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The Independent Banking Commission (Vickers) Report is not only one of the most significant developments in the banking regulatory and supervisory context in the UK in recent times but is also one that would considerably impact banking and capital markets functions and trends in this decade. The purposes of this paper are two‐fold: to analyse the interim Vickers Report within the larger paradigm of the prudential banking regulatory approach in the UK, particularly in the context of the debate of bailing out banks that are too‐big‐to‐fail; and to critically examine the recommendation of the Report in the context of the failure of Northern Rock in 2007. The central focus of the paper is to analyse the probable impact and shortcomings of the key recommendation of the Vickers Report, i.e. requirement to hold an additional capital buffer in order to separately ring‐fence retail functions and retail deposits of universal banks and financial institutions operating in the UK.

The method used is a combination of legal examination and case‐study based analysis. This paper sees the failure of Northern Rock as essentially a consequence of supervisory lapses by the FSA and raises relevant critical questions as to the efficacy of the recommendation of the Vickers Report in the context of such supervisory lapses and failures. While relying primarily on official publications in the public domain, journal articles, academic writings, and, newspaper articles, this paper explores the related regulatory and financial implications of the Vickers Report recommendation in the backdrop of the banking crisis in the UK.

The paper concludes that the key recommendation of the Vickers Report, to ring‐fence retail functions universal banks operating in the UK, goes only mid‐way in securing the twin objectives of stability and safety that the Report has set out to achieve.

The present Report is an interim one and the final version of the Report is expected in September. Further, various oversight reports and recommendations by the FSA and other bodies are expected as a follow‐up to the final Report. The key recommendation of the requirement for universal banks operating in the UK to hold additional capital for ring‐fencing their retail functions and deposits is not expected to undergo any substantial modification or revision in the final Report.

This paper is of immense significance to bankers, supervisors, lawyers, auditors, consultants, researchers, jurists, and, those engaged in or with various issues and sectors in financial and banking regulation.

The purpose of this paper is first, to engage in a critical examination of the broad legislative framework of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, 2008, in the United States; second, to provide an in‐depth understanding the legal basis, scope and nature of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) under the Act; third, to provide a legal analysis of the oversight provisions in the new Act; fourth, to examine the powers, responsibilities, functions and roles of the various new oversight offices set up under the new Act; fifth, to assess the economic and financial impact of implementation of the programme till early 2009; and to engage in a critical discussion of the limitations and shortcomings of TARP. The central focus of the paper is largely on TARP and the issues arising from using TARP as a legislative framework to facilitate the removal of toxic assets held by the various banks and financial institutions.

The larger approach used in this paper is a financial law approach. It is to facilitate an in‐depth analysis of the broader framework of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, 2008, i.e. the legislative mechanism that establishes the TARP. The central issue of the paper is to examine the provisions in TARP in the broader context of its ability to take toxic assets off the balance sheets of banks and financial institutions. The approach, therefore, aims to aid a critical examination of the related legal, financial and economic issues arising out of the implementation of TARP. It relies extensively on official publications, testimonials and reports by various oversight bodies in the public domain, academic writings and newspaper reports to assess the impact of the programme and explore the related legal, regulatory and financial implications.

The findings in the paper relate to the impact and extent of the TARP till the present. It explores the basis, nature and scope of the implementation of the programme and outlines the various shortcomings and limitations. The paper concludes that there are various issues that need to be redressed for TARP or a similar programme to be more effective and transparent.

Various oversight reports and recommendations by official bodies are still expected as regards various spending, accountability and transparency issues related to TARP in the coming months. A new stimulus package of $787 billion was just approved by the US Congress and signed into law (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, 2009) at the time this article was submitted for publication consideration. The article incorporates some issues relating to the new stimulus package as well as the Geithner plan, Public Private Investment Programme (PPIP), in the concluding section. However, substantial details are yet to emerge as to how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, 2009, establishing the stimulus package under the Obama government and the PPIP are both going to impact the future implementation of TARP and induce economic recovery at a broader level.

This paper is of immense significance to academics, jurists, consultants, legislators, policy‐makers, bankers, lawyers, auditors, consultants, researchers and anyone interested in financial and banking issues.

The purposes in this paper are: engaging in a critical examination of the framework of the banking regulatory framework in India; assessing the operational efficacy of banking regulatory and supervisory mechanisms; and providing an in‐depth legal analysis of the role of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as the country's central bank and the principal supervisory authority.

The method used is legal examination of regulatory practice and case‐study based analysis. It relies factually on official publications in the public domain, academic writings and newspaper reports to assess the impact of the fraud and explore the legal, regulatory and financial implications of the supervisory lapses.

The findings in the paper relate to the impact and extent of he Ketan Parekh fraud and the nature and scope of critical central banking supervision lapses. The paper concludes that such lapses can induce systemic problems in a key emerging economy like India especially when it is rapidly entering the second phase of major banking and financial reforms.

Various investigations are still underway as regards the Ketan Parekh fraud and several cases are being heard in courts and tribunals. The full extent of legal and regulatory liability is yet to be fully ascertained.

It is of immense significance to bankers, lawyers, auditors, consultants, researchers, jurists, law enforcement officials and those involved in financial and banking regulation.

Marketing, Marketing environment, Marketing strategy.

Post Graduate (MBA), Executive Education Program.

The present case study deals with the marketing strategies of Punascha (meaning re-beginning), a publisher of Bengali non-textbooks based in Kolkata, India. This case is suitable for teaching in Marketing Management course in a Post Graduate Program in Business Management. It could also be taken up for an executive program in marketing strategy. The case study is a live case study, which was based on in-depth interviews with the company people and company site visit. The case study discusses how Punascha started from a humble beginning in 1988 and became one of the leading publishers of Bengali books in India. The key focus of the case is on how a company can use marketing tools effectively (and uniquely) and become successful.

Understanding the basics of 4Ps of marketing and how they are used in synchronisation with each other to achieve the marketing objectives. Understanding the role of marketing environment in marketing strategy. Realizing the need of a new product development strategy. Assessing the need of non-traditional modes of marketing communications and its role in product promotion.

Teaching notes.

In light of the ever-growing complexity of real estate transactions, the need for vendors and buyers to better understand the role of vendor due diligence (VDD) is imperative. The purpose of this paper is twofold: firstly, it provides a detailed literature review regarding the role of VDD from both the vendor's and buyers' perspectives. Secondly, it analyses the value of VDD over and above the buyer's due diligence (BDD) in real estate transactions by proposing a theoretical model involving two-stage auctions.

Real-world examples from the industry are used as a motivation behind listing a set of practical questions. A theoretical construct is built to approximate the real estate environment under study. The construct is then studied from a game-theoretic perspective to obtain theoretical answers to the questions. These answers are then used to shape recommendations for the relevant industry and beyond.

The model suggested accommodates the feature that even though the VDD is broadly increasing informational efficiency in the market, its value is limited and sometimes harmful when the vendors have a sound prior understanding of their assets and the buyers' pre-transaction information about the asset is already high.

Though the real estate market is considered here, the theoretical model we propose is applicable to any other complex asset transaction decision that supports endogenous information disclosure considerations using VDD.

In a global environment where terrorist organisations based in a poor country target a rich nation, this paper aims to study the properties of a dynamically incentive compatible contract designed by the target nation that involves joint counter-terror tasks with costly participation by each country. The counter-terror operations are however subject to ex post moral hazard, so that to incentivise counter-terror, the rich country supplies developmental aid. Development aid also helps avoid unrest arising from counter-terror activities in the target nation. However, aid itself can be diverted to non-developmental projects, generating a novel interlinked moral hazard problem spanning both tasks and rewards.

The authors use a dynamic model where the aid giving countries and aid receiving countries behave strategically. Then they solve for the sub game perfect Nash equilibrium of this game.

The authors characterise the optimal contract, showing that the dynamic structure of counter-terror resembles the shock-and-awe discussed by military strategists. The authors then prove that it is not necessarily the case that a more hawkish (resp. altruistic) donor is less pro-development (resp. softer on terror). In addition, the authors show that it may be easier to contract for higher counter-terror inputs when the recipient is more sympathetic to terrorists. The authors also discuss other problems faced by developing nations where this model can be readily adopted and the results can endorse appealing policy implications.

The authors characterise the optimal contract, showing that the dynamic structure of counter-terror resembles the shock-and-awe discussed by military strategists. It is proved that it is not necessarily the case that a more hawkish (resp. altruistic) donor is less pro-development (resp. softer on terror). In addition, the authors show that it may be easier to contract for higher counter-terror inputs when the recipient is more sympathetic to terrorists. Other problems faced by developing nations are also discussed where this model can be readily adopted, and the results can endorse appealing policy implications. These results have important policy implications, in particular in today’s world.