Bank management & financial services, 9th ed.

Abstract

This book, now in its ninth edition, reaches all the way back to the beginning of the 1990s. So much has happened in this interval of more than 20 years. War and revolution have marked many parts of the globe, especially the Middle East, with no end on the hori, zon. Natural disasters from earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and tsunamis, volcanoes, and more have unleashed devastation and death in critical regions of our planet. Economic prosperity that marked so much of the 1990s turned into economic disas, ter in the opening decade of the new century. Jobs disappeared, living standards plum, meted, homes were lost, and countless businesses failed. The worst economic recession in nearly 80 years led to anger and demonstrations in the streets and the most stringent belt, tightening among families and business owners and managers that has been experienced since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Unquestionably, it is difficult to find and maintain a positive attitude and that most precious commodity, hope, under these circumstances. Yet that is what this book and many others like it are all about-how to turn trouble and turmoil into useful knowledge and from that knowledge hope that our world can be a happier and more fulfilling place. This book does not presume to tackle the broadest spectrum of knowledge. No book can really do that, even in the modern digital age. Instead it focuses on a much smaller but nevertheless important slice of our world-the financial-services sector served by thousands of small and large financial firms that develop and market tools to manage risk, pursue financial opportunities, and supply information vital to the making of informed financial decisions, accompanied by the hope of favorable outcomes. Much of this book is devoted to the banking sector, but also to other important financial institutions-credit unions, mutual and hedge funds, pension plans, insurance companies, finance companies, security brokers and dealers, and thousands of other financial-service providers. We explore what these institutions do for us and the risks they present.