Better Banking: Understanding and Addressing the Failures in Risk Management, Governance and Regulation - Hardcover

Docherty, Adrian; Viort, Franck

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1118651308 ISBN 13: 9781118651308

Publisher: Wiley, 2014

Synopsis

Why did the financial crisis happen? Why did no one see it coming? And how did our banks lose so much of our money? What's being done to sort out the banking industry? And will it work?

These are the questions that industry experts Adrian Docherty and Franck Viort cover in Better Banking: Understanding and Addressing the Failures in Risk Management, Governance and Regulation. They give a clear and thorough run-through of some of the key concepts and developments in banking, to enable the reader to understand better this vital yet perilous industry. Without excessive detail or jargon, they explain the most important issues in risk management, regulation and governance and build a comprehensive description of how failings in these areas resulted in the current financial crisis. In order to make the diagnosis clear, the authors illustrate their descriptions with a series of informative case studies. The book revolves around a critique of the current regulatory developments, which the authors feel will be ineffective in fixing the structural flaws in banking. Crucially, and as the title of the book suggests, they set out their own series of proposals to contribute to the development of a better, safer and more effective banking industry.

Docherty and Viort's book fills an important gap in the literature on banking and its role in the current financial crisis. It is at once a history, a primer, a critique and a manifesto. It does not take sides but works through a constructive diagnosis towards ideas that could lead to major improvements in the quality and stability of the financial world.

Better Banking: Understanding and Addressing the Failures in Risk Management, Governance and Regulation is a technical yet accessible book that seeks to engage interested readers of all kinds -- students, professionals, bankers and regulators but also politicians and the broader audience of citizens outside the banking industry, who are keen to inform themselves and understand what needs to be done to avoid a repeat of this crisis.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

“Better Banking by Adrian Docherty and Frank Viort is an outstanding introduction to the recent financial crisis.  It starts from first principles and provides many useful new insights, delivering detailed case studies of the banks that got into trouble as well as critiques of past and proposed regulations.  I recommend this book to those who want to learn the basics about banking crises and to those looking for a fresh and sophisticated perspective on risk taking by banks.”
—Douglas W. Diamond, Merton H. Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

"Adrian Docherty and Franck Viort make a compelling and timely case for better banking.  They provide a critical analysis of recent banking history and an informed challenge to those developing future policy.  With the banking crisis far from over, Better Banking is required reading for all those with an interest in a sustainable financial system."
—Tim Wright, CEO, Willis International 

"Better Banking is a fresh and insightful primer on the financial crisis, based on first-hand experience of the banking industry. Docherty and Viort's blueprint for action is an entirely new contribution to the global debate on financial regulation."
—Benoît Coeuré, Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank

"This book is a page-turner on banking regulation, which in itself makes it a must-read. It goes beyond conventional wisdom and questions the very essence of what banks are here for in the first place. In that sense, it also has broader implications and I, for one, would very much like Adrian Docherty's and Franck Viort's ideas to be implemented in regulating the insurance sector and in the financial area more generally."
—Pierre Michel, Deputy-CEO, Caisse Centrale de Réassurance / Former Insurance and Pension Funds Expert, European Commission

“Docherty and Viort have a clear understanding of what went wrong in the financial crisis, and why. They also offer some thought provoking ideas for more robust bank regulation in the future. Furthermore, they write in an accessible and lucid way about complex problems.”
—Howard Davies, Professor, Sciences-Po / Former Chairman, FSA

“Bankers and regulators should read this book.  That way, they might get it right next time around”
—Adam Seale, CEO, Interactive I

About the Author:

Adrian Docherty and Franck Viort have, in aggregate, 40 years of experience serving and advising the financial services sector on strategic issues, in a variety of economic conditions and in many different countries around the world. Their professional focus is on helping to improve the financial management and risk performance of banks and insurance companies. Better Banking is their first book, though their views are regularly quoted in the press and they are frequent presenters at industry conferences. Adrian holds a master’s degree from Cambridge University and lives with his wife, son and daughter in Kent. Franck has a degree from Sciences-Po in Paris and an MBA from the University of Chicago and lives in London with his wife and three daughters.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1118651308
• ISBN 13: 9781118651308
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 376