1.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Board of directors
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A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a corporation or organization, which can include a non-profit organization or a government agency. A board of directors activities are determined by the powers, duties and responsibilities conferred on it by an authority outside itself and these matters are typically detailed in regulations or in the organizations constitution and bylaws. These authorities may specify the number of members of the board, how they are to be chosen, and how often they are to meet. In an organization with voting members, the board is accountable to, and might be subordinate to, the full membership. In a stock corporation, non-executive directors are voted for by the shareholders, the board of directors appoints the chief executive officer of the corporation and sets out the overall strategic direction. In corporations with dispersed ownership, the identification and nomination of directors are often done by the board itself, in a non-stock corporation with no general voting membership, the board is the supreme governing body of the institution, its members are sometimes chosen by the board itself. Other names include Board of directors and advisors, board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees and it may also be called the executive board and is often simply referred to as the board. For companies with publicly trading stock, these responsibilities are typically much more rigorous, typically, the board chooses one of its members to be the chairman, who holds whatever title is specified in the bylaws or articles of association. However, in organizations, the members elect the president of the organization. The directors of an organization are the persons who are members of its board, several specific terms categorize directors by the presence or absence of their other relationships to the organization. An inside director is a director who is also an employee, officer, chief executive, major shareholder, inside directors represent the interests of the entitys stakeholders, and often have special knowledge of its inner workings, its financial or market position, and so on. Executive directors often have an area of responsibility in the organization, such as finance, marketing, human resources. An outside director is a member of the board who is not otherwise employed by or engaged with the organization, a typical example is a director who is president of a firm in a different industry. Outside directors are not employees of the company or affiliated with it in any other way, outside directors bring outside experience and perspectives to the board. One of the arguments for having outside directors is that they can keep a eye on the inside directors. Outside directors are unlikely to tolerate insider dealing between insider directors, as outside directors do not benefit from the company or organization, outside directors are often useful in handling disputes between inside directors, or between shareholders and the board. They are thought to be advantageous because they can be objective, director - a person appointed to serve on the board of an organization, such as an institution or business. This practice results in an interlocking directorate, where a small number of individuals have significant influence over a large number of important entities
4.
Central bank
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A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages a states currency, money supply, and interest rates. Central banks also usually oversee the commercial banking system of their respective countries, Central banks in most developed nations are institutionally designed to be independent from political interference. Still, limited control by the executive and legislative bodies usually exists, prior to the 17th century most money was commodity money, typically gold or silver. However, promises to pay were widely circulated and accepted as value at least five hundred years earlier in both Europe and Asia. The Song dynasty was the first to issue generally circulating paper currency, in 1455, in an effort to control inflation, the succeeding Ming Dynasty ended the use of paper money and closed much of Chinese trade. The Bank of Amsterdam, established in the Dutch Republic in 1609, is considered to be the forerunner to modern central banks. The Wisselbanks innovations helped lay the foundations for the birth and development of the banking system that now plays a vital role in the worlds economy. Along with a number of local banks, it performed many functions of a central banking system. Lucien Gillard calls it the European guilder, and Adam Smith devotes many pages to explaining how the bank guilder works, the model of the Wisselbank as a state bank was adapted throughout Europe, including the Bank of Sweden and the Bank of England. Established by Dutch-Latvian Johan Palmstruch in 1668, Sveriges Riksbank is often considered by many as the worlds oldest central bank, the lenders would give the government cash and also issue notes against the government bonds, which could be lent again. A Royal Charter was granted on 27 July through the passage of the Tonnage Act 1694, the bank was given exclusive possession of the governments balances, and was the only limited-liability corporation allowed to issue banknotes. The £1. 2M was raised in 12 days, half of this was used to rebuild the Navy and these modern central banking functions evolved slowly through the 18th and 19th centuries. The currency crisis of 1797, caused by panicked depositors withdrawing from the Bank led to the government suspending convertibility of notes into specie payment. The bank was accused by the bullionists of causing the exchange rate to fall from over issuing banknotes. Nevertheless, it was clear that the Bank was being treated as an organ of the state, henry Thornton, a merchant banker and monetary theorist has been described as the father of the modern central bank. An opponent of the real bills doctrine, he was a defender of the bullionist position, thorntons process of monetary expansion anticipated the theories of Knut Wicksell regarding the cumulative process which restates the Quantity Theory in a theoretically coherent form. Until the mid-nineteenth century, commercial banks were able to issue their own banknotes, many consider the origins of the central bank to lie with the passage of the Bank Charter Act of 1844. Under this law, authorisation to issue new banknotes was restricted to the Bank of England, at the same time, the Bank of England was restricted to issue new banknotes only if they were 100% backed by gold or up to £14 million in government debt
5.
Basel
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Basel is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine. Basel is Switzerlands third-most-populous city with about 175,000 inhabitants, located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany. In 2014, the Basel agglomeration was the third largest in Switzerland with a population of 537,100 in 74 municipalities in Switzerland, the official language of Basel is German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect. Basel has been the seat of a Prince-Bishopric since the 11th century, the city has been a commercial hub and important cultural centre since the Renaissance, and has emerged as a centre for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry in the 20th century. It hosts the oldest university of the Swiss Confederation, There are settlement traces on the Rhine knee from the early La Tène period. The unfortified settlement was abandoned in the 1st century BC in favour of an Oppidum on the site of Basel Minster, probably in reaction to the Roman invasion of Gaul. In Roman Gaul, Augusta Raurica was established some 20 km from Basel as the administrative centre. The city of Basel eventually grew around the castle, the name of Basel is derived from the Roman-era toponym Basilia, first recorded in the 3rd century. It is presumably derived from the personal name Basilius, the Old French form Basle was adopted into English, and developed into the modern French Bâle. The Icelandic name Buslaraborg goes back to the 12th century Leiðarvísir og borgarskipan, Basel was incorporated into Germania Superior in AD83. Roman control over the area deteriorated in 3rd century, and Basel became an outpost of the Provincia Maxima Sequanorum formed by Diocletian, the Alamanni attempted to cross the Rhine several times in the 4th century, but were repelled. In a great invasion of AD406, the Alemanni appear to have crossed the Rhine river a final time, conquering and then settling what is today Alsace, from this time, Basel has been an Alemannic settlement. The Duchy of Alemannia fell under Frankish rule in the 6th century, and by the 7th century, based on the evidence of a third solidus with the inscription Basilia fit, Basel seems to have minted its own coins in the 7th century. Under bishop Haito, the first cathedral was built on the site of the Roman castle, at the partition of the Carolingian Empire, Basel was first given to West Francia, but passed to East Francia with the treaty of Meerssen of 870. The city was plundered and destroyed by a Magyar invasion of 917, the rebuilt city became part of Upper Burgundy, and as such was incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire in 1032. Since the donation by Rudolph III of Burgundy of the Moutier-Grandval Abbey and all its possessions to Bishop Adalbero II in 999 till the Reformation, in 1019, the construction of the cathedral of Basel began under German Emperor Heinrich II. In 1225–1226, the Bridge over the Rhine was constructed by Bishop Heinrich von Thun, the bridge was largely funded by Basels Jewish community which had settled there a century earlier. For many centuries to come Basel possessed the only permanent bridge over the river between Lake Constance and the sea, the Bishop also allowed the furriers to found a guild in 1226
6.
Hong Kong
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Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the Pearl River Delta of East Asia. Macau lies across the delta to the west, and the Chinese province of Guangdong borders the territory to the north. With a total area of 1,106 square kilometres. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during World War II until British control resumed in 1945, under the principle of one country, two systems, Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong maintains its independent executive, legislative, in addition, Hong Kong develops relations directly with foreign states and international organisations in a broad range of appropriate fields. Hong Kong is one of the worlds most significant financial centres, with the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranks as the worlds most competitive and freest economic entity. As the worlds 8th largest trading entity, its legal tender, Hong Kongs tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by simple taxation with a competitive level of corporate tax and supported by its independent judiciary system. However, while Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world and it has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the worlds longest life expectancy. Over 90% of the population use of well-developed public transportation. Seasonal air pollution with origins from neighbouring areas of Mainland China. Hong Kong was officially recorded in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking to encompass the entirety of the island, before 1842, the name referred to a small inlet—now Aberdeen Harbour, literally means Little Hong Kong)—between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. Aberdeen was a point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen. Detailed and accurate romanisation systems for Cantonese were available and in use at the time, fragrance may refer to the sweet taste of the harbours fresh water estuarine influx of the Pearl River or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Hong Kong developed Victoria Harbour, the name had often been written as the single word Hongkong until the government adopted the current form in 1926. Nevertheless, a number of century-old institutions still retain the form, such as the Hongkong Post, Hongkong Electric. As of 1997, its name is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China. This is the title as mentioned in the Hong Kong Basic Law. Hong Kong has carried many nicknames, the most famous among those is the Pearl of the Orient, which reflected the impressive nightscape of the citys light decorations on the skyscrapers along both sides of the Victoria Harbour
7.
Mexico City
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Mexico City, or City of Mexico, is the capital and most populous city of Mexico. As an alpha global city, Mexico City is one of the most important financial centers in the Americas and it is located in the Valley of Mexico, a large valley in the high plateaus at the center of Mexico, at an altitude of 2,240 metres. The city consists of sixteen municipalities, the 2009 estimated population for the city proper was approximately 8.84 million people, with a land area of 1,485 square kilometres. The Greater Mexico City has a domestic product of US$411 billion in 2011. The city was responsible for generating 15. 8% of Mexicos Gross Domestic Product, as a stand-alone country, in 2013, Mexico City would be the fifth-largest economy in Latin America—five times as large as Costa Ricas and about the same size as Perus. Mexico’s capital is both the oldest capital city in the Americas and one of two founded by Amerindians, the other being Quito. In 1524, the municipality of Mexico City was established, known as México Tenochtitlán, Mexico City served as the political, administrative and financial center of a major part of the Spanish colonial empire. After independence from Spain was achieved, the district was created in 1824. Ever since, the left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution has controlled both of them, in recent years, the local government has passed a wave of liberal policies, such as abortion on request, a limited form of euthanasia, no-fault divorce, and same-sex marriage. On January 29,2016, it ceased to be called the Federal District and is now in transition to become the countrys 32nd federal entity, giving it a level of autonomy comparable to that of a state. Because of a clause in the Mexican Constitution, however, as the seat of the powers of the federation, it can never become a state, the city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan was founded by the Mexica people in 1325. According to legend, the Mexicas principal god, Huitzilopochtli indicated the site where they were to build their home by presenting an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its beak. Between 1325 and 1521, Tenochtitlan grew in size and strength, eventually dominating the other city-states around Lake Texcoco, when the Spaniards arrived, the Aztec Empire had reached much of Mesoamerica, touching both the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. After landing in Veracruz, Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés advanced upon Tenochtitlan with the aid of many of the native peoples. Cortés put Moctezuma under house arrest, hoping to rule through him, the Aztecs thought the Spaniards were permanently gone, and they elected a new king, Cuitláhuac, but he soon died, the next king was Cuauhtémoc. Cortés began a siege of Tenochtitlan in May 1521, for three months, the city suffered from the lack of food and water as well as the spread of smallpox brought by the Europeans. Cortés and his allies landed their forces in the south of the island, the Spaniards practically razed Tenochtitlan during the final siege of the conquest. Cortés first settled in Coyoacán, but decided to rebuild the Aztec site to erase all traces of the old order and he did not establish a territory under his own personal rule, but remained loyal to the Spanish crown
8.
Treaty of Versailles
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The Treaty of Versailles was the most important of the peace treaties that brought World War I to an end. The Treaty ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers and it was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of World War I signed separate treaties, although the armistice, signed on 11 November 1918, ended the actual fighting, it took six months of Allied negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. The treaty was registered by the Secretariat of the League of Nations on 21 October 1919 and this article, Article 231, later became known as the War Guilt clause. The treaty forced Germany to disarm, make substantial territorial concessions, in 1921 the total cost of these reparations was assessed at 132 billion marks. On the other hand, prominent figures on the Allied side such as French Marshal Ferdinand Foch criticized the treaty for treating Germany too leniently, although it is often referred to as the Versailles Conference, only the actual signing of the treaty took place at the historic palace. Most of the negotiations were in Paris, with the Big Four meetings taking place generally at the Quai dOrsay, the First World War was fought across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Countries beyond the war zones were also affected by the disruption of trade, finance. In 1917, two revolutions occurred within the Russian Empire, which led to the collapse of the Imperial Government, the American war aim was to detach the war from nationalistic disputes and ambitions after the Bolshevik disclosure of secret treaties between the Allies. The existence of these treaties tended to discredit Allied claims that Germany was the power with aggressive ambitions. On 8 January 1918, United States President Woodrow Wilson issued a statement that became known as the Fourteen Points and this speech outlined a policy of free trade, open agreements, democracy and self-determination. After the Central Powers launched Operation Faustschlag on the Eastern Front and this treaty ended the war between Russia and the Central powers and annexed 1,300,000 square miles of territory and 62 million people. During the autumn of 1918, the Central Powers began to collapse, desertion rates within the German army began to increase, and civilian strikes drastically reduced war production. On the Western Front, the Allied forces launched the Hundred Days Offensive, sailors of the Imperial German Navy at Kiel mutinied, which prompted uprisings in Germany, which became known as the German Revolution. The German government tried to obtain a settlement based on the Fourteen Points. Following negotiations, the Allied powers and Germany signed an armistice, the terms of the armistice called for an immediate evacuation of German troops from occupied Belgium, France, and Luxembourg within fifteen days. In addition, it established that Allied forces would occupy the Rhineland, in late 1918, Allied troops entered Germany and began the occupation. Both the German Empire and Great Britain were dependent on imports of food and raw materials, primarily from the Americas, the Blockade of Germany was a naval operation conducted by the Allied Powers to stop the supply of raw materials and foodstuffs reaching the Central Powers
9.
Reichsbank
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The Reichsbank was the central bank of Germany from 1876 until 1945. It was founded on 1 January 1876, the Reichsbank was a privately owned central bank of Prussia, under close control by the Reich government. Its first president was Hermann von Dechend, before unification in 1871, Germany had 31 central banks – the Notenbanken. Each of the independent states issued their own money, in 1870, a law was passed that forbade the formation of further central banks. In 1874, a banking law was introduced in the Reichstag. After several changes and compromises, the law was passed in 1875, despite the creation of the Reichsbank, however, four of the Notenbanken – Baden, Bavaria, Saxony and Württemberg – continued to exist until 1914. The history of the Reichsbank was volatile, until World War I it produced a very stable currency called the Goldmark. The expenses of the war caused inflationary pressure and the mark started to decrease in value, the mark, formerly backed by gold, evolved into the Papiermark, backed by nothing. One of the key reforms caused by the Dawes Plan was the establishment of the Reichsbank as an independent of the Reich government. On 30 August 1924, the Reichsbank began issuing the Reichsmark, the seizure and consolidation of power by the Nazis during the years of the Third Reich also greatly affected the Reichsbank. The defeat of Nazi Germany in May 1945 also resulted in the dissolution of the Reichsbank, along with other Reich ministries, the explanation of the disappearance of the Reichsbank reserves in 1945 was uncovered by Bill Stanley Moss and Andrew Kennedy, in post War Germany. Similarly the Abwehr cash reserves were hidden nearby in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, shortly after the American forces overran the area, the reserves and money disappeared. Funk would be tried and convicted of war crimes at the Nuremberg trials, not least for receiving money and goods stolen from Jewish, gold teeth extracted from the mouths of victims were found in 1945 in the vaults of the bank in Berlin. The Allied occupation authorities became responsible for German monetary policy in the postwar years. In this role, the Allies continued to issue Reichsmarks as the German banking system was gradually restored, in 1948, the Reichsmark ceased to exist owing to the introduction of the Deutsche Mark in the West and the East German mark in the East. In West Germany, monetary policy was taken over by the Bank deutscher Länder and later by the Deutsche Bundesbank, in East Germany, this role was assumed by the Deutsche Notenbank (later renamed as the Staatsbank der DDR
10.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
11.
Walther Funk
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Funk was born into a merchant family in 1890 in Danzkehmen near Trakehnen in East Prussia. He was the one of the Nuremberg defendants who was born in the former eastern territories of Germany. He was the son of Wiesenbaumeister Walther Funk the elder and his wife Sophie and he studied law, economics, and philosophy at the Humboldt University of Berlin and the University of Leipzig. In World War I, he joined the infantry, but was discharged as unfit for service in 1916, in 1920, Funk married Luise Schmidt-Sieben. Following the end of the first war, he worked as a journalist, after the Nazi Party came to power, he stepped down from his Reichstag position and was made Chief Press Officer of the Third Reich. In March 1933, Funk was appointed as a State Secretary at the Ministry of Public Enlightenment, in 1938, he assumed the title of Chief Plenipotentiary for Economics. He also became Reich Minister of Economics in February 1938, replacing Hjalmar Schacht, Schacht had been dismissed in a power struggle with Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, who was quick to tie the ministry more closely to his Four Year Plan Office. At Nuremberg, Funk was accused by Allied prosecutors of having been involved in the State confiscation. He was appointed to the Central Planning Board in September 1943, despite poor health, Funk was tried with other Nazi leaders at the Nuremberg trials. Many other gold items were stolen from victims, such as jewellery, eyeglasses, Funk was held at Spandau Prison along with other senior Nazis. He was released on 16 May 1957 because of ill health and he made a last-minute call on Rudolf Hess, Albert Speer and Baldur von Schirach before leaving the prison. He died three years later in Düsseldorf of diabetes, works by or about Walther Funk at Internet Archive Funk war crimes dossier
12.
Emil Puhl
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Emil Johann Rudolf Puhl was a Nazi economist and banking official during World War II. He was director and vice-president of Germanys Reichsbank during World War II and he was instrumental in moving Nazi gold during the war. Some of the gold had been looted from countries occupied by the Nazis, all their property was removed before they passed into the showers. At the Ministries Trial, one of the last of the twelve Nuremberg trials held between 6 January 1948 and 13 April 1949, he was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to five years imprisonment, walther Funk Reichsbank Nazi gold Victim gold before and after World War II
13.
Hermann Schmitz
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Hermann Schmitz was a German industrialist and Nazi war criminal. CEO of IG Farben from 1935 to 1945, he was sentenced to four years in prison in the IG Farben Trial, Schmitz was born in Hessen on 1 January 1881, son of factory worker Diedrich Schmitz and Luise Wöhrmann. In 1898 he began studying at Ahrenbergische Aktiengesellschaft für Bergbau und Hüttenbetrieb in Hessen, in 1914 he was required to serve in the army. He was injured during the First World War and, after recovering from his injuries, in 1919, as an expert in fertilizers and nitric salts, he took part in the assembly that negotiated the Treaty of Versailles. There he met Carl Bosch, a chemist of worldwide fame, in July 1919 Schmitz was hired at BASF by Bosch as his financial advisor. He was promoted to administrator of BASFs exterior department, a position he maintained after the company part of IG Farben. In 1933, he was elected to the Reichstag under the administration of the National Socialist Party, in 1938, he became war economy administrator. In 1941, Hitler gave him a portrait of him with his autograph as a gift for his dedication to the aims of Nazi Germany, Schmitz led IG Farben until the end of the Second World War. He was arrested and tried at the IG Farben Trial, during which he was sentenced to four years imprisonment. He was freed in the end of 1950s and he went on to member of the administrators council of Deutsche Bank in Berlin. Schmitz died in Heidelberg on 8 October 1960, wollheim Memorial Jewish Virtual Library Online Academy, Profit over life Borkin, Joseph. The Crime and Punishment of I. G
14.
IG Farben
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IG Farben was a German chemical and pharmaceutical industry conglomerate. Its name is taken from Interessen-Gemeinschaft Farbenindustrie AktienGesellschaft, the company was formed in 1925 from a number of major chemical companies that had been working together closely since World War I. During its heyday, IG Farben was both the largest company in Europe overall and the largest chemical and pharmaceutical company in the world, IG Farben scientists made fundamental contributions to all areas of chemistry and the pharmaceutical industry. Notably IG Farben scientists discovered the first antibiotic, fundamentally reformed medical research, otto Bayer discovered the polyaddition for the synthesis of polyurethane in 1937. Several IG Farben scientists were awarded Nobel Prizes, Carl Bosch and Friedrich Bergius were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1931 in recognition of their contributions to the invention and development of chemical high pressure methods. Gerhard Domagk was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1939 for the discovery of the effects of prontosil. Kurt Alder was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1950 for his discovery, following the Nazi takeover of Germany, the company became embroiled in the Nazi regimes policies as a large government contractor. In 1951, IG Farben was split into its four largest original constituent companies, the current main successor companies are AGFA, BASF, Bayer and Sanofi. IG Farben was founded on 9 December 1925, as a merger of the six companies. Weiler Ter Meer At the beginning of the 20th century, the German chemical industry dominated the market for synthetic dyes. Weiler-ter Meer concentrated on high-quality specialty dyes, in 1913, these eight firms produced almost 90% of the world supply of dyestuffs and sold about 80% of their production abroad. Because of this situation, the economic historian Alfred Chandler called the German dye companies the worlds first truly managerial industrial enterprises. With the world market for synthetic dyes and other chemical products dominated by the German industry, although cartels were attempted, they lasted at most for a few years. Others argued for the formation of a pool or Interessen-Gemeinschaft. In contrast, the chairman of Bayer, Carl Duisberg, argued for a merger. During a trip to the United States in the spring of 1903 he had visited several of the large American trusts such as Standard Oil, U. S. Steel, International Paper and Alcoa. In 1904, after having returned to Germany he proposed a merger of the producers of dye and pharmaceuticals in a memorandum to Gustav von Brüning. Hoechst and several pharmaceutical firms refused to join, instead, Hoechst and Cassella made an alliance based on mutual equity stakes in 1904
15.
Bretton Woods Conference
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The conference was held from July 1–22,1944. Agreements were signed that, after ratification by member governments, established the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. On May 25,1944, the U. S, the United States also invited a smaller group of countries to send experts to a preliminary conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to develop draft proposals for the Bretton Woods conference. The Atlantic City conference was held from June 15–30,1944, the Bretton Woods Conference had three main results, Articles of Agreement to create the IMF, whose purpose was to promote stability of exchange rates and financial flows. Articles of Agreement to create the IBRD, whose purpose was to speed reconstruction after the Second World War and to economic development. Other recommendations for economic cooperation. The Final Act of the conference incorporated these agreements and recommendations, within the Final Act, the most important part in the eyes of the conference participants and for the later operation of the world economy was the IMF agreement. Its major features were, An adjustably pegged foreign exchange rate system. Governments were only supposed to alter exchange rates to correct a fundamental disequilibrium, member countries pledged to make their currencies convertible for trade-related and other current account transactions. There were, however, transitional provisions that allowed for indefinite delay in accepting that obligation, the goal of widespread current account convertibility did not become operative until December 1958, when the currencies of the IMFs Western European members and their colonies became convertible. The IMF could concur in or object to changes beyond that level, the IMF could not force a member to undo a change, but could deny the member access to the resources of the IMF. All member countries were required to subscribe to the IMFs capital, membership in the IBRD was conditioned on being a member of the IMF. Voting in both institutions was apportioned according to formulas giving greater weight to countries contributing more capital, the seminal idea behind the Bretton Woods Conference was the notion of open markets. In his closing remarks at the conference, its president, U. S. Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, stated that the establishment of the IMF and this meant countries would maintain their national interest, but trade blocs and economic spheres of influence would no longer be their means. The conference conducted its work through three commissions. Commission I dealt with the IMF and was chaired by Harry Dexter White, Assistant to the Secretary of the U. S. Treasury and the chief American negotiator at the conference. Commission II dealt with the IBRD and was chaired by John Maynard Keynes, economic adviser to the British Chancellor of the Exchequer and the chief British negotiator at the conference. Commission III dealt with other means of financial cooperation and was chaired by Eduardo Suárez, Mexico’s minister of finance
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Maastricht Treaty
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The Maastricht Treaty undertaken to integrate Europe was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in Maastricht, Netherlands. On 9–10 December 1991, the city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty. The Maastricht Treaty and all pre-existing treaties, has subsequently been amended by the treaties of Amsterdam, Nice. The treaty led to the creation of the euro, one of the obligations of the treaty for the members was to keep sound fiscal policies, with debt limited to 60% of GDP and annual deficits no greater than 3% of GDP. The treaty also created what was referred to as the pillar structure of the European Union. The first pillar was where the EUs supra-national institutions—the Commission, the European Parliament, the other two pillars were essentially more intergovernmental in nature with decisions being made by committees composed of member states politicians and officials. All three pillars were the extensions of existing policy structures, the European Community pillar was the continuation of the European Economic Community with the Economic being dropped from the name to represent the wider policy base given by the Maastricht Treaty. In addition, the treaty established the European Committee of the Regions, coR is the European Unions assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities with a direct voice within the EUs institutional framework. The Maastricht criteria are the criteria for European Union member states to enter the stage of European Economic and Monetary Union. The four criteria are defined in article 121 of the treaty establishing the European Community and they impose control over inflation, public debt and the public deficit, exchange rate stability and the convergence of interest rates. Inflation rates, No more than 1.5 percentage points higher than the average of the three best performing member states of the EU.2. Government finance, Annual government deficit, The ratio of the government deficit to gross domestic product must not exceed 3% at the end of the preceding fiscal year. If not, it is at least required to reach a level close to 3%, only exceptional and temporary excesses would be granted for exceptional cases. Government debt, The ratio of government debt to GDP must not exceed 60% at the end of the preceding fiscal year. Even if the target cannot be achieved due to the specific conditions, as of the end of 2014, of the countries in the Eurozone, only Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Luxembourg, and Finland still met this target. Long-term interest rates, The nominal long-term interest rate must not be more than 2 percentage points higher than in the three lowest inflation member states, the purpose of setting the criteria is to maintain price stability within the Eurozone even with the inclusion of new member states. The signing of the Treaty of Maastricht took place in Maastricht, Netherlands, representatives from the twelve member states of the European Communities were present, and signed the treaty as plenipotentiaries, marking the conclusion of the period of negotiations. The process of ratifying the treaty was fraught with difficulties in three states, in Denmark, the first Danish Maastricht Treaty referendum was held on 2 June 1992 and ratification of the treaty was rejected by a margin of 50. 7% to 49. 3%
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Financial Stability Board
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The Financial Stability Board is an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system. It was established after the 2009 G20 London summit in April 2009 as a successor to the Financial Stability Forum, the Board includes all G20 major economies, FSF members, and the European Commission. It is based in Basel, Switzerland, the Financial Stability Board emerged from the Financial Stability Forum, a group of finance ministries, central bankers, and international financial bodies. The FSF facilitated discussion and co-operation on supervision and surveillance of financial institutions, transactions, FSF was managed by a small secretariat housed at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland. At the G20 summit on November 15,2008 it was agreed that the membership of the FSF will be expanded to include emerging economies, the 2009 G-20 London summit decided to establish a successor to the FSF, the Financial Stability Board. The FSB includes members of the G20 who were not members of FSF, the Financial Stability Forum met in Rome on 28–29 March 2008 in connection with the Bank for International Settlements. Members discussed current challenges in financial markets, and various options to address them from this point forward. At this meeting, the FSF discussed a report to be delivered to G7 Finance Ministers, the report identifies key weaknesses underlying current financial turmoil, and recommends actions to improve market and institutional resilience. The FSF discussed work underway at the International Monetary Fund and Organisation for Economic Co-operation, the IMF is working closely with SWFs to identify a set of voluntary best practice guidelines, and is focusing on the governance, institutional arrangements and transparency of SWFs. On April 12,2008 the FSF delivered a report to the G7 Finance Ministers which details its recommendations for enhancing the resilience of financial markets and financial institutions. He emphasized the value of specific reforms that had been implemented by the Financial Stability Board stating that these had dampened aftershocks from these events rather than amplifying them, the FSB represents the G-20 leaders first major international institutional innovation. Secretary of the US Treasury Tim Geithner has described it as in effect, the FSB has been assigned a number of important tasks, working alongside the IMF, World Bank, and WTO. Chairman of the board is the Canadian Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, Financial Stability Board Watch Brookings Institution report The Governance of the Financial Stability Board
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Risk
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Risk is the potential of gaining or losing something of value. Values can be gained or lost when taking risk resulting from an action or inaction. Risk can also be defined as the interaction with uncertainty. Uncertainty is a potential, unpredictable, and uncontrollable outcome, risk is a consequence of action taken in spite of uncertainty, Risk perception is the subjective judgment people make about the severity and probability of a risk, and may vary person to person. Any human endeavor carries some risk, but some are much riskier than others, the Oxford English Dictionary cites the earliest use of the word in English as of 1621, and the spelling as risk from 1655. It defines risk as, the possibility of loss, injury, or other adverse or unwelcome circumstance, Risk is an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has an effect on at least one objective. The probability of something happening multiplied by the resulting cost or benefit if it does, finance, The possibility that an actual return on an investment will be lower than the expected return. Insurance, A situation where the probability of a variable is known, a risk is not an uncertainty, a peril, or a hazard. Securities trading, The probability of a loss or drop in value, non-systematic risk is any risk that isnt market-related. Also called non-market risk, extra-market risk or diversifiable risk, workplace, Product of the consequence and probability of a hazardous event or phenomenon. For example, the risk of developing cancer is estimated as the probability of developing cancer over a lifetime as a result of exposure to potential carcinogens. The International Organization for Standardization publication ISO31000 / ISO Guide 73,2002 definition of risk is the effect of uncertainty on objectives, in this definition, uncertainties include events and uncertainties caused by ambiguity or a lack of information. It also includes both negative and positive impacts on objectives, very different approaches to risk management are taken in different fields, e. g. Risk is the unwanted subset of a set of uncertain outcomes. Risk can be seen as relating to the probability of future events. For example, according to analysis of information risk, risk is. In computer science this definition is used by The Open Group, OHSAS defines risk as the combination of the probability of a hazard resulting in an adverse event, and the severity of the event. In information security risk is defined as the potential that a threat will exploit vulnerabilities of an asset or group of assets. Financial risk is defined as the unpredictable variability or volatility of returns
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Risk management
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Risk management’s objective is to assure uncertainty does not deflect the endeavor from the business goals. There are two types of events i. e. negative events can be classified as risks while positive events are classified as opportunities. Several risk management standards have developed including the Project Management Institute, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, actuarial societies. Certain aspects of many of the risk management standards have come under criticism for having no measurable improvement on risk, whereas the confidence in estimates and decisions seem to increase. For example, it has shown that one in six IT projects experience cost overruns of 200% on average. A widely used vocabulary for risk management is defined by ISO Guide 73,2009, intangible risk management identifies a new type of a risk that has a 100% probability of occurring but is ignored by the organization due to a lack of identification ability. For example, when deficient knowledge is applied to a situation, relationship risk appears when ineffective collaboration occurs. Process-engagement risk may be an issue when ineffective operational procedures are applied and these risks directly reduce the productivity of knowledge workers, decrease cost-effectiveness, profitability, service, quality, reputation, brand value, and earnings quality. Intangible risk management allows management to create immediate value from the identification and reduction of risks that reduce productivity. Risk management also faces difficulties in allocating resources and this is the idea of opportunity cost. Resources spent on risk management could have spent on more profitable activities. Again, ideal risk management minimizes spending and also minimizes the effects of risks. According to the definition to the risk, the risk is the possibility that an event will occur, therefore, risk itself has the uncertainty. Risk management such as COSO ERM, can help managers have a control for their risk. Each company may have different internal components, which leads to different outcomes. For the most part, these methods consist of the elements, performed, more or less. After establishing the context, the step in the process of managing risk is to identify potential risks. Risks are about events that, when triggered, cause problems or benefits, hence, risk identification can start with the source of our problems and those of our competitors, or with the problem itself
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Foundation IRB
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Under this approach the banks are allowed to develop their own empirical model to estimate the PD for individual clients or groups of clients. Banks can use this approach only subject to approval from their local regulators, under F-IRB banks are required to use regulators prescribed LGD and other parameters required for calculating the RWA for non-retail portfolios. For retail exposures banks are required to use their own estimates of the IRB parameters, then total required capital is calculated as a fixed percentage of the estimated RWA. Some credit assessments in standardised approach refer to unrated assessment, Basel II also encourages banks to initiate internal ratings-based approach for measuring credit risks. Banks are expected to be capable of adopting more sophisticated techniques in credit risk management. Banks can determine their own estimation for some components of risk measure, then, the risk weights for individual exposures are calculated based on the function provided by Basel II. Below are the formulae for some banks’ major products, corporate, small-medium enterprise, residential mortgage, basel-II benefits banks to hold lower capital requirement as having corporate customers with lower probability of default. Basel-II benefits SME customers to be treated differently from corporates, basel-II benefits banks to hold lower capital requirement as having credit card product customers with lower probability of default
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Advanced IRB
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Under this approach the banks are allowed to develop their own empirical model to quantify required capital for credit risk. Banks can use this approach only subject to approval from their local regulators, for more background on the types of models banks have applied, see the Jarrow-Turnbull model. Under A-IRB banks are supposed to use their own models to estimate PD, EAD, LGD. Then total required capital is calculated as a percentage of the estimated RWA. Some credit assessments in standardised approach refer to unrated assessment, Basel II also encourages banks to initiate internal ratings-based approach for measuring credit risks. Banks are expected to be capable of adopting more sophisticated techniques in credit risk management. Banks can determine their own estimation for some components of risk measure, for public companies, default probabilities are commonly estimated using either the structural model of credit risk proposed by Robert Merton or reduced form models like the Jarrow-Turnbull model. For retail and unlisted company exposures, default probabilities are estimated using credit scoring or logistic regression, then, the risk weights for individual exposures are calculated based on the function provided by Basel II. Basel-II benefits banks to hold lower capital requirement as having corporate customers with lower probability of default, basel-II benefits SME customers to be treated differently from corporates. Basel-II benefits banks to hold lower capital requirement as having credit card product customers with lower probability of default, credit Risk, Pricing, Measurement, and Management. Credit Risk Modeling, Theory and Applications
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Bond duration
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In finance, the duration of a financial asset that consists of fixed cash flows, for example a bond, is the weighted average of the times until those fixed cash flows are received. The dual use of the duration, as both the weighted average time until repayment and as the percentage change in price, often causes confusion. Strictly speaking, Macaulay duration is the given to the weighted average time until cash flows are received. Modified duration is the given to the price sensitivity and is the percentage change in price for a unit change in yield. Both measures are termed duration and have the numerical value. Macaulay duration is a measure with units in years. For a standard bond the Macaulay duration will be between 0 and the maturity of the bond and it is equal to the maturity if and only if the bond is a zero-coupon bond. Modified duration, on the hand, is a derivative of price. The concept of modified duration can be applied to interest-rate sensitive instruments with non-fixed cash flows, Modified duration is used more often than Macaulay duration. For every-day use, the equality of the values for Macaulay, similarly, a two-year coupon bond will have Macaulay duration somewhat below 2 years, and modified duration somewhat below 2%. Macaulay duration, named for Frederick Macaulay who introduced the concept, is the average maturity of cash flows. Consider some set of fixed cash flows, in the second expression the fractional term is the ratio of the cash flow P V i to the total PV. These terms add to 1.0 and serve as weights for a weighted average, thus the overall expression is a weighted average of time until cash flow payments, with weight P V i V being the proportion of the assets present value due to cash flow i. For a set of fixed cash flows the weighted average will fall between 0, or more precisely t 1 and the time of the final cash flow. The Macaulay duration will equal the final maturity if and only if there is only a payment at maturity. In symbols, if flows are, in order, then, t 1 ≤ M a c D ≤ t n. In terms of bonds, this means the Macaulay duration will equal the bond maturity only for a zero-coupon bond. Macaulay duration has the diagrammatic interpretation shown in figure 1 and this represents the bond discussed in the example below - two year maturity with a coupon of 20% and continuously compounded yield of 3. 9605%
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Value at risk
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For the statistical technique VAR, see Vector autoregression. For the statistic denoted Var or var, see Variance, Value at Risk is a measure of the risk of investments. It estimates how much a set of investments might lose, given normal market conditions, VaR is typically used by firms and regulators in the financial industry to gauge the amount of assets needed to cover possible losses. This assumes mark-to-market pricing, and no trading in the portfolio, informally, a loss of $1 million or more on this portfolio is expected on 1 day out of 20 days. A loss which exceeds the VaR threshold is termed a VaR break, VaR has four main uses in finance, risk management, financial control, financial reporting and computing regulatory capital. VaR is sometimes used in applications as well. Important related ideas are economic capital, backtesting, stress testing, expected shortfall, common parameters for VaR are 1% and 5% probabilities and one day and two week horizons, although other combinations are in use. The reason for assuming normal markets and no trading, and to restricting loss to things measured in daily accounts, is to make the loss observable. In some extreme financial events it can be impossible to determine losses, VaR marks the boundary between normal days and extreme events. Institutions can lose far more than the VaR amount, all that can be said is that they not do so very often. The probability level is about equally often specified as one minus the probability of a VaR break and this generally does not lead to confusion because the probability of VaR breaks is almost always small, certainly less than 50%. Although it virtually always represents a loss, VaR is conventionally reported as a positive number, another inconsistency is that VaR is sometimes taken to refer to profit-and-loss at the end of the period, and sometimes as the maximum loss at any point during the period. As people began using multiday VaRs in the half of the 1990s. It is also theoretically to deal with a point-in-time estimate versus a maximum over an interval. Therefore, the definition is the most common both in theory and practice today. The definition of VaR is nonconstructive, it specifies a property VaR must have, moreover, there is wide scope for interpretation in the definition. This has led to two types of VaR, one used primarily in risk management and the other primarily for risk measurement. The distinction is not sharp, however, and hybrid versions are used in financial control
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