DO CORPORATE GOVERNANCE “ACTORS”’ FEATURES AFFECT BANKS’ VALUE? – EVIDENCE FROM ROMANIA

The purpose of our empirical study is to identify and discuss the influences of various features of corporate governance “actors” over strategies followed and performances reached in Romanian banking system. The features considered for analysis refers to provenience, size, independence and gender diversity of executive management and board of directors, as well as to provenience, structure, origin and concentration of shareholders. The research methodology used for achieving our goal is based on econometric analysis using various statistical tools, like correlations for identifying the relationships between independent and dependent variables, and regressions for developing the models revealing how corporate governance characteristics influence banks value and their business strategy. The results of the performed analysis reveal positive correlations between banks’ traditional strategies and performances, and foreign corporate governance (board of directors, executive management and shareholders), made majority by male members, where CEO duality avoidance is ensured, the board of directors is entirely independent and the majority of shareholders are coming from European Union members states. The only negative correlation appeared to be between shareholders structure and banks value, revealing that those banks that still have individuals within its ownership performed lower.corporate governance, banking, performance, Romania

PROFESSION AND CAREER IN THE BANK MANAGEMENT

Within the global economy, banks also face multiple challenges, starting from the great competition to the danger of diminishing the market quota and its profitability. The gradual development of the European bank system has led to the increase of the complexity of bank activity. The task of a bank manager is not only to run one any more. Mainly, the task of a modern bank manager is to use all resources at his/her disposal, in order to obtain the estimated results in front of the shareholders. This work is a reflection of the conceptualization processes of the ratio between “development” and “bank management” within the context of getting to know the reality. The theme refers to the structure of the personality of the bank manager which is found in profession, style and behaviour.management, bank system; bank manager profession; management team.

XBRL-based projects for financial and prudential reporting – an empirical analysis in European banking system

Our paper approaches the extensible economic reporting language for collecting information on business processes, namely XBRL by analyzing its implementation in the European banking environment, closely related to the adoption of International Accounting Standards and Financial Reporting (IAS/IFRS). Our research problem mainly came from the accounting development issue, which is an evolutionary process dependent upon several factors. On the other hand, improving banking supervision on information reporting is a problem that needed special attention in order to increase its efficiency and effectiveness, especially in the latest period sprinkled with various banking failures. The results of the performed analysis using various statistical tools (descriptive statistic and correlation tests) reveal that the implementation of both XBRL-based projects (FINREP and COREP) is independent of a fully or partially adoption of IAS/IFRS, while the financial and prudential reporting frameworks are mainly inter-related. Thus, our paper came to point out XBRL’s major role in facilitating information communication in a homogeneous way that will allow the interchange of data between software applications, as well as the automatic analysis of financial information in a particular business field, the banking one

Dissolution of Chitosan in Ionic Liquids for Acylation Chemistry and Formation of Cellulose-Chitosan Blends

Dissolution of chitosan in ionic liquids was accomplished. It has been shown that 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (BMIMAc) is a better solvent than 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (BMIMCl). Dissolution of chitosan in BMIMCl required a prior regeneration of chitosan from 1% acetic acid solution. In the case of BMIMAc, both dried chitosan and regenerated chitosan from acetic acid solution have been dissolved in a relatively short amount of time. While concentrations up to 2 wt% of chitosan in BMIMCl could be obtained, concentrations of 10 wt % of chitosan in BMIMAc were realized. Homogeneous phthalation and benzoylation of chitosan were achieved in these ionic liquids. According to FT-IR data both -OH and -NH2 groups of chitosan reacted with benzoyl chloride and phthalic anhydride, respectively. The reaction of chitosan with phthalic anhydride in the presence of a base or N-bromosuccinimide as catalyst and using ionic liquids as a solvent media was also studied. The presence of a base into system leads to an increase of the degree of substitution (DS = 0.41) of the functional groups of chitosan comparing with the reactions performed in the absence of a base (DS = 0.24), while the presence of a catalyst into system resulted in even higher increase of DS (0.85). The FT-IR data indicated that the hydroxyl groups of chitosan are being catalyzed to a greater extent than the amino groups. All the reactions products obtained in the presence of a catalyst were soluble in dimethyl sulfoxide and dimethylformamide. Chitosan-cellulose blends were prepared using BMIMAc as common solvent. Rheological measurements of polymeric solutions indicated the formation of a complex between chitosan and cellulose molecules. Films prepared from polymeric solutions were investigated by means of FT-IR, TGA, XRD and SEM measurements. The shifting of the band corresponding to –NH groups of chitosan from 1597 to 1565 cm-1 (FT-IR), the absence of diffraction peaks at 2è = 10.7 and 14.9o (XRD), the increased Ea for all polymeric blends (MTGA), and the presence of a homogeneous structure with no phase separation of the two polymers (SEM) serve as good evidence for the miscibility between chitosan and cellulose in the solid state

How Do Ownership Features Affect Corporate Governance Disclosure ? – The Case Of Banking System

The purpose of our empirical study is to assess the relationship between ownership’ features  and the level of disclosure in case of banking institutions listed on London Stock Exchange, basing on the general statement that disclosure and quality of corporate governance system are two closely related concepts - the higher the level of transparency, the better the quality corporate governance practices. Irrespective of prior studies, which were focused on specific corporate governance features like board of directors size and independence, CEO duality or various ownership’ features, our study comes to add value to corporate governance literature by testing one attribute of corporate governance attribute – ownership, from various perspectives. Moreover, because the banking system was little explored on this topic before, we had the chance to enrich the research literature with this empirical study, whose disclosure index developed ensures it as well with originality. The research methodology used for achieving our goal is based on econometric analysis using statistical tools - correlations for identifying the relationships and regressions for assessing them - all of these being performed using SPSS software. In this respect, firstly, we developed a disclosure index made of three sub-indices, one for each type of disclosure: mandatory, recommended and voluntary. The main features considered for assessing ownership were its structure and concentration. The results of the performed analysis reveal significant positive influences of all features tested on the level of disclosure, thus confirming our assumptions that the higher the quality of ownership, the higher the level of disclosure

Exploration of catalysis activation emergency as a function of gold nanoparticle surface morphology

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 2008.Includes bibliographical references (p. 45).The application of rippled gold nanoparticles with bi-ligand surface morphology as a catalyst was tested. The hydrolysis of 2,4-dinitrophenyl acetate (DNPA) served as the catalytic reaction being analyzed and the bi-ligand composition used was 16-mercaptohexadecanoic acid to imidazole thiol (MHA to IT). The influence of temperature on catalytic reaction of DNPA with the MHA: IT system was tested for ligand rations of 2:1, 1:2, and 1:1 by monitoring the catalytic system on a UV-VIS spectrometer. Catalytic rate constants were obtained and found to increase with increased temperature. The measured catalytic rate constants were greatest overall for the 1:1 system, followed by the 1:2 system, and lastly the 2:1 system. The activation energy for each ligand-ratio system was measured and found to be 22.17 kJ/mol for the 2:1 system, 14.7 kJ/mol for the 1:2 system, and 26.52 for the 1:1 system. The 2:1 and 1:2 systems followed the trend of lower activation energy values for systems with faster rates; however the 1:1 system did not fit this trend as it resulted in the highest activation energy value as well as the fastest reaction rates.by Cristina F. Stefanescu.S.B

Public vs. Banking Sector Accounting - How Far Is Romania from International Referential?

The purpose of our paper is to identify the level of accounting harmonization in Romania for both public and banking sector with international referential (IPSAS and IFRS) focusing on financial reporting requirements, by providing both vertical and horizontal analysis beginning with the year 2001 up to present. Unlike prior studies conducted on the same topic, which measure the general accounting harmonization for private sector, our paper is focused on specific economic fields – public vs. banking sector – thus providing a different approach of accounting harmonization. The research methodology used for achieving our goal was based on both static and dynamic analysis of the degree of similarity and dissimilitude between national and international accounting frameworks, by using appropriate statistical tools (e.g. Euclidian distance, Jaccard and Spearman coefficients). Our results reveal continuous improvements in accounting regulations in both sectors along time, but banking sector was always much closer to international standards than the public one. Considering the controversies between cash and accrual basis accounting which affected harmonization in public sector, as well as the latest challenges for banking sector due to IFRS adoption, we appreciate the overview image of accounting development in Romania provided by our empirical results as valuable for a wide range of users: academics, researchers, practitioners for both public and banking sector

Curtea de Justiţie a Uniunii Europene vs Ombudsmanul European

Ombudsman, unlike the court, cannot make binding decisions, but usually public authorities follow its recommendations, otherwise he may bring the case to the attention of politicians and the public by informing Parliament. The link between the two fundamental European institutions, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Ombudsman, may be defined as a strong direct link between the problems of EU citizens. Requests to each institution represent an interest of each petitioner, which is intended to be solved by matching laws with moral rules and general principles of law

TGFβ signaling in myeloid cells promotes lung and liver metastasis through different mechanisms

TGFβ overexpression is commonly detected in cancer patients and correlates with poor prognosis and metastasis. Cancer progression is often associated with an enhanced recruitment of myeloid-derived cells to the tumor microenvironment. Here we show that functional TGFβ-signaling in myeloid cells is required for metastasis to the lungs and the liver. Myeloid-specific deletion of Tgfbr2 resulted in reduced spontaneous lung metastasis, which was associated with a reduction of proinflammatory cytokines in the metastatic microenvironment. Notably, CD8+ T cell depletion in myeloid-specific Tgfbr2-deficient mice rescued lung metastasis. Myeloid-specific Tgfbr2-deficiency resulted in reduced liver metastasis with an almost complete absence of myeloid cells within metastatic foci. On contrary, an accumulation of Tgfβ-responsive myeloid cells was associated with an increased recruitment of monocytes and granulocytes and higher proinflammatory cytokine levels in control mice. Monocytic cells isolated from metastatic livers of Tgfbr2-deficient mice showed increased polarization towards the M1 phenotype, Tnfα and Il-1β expression, reduced levels of M2 markers and reduced production of chemokines responsible for myeloid-cell recruitment. No significant differences in Tgfβ levels were observed at metastatic sites of any model. These data demonstrate that Tgfβ signaling in monocytic myeloid cells suppresses CD8+ T cell activity during lung metastasis, while these cells actively contribute to tumor growth during liver metastasis. Thus, myeloid cells modulate metastasis through different mechanisms in a tissue-specific manner