banking system. The financial crisis of 2007-09 has revealed that tax havens structures and shadow banking entities play a central role in the practise of financial institutions reliant on financial innovation. Thriving on complexity, opaque networks and driven by arbitrage, the two phenomena pose tremendous challenges to national and international regulators aiming to restore the financial cycle in the recessionary environment. In this paper, we analyse "the state of play" and the current plans for the governance of tax havens, offshore finance and the shadow banking industry. We find that although offshore financial centres and shadow banking are outside the scope of academic economics, they have attracted a lot of attention on the part of financial researchers and regulators. Along with other macro-prudential and system risk concerns, the regulation, or governance of these "black holes" of the global economy is increasingly assuming a central place on the agenda of financial regulators. In what follows, we explore the reasons behind this development

Elsewhere, Ideally Nowhere: Shadow Banking and Offshore Finance

If we were to identify one common thread across the nancial system’s stages of evolution, it is the quest for being located for tax and regulatory purposes elsewhere or, ideally, nowhere. Recognising the limits of mainstream economic models in providing a comprehensive explanation of this phenomenon, we draw on the ideas of orstein Veblen and his theory of business civilisation. A Veblenian analysis suggests that dynamics and behaviour in nance that are commonly associated with human failure (greed, exuberance, fraud, incompetence), and which appear to have become widespread practice, should best be understood as sabotage. Finance is awash with techniques designed to sabotage both clients and the governments who enacted regulations that were supposed to protect clients. ese techniques are legal mechanisms, albeit as Veblen writes, not in the spirit of the law.

The best of both worlds: scale economies and discriminatory policies in London’s global financial centre

From the early 1960s onwards London has managed to vie with New York for the top spot as an international financial centre. Ever since then, London has reigned as a leading global financial hub, despite not having behind it anything like the political or economic backing enjoyed by New York. This paper seeks to explain this phenomenon by building on Kindleberger’s classic analysis of financial centres as international hubs that arise due to economic, geographic and infrastructural advantages, and more recent theories of specialized financial centres which suggest that financial centres deploy discriminatory business practices in order to compete with the scale economy-based centres. Our central claim is that London’s continuing financial supremacy can be traced to the way that the opposing ‘economic’ and ‘political’ sets of criteria necessary for a financial centre are here inextricably fused together in a mutually reinforcing dynamic. Three case studies are used to support this claim: the market for international loans and deposits; the forex (FX) and over the counter (OTC) derivatives markets; and the area of asset and collateral management

A different appetite for sovereignty? Independence movements in subnational island jurisdictions

Local autonomy in a subnational jurisdiction is more likely to be gained, secured or enhanced where there are palpable movements or political parties agitating for independence in these smaller territories. A closer look at the fortunes, operations and dynamics of independence parties from subnational island jurisdictions can offer some interesting insights on the appetite for sovereignty and independence, but also the lack thereof, in the twenty-first century.peer-reviewe

Electromagnetic Compatibility of a Low Voltage Power Supply for the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter Front-End Electronics

The front-end electronics of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter is powered by DC/DC converters that sit close to it. The performance of the detector electronics is constrained by the conducted noise emissions of its power supply. A compatibility limit is defined for the system. The noise susceptibility of the front-end electronics is evaluated, and different solutions to reduce the front-end electronics noise are discussed and tested

Radiation-Tolerant Custom Made Low Voltage Power Supply System for ATLAS/TileCal Detector

This paper describes custom made Low Voltage Power Supply (LVPS) system developed for the ATLAS – TileCal detector of the LHC (The Large Hadron Collider) particle accelerator at CERN, Geneva. The system is based on the use of only COTS (Commercial of The Shelf) components, is qualified to be radiation tolerant up to 40krad, and can operate in external DC magnetic field above 0.02 Tesla. The LVPS design described in this paper has been developed and produced for the ATLAS TileCal detector during the years 2001 – 2007

Notices sur les collaborateurs et les collaboratrices

Periprosthetic fracture (PF) after primary total hip replacement (THR) is an uncommon but potentially devastating complication. We analysed data on 257,202 primary THRs with cemented stems and 390 linked first revisions for PF recorded in the National Joint Registry (NJR) of England and Wales to determine if cemented femoral stem brand was associated with the risk of having revision for a PF after primary THR. All cemented femoral stem brands with more than 10,000 primary operations recorded in the NJR were identified. The four most commonly used cemented femoral stems were: Exeter V40 (n=146,409), CPT (n=24,300), C-Stem (n=15,113) and Charnley (n=20,182). We compared the revision risk ratios due to PF amongst the stems using a Poisson regression model adjusting for patient factors. Compared to the Exeter V40, the age, gender and ASA grade adjusted revision rate ratio for the cemented CPT stem was 3.89 (95%CI 3.07,4.93), for the C-Stem 0.89 (95%CI 0.57,1.41) and for the Charnley stem 0.41 (95%CI 0.24,0.70). Limitations of the study include incomplete data capture, analysis of only PF requiring revision and that observation does not imply causality. Nevertheless, this study demonstrates that the choice of a cemented stem is associated with the risk of revision for PF. </p

National variation in prophylactic antibiotic use for elective primary total joint replacement an analysis of guidelines across hospitals and trusts in the UK

Aims Prophylactic antibiotic regimens for elective primary total hip and knee arthroplasty vary widely across hospitals and trusts in the UK. This study aimed to identify antibiotic prophylaxis regimens currently in use for elective primary arthroplasty across the UK, establish variations in antibiotic prophylaxis regimens and their impact on the risk of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) in the first-year post-index procedure, and evaluate adherence to current international consensus guidance. Methods The guidelines for the primary and alternative recommended prophylactic antibiotic regimens in clean orthopaedic surgery (primary arthroplasty) for 109 hospitals and trusts across the UK were sought by searching each trust and hospital’s website (intranet webpages), and by using the MicroGuide app. The mean cost of each antibiotic regimen was calculated using price data from the British National Formulary (BNF). Regimens were then compared to the 2018 Philadelphia Consensus Guidance, to evaluate adherence to international guidance. Results The primary choice and dosing of the prophylactic antimicrobial regimens varied widely. The two most used regimens were combined teicoplanin and gentamicin, and cefuroxime followed by two or three doses of cefuroxime eight-hourly, recommended by 24 centres (22.02%) each. The alternative choice and dosing of the prophylactic antimicrobial regimen also varied widely across the 83 centres with data available. Prophylaxis regimens across some centres fail to cover the likeliest causes of surgical site infection (SSI). Five centres (4.59%) recommend co-amoxiclav, which confers no Staphylococcus coverage, while 33 centres (30.28%) recommend cefuroxime, which confers no Enterococcus coverage. Limited adherence to 2018 Philadelphia Consensus Guidance was observed, with 67 centres (61.50%) not including a cephalosporin in their guidance. Conclusion This analysis of guidance on antimicrobial prophylaxis in primary arthroplasty across 109 hospitals and trusts in the UK has identified widespread variation in primary and alternative antimicrobial regimens currently recommended

The impact of COVID-19 on the management and outcomes of patients with proximal femoral fractures: a multi-centre study of 580 patients

Background On the 11th March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. Multiple new guidelines were proposed and existing models of social, domestic and hospital care altered. Most healthcare systems were largely unprepared for this, and the pandemic has tested their adaptability. This study aimed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the demographics, presentation, clinical management and outcomes of patients with proximal femoral (hip) fractures comparing them to a similar cohort of patients admitted a year earlier. Methods This retrospective multi-centre cohort study compared all patients admitted with hip fractures between 1st March and 30th May 2019 (group PC: pre-COVID-19) with hip fracture patients admitted over the same time period during the pandemic in 2020 (group C: COVID-19). The data was obtained from the hospitals’ local and National Hip Fracture Databases. Mortality data was checked with the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Primary outcomes were time to theatre, in-patient length of stay and 30-day mortality. Results A total of 580 patients were included (304 group PC, 276 group C). Patient demographics including Charlson Comorbidity Index and Nottingham Hip Fracture Scores were broadly similar across the two cohorts. There was a significant reduction in the percentage of total hip replacements (11 to 5%, p = 0.006) in group C. There was an increase in conservative management (1 to 5%, p = 0.002) in group C. Time to theatre was significantly delayed in group C (43.7 h) vs group PC (34.6 h) (p ≤ 0.001). The overall length of hospital stay was significantly longer in group PC (16.6 days) vs group C (15 days) (p = 0.025). The 30-day mortality rate in group C was 9.8% compared to 8.2% in group PC (p = 0.746), but for COVID-19 (+) patients, it was significantly higher at 38.2% vs 5.8% in COVID-19 (−) patients (p < 0.001). Conclusion This is one of the largest multi-centre comparative cohort study in the literature to date examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the management of hip fracture patients. Whilst mortality rates were similar in both groups, COVID-19-positive patients were almost seven times more likely to die, reflecting the seriousness of the COVID-19 infection and its sequelae in such elderly, vulnerable patients