This book covers the current and strategic issues in banking and finance with particular reference to financial and non-financial risks, corporate governance, banking and financial regulation, and the loan market. A compilation of the best papers selected by the Scientific Committee and presented at the "Wolpertinger Annual Conference 2024" at the University of Palermo, Italy, the book presents and discusses theoretical and empirical research, policy issues, and contemporary developments in banking, financial intermediation, and other related topics in the broad field of finance. It will be of interest to scholars, professors, and policymakers in banking and financial services.

Enzo Scannella is a Professor of Banking and Finance at the University of Palermo, Italy. He has held a Visiting Scholar position at the Harvard Business School, Harvard University (Boston, USA), a Visiting Professor position at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Department of Finance (Madrid, Spain), and a Visiting Professor position at the Sprott School of Business, Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada). His research interests include bank management, economics of financial instruments, financial innovation, risk management, and financial regulation.

Jonathan Williams  is a Professor of Banking and Finance at the University of Surrey, UK. Professor Williams is the Chair of the European Association of Teachers of Banking and Finance (The Wolpertinger Group), Treasurer of the Financial Markets and Institutions Special Interest Group of BAFA (British Accounting and Finance Association), and a member of the Chartered Banker Institute's Quality and Standards Committee. He is the Series Editor of the Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Banking and Financial Institutions.