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A major challenge for foreign lenders in financing public private partnerships (PPP) infrastructure projects in an emerging market (EM) is the bankability of country-related risks. Despite existing studies on country risks in international project financing, perspectives of foreign lenders on bankability of country-specific risks in an EM is yet to be explored. Hence, using a mixed methodology approach, three private finance initiatives/PPP projects in Sub Saharan Africa (Nigeria) were used to investigate political risk, sponsor, concession and legal risks in PPP loan applications. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The study adopted mixed methodological approach comprising focus group discussions and analysis of loan documents obtained from foreign project lenders, in addition to the questionnaire survey distributed to local and international project financiers with experiences in PPPs within Nigeria.

Results identified seven topmost bankability criteria for evaluating country-related risks (political risk, sponsor, concession and legal risks) in EM PPPs. In addition, a “Risk and Bankability Framework Model” was developed from the study presenting critical parameters for gaining foreign funding approval for EM’s PPP loan applications.

Since the study only explored bankability of PPPs in Sub Saharan Africa with the exclusion of other geographical regions, the proposed framework model should be taken in context of EMs as a mind-map for foreign lenders and local private investors seeking to finance PPPs in an EM.

Results from the study represent critical parameters for winning foreign loan approval for PPP infrastructure projects within an EM context.

Study proposed “Risk and Bankability Framework Model” relevant for evaluating PPP loan applications at the pre-approval stage for EM PPPs.

Examines the phenomenon of cross‐border property lending and some issues regarding lending procedures and decision‐making processes in the context of the relationship between lender and professional adviser. Commences by placing these procedures and processes in the context of the development of cross‐border European property investment and finance. The UK has been a popular destination for overseas investors and lenders over the last decade and is therefore used as a case study to examine the additional institutional risk that overseas lenders may face when operating outside of their own country and obtaining advice from home professionals. The research identified a lack of clarity in roles and relationships between lender and adviser, difficulties in communications both internally and between overseas branches and headquarters and failures in provision and interpretation of advice. Concludes by identifying the issues which may need to be addressed generally by lenders and their advisers, when lenders are operating in overseas markets.

This paper discusses some of the lessons learnt from the use of the ‘bail‐out’ technique in the financial crises in Thailand, Korea and Indonesia in 1997–8. While the solution to debt crises in the past relied upon debt restructuring techniques which involved directly creditors and debtors, a distinct feature in the recent Asian financial crises, as well as in the Mexican crisis in 1994–5, is the massive amount of public funding — from bilateral and multilateral sources — that has been made available to shore up the crisis. The need for immediate disbursal of vast sums of money as well as the speed with which the crisis evolved, prompted governments to provide financing in a way that is reminiscent of the emergency liquidity assistance provided at a domestic level by the lender of last resort role of the central bank. By analogy to the bank‐to‐bank (micro) contagion that provides the theoretical rationale for the domestic lender of last resort, the country‐to‐country (macro) contagion and associated quick loss of confidence is the main argument put forth to justify the role assumed by the International Monetary Fund as de facto international lender of last resort in the late 1990s.

This paper reviews studies that have examined how accounting information impacts commercial lending judgments. Issues discussed involve the usefulness of accounting data in lending decisions, effects of different accounting methods on lenders’ judgments, bankruptcy and default judgments, and decision processes pertaining to the use of accounting information in lending decisions. Additionally, the paper reviews the research on how audits and other forms of assurance influence commercial loan officers’ judgments. Topics include the way perceived auditor independence influences loan officers’ judgments, the impact of financial statement audits and audit opinions on lending decisions, how internal control reports and other CPA firm reports influence loan decisions, ways in which audit report disclosures and wording impact lending decisions, how perceived auditor quality affects lending decisions, and the effects of limited assurance engagements on loan officers’ judgments.

This paper studies banking crises in a framework where the government can be biased in favor of a “business elite.” When the deposit contract is such that the run on the bank takes place only if the economic system is in a recession, the presence of a “crony” government introduces an element of indeterminacy, i.e. equilibrium can be multiple. Moreover, by means of an information updating mechanism, it is shown that the crisis may spread out to countries “similar” to the one that is examined, i.e. that contagion is possible.

There is increasing international concern about the escalation of fraud and, in particular, financial statement fraud. Detecting financial statement fraud and proving such fraud remains an elusive goal. Red flagging is an early warning system that has been used by auditors to determine the probability of financial statement fraud. The purpose of this research project was to survey investors and lenders in South Africa on their use of red flags and to obtain their opinions on the relative importance of individual red flags. A questionnaire was sent to banks that are registered with the Registrar of Banks (representative of lenders) and to portfolio managers registered with the Financial Services Board (representative of investors). The research findings indicate that lenders and investors in South Africa appear to be aware of the benefits of red flagging as an early warning system. A structured approach (questionnaires/checklists) in using them is to be lacking at present. Respondents rated all red flags in the questionnaire as being important. No distinction was discernable among the different categories that were based on the nature of red flags.

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has justified the simplification of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in several ways, but no effective justification for this simplification has been made based on the information needs of users. This study aims to provide empirical evidence of the decision usefulness of IFRS for SMEs from a prominent user group of SME financial statements – the banks.

This study uses a mixed-method approach. First, a survey was conducted on commercial bank lending officers to assess the usefulness of different disclosure items included in the SME financial statements. Second, semi-structured interviews were conducted with commercial bank lending officers to gain an in-depth insight into the appropriateness and economic consequences of the requirements of IFRS for SMEs on their lending decisions.

The findings show that commercial bank lending officers did not consider all the disclosure requirements presented to them to be equally important. Hence, to facilitate the actual needs of the users’ decision usefulness, it is imperative that when given the opportunity, users participate in the development of accounting standards.

The findings of this study will be of interest to accounting regulators for evaluating the successful implementation of IFRS for SMEs and planning the next review of IFRS for SMEs. The IASB and SME Implementation Group are presently considering ways to increase user involvement for the next review of IFRS for SMEs, and the findings of this study signify the need for user involvement in the standard setting process.

Public private partnerships (PPP) projects are characterised by highly leveraged capital structure. Lenders who provide the major portion of financing in the form of debt are more concerned with the downside risks and the measures to mitigate the risks. Lenders, thus, look into the risk factors and mitigating measures that could influence the projects debt servicing capability while making the credit decisions. The purpose of this paper is to identify the various aspects of PPP road projects that lenders look into while making the decisions to extend project finance loans to PPP road projects.

Case study research with four Indian lending institutions provides primary evidences from the interviews on the aspects considered during credit decision making. The primary evidences are collaborated with secondary evidences such as loan proposal and information memoranda of the PPP road projects undertaken by the case study organisations.

The study identifies the various aspects of PPP road projects, categorised into six major dimensions. The aspects and dimensions provide a theoretical framework to measure the risk profile of PPP road projects from debt‐financing perspective.

Additional cases can be undertaken to validate the findings and increase the usefulness of the framework to practitioners and enhance their general application.

The framework can be useful while making debt financing decisions in assessing how desirable the project is from a debt‐financing perspective.

The work is novel providing insights into debt financing of PPP road projects in India and will be of interest to sponsors while structuring the financial package.

This paper sets up a model of strategic sovereign default, in which crony capitalism provides policymakers with incentives to service the debt beyond what is socially optimal. It then considers reforms to deal with the supply side of clientelism: the private sector. This involves tackling agency problems between managers and corporate stakeholders, since a key element to constrain the ability of powerful economic interests to capture the state is good corporate governance. Economic hard times provide such an opportunity, as the implicit coalition between groups of cronies may break down. A model is built along those lines, which highlights international contagion of debt repudiation.

This study aims to analyze Payday loans and many similar products which are a relatively new phenomena in the USA, but have been rapidly expanding particularly after the 2008 financial crisis, and have taken a heavy toll on the most vulnerable members of our society.

An extensive literature review of the key US features of payday loans, the regulatory framework and its limitations, the issues and the most recent actions taken to date. The review also includes work done by the European Union, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the United Nations while discussing how the Internet and extraterritoriality influence the current landscape.

With the advent of globalization and the Internet, the issues associated with payday loans have become harder to tackle, particularly in the USA, given the arcane state regulations used to address the numerous frauds and abuses plaguing the industry. The lack of any international approach combined with increasing cases where questionable actors leverage extraterritoriality, making addressing the issues even more challenging.

This is an all-encompassing review aimed at expanding on existing approaches to properly provide and regulate payday loans and similar alternative sources of credit in this rapidly changing environment; pragmatic domestic and international policy recommendations are listed accordingly.