Csaba Lentner

Amongst other causes, the excessive and uncontrolled credit growth, the high levels of leverage with insufficient high-quality capital funding, the high degree of systemic risk accompanied with the inadequate capital buffers and the insufficient liquidity buffers and excessive exposure to liquidity risk (Coen, 2016) in the early 2000’s led to first global financial crisis of the millennium in 2008–2009. Although there has been a global effort to consolidate the financial markets, different countries had different levels of regulatory response to the financial crisis, which resulted in different speed of recovery and impact on internal management control processes. This paper delivers a comprehensive review of the key global changes in the financial market and banking regulations since the 2007–2008 financial crisis by conducting a systematic review of the published papers, directives and regulations of the global, especially the new and existing American, European and Ukrainian financial regulatory bodies and International Organizations such as the Basel Committee, IMF, FSB, EU Parliament and Commission. Trend analysis provides some evidence for the stabilization effect of the new regulations, especially in case of countries with stricter supervisory frameworks (such as the Basel Standards). Finally, the impact of the regulatory environment’s changes on the existing internal controlling systems and functions of financial institutions is assessed by comparing the key pre- and post-crisis states of the different management control functions.

The global financial crisis highlighted the limitations of the mainstream economic thinking. The post-crisis reflection has not resulted yet in any new paradigm, however, several new, still separate, innovative approaches appeared in the field of public finances and economic governance. The aim of the paper is to provide a structured presentation of these new innovative approaches, which can serve as a potential basis of a new way of thinking about economic and financial governance and the innovation of public finances. The paper reviews the relevant international literature published after the global financial crisis and, as a result, presents the innovations, especially in respect of the role of the state, the renewal of central banking, the reassessment of the stability and geopolitical aspects of economic policy, the relevance of confidence and cooperation in public policy, the increasing role of the public sector concerning the sustainability of economic development and the renaissance of institutional economics. Based on these new approaches, the paper concludes that the smart, inclusive and sustainable, innovation-led growth requires the rethinking of the role, the functions, the objectives and the instruments of public policy and economic governance.

In response to a sharp rise in household credit repayment risk after the 2008 crisis, the banking sector was consolidated, borrowing conditions were tightened and the regulatory authorities had to improve the financial literacy of population. The study evaluates the effectiveness of regulatory measures to prevent excessive indebtedness, and analyzes the results of the latest survey of population financial literacy in Hungary after the 2008 financial crisis. The results confirm the scientific studies of different economists and scholars who state that the financial awareness is closely related to household saving and borrowing patterns. The outcomes of the analysis reveal the risks associated with the lack of financial literacy in Hungary. In fact, the financial awareness of households over the past years has not improved significantly either in the wake of losses suffered on FX-based loans, or as a result of the preventive actions undertaken by the government regulatory bodies.

Liquidity has an impact on short-term yields, which makes it a key determinant of monetary transmission. The aim of the research was to examine how the increase in the banking system’s liquidity and its distribution within the banking system affects yields. To better understand this relationship, this analysis gives an econometric estimate of the interbank liquidity demand function. The research covers Hungary being a representative of small, open, emerging market economies. The analysis is based on segmented regressions, the study covers the period 2016–2020 regarding overnight interest rates. The slope of the demand function is negative, the coefficients decrease with the increase in excess reserves. The most significant breakpoints of the demand curve are detected around 0.83% and 1.53% of M2 in excess liquidity. There is a correlation between the level of excess reserves and its distribution and concentration. The distribution of liquidity became more balanced along with the increase in excess liquidity. The saturation of the banking system depends on the concentration of liquidity among banks. The results can be useful for other small and open emerging market economies with abundant liquidity, especially in the coming tightening cycle.

Recently, the management of the green financial sector has been widely influenced by global socio-economic concerns such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy crisis. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate, besides their environmental attitude, what opinions and experiences the affected stakeholders have about the sustainability-related processes in the Hungarian banking sector in the early 2020s. To assess this subject extensively, two questionnaire surveys were conducted in two consecutive years (2020/2021 and 2021/2022), involving 600 and 1,600 participants randomly chosen from banking databases, respectively. The results indicate that both residential and corporate participants have various but broadening knowledge of green financial instruments. Hungarian residential customers have pointed out the inconveniences of the most popular green loan product (Green Home Program), while there appears a distinct difference in green investment preferences between the two groups of respondents. Hungarian stakeholders are quite eco-conscious, and so are banks adopting sustainability and climate risk assessment actions, however, the implementations have much potential to exploit. Respondents also identify the energy crisis-related risks, while their trust in the banking system remains high even under volatile circumstances. These findings demonstrate that the Hungarian green banking sector has a high degree of crisis resistance with residential and corporate stakeholders behind giving trust and thereby the driving force toward the successful green transition.

Capital cities of the world are usually characterized by a concentration of the majority of the population and most of the public administration and economic life. Therefore, the efficiency and quality of public service delivery in their administrative territories make a difference. The study examines public service companies in Budapest, Hungary’s capital, with the focus on their sectors of activity to describe their system, which may provide good foundations for a prospective international comparison.
This study explores sector-oriented reports of state- and municipally-owned public utility companies providing services within the administrative territory of Budapest and evaluates them in terms of total assets, finance, profitability and efficiency. The study looked for an answer to the question of how the tighter state regulation and control adopted after 2010 affected their management, and what influence the price regulation of consumer public utility charges, imposed since 2013, had on companies’ activities.

The study focuses on corporate social responsibility, which is of pivotal significance in the banking sectors of the countries of the so-called Visegrád Group, located in the Central European region and representing similar levels of economic development (V4). The aim of this paper is to examine the changes in the CSR activities of notable banks in the V4 countries between 2007, 2013 and 2018. The study consisted of three phases: first, it determined the relevant CSR goals based on the content (document) analysis; then, a questionnaire survey was conducted among banks for three years (2007, 2013, 2018); and finally, the data were analyzed using variance analysis. As a result of the first phase, 15 CSR activities were identified, and as a result of a questionnaire survey, the focus of each CSR area was presented on a spider-web diagram showing a shift in the “priority order” of CSR areas and target groups, in other words, the intensification of activity towards social groups closer to the activities of banks or even clients. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, this study confirmed with primary research that the focus of CSR activities in the V4 countries has shifted from general societal challenges to climate protection and the development of financial culture. These results were also evidenced by multivariate statistical methods proving a significant change in 66% of the examined areas.

The aim of this study is to examine how bankruptcy prediction models forecast financial strength for family businesses. Three predictive tests are used to study financial strength for three consecutive years (2016, 2017 and 2018) for a sample of 462,200 active Hungarian companies using the Amadeus database and expert data. Complex statistical model tests for credit assessment (bankruptcy predictions) are performed by size and ownership of the companies. It is found that the revised Altman model is impeded by a superfluous high weighting on net working capital; therefore, IN05 Quick Test predicted better chances for businesses in generating cash flows in a small emerging economy. By re-formulating the Bankruptcy Index of Karas and Režňáková and refining its coefficients, the modified Bankruptcy Index is more robust for predicting the financial health of family businesses on a cash flow basis. The test results of this modified Bankruptcy Index confirm the relative advance of family businesses in creating added value for owners. Practical implications arise from a management perspective: family businesses work better with predictability of survival in accordance with the model; therefore, their ability to adapt to financial constraints caused by crises is also more promising.

Hungary’s utility sector, encompassing district heating, water services, waste management, and public transport, has experienced notable shifts from municipal to privatized ownership and back to community control between 2006 and 2022. The purpose of this study is to assess the financial performance and crisis resilience of municipally owned utility companies in Hungary between 2006 and 2022, with a particular focus on the impact of state price regulation and the role of economic cycles. The regulation was intended to ensure service affordability but imposed significant constraints on financial flexibility and investment capacity. The study targeted a sample of Hungarian local government companies, with two distinguished periods (2006–2013 and 2014–2022), examining seven different financial indicators (formulas), e.g., EBITDA, ROA, etc., with variance analysis and correlation analyses. These revealed that while companies operated effectively during periods of economic growth, the post-2020 polycrisis, characterized by challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and rising energy prices, exposed vulnerabilities, especially in the district heating sector. Financial indicators, including EBITDA margin and liquidity ratios, showed mixed results, with profitability improving in certain sectors but liquidity and return on assets (ROA) declining, indicating stress on short-term solvency. The paper suggests that while price regulation maintained affordability, it limited the capacity for swift adaptation during crises. To enhance resilience, the study recommends incorporating more adaptive regulatory frameworks and investing in renewable energy and operational efficiency. These changes would help municipally owned utility companies better withstand economic fluctuations and maintain service continuity, contributing to long-term financial and service stability.

Acknowledgment
Project no. TKP2021-NKTA-51 has been implemented with support from the Ministry of Culture and Innovation of Hungary from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, financed under the TKP2021-NKTA funding scheme.
This study was done in Széll Kálmán Public Finance Lab of Ludovika University of Public Service, Budapest.