ICMA Centre graduate and senior research fellow publish article in The Moscow Times

"Institutional Cross-ownership and Corporate Strategy: The Case of Mergers and Acquisitions" by Professor Chris Brooks, Dr Yeqin Zeng, and PhD Zhong Chen has been awarded Best Corporate Finance Paper at the 2016 Southern Finance Association annual conference. About the paper: The paper provides new evidence on the important role of institutional investors in affecting corporate strategy. We study institutional investors who hold stocks of both acquirers and targets before the announcements of mergers and acquisitions (M&As). The existence of these institutional cross-owners not only increases the probability of two firms merging, but also affects the outcomes of M&As. Institutional cross-ownership reduces target firm prices, lowers completion probabilities of deals with negative acquirer announcement returns, and increases the use of stock payment in M&A transactions. Furthermore, deals with high institutional cross-ownership have lower transaction costs and disclose more transparent financial statement information.

Professor Adrian Bell, Head of the ICMA Centre, was interviewed by BBC South on Thursday 05 December 2013. The BBC broadcasted live from one of the ICMA Centre's dealing rooms which was filled with students engaging in a trading simulation. The interview was reflecting on the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement.

The ICMA Centre Finance and Investment Society recently visited Invesco Perpetual, the second largest Investment Company in the UK. The aim of the visit was not only to assist members in gaining a deeper understanding of the investment industry but also to enable them to learn of the relevant skills needed for the future and to liaise with industry professionals. The members also wanted to gain an invaluable insight into the actual workings of a financial institution.