It is now widely recognized that an uncontrolled "derivatives revolution" triggered one of the most spectacular worst-case scenarios of modern times. This book - the most cogent legal analysis of the subject yet to appear in any language - lays bare the core role played by the failure to adequately regulate derivatives in the financial crisis of recent years. The author's insistence that derivatives must be viewed not as profit-seeking investments but as risk management tools - and his well-grounded prescriptions to ensure that they are regulated in that way - sheds clear light on the best way for companies, financial institutions, and hedge funds to move forward in their use of these useful but highly hazardous instruments. This book clearly shows how such elements as the following fit into the legal analysis of derivatives, and how proper regulation will preserve their usefulness and economic value: ; derivatives allow for the most efficient and cost-effective risk fractioning, hence risk taking, techniques ever conceived; derivatives allow for all measurable and identifiable risks that may exist in modern finance; the ability to isolate risks and insure against risk exposures is the key to the very survival of modern financial markets; risk buyers effectively take on financial exposure to various types of risk while hedgers unload unwanted exposures; derivatives allow domestic investors to acquire exposure to foreign markets without the necessity of dealing with foreign laws, foreign investments, currency exchange, or foreign fiscal regimes; derivatives increase social welfare by making it easier and less expensive to carry out many types of financial transactions; derivatives allow governments to insulate, manage, hedge or concentrate risks deriving from financial, meteorological, and even geopolitical exposure; and derivatives allow radical changes to financial and risk structure to be performed silently and rapidly. To the question: how do we ensure that a company trading derivatives is regulated effectively? this work offers a clear and convincing answer. The author's detailed recommendations for regulatory and corporate governance measures are designed to prevent excessive risk taking, the emergence of rogue traders, and ultimately the emergence of another systemic disturbance caused by chains of derivatives-related losses.

A compelling narrative on what went wrong with our financial system—and who’s to blame. From an award-winning journalist who has been covering the industry for more than a decade, The Devil’s Derivatives charts the untold story of modern financial innovation—how investment banks invented new financial products, how investors across the world were wooed into buying them, how regulators were seduced by the political rewards of easy credit, and how speculators made a killing from the near-meltdown of the financial system. Author Nicholas Dunbar demystifies the revolution that briefly gave finance the same intellectual respectability as theoretical physics. He explains how bankers worldwide created a secret trillion-dollar machine that delivered cheap mortgages to the masses and riches beyond dreams to the financial innovators. Fundamental to this saga is how “the people who hated to lose” were persuaded to accept risk by “the people who loved to win.” Why did people come to trust and respect arcane financial tools? Who were the bankers competing to assemble the basic components into increasingly intricate machines? How did this process achieve its own unstoppable momentum—ending in collapse, bailouts, and a public outcry against the giants of finance? Provocative and intriguing, The Devil’s Derivatives sheds much-needed light on the forces that fueled the most brutal economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Dieses Buch ist die sorgfältig umgeschriebene und redigierte Bearbeitung von Reden und Aufsätzen des Nobelpreisträgers Merton Miller, die seine persönlichen Einschätzungen des Marktes widerspiegeln. Gut verständlich wird die Problematik der Derivative sowie wichtige Themen der modernen Finanzwelt - jedoch ohne mathematische Formeln - erörtert. (10/97)

This book is a blueprint for coping the revolution, it gives a new vision of finacial markets outlined clearly and succinctly in print for the first time.

Derivatives Markets ROBERT L. MCDONALD Northwestern University Derivatives tools and concepts permeate modern finance. An authoritative treatment from a recognized expert, Derivatives Markets presents the sometimes challenging world of futures, options, and other derivatives in an accessible, cohesive, and intuitive manner. Some features of the book include: *Insights into pricing models. Formulas are motivated and explained intuitively. Links between the various derivative instruments are highlighted. Students learn how derivatives markets work, with an emphasis on the role of competitive market-makers in determining prices. *A tiered approach to mathematics. Most of the book assumes only basic mathematics, such as solving two equations in two unknowns. The last quarter of the book uses calculus, and provides an introduction to the concepts and pricing techniques that are widely used in derivatives today. *An applied emphasis. Chapters on corporate applications, financial engineering, and real options illustrate the broad applicability of the tools and models developed in the book. A rich array of examples bolsters the theory. *A computation-friendly approach. Excel spreadsheets. Visual Basic code for the pricing functions is included, and can be modified for your own use. ADVANCE PRAISE FROM THE MARKET Derivatives Markets provides a comprehensive yet in-depth treatment of the theory, institutions, and applications of derivatives. McDonald is a master teacher and researcher in the field and makes the reading effortless and exciting with his intuitive writing style and the liberal use of numerical examples and cases sprinkled throughout...(It) is a terrific book, and I highly recommend it. Geroge Constantinides University of Chicago ...the most appealing part of the writing is how replete the text is with intuition and how effortless it is woven throughout. Ken Kavajecz University of Pennsylvania ...a wonderful blend of the economics and mathematics of derivatives pricing. After reading the book, the student will have not only an understanding of derivatives pricing models but also of derivatives markets...The technical development...brings the student/reader remarkably close to state of the art with carefully chosen and developed mathematical machinery.

Advance praise for Derivatives: The Wild Beast of Finance "Dr Steinherr has written a most valuable and badly-needed book on an important subject. . this book is to date the most complete, comprehensive and searching description and analysis of derivatives and their markets. Indeed, I can think of no better manual as well as continuous reference work for anyone interested in the subject than this present work." Lord Roll of Ipsden, Senior Adviser SBC Warburg, former Chairman of S. G. Warburg and Co. Ltd "A lot of nonsense has been said about derivatives, none of which has found its way into Steinherr's careful, but lively and very readable analysis." Alexandre Lamfalussy, former President of the European Monetary Institute "With deep understanding of the historical, social and technical forces involved, Alfred Steinherr pertinently extracts for the professional and lay reader the crucial elements of the financial revolution . and alerts them to the further dramatic implications . as the activity moves into the cyberspace world of the next millennium." Jack Wigglesworth, Chairman of LIFFE "A book full of ideas and written in a style that is both serious and entertaining." Karl Otto Pöhl, Sal. Oppenheim Jr. & Cie, former President of Deutsche Bundesbank "Alfred Steinherr provides a lively and informative canter through the world of derivatives, including their history, implications - not least for regulators - and their future developments. This is a most valuable book for practitioners, officials and students alike." Professor Charles A. E. Goodhart, Financial Markets Group, London School of Economics "Alfred Steinherr's book is a readable and entertaining introduction to the subject with much food for thought for the layman and insider alike." Andrew D. Crockett, General Manager, Bank of International Settlements "Alfred Steinherr has produced a lucid, authoritative tour through an arcane corner of modern finance that has emerged as a pillar of global capital markets. Senior executives in particular would be well advised to read this book if they want to know what their financial specialists are really up to." Professor Ingo Walter, Director of Salomon Center, New York University

Der schlechte Ruf der Derivative gründet sich auf Mißbrauch und das hohe Risiko, das mit diesem oft exotisch wirkenden Finanzinstrument verbunden ist. Sie wollen sich unvoreingenommen, besser informieren? Anhand signifikanter Fallstudien führt dieses Buch Sie unter anderem in Techniken des Risikomanagement und Kontrollstrukturen ein.

Robert Whaley has more than twenty-five years of experience in the world of finance, and with this book he shares his hard-won knowledge in the field of derivatives with you. Divided into ten information-packed parts, Derivatives shows you how this financial tool can be used in practice to create risk management, valuation, and investment solutions that are appropriate for a variety of market situations.

praise for FISCHER BLACK AND THE REVOLUTIONARY IDEA OF FINANCE "The story of Fischer Black. . . . is remarkable both because of the creativity of the man and because of the revolution he brought to Wall Street. . . . Mehrling's book is fascinating." FINANCIAL TIMES "A fascinating history of things we take for granted in our everyday financial lives." THE NEW YORK TIMES "Mehrling's book is essential reading for anyone interested in the development of modern finance or the life of an idiosyncratic creative genius." PUBLISHERS WEEKLY "Fischer Black was more than a vital force in the development of finance theory. He was also a character. Perry Mehrling has captured both sides of the picture: the evolution of thinking about the pricing of risk and time, as well as the thinkers, especially this fascinating eccentric, who worked it out." ROBERT M. SOWLO, Nobel laureate and Institute Professor of Economics, Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology "Although I worked closely with Fischer for nine years at Goldman Sachs and clearly recognized both his genius and the breadth and originality of his ideas, until I read this book, I had only the vaguest grasp of the source of his inspiration and no understanding at all of the source of his many idiosyncrasies." BOB LITTERMAN, Partner, Kepos Capital "Perry Mehrling has done a remarkable job of tracing the intellectual and personal development of one of the most original and complex thinkers of our generation. Fischer Black deserved it: a charming and brilliant book about a charming and brilliant man." ROBERT E. LUCAS JR., Nobel laureate and Professor of Economics, The University of Chicago