Determinants for using visible reserves in German banks: an empirical study

The German Commercial Code (HGB) allows banks to build visible reserves for general banking risks according to section 340g HGB. These GBR reserves may, in addition to their risk provisioning function, be used to enhance capital endowment, for internal financing, signaling or earnings management purposes. We analyze financial statements of German banks for the period from 1995 through 2007 to reveal specific patterns in the use of GBR reserves. Our empirical investigation is based on a large, unbalanced panel of German banks including 32,023 bank-year observations. We see an increase in the use of GBR reserves over time. Furthermore, we can say that GBR reserves are primarily used by large banks, banks with comparatively low regulatory capital endowment, as well as those with lower risks. Furthermore, GBR reserves are used by fairly profitable banks, those reporting according to international financial reporting standards in addition to HGB, and banks which are not thrifts or cooperative banks. Finally, we find that banks which make use of hidden reserves according to section 340f HGB also tend to hold GBR reserves. We explain our findings with regulatory factors and existing information asymmetries as well as banks' size and ownership structure. --Bank regulation,informational asymmetries,risk provisioning,visible reserves,hidden reserves

Are banks using hidden reserves to beat earnings benchmarks? Evidence from Germany

Section 340f of the German Commercial Code allows banks to provision against the special risks inherent to the banking business by building hidden reserves. Beyond risk provisioning, these reserves are implicitly accepted as an earnings management device. By analyzing financial statements of German banks for the period 1995 through 2009, we see these hidden reserves being used to (1) avoid a negative net income, (2) avoid a drop in net income compared to the previous year, (3) avoid a shortfall in net income compared to a peer group, and (4) reduce the variability of banks' net income over time. We (5) find a diminished relevance of avoiding a drop in net income as well as a shortfall relative to the peer group during the financial crisis. Finally, we are (6) unable to confirm any differences in the relevance of hidden reserves for earnings management between listed and non-listed banks. --Earnings management,Income smoothing,Hidden reserves,Prospect theory,Financial institution

Entwicklung eines kontextsensitiven Berechtigungssystems für Smart Homes

Der Mensch bewegt sich heutzutage in Umgebungen, in denen er von technischen Gegenständen umgeben ist. Die zunehmende Kommunikationsfähigkeit dieser Geräte ermöglicht die Entwicklung sogenannter Smart Environments. Diese Entwicklung ist vor allem in den Wohnumgebungen des Menschen zu spüren. Ziel dieser Arbeit war die Entwicklung eines Berechtigungssystems für diesen sensiblen und komplexen Lebensbereich. Um die alltäglichen Situationen abbilden zu können, wurden das Berechtigungssystem an eine Kontexterkennung gekoppelt. Dies ermöglicht zum einen die DeVnition statischer Regeln, zum anderen wird die Zuweisung von Berechtigungen in Abhängigkeit des vorherrschenden Kontextes ermöglicht.Nowadays Humans live in environments surrounded by technological artifacts. The increasing communication capabilities of these artifacts allow the uprising of the so called "Smart Environments". This development is speciVcally felt in domestic living environments. The aim of this Thesis is the design of an authorization system for these delicate and complex areas of life. In order to better reWect the real life situations an access control system is annotated with measures of context awareness. This enables the deVnition of static rules and the assignment of permissions depending on the prevailing context

Android-basierte Smart Home Interaktion am Beispiel einer Gegensprechanl

Die steigende Allgegenwärtigkeit von Computern spielt eine tragende Rolle bei der Entwicklung neuer Systeme. Im Rahmen dieser Bachelorarbeit werden Interaktionsmöglichkeiten hinsichtlich eines intelligenten Türklingelsystems in einer Smart Home Umgebung untersucht. Nach der Identifikation verschiedenster Interaktionen durch die Schilderung von Beispielszenarien, werden diverse Architekturmuster auf ihre mögliche Verwendung hin geprüft. Anschließend wird die Realisierbarkeit des Systems anhand von Grundfunktionalitäten einer Gegensprechanlage nachgewiesen.The increasing ubiquity of computers plays a crucial role in the development of new systems. As part of this bachelor thesis, interactions are examined for an intelligent doorbell system in a smart home environment. After the identification of various interactions as described by example scenarios, various architectural patterns and their possible use are evaluated. Then, the feasibility of the system using basic functionality of an intercom system is proven