How corporate governance and globalization can run afoul of the law and good practices in business: The Enron's disgraceful affair.

The purpose of this paper is to set out the Enron’s demise into the perspective of Corporate and Global Governance. To accomplish this target, the incremental cash flow model is expanded to give room for governance issues, while a functional introduction to information sets is developed, including bounded rationality, asymmetric information, opportunistic behavior, transaction costs and agency problems. Then, corporate governance is linked to globalization by means of some recent approaches that go beyond a narrow economic mindset to encompass a far-reaching dynamics. Taking advantage of such background, the Enron’s story is tracked down over a span of fifteen years since its starting day to its bankruptcy filing. Leading events are explained from corporate and global governance viewpoints, while an in-depth analysis is worked out on Enron’s complex game of deception and breach of contracts: the outrageous affiliated limited partnerships, the lavish pay package to its executives, the involvement with global governance through the Indian affair and the Taliban connection. It is for the incremental cash flow model to explain malfeasance with cash flows from assets, and how cash flows to creditors were actually contrived. Furthermore, to highlight how cash flows were swindled from stockholders and, finally, how Enron made wheeling and dealing with cash flows on behalf of its managers.corporate governance, global governance, incremental cash flow model, globalization, information sets, good practices.

How the logic and pragmatics of sinking funds play a part in corporate governance

This paper sets forth that sinking funds foster corporate governance, either when they intend to build up the principal of bonds and financial hybrids to be repaid at maturity date, or to plan ahead the purchase of fixed assets in the future. To lay foundations, firstly we expand on the logic of sinking funds, by reviewing the standard model of capital formation. Proven drawbacks of this model, however, pave the way for our proposal of undertaking a portfolio management approach for which we furnish an iterative resetting program that deals with unavoidable imbalances of the underlying portfolio. Secondly, we develop the pragmatics of sinking funds, which focus on the choice problem attached to sinking funds and the fiduciary role expected from an appointed portfolio manager. Lastly, we move on to a protocol with suitable covenants to be embedded in a bond placement, so as to enhance the governance of those organizations that dare to avail themselves of sinking funds.sinking fund, corporate governance, bonds placement, financial hybrids, fixed assets, capital formation, portfolio management.

Multiplicative models of financial returns an what we fail to get when they are disregarded

This paper puts forward an alternative approach to multiplicative models and their assessment of returns out of financial assets. Firstly, it lays down an operative definition but also sets forth a commutative framework of mappings to provide foundations to such a definition. Next, the total return is split down into its linear and non-linear building blocks. Afterwards, a compatibility lemma draws a distinction between what should be meant by linear approximation and linear equivalence to the multiplicative model. Last of all, three empirical examples bring home how to profit from multiplicative models in actual practice.multiplicative models of returns, additive models of return, financial assets returns, linear approximation and linear equivalences

The pricing of financial assets in the physical world of finance

The pricing of financial assets, this paper contends, it does not consist only in assessing a technical value from a valuation model and then calibrating such value by looking at the market. In order to sharpen up this complex process we are going to handle, firstly, a valuation procedure that stems from the temporal structure of rates of return adjusted for risk. Secondly, the concept of the physical world of finance is introduced just to move further onto the cost-profit structure of dealers and big players, highlighting the far-reaching role of transaction costs. Next, we work out both ask and bid references prices by linking technical values with spreads. Afterwards, prices in actual trading are contrasted with reference prices, hence bringing out the quasi-rents rates to which dealers earnestly seek for at the end of the day. Lastly, reference prices, spreads, and quasi-rent rates are compounded together quantitatively, so as to enhance the understanding and the practice of pricing in the physical world of finance.physical world of finance; quasi-rents; cost-profit structure; bid and ask reference prices; financial assets valuation

The rise of corporate governance brokers and how they trade in asymmetric information

This paper sets forth that governance brokerage can be regarded as a natural outgrowth of the actual practice of Corporate Governance. To lay the foundations of our subject, firstly we delve into the dual nature of any transaction. Then we move on to define what the expression “governance broker” means, underlining five professional arrangements from which governance intermediation can be achieved. Next, it is shown how trade splits up economic agents’ information sets, giving rise to the brokerage of asymmetric information. Afterwards, we account for the ways a governance broker meets his goals in dyadic and polyadic relationships, bringing forward distinctive courses of action: clinical assistance, consultancy to foster growth and value, governance engineering, tutoring on global standards of governance, mediation in conflicts of interests, even international intermediation.governance broker, information sets, dyadic and polyadic relationships, brokerage of asymmetric information, corporate governance.

How trade splits up information sets and dealers carry out their brokerage of asymmetric information

n this paper we set forth a new perspective from which to understand and measure the brokerage of asymmetric information that intermediaries usually carry out. Firstly, we deal with partitions of a given set so as to lay grounds to our line of research. Secondly, we argue that trade splits up imperfect information sets, over which traders try to negotiate and profit, but also hide their opportunistic behavior from their counterparts. Next, the brokerage of asymmetric information is framed so as to stress the fact that any exchange is dual, entailing not only bargaining property rights but also information value. Lastly, we bring to light the linkage between differential rates, residual information sets and trading environments, which seems to be a functional toolkit for assessing how much asymmetric information is brokered eventually.asymmetric information, brokerage, differential rates, residual information sets, financial intermediaries

Differential Rates of Return and Residual Information Sets (A Discrete Approach)

It is our purpose here to show the deep relationship between differential rates and their underlying information sets. To accomplish our task, we will make for the following stages: In the first place, we deal with scaled changes along a period and conditional rates of change within a discrete environment. Next, rings and algebras of sets are addressed, so as to provide information sets with a suitable structure and give grounds to differential rates. Afterwards, differential rates are presented rigourosly, and two important lemmas follow through: the first one makes possible the use of differential rates with restrictive assumptions on their information sets, as customary applications seem to require. The second lemma attempts a broader outcome in a general setting so as to cope with differential rates defined on more realistic information sets. Both lemmas contributerigorously to shape definitions of narrow and broad differential rates on residual information sets.Information sets, differential rates of return, transaction costs

Transactionally Efficient Markets, Dynamic Arbitrage and Microstructure

In this paper, we introduce a Transactionally Efficient Market Model, which evolves from the standard efficient market model, encompassing both transaction costs and bid-ask prices. Hence, we delve into how arbitrage makes its way within this complex setting. The main outgrowth of the analysis is the "trap set", which is the place where most of price trajectories should enter to put an end to supernormal profits, although the underlying dynamics seems far from coming to a halt, and becomes bewildering instead. Bid-ask arbitrage gaps will prove useful to track down those adjustments of current prices, transaction costs and fundamental values. At this point, we define a transactionally efficacious market. Furthermore, a non linear dynamics whose environment gives room to mediator and microstructure, will lead us to prove the existence of a vectorial arbitrage gap mapping which becomes operational at managing the transactional efficiency of the market, in a complex surroundings with chaotic patterns eventually. Summing up: transactionally efficient markets are those markets which are informative efficient and transactionally efficacious.Dynamic Arbitrage; microstructure; transactional efficiency; chaos.

Who is the ultimate master of contractual, regulatory, discretionary and residual cash flows? An answer from the standpoint of corporate governance

This paper sets forth a framework of analysis that links contractual, discretionary, regulatory and residual cash flows with decision rights over them. To attain this purpose, firstly we introduce the standard incremental cash flow model, underlying its main limitations. Secondly, we move on bringing to light cash flows to senior management and directors, as well as the so-often neglected investment portfolio. Next, we settle down to what we are going to call the compact cash flow model that comprises five building blocks, namely those arising out of assets, those addressed to owners, creditors, managers and directors, and lastly the company’s investment portfolio. Afterwards, contractual, discretionary, regulatory and residual cash flows are enlarged upon. Last of all, we focus on decision rights over every constituent of each building block. This issue carries weight in Corporate Governance since stakeholders who claim or exercise decision rights, also could trespass on the rules of the game, becoming better off to the expense and damage of other stakeholders.corporate governance; contractual, regulatory, discretional and residual cash flows; decision rights; incremental cash flow model