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The future of securitization
(2008)
Securitization is a financial innovation that experiences a boom-bust cycle, as many other innovations before. This paper analyzes possible reasons for the breakdown of primary and secondary securitization markets, and argues that misaligned incentives along the value chain are the primary cause of the problems. The illiquidity of asset and interbank markets, in this view, is a market failure derived from ill-designed mechanisms of coordinating financial intermediaries and investors. Thus, illiquidity is closely related to the design of the financial chains. Our policy conclusions emphasize crisis prevention rather than crisis management, and the objective is to restore a “comprehensive incentive alignment”. The toe-hold for strengthening regulation is surprisingly small. First, we emphasize the importance of equity piece retention for the long-term quality of the underlying asset pool. As a consequence, equity piece allocation needs to be publicly known, alleviating market pricing. Second, on a micro level, accountability of managers can be improved by compensation packages aiming at long term incentives, and penalizing policies with destabilizing effects on financial markets. Third, on a macro level, increased transparency relating to effective risk transfer, risk-related management compensation, and credible measurement of rating performance stabilizes the valuation of financial assets and, hence, improves the solvency of financial intermediaries. Fourth, financial intermediaries, whose risk is opaque, may be subjected to higher capital requirements.
The Capital Markets Union-project of the European Commission aims for an increase of marketbased debt financing of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), complementing bank lending. In this essay we argue that rather than focussing on pure non-bank lending, a reasonable mix of bankand market-based financing should be considered. Banks are said to have a comparative advantage in critical lending functions such as credit screening, debtor monitoring and debt renegotiation. All forms of lending require a persistent skin-in-the-game of critical players in order to be effective. The regulator should insist on full disclosure of skin-in-the-game, thereby improving capital allocation and reducing systemic risks.
SME funding without banks?
(2017)
Schützen Statine vor Schlaganfall und Alzheimer? : neue Therapiemöglichkeiten im Zentralnervensystem
(2005)
Statine stellen heute Medikamente der ersten Wahl bei zu hohen Cholesterin- Blutwerten dar. Denn sie hemmen die Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reduktase (HMG-CoA Reduktase), ein wichtiges Schlüsselenzym, das für die körpereigene Herstellung von Cholesterin notwendig ist. Bei der pharmakologischen Bewertung der Statine muss allerdings auch der Cholesterinstoffwechsel im Gehirn berücksichtigt werden, dem cholesterinreichsten Organ des menschlichen Körpers. Bislang existieren nur wenige Daten zu den Effekten dieser Medikamente im zentralen Nervensystem. Im Rahmen eines Leitprojekts des Zentrums für Arzneimittelforschung, -Entwicklung und Sicherheit (ZAFES) wird derzeit die Pharmakologie der Statine im Gehirn intensiv untersucht, um die therapeutischen Einsatzmöglichkeiten von Statinen im Zusammenhang mit der Therapie von Erkrankungen, wie Schlaganfall und Alzheimer-Demenz, aufzuklären und gegebenenfalls zu erweitern.
Background and purpose: During acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, neurological signs, symptoms and complications occur. We aimed to assess their clinical relevance by evaluating real-world data from a multinational registry. Methods: We analyzed COVID-19 patients from 127 centers, diagnosed between January 2020 and February 2021, and registered in the European multinational LEOSS (Lean European Open Survey on SARS-Infected Patients) registry. The effects of prior neurological diseases and the effect of neurological symptoms on outcome were studied using multivariate logistic regression. Results: A total of 6537 COVID-19 patients (97.7% PCR-confirmed) were analyzed, of whom 92.1% were hospitalized and 14.7% died. Commonly, excessive tiredness (28.0%), headache (18.5%), nausea/emesis (16.6%), muscular weakness (17.0%), impaired sense of smell (9.0%) and taste (12.8%), and delirium (6.7%) were reported. In patients with a complicated or critical disease course (53%) the most frequent neurological complications were ischemic stroke (1.0%) and intracerebral bleeding (ICB; 2.2%). ICB peaked in the critical disease phase (5%) and was associated with the administration of anticoagulation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Excessive tiredness (odds ratio [OR] 1.42, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.20–1.68) and prior neurodegenerative diseases (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.07–1.63) were associated with an increased risk of an unfavorable outcome. Prior cerebrovascular and neuroimmunological diseases were not associated with an unfavorable short-term outcome of COVID-19. Conclusion: Our data on mostly hospitalized COVID-19 patients show that excessive tiredness or prior neurodegenerative disease at first presentation increase the risk of an unfavorable short-term outcome. ICB in critical COVID-19 was associated with therapeutic interventions, such as anticoagulation and ECMO, and thus may be an indirect complication of a life-threatening systemic viral infection.
Single long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (e.g. docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) or eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)) are known for their neuroprotective properties associated with ischemic stroke. This pilot study aimed to test the effectiveness of an acute treatment with a long-chain omega-3 lipid emulsion (Omegaven 10%®, OGV) that contains fish oil (DHA 18 mg/ml; EPA 21 mg/ml) and α-tocopherol (0.2 mg/ml) in a transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model of ischemic stroke in mice. For this purpose, female CD-1 mice were anesthetized and subjected to 90 minutes of MCAO. To reflect a clinically relevant situation for an acute treatment, either after induction of stroke or after reperfusion, a single dose of OGV was injected intravenously into the tail vein (5 ml/kg b.w.). A neurological severity score was used to assess motor function and neurological outcome. Stroke-related parameters were determined 24 hours after MCAO. Microdialysis was used to collect samples from extracellular space of the striatum. Mitochondrial function was determined in isolated mitochondria or dissociated brain cells. Inflammation markers were measured in brain homogenate. According to control experiments, neuroprotective effects could be attributed to the long-chain omega-3 content of the emulsion. Intravenous injection of OGV reduced size and severity of stroke, restored mitochondrial function, and prevented excitotoxic glutamate release. Increases of pro-inflammatory markers (COX-2 and IL-6) were attenuated. Neurological severity scoring and neurochemical data demonstrated that acute OGV treatment shortly after induction of stroke was most efficient and able to improve short-term neurological outcome, reflecting the importance of an acute treatment to improve the outcome. Summarising, acute treatment of stroke with a single intravenous dose of OGV provided strong neuroprotective effects and was most effective when given immediately after onset of ischemia. As OGV is an approved fishoil emulsion for parenteral nutrition in humans, our results may provide first translational data for a possible early management of ischemic stroke with administration of OGV to prevent further brain damage.