The Determinants of Recovery Rates on Defaulted Corporate Securities: Why do Fallen Angels recover more than Original High Yield Issues?

Regression analysis has shown that recovery rates are determined by a variety of conditions at the time of default. These conditions can be broken into five major categories: (1) a security's seniority within the capital structure of the defaulting firm, (2) the type of default event, (3) firm-specific factors, (4) industry-specific factors, and (5) macroeconomic factors. Expectations of these inputs determine the expected recovery rate if default were to occur, thereby determining credit ratings and security prices. Although it is widely understood how recovery rate estimates influence credit rating assignments (the higher the expected recovery rate, the higher the assigned credit rating), no research, to the best of my knowledge, has investigated the reasons why higher rated securities recover more than lower rated securities in the event of default. Specifically, this paper will empirically investigate why securities originally rated investment grade, fallen angels, recover more than securities originally rated high yield in the event of default.

Codes of ethics in corporate Sweden

Purpose – The purpose of the study is to examine and describe the use of codes of ethics in the top 100 companies operating in the Swedish corporate sector. This paper reports on the responses of those companies that possessed a code of ethics.

Design/methodology/approach – A three-stage research procedure was used. First, a questionnaire was sent to the public relations managers of the top 100 companies operating in the Swedish corporate sector (based on revenue). Companies were asked to answer up to 29 questions and to supply a copy of their code of ethics. The second stage involved content analysis of the codes of ethics supplied by survey respondents. The third stage involved a more detailed follow-up of a smaller group of firms that appeared to be close to best practice. Findings for Stage 1 of the research are reported in this paper. The areas of questioning were: how common are codes of ethics? Who was involved in the development of these codes? What are the reasons for the codes? How are they implemented? Do companies inform internal and external publics of the codes? What are the prescribed benefits of the codes?

Findings – It would appear that business ethics has only recently become a topic of interest in corporate Sweden and that many companies are in the early stages of code development and assimilation into company policies. The incidence of codes in the population (of 100) suggested by this survey (56 per cent) is lower than a US study finding (in 1995) that over 84 per cent of comparable US companies had codes of ethics. It would appear that Sweden today lags behind the US situation of 1995. When one investigates the special measures to support the inculcation of ethical values at the organizational level, there appears to be some shortfall. The supporting measures of ethics committees, ethics training committees, ethics training, ombudsman, an ethical audit and procedures to protect whistleblowers appear to be under-utilized in companies that possess codes. This lack of utilization tends to suggest that companies in Sweden, as yet, either have not developed a high commitment to supporting business ethics in their corporations, or they may have developed other methods to support their codes in their organizations that they view are as beneficial as the traditional methods practised in other western industrial democracies.

Research limitations/implications – This research was limited to internal ethical expectations. The commitment to business ethics is usually explored in terms of internal ethical expectations, but the simultaneous consideration of the external ethical expectations in the marketplace (e.g. among suppliers and customers or other publics) is desirable. A dyadic approach considering a company's internal ethical expectations and the external ethical expectations of a company's business activities may give a more balanced and in-depth approach.

Practical implications – Evidence is now available to show that codes of ethics are well developed in many of Sweden's largest corporations: organizations that, from their responses, appear to see a diverse range of benefits in developing the area of business ethics. Companies are beginning to implement not only a code of ethics, but other complementary initiatives that reinforce the need for the culture of the organization to be ethical. Codes of ethics are perceived by organizations to have assisted them in their dealings in the marketplace and many companies use their ethical values to underpin their strategic planning process. It appears that many companies now see the formalisation of business ethics as an integral part of their commercial practices.

Originality/value – This study is the first one of its kind on codes of ethics in corporate Sweden. It will enable all sectors of Swedish business to benchmark their efforts against the major companies in the Swedish corporate sector.

The proposed goodwill impairment test - implications for preparers, auditors and corporate governance

Accounting for goodwill is again controversial as Australia adopts international accounting standards from 1 January 2005. The current method of accounting for goodwill will change dramatically as detailed in the AASB's E0109 and IASB's E03. Goodwill acquired in a business combination will no longer be amortised but rather goodwill will be tested for impairment annually (E03, para 54). This paper explores the potential impact of the proposed changes to goodwill accounting for preparers, auditors and those involved with corporate governance. We compare and discuss the current goodwill treatment and the proposed treatment of goodwill, demonstrating the advantages and complexities of the proposed treatment for preparers and auditors. Auditors will be required in many instances to use their professional judgment and rely on managements' abilities and integrity as well as sound corporate governance mechanisms (such as audit committees) in auditing the 'fair' valuation of goodwill and associated transactions. This paper raises the issues and challenges that preparers, independent auditors and those involved in corporate governance will face with the introduction of the new treatment for goodwill accounting.

The use of codes of ethics in the corporate marketplace: the case of Australia and Sweden

Business ethics is a subject that recently has been thrust again into prominence in industrialised economies around the world, due to the revelations of the practices of some of the major corporations operating within the USA. In Australia, corporate collapses such as HIH and Onetel and in Sweden, the scandals with the top executives of Skandia and also Systembolaget have brought in to sharp focus that these practices are not confined to the USA. Since the early 1960s, codes of ethics have been in evidence in many organisations in the USA, whilst in Australia, as in Britain, the interest in codes of ethics was piqued by the stock market crash of 1987. In Sweden, however, this concept of the use of codes of ethics in the corporate sector had not been investigated prior to this study. This paper examines the use of codes of ethics in the marketplace by the top companies operating in corporate Australia and corporate Sweden. The outcome of this research shows that in both Australia and Sweden that large organisations indicate a substantial interest in codes of ethics and value the use of their codes in the marketplace. There are, however, differences in the ways that the companies in each country implement their codes of ethics in the marketplace and the benefits that they see as being derived from them.

Information warfare : corporate attack and defence in a digital world

This text introduces the concepts of information warfare from a non-military, organizational perspective. It is designed to stimulate managers to develop policies, strategies, and tactics for the aggressive use and defence of their data and knowledge base. The book covers the full gambit of information warfare subjects from the direct attack on computer systems to the more subtle psychological technique of perception management. It provides the framework needed to build management strategies in this area. The topics covered include the basics of information warfare, corporate intelligence systems, the use of deception, security of systems, modes of attack, a methodology to develop defensive measures, plus specific issues associated with information warfare.

Corporate accounting in Australia

"The third edition of Corporate Accounting in Australia presents a comprehensive and contemporary explanation of Australian corporate accounting. Previous editions of the book, published in 1998 and 2001, established the book's reputation for excellence, with its user-friendly approach, keenly appreciated by both students and lecturers. This edition retains the accessible writing style and logical chapter format and sequence of its forerunners, and has been revised to reflect current developments, particularly with regards to the international harmonisation of accounting standards."

Corporate accounting in Australia

Retains the accessible writing style and logical chapter format and sequence of its forerunners,, and has been extensively revised to reflect current developments, particularly with the adoption in Australia of international accounting standards.

Consuming children : education, entertainment, advertising

"Schools are dull, adults are dim, kids rule, pleasure can be purchased - these are canons of children's consumer cultures. In the places where kids, commodities and images meet, education, entertainment and advertising merge. Kids consume the corporate abundance with an appetite. But what happens now that schools are on the market? Is this a form of corporate gluttony? Are designer schools educationally "grotesque"? How are students packaged? How can curriculum compete with other attractions constantly advertised to students? Are students themselves both purchasers and commodities for sale?"

This volume argues that people are entering another stage in the construction of the young as the demarcations between education, entertainment and advertising collapse and as the lines between the generations both blur and harden. Drawing from the voices of students and from contemporary cultural theory this book provokes the reader to ponder the role of the school in the "age of desire.