5 research outputs found
Dialectic tensions in the financial markets: a longitudinal study of pre- and post-crisis regulatory technology
This article presents the findings from a longitudinal research study on regulatory technology in the UK financial services industry. The financial crisis with serious corporate and mutual fund scandals raised the profile of
compliance as governmental bodies, institutional and private investors introduced a ‘tsunami’ of financial regulations. Adopting a multi-level analysis, this study examines how regulatory technology was used by financial firms to meet their compliance obligations, pre- and post-crisis. Empirical data collected over 12 years examine the deployment of
an investment management system in eight financial firms. Interviews with public regulatory bodies, financial
institutions and technology providers reveal a culture of compliance with increased transparency, surveillance and
accountability. Findings show that dialectic tensions arise as the pursuit of transparency, surveillance and
accountability in compliance mandates is simultaneously rationalized, facilitated and obscured by regulatory
technology. Responding to these challenges, regulatory bodies continue to impose revised compliance mandates on
financial firms to force them to adapt their financial technologies in an ever-changing multi-jurisdictional regulatory landscape
COOL-LAMPS III: Discovery of a 25".9 Separation Quasar Lensed by a Merging Galaxy Cluster
In the third paper from the COOL-LAMPS Collaboration, we report the discovery
of COOL J0542-2125, a gravitationally lensed quasar at , observed as
three images due to an intervening massive galaxy cluster at . The
lensed quasar images were identified in a search for lens systems in recent
public optical imaging data and have separations on the sky up to 25".9, wider
than any previously known lensed quasar. The galaxy cluster acting as a strong
lens appears to be in the process of merging, with two sub-clusters separated
by Mpc in the plane of the sky, and their central galaxies showing a
radial velocity difference of km/s. Both cluster cores show
strongly lensed images of an assortment of background sources, as does the
region between them. A preliminary strong lens model implies masses of $M(<250\
\rm{kpc}) = 1.79^{+0.16} _{-0.01} \times 10^{14} M_{\odot}M(<250\
\rm{kpc}) = 1.48^{+0.04}_{-0.10} \times 10^{14} M_{\odot}$ for the East and
West sub-clusters, respectively. This line of sight is also coincident with a
ROSAT ALL-sky Survey source, centered between the two confirmed cluster halos
reminiscent of other major cluster-scale mergers.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to Ap
The evolution and adoption of equity crowdfunding: entrepreneur and investor entry into a new market
Equity crowdfunding (ECF) offers entrepreneurs an online social media marketplace where they can access numerous potential investors who, in exchange for an ownership stake, may supply them with finance. In this paper, we describe the evolution of this market in the UK. Using an inductive qualitative longitudinal research design, we analyse the emerging views of entrepreneurs and investors towards ECF. Our interviewees include large and small-scale investors, as well as market participants who have chosen not to invest or raise funds via ECF. We find that the large financial flows to entrepreneurs in the UK via the ECF platforms, nearly half a billion GBP since 2011, have probably been largely incremental to traditional sources of early stage entrepreneurial finance. Moreover, our research indicates that for the most part, investors appear to understand and appropriately evaluate the risks that they are bearing; ECF investments are perceived as a high risk, high return component within individuals’ portfolios. Investors also use their communication with peers and entrepreneurs via the ECF platform as a learning tool. On the entrepreneurs’ side, ECF allows them to test their products, to develop their brand, to build a loyal customer base and to turn customers into investors. We conclude that policymakers, with the support of a locally appropriate regulatory framework, could support equity crowdfunding as one of the market choices available for entrepreneurs looking to start or grow their ventures