Cross-border transactions involve a variety of financial operations, including arbitrage, hedging, speculation, financing and investment. These inter-related operations give rise to foreign exchange exposure and affect the overall financial performance of multinational firms. The book aims to provide an integrated treatment of multinational financial operations, whilst taking into account some real world complexities such as bid/offer spreads, transaction costs, capital rationing, and market imperfections.

The book presents arguments that are critical of the Basel II Accord, particularly the advanced measurement approach to operational risk. It is argued that the advanced measurement approach is not viable in terms of costs and benefits and is likely to distract financial institutions from the real task of managing operational risk.

Forecasting exchange rates is a variable that preoccupies economists, businesses and governments, being more critical to more people than any other variable. In Exchange Rate Forecasting the author sets out to provide a concise survey of the techniques of forecasting - bringing together the various forecasting methods and applying them to the exchange rate in a highly accessible and readable manner. Highly practical in approach, the book provides an understanding of the techniques of forecasting with an emphasis on its applications and use in business decision-making, such as hedging, speculation, investment, financing and capital budgeting. In addition, the author also considers recent developments in the field, notably neural networks and chaos, again, with easy-to-understand explanations of these "rocket science" areas. The practical approach to forecasting is also reflected in the number of examples that pepper the text, whilst descriptions of some of the software packages that are used in practice to generate forecasts are also provided.

Operational Risk Management

by I. Moosa

Published 1 January 2007
Written by an experienced academic and practitioner, Operational Risk Management fills a gap in the information available on the Basel 2 Accord and offers valuable insights into the nature of operational risk.