Critically examine why financial liberalisation brought financial Essay

Critically examine why financial liberalisation brought financial crisis in most of the Asian countries (for example South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thaila - Essay Example Transactions in financial markets are affected by the efficiency of intermediaries such as brokers who put buyers and sellers together and professionals who keep the market in operation, ranging from clerks who keep records and financial analysts who allow information to flow within, to, and from the market (Howell et al., 2002). Historically, financial markets evolved under the close supervision, regulation, and protection of governments for the good of market agents (the suppliers and users of funds). Through laws, suppliers of funds such as depositors or lenders were protected from swindlers who ran away with the money, whilst users or funds borrowers had to be protected from usurious lenders. Whilst the government also made it difficult for a small number of market agents to establish an oligopoly, it also saw the need to create monopolies mainly for legitimate reasons such as the regulation of prices, public protection, and to stimulate market competition. However, when governments become too complacent, these legitimate reasons become intertwined with political factors and became illegitimate and burdensome, and instead of improving market efficiency it had the opposite effect: markets became too costly, prices were too high, artificial, and not competitive, and therefore highly inefficient. Inefficiency is tantamount to a lack of freedom in the operations of markets, so the call for market liberalisation is in effect a strategy to "free" the market from government regulations. Liberalisation is the removal of government interference in economic markets and barriers to trade (Stiglitz 2002: 59) and is supposed to improve a nation's economy by forcing resources to move from less to more productive uses, thereby raising efficiency in the use of resources. Liberalisation is not necessarily a bad thing because in fact and intention, it is for the benefit of market agents. However, like most other realities of life, if it is not done well it can end in disaster. Just to give some examples easy to understand: you don't ask a young man who just received his driver's license to race against David Coulthard or expect the Manchester school district's soccer champions to play well against Manchester United. Yet, this is what liberalisation attempts to do: the best way to improve the efficiency of financial markets is to let it free, which usually means allowing competitors both local and foreign to slug it out in open competition. The good ones will adjust, learn, and survive, whilst the poor ones will disappear. The financial markets of Southeast Asia before the crisis shared the characteristics of a market that was not free and of being under the influence of government regulations that stifled competition. The foreign exchange market was protected by a government that intervened in transactions to keep the local currencies artificially high. Bank interest rates were kept artificially low to favour local borrowers, which included local governments and favoured conglomerates. Awash with cheap funds, wanton borrowing and wild lending happened side by side to construct golf courses and buildings and purchase Porsches. How Inefficiency breeds Crisis The Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998 has been one of the well-studied

Compare and Contrast the production in Nirvana's albums 'nevermind' Essay

Compare and Contrast the production in Nirvana's albums 'nevermind' and 'in utero' - Essay Example In contrast, In Utero was intended to have a much more primal sound than Nevermind. This was the intention from the first, and Cobain and producer Steve Albini made this sound come to life. One of the techniques in making the sound of In Utero more primal and natural than the sounds of Nevermind was that the band put microphones in the recording studios, therefore the sounds of the band performing in the studios were picked up in a natural way. The two albums were different, as well, according to Azzerrad (1993) in that Nevermind blended the influences in their songs – punk, pop and rock. However, in In Utero the songs tended to reflect one influence more than another. From the soft, Beatlesque pop song Dumb, to the pure punk sound of Milk It, the influences that inspired Nirvana were less blended in the third album than they were on the second album. This essay will examine the critical differences between the two albums, and will look at three songs in depth – In Bloo m from Nevermind; and Dumb and Heart Shaped Box from In Utero. Nevermind verses In Utero In the album Nevermind, which was Nirvana’s second studio album, the sound featured by the band would be characterized, for the most part, as rageful. As noted by Charles Cross (2001), in this biography of Kurt Cobain, titled Heavier than Heaven, many of the songs were written by Kurt Cobain in a period of despondency and rage after his girlfriend, Tobi, dumped him. Cobain wrote songs, such as â€Å"Aneurysm,† â€Å"Drain You,† â€Å"Lounge Act,† and â€Å"Lithium† during this period of despair, and these songs were all about Tobi. This rage was evident in the sound of the music from this album – as Rutherford (1991) puts it, songs like â€Å"Smells Like Teen Spirit,† with its stuttering chord progression to the thundering drums, displayed shades of metal, punk and pop at its heart. The song also featured the vocals which were in line with the gui tar. Classic Nirvana, according to Rutherford (1991) features heavy bridges, heavy choruses, and heavy drums and bass lines. Cohen (2009) specifically analyzed the song â€Å"In Bloom.† He states that the Nirvana sound was marked by distorted guitars with a thunderous sound, and singing that was more like screaming. This is the sound on the surface. The sound was also simplistic because, according to Cohen (2009), the harmonies were repetitive, the instrumental arrangements dogmatic, the rhythmic patterns were fixed, and the songs utilized basic strophic forms. Because of the seemingly simple level of the music, Cohen (2009) states that rock critics have been loathe to study the band, as they have been unable to find the complexity hidden beneath the simplistic surface of the band’s songs on Nevermind. That said, Cohen (2009) states that Nirvana did have complexity, in that they were unique and innovative, with harmonic idioms that hearkened back to traditional rock pa tterns with new harmonies. The trademarks of Nirvana, and its closely related cousins – Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam – are marked by use of the Phygian mode (minor mode with a lowered second degree), power chords, basic harmonies that blur the definition between minor and major keys, cross relations between sequential chords, and melodies and harmony that clash chromatically. Cohen (2009) chose In Bloom for special analysis, as it has a wider harmonic palette

Global Trends Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global Trends Paper - Essay Example This heterogeneity and culturally diverse employment landscape shall present several challenges that need to be dealt with. Not only will cross-cultural communication be a basic requirement in future but also the area of knowledge management will become critical to employees and employers alike. Keeping in view these trends, individuals, including me, will have to acquire extensive training and job-specific education in order to obtain a better fit with the need for IT skills in upcoming jobs (Stair and Stair). What is even more important is that I shall be required to develop strong cross-communication skills which shall be useful during my interactions with a diverse workforce in order to arrive at possible business solutions. Of which learning and development process, virtual learning shall form a large part. Therefore, training sessions may not always be physical; they would include webinars as well as video conferencing to ensure maximum gains from training. Another significant trend that has emerged after the IT bubble burst is that the recruitment and selection processes have become lengthier and involve greater scrutiny (Preibl, Bouwman and Steinfield). On the other hand, the good news for professionals like me in the long run would be that increasingly companies are taking steps in order to retain genuinely talented individuals with IT expertise. In doing so, these companies are offering incentives such as higher compensation, greater training and career development opportunities, flexible work schedules as well as bonuses for good performers. Employees who hold IT skills in highly rewarded professions may expect to obtain huge increases in their salaries. Thus, if employees, including me, acquire the IT skills required for the job, there will be better employment opportunities in terms of the above mentioned factors. Also, because the rate of technology becoming obsolete is every high with the boom in tablets, PCs and cloud computing, individuals who acquire degrees in specialized IT fields can secure high pay levels. The role of IT consultants, in particular, has enhanced rapidly as firms hire outside experts to help them manage their massive investments in IT. Also, according to research estimates, the demand for skilled IT workers is outstripping supply, leading to a wage premium for such workers. At the same time, however, the college graduates are facing the brunt of a 2% unemployment rate (Lerman). Therefore, for potential employees such as me, acquiring the right skill set is the first step towards securing a well-paid job which in future is likely to be one involving specialized knowledge of IT. The challenge associated with IT, on the other hand, is that increasingly pay is becoming variable as opposed to the traditional fixed salaries. Therefore, pay is increasingly being associated with individuals’ performance which means that if workers do not perform well their compensation will be reduced accordingly and vi ce versa. This shall become more stressful for workers, including me, who will have to constantly ensure that performance targets are being met. Also, the concept of job security is becoming increasingly threatened with the boom of IT as well as the global recession. Thus, one can expect being fired for not performing, or simply being laid off due to downsizing of the corporation. This is increasing specially because of the abundance of IT

UKCCA Event Project assessment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

UKCCA Event Project assessment - Coursework Example All the activities listed above are potential fun filled activities that can be a good source of relaxation and the students that the communities living near the centre could engage in. the centre needs to clearly plan for the activity chosen and the target group of customers so that it achieves success in hosting any of the events. During this time the centre will host a couple’s night out and a special dinner party. The party should include a special dance session at the end which will be a performance by an artist to be decided upon by the organizing committee. The party whose main attraction group should be young couples who do not get the chance to go out during the year, should include themes that attract the young couples especially in collage and those that have just left collage. This group is targeted because they do not get the chance to go out often due to schooling commitments or work and at this festive time they would consider an outing. The dinner will include a meal preferably a buffet served at the restaurant. The guests who will have specific preferences will be allowed to send in their requests in time to facilitate earlier preparation. At the end of the dinner, a music band will entertain the guests and a dance will be in order to conclude the function. The party will include costs for hiring the venue in order to host the event. An ample seating space for the guests and parking should the visitors need the same. The seating allowance at each table will be as indicated by the management of the centre. The costs at each table will be at normal charges and the payment of the Disk jokey and the performing artist will be catered for by the event crew. In addition, more ushering staff will also be hired by the organizing committee. For the entire plan of financing the whole party, kindly see the

Dadas Contribution to Contemporary Art Essay Example for Free

Dadas Contribution to Contemporary Art Essay This research paper supports my belief that Dada had a far reaching effect on art of the 21st century so much so that contemporary art as we know it could not have come into existence without Dada. Dada Zurich was the catalyst for many other centres of the nihilistic movement. Tristan Tzara was the major force behind the Zurich Dada where he and Francis Picabia produced 8 issues of Dada magazines in both French and German between the years 1917 to 1921. (Dada Anti-Art Movement) Upon the end of the war Switzerlands importance as a neutral refuge educed, resulting in Richard Huelsenbeck, leaving for Berlin while Picabia went to Paris, and when Tzara followed him in 1920 thus ending the Zurich phase of Dada. (Dada Anti-Art Movement) Richard Huelsenbeck was the founding member of Dada Berlin which included members such as; Johannes Baader, George Grosz, Raoul Hausmann, Helmut Herzfelde and Hanna Hoch. (Dada Anti-Art Movement) Dada Berlin was known to be satirical and highly political with targets more and precisely defined than any other Dada movement. Dada Berlin utilized periodicals, including Club Dada and Der Dada, which employed the use of photomontage and typography. The Cologne Dada group was formed in 1918 by Jean Arp and Max Ernst and was known to be less political and more focused on being anti-aesthetic. (Dada Anti-Art Movement) Max Ernst was known for his satirical collage techniques using popular printed material, depicting the weirdly erotic. (Dada The Anti-War Art Movement) In May 1920 Dada Cologne hosted one of the first Dada exhibitions. Held in the courtyard of a public house accessed through a mens bathroom the exhibition was soon closed down by the authorities due to suspected pornographic content but later reopened. IAN CHILVERS Dada) Dada Hannover was formed in 1919 after Kurt Schwitters applied to join the Berlin dadaists but was refused because of his unpolitical attitude. Schwitters possessed a unique dedication to Dada ideas, leading to the production of artwork constructed using urban refuse and found objects (objets trouves). This had a major influence on later movements like Junk Art, Assemblage and Arte Povera. (Dada Anti -Art Movement) Not limited to Europe, the Dada movement also had a New York Centre. Formed by Marcel Duchamp, renowned for reproducing the Mona Lisa with a beard and moustache and signing a urinal proclaiming it to be a fountain, along with Man Ray, a well sought after fashion and portrait photographer, renowned for his photograph Le Violin d`Ingres. (Justin Wolf’s Dada) Dada Paris, which was known for its theatrical and multi-cultural activities, came about when, many of its early founders, such as Jean Arp, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Man Ray, Francis Picabia and Tristan Tzara went to Paris, where they met with a number of french poets including Louis Aragon and Andre Breton. Dada Paris was later dissolved when Breton, unable to deal with Tzara’s and Picabia’s nihilistic mentality, left to start a new movement. This marked the birth of Surrealism. (Dada Anti-Art Movement) According to Dieter Wanczura, â€Å"Surrealism emphasizes the unconscious, the importance of dreams, and the psychological aspect in arts and became an important movement in the fine arts, literature and in films. † Unlike Dada, Surrealisms emphasis was not on negation but on positive expression. It has a sense of playfulness and impulsiveness that brings fantasy and mystery into art pieces. The most fascinating aspect is that there are so many questions and ideas that surround Surrealism making it a hugely inspiring modern art/contemporary art movement. (Surrealism ; Surrealist artists) Contemporary artist today, challenge, oppression, authority and control that spans economic, social and political concepts. More importantly, contemporary art frequently touches on deep emotional issues that trouble our society. The Dada organization challenged the status quo of society and what is viewed as art making it easier for more artists’ work to be viewed as art because they no longer need to conform to any particular standards or values of society. Due to the Surrealist movement, society has been exposed to the concept that art can be anything the artist visualizes or feels inside. This can sometimes seem odd to the public who does not see its values and heroic stature, resulting in art not being noticed and appreciated by collectors, galleries and museums but judged as a masterpiece by people who share the artist feelings and thoughts.

Motives of Bank Mergers and Acquisition

Motives of Bank Mergers and Acquisition Chapter One 1.0 Introduction Over the years, the world have witnessed growth and development in the business world and will still record a lot more due to rapid technological growth in recent times. Merger and Acquisitions (MA) has contributed immensely to the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s economic development and also helped indirectly to create stability in some industries in both developing and developed nations. A merger is usually the amalgamation of two or more companies running commercial activities. On the other hand, acquisition is where one company takes over another and the identity of the other company can be eradicated as it becomes part of a larger company. Most MAs between companies have occurred as a result of achieving economies of scale and penetrate into new markets. Many bank employees regard MA as a threat to their jobs as the period will record shareholders demand for reduction of workforce. It will also be problematic to execute Human resource management with, and the environment of MA due to t he changes that will be recorded in the procedures and practices in the new company. The vast majority of mergers acquisitions research is correctional and focuses on publicly traded corporate entities, using quantitative secondary data made available by large number of databases (Meglio and Risberg, 2010). Background to the Study A significant change has been witnessed in the Nigerian banking sector over the years, in respect to ownership structure, number of institutions and locations, as well as the profundity of operations. There are some numbers of effects when companies merge or when one company acquires another company (Cigola and Modesti, 2008). This include reduced expense in production and management cost, deriving It was observed that downsizing, mergers, and acquisitions are examples of the radical organizational responses to increase global completion, improvements in technology, and government deregulation (Shook and Roth, 2010). The changes so far recorded have been predisposed mostly by the challenges posed by issues as globalization, deregulation of the financial sector, and the implementation of a decision making and prudential requirements that are in line with international standards. This is why some companies may deliberately choose to merge with any other readily available in its line of business. The benefits in most cases are much more than the losses if any is recorded. Mergers have also had effects on employees as the process usually leads to an upward or downward review of wages and salaries. There are also cases where the MA leads to downsizing of workforce as new technological operation techniques will be adopted and there will be less needed for human resource compared to the former way of operation. Bank Mergers and Acquisition A significant amount of research has been done to ascertain the success rate of MAs in banks to be able to draw conclusion on its profitability and efficiency (Behr and Heid, 2011). It was pointed out that despite the considerable prospective U.S banking mergers in the 1980s; many of them were not successful in achieving their aim due to the cost of efficiency. Banks have diverse reasons why they merge which relates to the business motives behind it such as managerial incentives (Wood, 2006). The banking industry was partly strengthened through MA as they use the merged assets to build a strong capital base for the bank and more assets that have appreciated value. Soludo (2004) enumerated the fundamental problems of the banks, particularly those classified as unsound, have been identified to include; persistent illiquidity, poor assets quality and unprofitable operations and further mentioned that their major problems also included weak governance , weak capital base, late publicatio ns of annual reports, gross insider abuses and over dependence on public sector deposits. Many literatures indicates that banking sector reforms in Nigeria propelled by the need to deepen the financial sector and reposition for growth, to become integrated into the global financial design; and involve a banking sector that is consulting with regional integration requirement and international best practices (Somoye, 2010). Nigerian Banking Industry In the recent past, Nigerian banks have adopted poles apart strategies to achieve a predetermined least amount capital base during the banking sector consolidation in the year 2004 and 2005 which was put at twenty five billion Naira (Alao, 2010). This process saw a lot of banks in Nigeria to source for funds from all forms of businesses to meet up the demand and at a point, it was observed mergers or acquisition of smaller banks was the only way out of the regulation. MAs is a global phenomenon with an estimated four thousand deals taking place each year. Elumilade (2010) mentioned that banks are the linchpin of the economy of any country. He mentioned that banks in any every country play a vital position in respect to the countryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s financial system and they could be regarded as vital agents for development process. Banks also are relevant through financial intermediation services and promote economic growth (Afolabi, 2004). According to Ibru (2006), there was an embryonic phase of the Nigerian banking industry which began with the first set of banks started with the African banking corporation which had its headquarter in south Africa and was pioneering by the Nigerian banking system in 1892. In 1894 the British bank for West Africa which now known as the first bank while union bank of Nigeria plc formerly known as the Barclays D.C.O started in 1925. The British and French bank now united bank for Africa was established in 1949. Many other indigenous banks were established and they ushered in the era that saw the constant monopoly erstwhile enjoyed by the foreign owned banks (CBN, 2008) Central Bank of Nigeria and Market Recapitalization The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2004 introduced a policy that made it mandatory for recapitalization to be carried out in the banking industry. This was mentioned as the fourth phase of the banks restructuring scheme and all banks should comply strictly before the end of 2005 (Afolabi, 2004). This led the emergence of twenty five consolidated banks and the process encouraged mergers and acquisition in many cases. They were 89 members of the Nigerian banking industry (NBI) prior to the recapitalization. It was recorded that the CBN in 2009 provided two hundred billion Naira to four undercapitalized banks after an audit was carried out which reported that they could face liquidity problems and needed funds to continue normal operations. In addition, the CBN decided to stabilize the system and return confidence to the markets and investors, an addition injection of six hundred and twenty billion naira of liquidity into the banking sector and there is a replacement of leadership in eight banks which has given sector a little more balanced than its formal position (Sanusi, 2010). Relevance of the Research After the bank consolidation in 2005, it was mentioned in a CBN report that UBA Plc and First Bank of Nigeria have been effectively competing with multinationals in various aspects of international business. CBN Report (2007) also revealed that some Nigerian banks after the consolidation were able to register their presence in the developed countries like United States of America and United Kingdom as participate in foreign market areas of funds transfer and loans servicing. Mergers and acquisitions have for long attracted interest of many researchers in academics in trying to predict the outcomes of the deals (Meglio and Risberg, 2010). They further explained that the inconsistency in some research findings has necessitated the need for more integrative frameworks to grasp the complete phenomenon. Also, the researchersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ opinion aiming to explain mergers and acquisition outcomes in general have not been able to successfully develop and test a grand theory about MAs. Aim of the Study This research aims to look into the overall motives of banks mergers and acquisition as well as its impact on the Nigerian economy. Research Questions and Objectives Research Questions What are the implications of bank mergers and acquisition? What are the motives behind bank merger and acquisition? How does merger and acquisition impact on efficiency? How can merger and acquisition effect competition in the Nigerian banking sector? Research Objectives To critically evaluate mergers and acquisition in the banking sector To analyse the impact of merger and acquisition in the Nigerian banking sector To evaluate the success of UBA merger and acquisition To identify the success factors of UBA in Nigeria Banking sector Plan of the study The plan of this work has been structured to begin by providing a background of the area under discussion and justifying the need for the study in the first chapter. This would be immediate followed by review of literatures relating to similar issues and traditional views of mergers and acquisition in chapter two. The research method which will highlight how I intend to gather data will be presented in the third chapter. The data analysis and findings will be presented and discussed in chapters four which will be followed by the summary, conclusion and recommendation in chapter five. Summary This chapter gives an insight into the subject matter by examining the different related aspects of the subject that will contribute to the major focus of the other chapters. It is a known fact that MA has positive and negative impacts in any sector or environment where it has occurred and this will give us the opportunity to draw the impact of competition that will bring in the absence of a monopoly situation. Chapter Two Literature Review Recent studies show that the bank recapitalization process that took place in Nigeria in 2005 has been of great importance to the sector. Merger and acquisition across the world have had positive impact in the strength of the firm in most cases. The banking sector in Nigeria across the world has had course to experience MA in some cases and this helped them in restricting in various forms. The UBA merger with STB was a success as the experience of the first generation bank and agility of a new generation bank was put together to produce a stronger UBA Plc. History of Mergers and Acquisitions MA history time and again have surprises many people when they realise that the concept of MA are not new, and on the converse they are progressing from the early years. It helps us to understand the evolution of the concepts in the world. The economic watch (2011) mentioned that there are five major stages of MA which discussed as wave period. Each of these waves recorded its progress associated with it and has a technological support that gave rise to the era. Past experience has also shown that MA are triggered by economic factors. The period between (1897 1904) saw a lot of horizontal mergers as companies which enjoyed monopolistic competition over their area of production such as electricity and transcontinental railroads merging with others in same area. It mainly occurred between heavy manufacturing industries at that time. A lot of mergers failed towards the end of this phase as they could not get the desired efficiency and the state of world economy as at 1903 as well as th e stock market crash on 1904 did not help matters. Chu (2010) reflected to the mergers in Canadian banks in 1889 to 1926 which could be referred to as both the first and second wave period. He explained that economist has not fully explored the mechanisms through which financial developments affects economic growths. Canadaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s growth trough MA under the period was under study was also associated with higher banking concentration and a wider branch network. Kling (2006) also agreed that the German universal system emerged around 1914 as the big banks in Berlin acquired smaller banks. This development supported industrial enterprise and external growth through industrial enterprise. The second wave or MA was recorded between 1916 and 1929 which were more between oligopolies as that of monopolies in the first era. The post world war economic boom after the First World War supported these mergers. Also, government policies as at that time started to encouraged companies to work together and technological innovation in areas of transportation provided the needed for such MA. Most of the mergers at this time were mainly horizontal or conglomerate in nature. Producers of key metals, petroleum products, food products, chemicals and transport equipments were mainly involved in the mergers of this period. Investment also supported very in merger as at the period but the great depression of 1929 and the stock market crash in same year brought period to an end. There were mainly conglomerate mergers as at 1965 to 1969 which was stimulated by sky-scraping stock prices, interest rates, and stringent enforcement of antitrust law in the third wave merger. This period did not end well as government were becoming too harsh towards them end of the period but a few companies did well in the 1970s. The fourth merger wave was within 1981 to 1989 recorded mergers in some industries such as airline, banking, oil and gas and pharmaceutical. There many cases of foreign takeovers and the period ended with anti takeover laws, reforms in financial institution and the gulf war. Kim and white (1998) analyzed almost all commercial banks mergers in the united states between 1985 and 1991, and found out evidence of decreasing cost efficiencies in most mergers, except for mergers between very large financial institutions. The small and medium commercial banks decreased efficiencies after merger. Globalization, stock market boom and deregulation in the telecommunication, banking and petroleum industries were major characteristics of the fifth merger. Most of the mergers at this time were geared towards profit maximization but the burst of the stock bubble also ended this era. Huyghebaert and Luypaert (2009) states that in the year 2007 alone, there almost forty thousand deals announced in respect mergers and acquisitions across the world. This accounted for an aggregate value deal value of one thousand, three hundred and forty-five billion dollars. Ernst and Young (1995) also identified the alternatives of acquisition: financial, geographic, and symbiotic and absorption acquisitions. In the case of financial is where a company is bought into a holding company for the purpose of restructuring. The main objectives for the acquisition are mainly to eradication, reduce cost and improved efficiency. There are so many firms with ideas to change the world of business but lack the financial muscle to improve in research and development and or invest more into the existing findings. Any business speculator that gets hold of this will ensure that these ideas see the light of the day by an outright acquisition so as to finance the company for growth. Geographic acquisitions are intended to expand the acquirerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s core business across new frontiers. The term emerging markets rings a bell in business as every investor want to sell products and services where there is a ready market with a thriving huge population. In the rece nt years, most businesses have moved their production sites to Asia where there cheap labour and n emerging market for the product. Some parts of Africa where there reasonable levels of stability have also seen to be good to expand into as a new frontier. The sales of mobile phone handsets the Nigerian market could be seen as a good example a new frontier for Chinese or Japanese phone manufacturers. Companies merge with others in a different location just to get access to the new location as well. Symbolic acquisitions are described as where newly acquired products and competencies are absorbed into the parents business but the acquired company retains a level of independence, absorption acquisition imply that the two businesses are fully integrated, with one effectively loosing identity. This is an effective business strategy as the name of the former company is like an asset and most customers may not continue with the product or services if the name is changed. The case of Tata acquiring land rover in 2009 is a suitable case where the name Tata is known for production of trucks and military vehicles, but land rover is known for luxury cars and as such the change of the name perceived with strength should remain to keep the market moving smooth. The case of absorption acquisition as mentioned before where one companies gradually losses identity could be seen in the case if Safeway supermarket and Morrisonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s supermarket where Safeway gradually faded away. Chen and Tan (2011) examined how the deregulation of financial services industry has intensified in some European countries a significant portion of business handled by banks. This is because the deregulated banks have more financial capacity to manage and finance businesses with a confidence of measuring up at the end of the day. There were two hundred and thirteen mergers during 1989 to 2004 with the acquirer of a European bank and the target of an insurance company. This was because the growth and success rate of mergers was lucidly clear to business world at time, in that firms were on the lookout for a similar thriving company that they could merge resource and ideas together to achieve economies of scale and reduced overhead cost. Koetter (2007) was of the view that prior to the merger targets perform poorly compared to acquirers in many merger cases. The increasing efficiency of a firm reduces the hazards of takeovers but increases the risk if bank failures. Therefore, the probability of takeovers and failures is influence significantly by efficiency. Imala (2005) identified eight reasons for merger and acquisitions in the financial service sector. The identified reason are in relation cost savings attributed to economies of scale as well as more efficient allocation of resources; revenue enhancement which is derived from the impact of consolidation on bank size, scope, and overall market power; risk reduction due to change in organisational focus and efficient organizational structure; new development which imposes a high fixed cost and need to spread these costs across a large customer base; the advent of deregulation which removed many important legal and regulatory barriers; globalisation which engender a more globally integrated financial service and geographical expansion of banking operations; financial stability characterised by the smooth functioning of various components of the financial system, with each component resilient to shock; shareholders pressure on management to improve profit margins and returns on investment made possibly by new and powerful shareholders blocks. Nigerian Banking Environment According to Adegbaju (2007), there have been remarkable developments in the Nigerian banking sector over the years. Mergers and acquisition in Nigerian banks to took place in 2004 / 2005 commenced after an announcement by the CBN that all commercial banks in Nigeria should upgrade their minimum capital base too twenty five billion Naira before the end of December 2005. Umoren, (2009) examined the benefits of the fortification and consolidation of the Nigerian banking system as it could be seen as the first phase where by such reforms are made to help to guarantee a well built and reliable banking sector that is also considered to be diversified to ensure depositors safety. The role of money in the development of any nation cannot be over emphasized and the Nigerian economy needs to be capable and competitive in the African continent particular as well as the world in general. Madabueze (2008) mentioned that the recent reforms in Nigeria banking sector which required the banks to source for high capital base to the tune of twenty five billion naira which is put at approximately one hundred and ninety million dollars, recorded a sharp drop down of the number of banks from eighty-nine to less than twenty-four currently in operation. He further argued that this will enable the Nigerian banks to become relevant and active players in the international scene, helping the image of Nigeria as a financial capital of some sort of (china of Africa). The Nigerian economic policy was regarded as an economically fragile policy some decades before then but the recapitalization process has enable two recent developments which is a positive message to the international community. The CBN governor at that time, prof. Charles Soludo explained that before the recapitalization commenced, the Nigerian banks have not played their role in economic development because of their fee ble and frail capital base and as such, there was a great need to strengthen them through the consolidation process. Madabueze (2007) opined that the crusade requesting the CBN to be flexible with their position of recapitalization did not involve bankers alone as members of the national assembly in Nigeria also requested the CBN to reverse its decision of recapitalization to the amount twenty five billion naira. Is was further observed as he mentioned that members of the public were completely against the move as they felt the process will worsen the situation and many of them started making panic withdrawals from their accounts. On the other hand, the CBN also had its fair supporters which included the former president of the federal republic of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo who publicly showed his support for the twenty five billion capital base for banks, the Manufacturers association of Nigeria (MAN) who were completely in support of the policy claiming that it will enlarge the national economic base and help to position the real sector. Ogundele (2008) agreed that mergers are essentially the amalgamation of two or more companies that of all or the parties must be in existence legally and the surviving company continues to function in its originally registered name. In some case, merged companies find themselves out of business and leave its assets and liabilities to the acquiring company. Williams and Rao (2006) focus on mergers and acquisition because they are events that correspond to considerable changes in the asset structure of the bank. Commercial bank faces different risk, capital structure and regulatory environments as against firms that have been traditionally studied for governance effects and managerial risk aversion. Owokalade (2006) observed the definition of mergers as posited by the company and allied matters act decree of 1990 that any amalgamation of the undertakings of two or more companies or the undertaking of two or more companies and one or more bodies corporate. He emphasized that a form of dealings combination whereby two or more companies join collectively to become one; being voluntary liquidated by having it interest taken by the other and its shareholders becoming shareholders in the blown up existing company. Kurfi (2010) is of the view that mergers as a principle of the combination of two or more companies that translate same business purposes and agree to come together and decide whichever the given name of one of the companies or absolutely take a new name. He further mentioned that amalgamation is another word for merger. Mergers usually occur between firms of almost same size and are usually friendly. In the case of Stanbic bank and IBTC bank, they arrive at a name StanbicIBTC bank plc after their merger and the resultant name was due to the friendship earlier involved and almost same size of the banks. Kazmi (2006) grouped merger into four: horizontal, vertical concentric and conglomerate mergers. Further explanation revealed that horizontal mergers takes place where there is a combination of two or more firms in the same business, or an organisation engaged in certain aspects of the production and marketing process. When there is a merger of two or more firms but necessary in the same business which might be complementary in supply of materials or marketing is referred to as a vertical merger. The concentric merger takes place when there is a combination of two or more firms related to each other in line of function, customer group or alternative technologies used. Conglomerate merger occurs when there is a combination of two or more firms that are unrelated in customer function, customer group, and alternative technologies. There are situations where a company gets involved in all the above listed forms of mergers. For example, HP a computer and printers giant has merged with Com paq recently and before then acquire Apollo computers which related, acquired Agilent technologies which were into chemicals and medical business, acquired Mercury Interactive which was a software company. The UBA Merger Mergers and acquisition is simply a different approach encourage survival of the fittest is to give rise to a stronger, more efficient, better structure and skilled industry. The Guardian Newspaper reported in 2005 the UBA merger started with separate meetings where that boards of directors of UBA and Standard Trust Bank Plc accepted the arrangement for a union of both financial institutions. The bank aimed to become the biggest bank in West African and one of the largest in Africa. When they considered the assets of both banks before the merger, it was observed that had a formidable asset base after accessing their portfolios at that time and when is been concretised, they could customers from all sectors of the economy. It has over 100 branches spread out strategically across the country in what is described as the largest truly online real-time banking network in sub-Saharan Africa. It is often referred to as Nigerias neighbourhood bank. This derives from its national orientation in terms of geographic spread and continuing national expansion. Wheelen and Hunger (2008) confirmed that UBA the former Trade bank and Citi express bank because the firms were different in sizes and as such they can either be friendly or hostile. Todayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s UBA is a merger between two predecessors banks, legacy UBA and Standard Trust Bank (STB) which were ranked third and fifth in size respectively prior to the 2005 CBN reform and consolidation programme. It was a huge success as the ability to anticipate industry trends, coupled with the banks agility, enabled them to be the first successful merger in the history of Nigerian banking industry, thus creating the current UBA plc which its management rates as the largest financial services institution on West Africa. As the economies of Nigeria and Africa continues to improve, following the established path of the emerging market; i.e. increased political stability, improved government finances, growing domestic consumer demand, high commodity prices and significant improvement in the economic indicators, the UBA is well positioned as a warrant on the African renaissance story. The presence of UBA in all commercial centres and major cities in Nigeria and Ghana has earned the bank the nickname: the neighbourhood bank. This appellation ties in with the UBA brand promise. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The wise choiceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? and guides our retail distribution strategy which enable us to deliver exactly should be expected by both potential and existing customers of the bank in respect to proximity, choice, convenience and customization. UBA is a bank that is operating out of two of the most vibrant economies in the sub region; Nigeria and Ghana, the new |UBA combines the financial strength of fifty-seven year UBA and the young , innovative and technology driven dynamism of the then STB. UBA has maintained a consistent and solid financial performance in its forty-five year history since it began business in 1961. The bank has record history of leading and pioneering innovations in Nigerian financial sector. It is the first ever and only Nigerian bank to surpass the one trillion balance sheet size with contingents inclusive. It is the only sub-Saharan African bank excluding republic of South Africa that has a branch in New York, USA. UBA was ranked the number one bank in Nigeria in 2007, and bank of the year award (Thisday, 2007). This was due to the banks outstanding performance in the banking sector. Euromoney (2000) confirmed that UBA was the best domestic bank in Nigeria and was the first among international banks to be registered under Nigerian law. The bank has received excellence credit ratings both short and long term, global credit rating (SA) AA+ and A+ in 2005.UBA is the first Nigerian bank to offer an IPO following its listing on the Nigerian stock exchange in 1970. UBA was the first Nigerian bank to introduce a Cheque Guarantee Scheme known as the UBACARD in 1986. It was the first bank to introduce the Nigerian Government Bond index in 2006. It was also the only Nigerian company with the GDR programme. The GDR is a negotiable certificate representing ownership of shares. They are quoted and traded in US dollars and the dividends are paid in same currency. It is specially designed to facilitate the purchase, holding and sale of non US securities by foreign investor. This GDR programme enables foreign institutional investors to hold and trade UBA shares without having to expatriate funds into Nigeria. This Depositary Receipt (GDR) is preferred by some investors who are unable to hold Nigerian securities for compliance reasons or due to a lack of the appropriate infrastructure for holding an ordinary share. The GDR also trade, clear and settle according to international market conventions rather than those prevalent in Nigeria (UBA Report, 2008) West Africa and indeed everywhere the bank has presence. It is simple, elegant, vibrant and memorable, combining the mustard seed of legacy STB and the typographic execution of the letters UBA, predominantly in red and white. During the period of the former standard trust bank plc (STB Plc) acquired 27.34% of the United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA plc) and this transaction resulted not a merger between the two banks, whereby all assets and liabilities of standard trust bank Plc were transferred to UBA Plc. The entire share capital of STB was cancelled and STB was dissolved without being wound up and the shareholders of STB were allotted UBA shares. Motives of Bank Mergers and Acquisition Motives of Bank Mergers and Acquisition Chapter One 1.0 Introduction Over the years, the world have witnessed growth and development in the business world and will still record a lot more due to rapid technological growth in recent times. Merger and Acquisitions (MA) has contributed immensely to the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s economic development and also helped indirectly to create stability in some industries in both developing and developed nations. A merger is usually the amalgamation of two or more companies running commercial activities. On the other hand, acquisition is where one company takes over another and the identity of the other company can be eradicated as it becomes part of a larger company. Most MAs between companies have occurred as a result of achieving economies of scale and penetrate into new markets. Many bank employees regard MA as a threat to their jobs as the period will record shareholders demand for reduction of workforce. It will also be problematic to execute Human resource management with, and the environment of MA due to t he changes that will be recorded in the procedures and practices in the new company. The vast majority of mergers acquisitions research is correctional and focuses on publicly traded corporate entities, using quantitative secondary data made available by large number of databases (Meglio and Risberg, 2010). Background to the Study A significant change has been witnessed in the Nigerian banking sector over the years, in respect to ownership structure, number of institutions and locations, as well as the profundity of operations. There are some numbers of effects when companies merge or when one company acquires another company (Cigola and Modesti, 2008). This include reduced expense in production and management cost, deriving It was observed that downsizing, mergers, and acquisitions are examples of the radical organizational responses to increase global completion, improvements in technology, and government deregulation (Shook and Roth, 2010). The changes so far recorded have been predisposed mostly by the challenges posed by issues as globalization, deregulation of the financial sector, and the implementation of a decision making and prudential requirements that are in line with international standards. This is why some companies may deliberately choose to merge with any other readily available in its line of business. The benefits in most cases are much more than the losses if any is recorded. Mergers have also had effects on employees as the process usually leads to an upward or downward review of wages and salaries. There are also cases where the MA leads to downsizing of workforce as new technological operation techniques will be adopted and there will be less needed for human resource compared to the former way of operation. Bank Mergers and Acquisition A significant amount of research has been done to ascertain the success rate of MAs in banks to be able to draw conclusion on its profitability and efficiency (Behr and Heid, 2011). It was pointed out that despite the considerable prospective U.S banking mergers in the 1980s; many of them were not successful in achieving their aim due to the cost of efficiency. Banks have diverse reasons why they merge which relates to the business motives behind it such as managerial incentives (Wood, 2006). The banking industry was partly strengthened through MA as they use the merged assets to build a strong capital base for the bank and more assets that have appreciated value. Soludo (2004) enumerated the fundamental problems of the banks, particularly those classified as unsound, have been identified to include; persistent illiquidity, poor assets quality and unprofitable operations and further mentioned that their major problems also included weak governance , weak capital base, late publicatio ns of annual reports, gross insider abuses and over dependence on public sector deposits. Many literatures indicates that banking sector reforms in Nigeria propelled by the need to deepen the financial sector and reposition for growth, to become integrated into the global financial design; and involve a banking sector that is consulting with regional integration requirement and international best practices (Somoye, 2010). Nigerian Banking Industry In the recent past, Nigerian banks have adopted poles apart strategies to achieve a predetermined least amount capital base during the banking sector consolidation in the year 2004 and 2005 which was put at twenty five billion Naira (Alao, 2010). This process saw a lot of banks in Nigeria to source for funds from all forms of businesses to meet up the demand and at a point, it was observed mergers or acquisition of smaller banks was the only way out of the regulation. MAs is a global phenomenon with an estimated four thousand deals taking place each year. Elumilade (2010) mentioned that banks are the linchpin of the economy of any country. He mentioned that banks in any every country play a vital position in respect to the countryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s financial system and they could be regarded as vital agents for development process. Banks also are relevant through financial intermediation services and promote economic growth (Afolabi, 2004). According to Ibru (2006), there was an embryonic phase of the Nigerian banking industry which began with the first set of banks started with the African banking corporation which had its headquarter in south Africa and was pioneering by the Nigerian banking system in 1892. In 1894 the British bank for West Africa which now known as the first bank while union bank of Nigeria plc formerly known as the Barclays D.C.O started in 1925. The British and French bank now united bank for Africa was established in 1949. Many other indigenous banks were established and they ushered in the era that saw the constant monopoly erstwhile enjoyed by the foreign owned banks (CBN, 2008) Central Bank of Nigeria and Market Recapitalization The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2004 introduced a policy that made it mandatory for recapitalization to be carried out in the banking industry. This was mentioned as the fourth phase of the banks restructuring scheme and all banks should comply strictly before the end of 2005 (Afolabi, 2004). This led the emergence of twenty five consolidated banks and the process encouraged mergers and acquisition in many cases. They were 89 members of the Nigerian banking industry (NBI) prior to the recapitalization. It was recorded that the CBN in 2009 provided two hundred billion Naira to four undercapitalized banks after an audit was carried out which reported that they could face liquidity problems and needed funds to continue normal operations. In addition, the CBN decided to stabilize the system and return confidence to the markets and investors, an addition injection of six hundred and twenty billion naira of liquidity into the banking sector and there is a replacement of leadership in eight banks which has given sector a little more balanced than its formal position (Sanusi, 2010). Relevance of the Research After the bank consolidation in 2005, it was mentioned in a CBN report that UBA Plc and First Bank of Nigeria have been effectively competing with multinationals in various aspects of international business. CBN Report (2007) also revealed that some Nigerian banks after the consolidation were able to register their presence in the developed countries like United States of America and United Kingdom as participate in foreign market areas of funds transfer and loans servicing. Mergers and acquisitions have for long attracted interest of many researchers in academics in trying to predict the outcomes of the deals (Meglio and Risberg, 2010). They further explained that the inconsistency in some research findings has necessitated the need for more integrative frameworks to grasp the complete phenomenon. Also, the researchersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ opinion aiming to explain mergers and acquisition outcomes in general have not been able to successfully develop and test a grand theory about MAs. Aim of the Study This research aims to look into the overall motives of banks mergers and acquisition as well as its impact on the Nigerian economy. Research Questions and Objectives Research Questions What are the implications of bank mergers and acquisition? What are the motives behind bank merger and acquisition? How does merger and acquisition impact on efficiency? How can merger and acquisition effect competition in the Nigerian banking sector? Research Objectives To critically evaluate mergers and acquisition in the banking sector To analyse the impact of merger and acquisition in the Nigerian banking sector To evaluate the success of UBA merger and acquisition To identify the success factors of UBA in Nigeria Banking sector Plan of the study The plan of this work has been structured to begin by providing a background of the area under discussion and justifying the need for the study in the first chapter. This would be immediate followed by review of literatures relating to similar issues and traditional views of mergers and acquisition in chapter two. The research method which will highlight how I intend to gather data will be presented in the third chapter. The data analysis and findings will be presented and discussed in chapters four which will be followed by the summary, conclusion and recommendation in chapter five. Summary This chapter gives an insight into the subject matter by examining the different related aspects of the subject that will contribute to the major focus of the other chapters. It is a known fact that MA has positive and negative impacts in any sector or environment where it has occurred and this will give us the opportunity to draw the impact of competition that will bring in the absence of a monopoly situation. Chapter Two Literature Review Recent studies show that the bank recapitalization process that took place in Nigeria in 2005 has been of great importance to the sector. Merger and acquisition across the world have had positive impact in the strength of the firm in most cases. The banking sector in Nigeria across the world has had course to experience MA in some cases and this helped them in restricting in various forms. The UBA merger with STB was a success as the experience of the first generation bank and agility of a new generation bank was put together to produce a stronger UBA Plc. History of Mergers and Acquisitions MA history time and again have surprises many people when they realise that the concept of MA are not new, and on the converse they are progressing from the early years. It helps us to understand the evolution of the concepts in the world. The economic watch (2011) mentioned that there are five major stages of MA which discussed as wave period. Each of these waves recorded its progress associated with it and has a technological support that gave rise to the era. Past experience has also shown that MA are triggered by economic factors. The period between (1897 1904) saw a lot of horizontal mergers as companies which enjoyed monopolistic competition over their area of production such as electricity and transcontinental railroads merging with others in same area. It mainly occurred between heavy manufacturing industries at that time. A lot of mergers failed towards the end of this phase as they could not get the desired efficiency and the state of world economy as at 1903 as well as th e stock market crash on 1904 did not help matters. Chu (2010) reflected to the mergers in Canadian banks in 1889 to 1926 which could be referred to as both the first and second wave period. He explained that economist has not fully explored the mechanisms through which financial developments affects economic growths. Canadaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s growth trough MA under the period was under study was also associated with higher banking concentration and a wider branch network. Kling (2006) also agreed that the German universal system emerged around 1914 as the big banks in Berlin acquired smaller banks. This development supported industrial enterprise and external growth through industrial enterprise. The second wave or MA was recorded between 1916 and 1929 which were more between oligopolies as that of monopolies in the first era. The post world war economic boom after the First World War supported these mergers. Also, government policies as at that time started to encouraged companies to work together and technological innovation in areas of transportation provided the needed for such MA. Most of the mergers at this time were mainly horizontal or conglomerate in nature. Producers of key metals, petroleum products, food products, chemicals and transport equipments were mainly involved in the mergers of this period. Investment also supported very in merger as at the period but the great depression of 1929 and the stock market crash in same year brought period to an end. There were mainly conglomerate mergers as at 1965 to 1969 which was stimulated by sky-scraping stock prices, interest rates, and stringent enforcement of antitrust law in the third wave merger. This period did not end well as government were becoming too harsh towards them end of the period but a few companies did well in the 1970s. The fourth merger wave was within 1981 to 1989 recorded mergers in some industries such as airline, banking, oil and gas and pharmaceutical. There many cases of foreign takeovers and the period ended with anti takeover laws, reforms in financial institution and the gulf war. Kim and white (1998) analyzed almost all commercial banks mergers in the united states between 1985 and 1991, and found out evidence of decreasing cost efficiencies in most mergers, except for mergers between very large financial institutions. The small and medium commercial banks decreased efficiencies after merger. Globalization, stock market boom and deregulation in the telecommunication, banking and petroleum industries were major characteristics of the fifth merger. Most of the mergers at this time were geared towards profit maximization but the burst of the stock bubble also ended this era. Huyghebaert and Luypaert (2009) states that in the year 2007 alone, there almost forty thousand deals announced in respect mergers and acquisitions across the world. This accounted for an aggregate value deal value of one thousand, three hundred and forty-five billion dollars. Ernst and Young (1995) also identified the alternatives of acquisition: financial, geographic, and symbiotic and absorption acquisitions. In the case of financial is where a company is bought into a holding company for the purpose of restructuring. The main objectives for the acquisition are mainly to eradication, reduce cost and improved efficiency. There are so many firms with ideas to change the world of business but lack the financial muscle to improve in research and development and or invest more into the existing findings. Any business speculator that gets hold of this will ensure that these ideas see the light of the day by an outright acquisition so as to finance the company for growth. Geographic acquisitions are intended to expand the acquirerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s core business across new frontiers. The term emerging markets rings a bell in business as every investor want to sell products and services where there is a ready market with a thriving huge population. In the rece nt years, most businesses have moved their production sites to Asia where there cheap labour and n emerging market for the product. Some parts of Africa where there reasonable levels of stability have also seen to be good to expand into as a new frontier. The sales of mobile phone handsets the Nigerian market could be seen as a good example a new frontier for Chinese or Japanese phone manufacturers. Companies merge with others in a different location just to get access to the new location as well. Symbolic acquisitions are described as where newly acquired products and competencies are absorbed into the parents business but the acquired company retains a level of independence, absorption acquisition imply that the two businesses are fully integrated, with one effectively loosing identity. This is an effective business strategy as the name of the former company is like an asset and most customers may not continue with the product or services if the name is changed. The case of Tata acquiring land rover in 2009 is a suitable case where the name Tata is known for production of trucks and military vehicles, but land rover is known for luxury cars and as such the change of the name perceived with strength should remain to keep the market moving smooth. The case of absorption acquisition as mentioned before where one companies gradually losses identity could be seen in the case if Safeway supermarket and Morrisonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s supermarket where Safeway gradually faded away. Chen and Tan (2011) examined how the deregulation of financial services industry has intensified in some European countries a significant portion of business handled by banks. This is because the deregulated banks have more financial capacity to manage and finance businesses with a confidence of measuring up at the end of the day. There were two hundred and thirteen mergers during 1989 to 2004 with the acquirer of a European bank and the target of an insurance company. This was because the growth and success rate of mergers was lucidly clear to business world at time, in that firms were on the lookout for a similar thriving company that they could merge resource and ideas together to achieve economies of scale and reduced overhead cost. Koetter (2007) was of the view that prior to the merger targets perform poorly compared to acquirers in many merger cases. The increasing efficiency of a firm reduces the hazards of takeovers but increases the risk if bank failures. Therefore, the probability of takeovers and failures is influence significantly by efficiency. Imala (2005) identified eight reasons for merger and acquisitions in the financial service sector. The identified reason are in relation cost savings attributed to economies of scale as well as more efficient allocation of resources; revenue enhancement which is derived from the impact of consolidation on bank size, scope, and overall market power; risk reduction due to change in organisational focus and efficient organizational structure; new development which imposes a high fixed cost and need to spread these costs across a large customer base; the advent of deregulation which removed many important legal and regulatory barriers; globalisation which engender a more globally integrated financial service and geographical expansion of banking operations; financial stability characterised by the smooth functioning of various components of the financial system, with each component resilient to shock; shareholders pressure on management to improve profit margins and returns on investment made possibly by new and powerful shareholders blocks. Nigerian Banking Environment According to Adegbaju (2007), there have been remarkable developments in the Nigerian banking sector over the years. Mergers and acquisition in Nigerian banks to took place in 2004 / 2005 commenced after an announcement by the CBN that all commercial banks in Nigeria should upgrade their minimum capital base too twenty five billion Naira before the end of December 2005. Umoren, (2009) examined the benefits of the fortification and consolidation of the Nigerian banking system as it could be seen as the first phase where by such reforms are made to help to guarantee a well built and reliable banking sector that is also considered to be diversified to ensure depositors safety. The role of money in the development of any nation cannot be over emphasized and the Nigerian economy needs to be capable and competitive in the African continent particular as well as the world in general. Madabueze (2008) mentioned that the recent reforms in Nigeria banking sector which required the banks to source for high capital base to the tune of twenty five billion naira which is put at approximately one hundred and ninety million dollars, recorded a sharp drop down of the number of banks from eighty-nine to less than twenty-four currently in operation. He further argued that this will enable the Nigerian banks to become relevant and active players in the international scene, helping the image of Nigeria as a financial capital of some sort of (china of Africa). The Nigerian economic policy was regarded as an economically fragile policy some decades before then but the recapitalization process has enable two recent developments which is a positive message to the international community. The CBN governor at that time, prof. Charles Soludo explained that before the recapitalization commenced, the Nigerian banks have not played their role in economic development because of their fee ble and frail capital base and as such, there was a great need to strengthen them through the consolidation process. Madabueze (2007) opined that the crusade requesting the CBN to be flexible with their position of recapitalization did not involve bankers alone as members of the national assembly in Nigeria also requested the CBN to reverse its decision of recapitalization to the amount twenty five billion naira. Is was further observed as he mentioned that members of the public were completely against the move as they felt the process will worsen the situation and many of them started making panic withdrawals from their accounts. On the other hand, the CBN also had its fair supporters which included the former president of the federal republic of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo who publicly showed his support for the twenty five billion capital base for banks, the Manufacturers association of Nigeria (MAN) who were completely in support of the policy claiming that it will enlarge the national economic base and help to position the real sector. Ogundele (2008) agreed that mergers are essentially the amalgamation of two or more companies that of all or the parties must be in existence legally and the surviving company continues to function in its originally registered name. In some case, merged companies find themselves out of business and leave its assets and liabilities to the acquiring company. Williams and Rao (2006) focus on mergers and acquisition because they are events that correspond to considerable changes in the asset structure of the bank. Commercial bank faces different risk, capital structure and regulatory environments as against firms that have been traditionally studied for governance effects and managerial risk aversion. Owokalade (2006) observed the definition of mergers as posited by the company and allied matters act decree of 1990 that any amalgamation of the undertakings of two or more companies or the undertaking of two or more companies and one or more bodies corporate. He emphasized that a form of dealings combination whereby two or more companies join collectively to become one; being voluntary liquidated by having it interest taken by the other and its shareholders becoming shareholders in the blown up existing company. Kurfi (2010) is of the view that mergers as a principle of the combination of two or more companies that translate same business purposes and agree to come together and decide whichever the given name of one of the companies or absolutely take a new name. He further mentioned that amalgamation is another word for merger. Mergers usually occur between firms of almost same size and are usually friendly. In the case of Stanbic bank and IBTC bank, they arrive at a name StanbicIBTC bank plc after their merger and the resultant name was due to the friendship earlier involved and almost same size of the banks. Kazmi (2006) grouped merger into four: horizontal, vertical concentric and conglomerate mergers. Further explanation revealed that horizontal mergers takes place where there is a combination of two or more firms in the same business, or an organisation engaged in certain aspects of the production and marketing process. When there is a merger of two or more firms but necessary in the same business which might be complementary in supply of materials or marketing is referred to as a vertical merger. The concentric merger takes place when there is a combination of two or more firms related to each other in line of function, customer group or alternative technologies used. Conglomerate merger occurs when there is a combination of two or more firms that are unrelated in customer function, customer group, and alternative technologies. There are situations where a company gets involved in all the above listed forms of mergers. For example, HP a computer and printers giant has merged with Com paq recently and before then acquire Apollo computers which related, acquired Agilent technologies which were into chemicals and medical business, acquired Mercury Interactive which was a software company. The UBA Merger Mergers and acquisition is simply a different approach encourage survival of the fittest is to give rise to a stronger, more efficient, better structure and skilled industry. The Guardian Newspaper reported in 2005 the UBA merger started with separate meetings where that boards of directors of UBA and Standard Trust Bank Plc accepted the arrangement for a union of both financial institutions. The bank aimed to become the biggest bank in West African and one of the largest in Africa. When they considered the assets of both banks before the merger, it was observed that had a formidable asset base after accessing their portfolios at that time and when is been concretised, they could customers from all sectors of the economy. It has over 100 branches spread out strategically across the country in what is described as the largest truly online real-time banking network in sub-Saharan Africa. It is often referred to as Nigerias neighbourhood bank. This derives from its national orientation in terms of geographic spread and continuing national expansion. Wheelen and Hunger (2008) confirmed that UBA the former Trade bank and Citi express bank because the firms were different in sizes and as such they can either be friendly or hostile. Todayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s UBA is a merger between two predecessors banks, legacy UBA and Standard Trust Bank (STB) which were ranked third and fifth in size respectively prior to the 2005 CBN reform and consolidation programme. It was a huge success as the ability to anticipate industry trends, coupled with the banks agility, enabled them to be the first successful merger in the history of Nigerian banking industry, thus creating the current UBA plc which its management rates as the largest financial services institution on West Africa. As the economies of Nigeria and Africa continues to improve, following the established path of the emerging market; i.e. increased political stability, improved government finances, growing domestic consumer demand, high commodity prices and significant improvement in the economic indicators, the UBA is well positioned as a warrant on the African renaissance story. The presence of UBA in all commercial centres and major cities in Nigeria and Ghana has earned the bank the nickname: the neighbourhood bank. This appellation ties in with the UBA brand promise. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The wise choiceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? and guides our retail distribution strategy which enable us to deliver exactly should be expected by both potential and existing customers of the bank in respect to proximity, choice, convenience and customization. UBA is a bank that is operating out of two of the most vibrant economies in the sub region; Nigeria and Ghana, the new |UBA combines the financial strength of fifty-seven year UBA and the young , innovative and technology driven dynamism of the then STB. UBA has maintained a consistent and solid financial performance in its forty-five year history since it began business in 1961. The bank has record history of leading and pioneering innovations in Nigerian financial sector. It is the first ever and only Nigerian bank to surpass the one trillion balance sheet size with contingents inclusive. It is the only sub-Saharan African bank excluding republic of South Africa that has a branch in New York, USA. UBA was ranked the number one bank in Nigeria in 2007, and bank of the year award (Thisday, 2007). This was due to the banks outstanding performance in the banking sector. Euromoney (2000) confirmed that UBA was the best domestic bank in Nigeria and was the first among international banks to be registered under Nigerian law. The bank has received excellence credit ratings both short and long term, global credit rating (SA) AA+ and A+ in 2005.UBA is the first Nigerian bank to offer an IPO following its listing on the Nigerian stock exchange in 1970. UBA was the first Nigerian bank to introduce a Cheque Guarantee Scheme known as the UBACARD in 1986. It was the first bank to introduce the Nigerian Government Bond index in 2006. It was also the only Nigerian company with the GDR programme. The GDR is a negotiable certificate representing ownership of shares. They are quoted and traded in US dollars and the dividends are paid in same currency. It is specially designed to facilitate the purchase, holding and sale of non US securities by foreign investor. This GDR programme enables foreign institutional investors to hold and trade UBA shares without having to expatriate funds into Nigeria. This Depositary Receipt (GDR) is preferred by some investors who are unable to hold Nigerian securities for compliance reasons or due to a lack of the appropriate infrastructure for holding an ordinary share. The GDR also trade, clear and settle according to international market conventions rather than those prevalent in Nigeria (UBA Report, 2008) West Africa and indeed everywhere the bank has presence. It is simple, elegant, vibrant and memorable, combining the mustard seed of legacy STB and the typographic execution of the letters UBA, predominantly in red and white. During the period of the former standard trust bank plc (STB Plc) acquired 27.34% of the United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA plc) and this transaction resulted not a merger between the two banks, whereby all assets and liabilities of standard trust bank Plc were transferred to UBA Plc. The entire share capital of STB was cancelled and STB was dissolved without being wound up and the shareholders of STB were allotted UBA shares.

the conscience :: essays research papers

She could not take it anymore. She was convinced that she could no longer endure the presence of that hateful vagabond. She was determined to end it, end everything, no matter how bad it might be, rather than bear his tyranny.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It had nearly been fifteen days with that struggle. What she didn't understand was the tolerance that Antonio had with that vagabond. No, truthfully, it was strange.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The vagabond begged for hospitality for one night: the night of Ash Wednesday exactly, when the wind dragged along a blackish dust, whirling, and whipped the glass windows with a dry crackle. Afterwards, the wind ceased, and there befell a strange calm to the earth, and she pondered, while closing and adjusting the window blinds.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  --I don't like this calm--   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  She hadn't even locked the back door when that man arrived. She heard his call ringing from behind the door in the kitchen:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  --Kind lady...--   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mariana felt sudden fear. The man, old and raggedy, was there; a hat in one hand, with a begging manner.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  --Shall God protect you...--he started to say. But the vagabond's eyes looked upon her in a strange way. A way that robbed her of words.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many men like him begged for the grace of heaven on winter nights. But something about that man frightened her without motive.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The vagabond began to recite his ballad: For one night, if they would kindly let him sleep in a stable; a piece of bread and a stable; he doesn't ask for more.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The storm announced its coming...   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Outside, Mariana heard the drumming of the rain against the door. A deaf rain, thick, a warning of the approaching storm.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I'm alone--she said dryly--. I mean...when my husband is away, I do not want unknown people in my house. Go, and may God protect you.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  But the vagabond remained still, looking at her. Slowly, he put his hat on and said: --I'm a poor man, kind lady. I never did any wrong to anyone. I ask very little: a piece of bread...   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In that moment, two maids, Marcelina and Salome, came running in. They came from the vegetable garden, with their aprons over their heads, screaming and laughing. Mariana felt a strange relief after seeing them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Well--she said--. Fine... but only for this night. For tomorrow when I awake, I do not find you here....   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The old man knelt, smiling, and said a strange poem of thanks.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mariana ascended the stairs and went to go to bed.