Editorial IRFA

The papers included in this issue are selected from the 5th International Conference of the Financial Engineering and Banking Society (FEBS) organized by the Centre for Financial and Risk Management of the triple accredited AUDENCIA Business School (Audencia Nantes School of Management at the time) during 11-13 June 2015. With more than 400 papers considered for presentation and 242 papers being presented at the conference and with 261 delegates from 46 countries (academics, practitioners and regulators) the conference covered a range of topics related to banking, financial markets, risk and vulnerability, notwithstanding the two plenary talks of Professor Edward Altman (Stern School of Business, New York University) who gave a speech entitled: “Credit Markets: Is it A Bubble?” and Professor Robert (Bob) DeYoung (University of Kansas School of Business) who gave a speech entitled “How Bank Profit-seeking and Risk-taking Spillover into the Economy”, and provided a forum for the most up-to-date research to be presented and ideas to be exchanged, and hosted

This issue covers a wide range of topics in financial markets and recent developments on financial research, from stock predictability and price discovery by block trades to bank financing and rollover risk; mergers and acquisitions in the banking industry driven by risk and as a measure of discipline; the creation of easy to replicate market indices; and the analysis of speculative pressures on the spot-futures relationship in the energy and metal markets.