Depository System Research Articles

РЕФОРМА ПРАВОВОГО РЕГУЛЮВАННЯ СИСТЕМИ КЛІРИНГУ ТА РОЗРАХУНКІВ ЗА ЦІННИМИ ПАПЕРАМИ В УКРАЇНІ

Recent developments in the regulation of securities clearing and settlement system in Ukraine aimed at harmonization of Ukrainian securities legislation with the European and international regulatory standards are discussed in this article. Attention is focused on the key provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Depository System of Ukraine” which has become one of the cornerstones of the legislative framework for the securities market regulation. These provisions are compared with the rules of UNIDROIT Convention on Substantive Rules for Intermediated Securities and the level of harmonization of the Ukrainian securities legislation with the international standards is evaluated. Particular attention is paid to the concepts of intermediated securities and intermediaries, the issues of transfer and exercise of the rights in securities and rights attached to securities under the specified Law are explored, as well as the insolvency of intermediaries and its effect on their relations with the securities account holders is scrutinized. Attention is also devoted to the regulation of netting in Ukraine and major innovation introduced in legislation in this respect. The outcomes of the author’s analysis are summarized and general comments are provided as to the degree of finality of harmonization process in the Ukrainian securities regulation and regulation of clearing and settlement systems.

Financial Attributes and Investor Risk Tolerance at the Nairobi Securities Exchange – A Kenyan Perspective

The inclination for optimizing returns by taking maximum risk has implications for both individual investors, as well as fund managers. For the former, risk tolerance will determine the appropriate composition of assets in a portfolio, which is optimal in terms of risk and returns relative to the needs of the individual. For fund managers, the inability to effectively determine investor risk tolerance may lead to homogeneity among investment funds. This paper investigates the extent to which financial attributes affect individual investor risk tolerance at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), Kenya. Financial attributes in this study were measured in two main aspects: individual monthly earnings income and home ownership. A sample of 500 Central Depository System (CDS) account holders was selected from a population of 932,510 investors at the NSE. Single independent variable cross tabulation on risk tolerance as well as paired cross tabulation on the dependent variable was performed. Analysis of variance was also used to determine how each group of the independent variable affects the dependent variable. Ordinal logistic regression model (OLRM) was employed to establish the contribution of financial attributes on risk tolerance. Single independent variable cross tabulation revealed that home owners were more risk tolerant than non owners. However, one way Analysis of Variance revealed that the variable had a P value of 0.710, hence not significantly affecting risk tolerance. The result of ANOVA on income was significant at a P value of 0.014 individual earnings, hence influences risk tolerance. Risk tolerance increased with earnings up to very high, except for those who earned more than 120,000 per month. OLMR fitted well with a significance level of 0.027 less than ?=5%, although it showed that home ownership is not a significant determinant at a P value of 0.761. For every single unit of home ownership for those with homes to those without, the expected log of odds increased by 0.060 as the threshold of risk tolerance increased, holding other factors constant. Income levels for those earning 90,000-120,000 per month showed a P value of 0.006, hence income was a major determinant of risk tolerance. For every single unit increase of investors earning 90,000-120,000, the expected ordered log of odds of risk tolerance reduced by 1.077 as the threshold of risk tolerance increased, holding other factors constant. Therefore fund managers, investment advisors and individual investors should consider the contribution of financial attributes in financial decision making.

Editorial

On August 18th 2000, during the dinner of the Joint Congress of the American and Scandinavian Physiological Societies (SPS) in Stockholm several speeches were held. One of the speakers was Harald Aars, the legendary long-term SPS General Secretary, the recipient of his speech being Börje Uvnäs, the Chief Editor of Acta Physiologica Scandinavica during the years 1983–2000. The occasion was Uvnäs’s step-down as Chief Editor on the day before. Harald Aars′s words were ‘Dear Börje, without the changes initiated by you, Acta now would have been dead and the Society half-dead’. This was indeed true because Uvnäs had modernized the journal in several ways and in addition built an exceptionally solid economical base for the future of the journal. One of the things that Uvnäs anticipated in time was the end of the old publishing habits whereby ‘Scandinavians publish in Acta, Germans in Pflügers and Americans in AJP’ (Persson 2012). Uvnäs therefore opened up the journal for manuscripts from outside the Nordic area in 1988. This change turned out to have been absolutely necessary, because during the period 1993–1999, the number of Scandinavian (including Finnish) manuscripts decreased from a level of 270/year to merely 85/year. In handing over the responsibility of the journal in 2000, Uvnäs wished me good luck but also indicated that my future Editor-period could be troublesome both economically and technically. Now, when I am getting close to the end of my third and last 4-year period as Acta Physiologica Chief Editor, I realize that I was fortunate to inherit a well-run journal from my predecessor. Had not Uvnäs left an Editorial Board with such a high quality and dedication, my task of administering an independent physiology journal might really have become troublesome. Nevertheless, I have during my time as Chief Editor witnessed the continuation of dramatic changes in the world of journal Publishing. When I started, manuscripts were being sent to referees in thick letters and the average handling time to first decision was 75 days. ScholarOne’s Manuscriptcentral system for online manuscript review handling was adopted in Acta in April of 2002, a change which immediately cut the handling time by 50%. Other important developments in Acta Physiologica have been the instant web-publishing of Accepted articles and the rapid publishing of EarlyView articles (2005), the Acta Physiologica data depository system (2006), the possibility to publish articles with open access (Acta Physiologica OnlineOpen) and the digitization of all previous Acta Physiologica Scandinavica content (from 1940 with ongoing work 1889–1939). Although these changes have been highly favourable, they have enforced considerably higher standards, e.g. with respect to editorial efficiency, time keeping and general journal management. To meet this challenge, the collaboration with the Federation of European Physiological Societies (FEPS) has been important. In January 2006 the journal shifted its name from Acta Physiologica Scandinavica to Acta Physiologica as part of the agreement with FEPS, whereby Acta Physiologica became the official journal of FEPS. This name shift would have pleased Börje Uvnäs, who in the 1990s at two consecutive Editorial board meetings suggested this change without achieving majority for his idea. The collaboration with FEPS has greatly facilitated several developments, including an important broadening of the Editorial board and of Journal scope. In order to host abstracts from all SPS, FEPS and FEPS member society meetings, a website ‘Acta Physiologica Congress’ was created in 2006. Together with FEPS and the publisher Wiley-Blackwell it has also been possible to implement a realistic and promising long-term development plan for the journal, the Acta Physiologica Quality Programme. I am deeply indebted to the excellent Section Editors and Editorial board members, who have made it possible to maintain a high quality of the journal in so many different subdisciplines. I am also very grateful to the Chairmen and General Secretaries of the SPS, and from 2006 to the FEPS leadership, who have given never failing support for the journal. I have been impressed by the highly effective and talented Editorial Assistants Margareta Fästh, Dawn Barnes and Sue Chin Lwee, who have also been able to create such a stimulating working environment for the whole Editorial board. Finally, I want to acknowledge the Wiley-Blackwell Journal Publishers and Senior Editors, Allen Stevens, Elizabeth Whelan, Gavin Sharrock and Martin Vinding along with their Production Editors, who all have demonstrated how an optimal Publisher-Society collaboration can work. In concluding this Editorial, I wish to say that I am both happy and proud to be succeeded by Pontus Persson, Berlin. During the years that I have worked with Pontus as the Acta Physiologica Review Editor I have become convinced that he is the person that can pilot the journal through an ever more challenging future.

Cataloging and Archiving State Government Publications

The academic libraries in Alabama have been hampered in their ability to provide government information to researchers by the lack of a functioning state depository system. Digital publishing can make timely distribution and widespread accessibility of state government information possible if these online documents can be captured and archived before they are removed from agency Web sites. This article describes a year-long project to capture, archive, and catalog government publications by a catalog unit.

Developing a Distributed Print Depository System

SUMMARY Barbara DesRosiers and Melissa Trevvett provided background information regarding their ongoing projects to develop print archives to preserve legacy materials and to serve as a backup to electronic journals. The presenters discussed projects currently underway and outlined the factors and issues to be considered when planning to form or join a print archive consortium. They also provided details about their current partnerships with JSTOR, Michigan State University, the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and Yale University including: the components of the projects, funding and staffing issues, and coordination and communication among the partners. The presenters stressed the importance of legal agreements among partners as a way to minimize risk and provide better management of the program.

New economic models for the federal depository system—why is it so hard to get the question answered?

L'A. s'interroge sur les nouveaux modeles economiques possibles pour la diffusion de l'information gouvernementale electronique aux Etats-Unis et la poursuite des programmes de depots et de vente du GPO (Government Printing Office). Trois directions sont envisageables : la numerisation des collections, la redefinition du service public gouvernemental et l'offre d'organisation, de metadonnees et d'autres structures bibliographiques pour le materiel numerique. Il faut revoir le systeme actuel de selection et de localisation des bibliotheques de depot.

The Transition of U.S. Government Publications from Paper to the Internet

ABSTRACT Once upon a time, U.S. government information was released almost exclusively in print format although, by the 1970s, depository libraries received some publications on microfiche. The government began to produce more electronic information products, causing librarians to demand that these materials be included in the depository program. As the Internet became more heavily used, the U.S. government disseminated an increasing amount of information on the Internet. In August 2000, Superintendent of Documents Francis J. Buckley, Jr. sent directors of U.S. government depository libraries a letter informing them that the Federal Depository Library Program was underfunded, resulting in the transition to a substantially electronic depository system. This timeline shows some of the steps along the way to an electronic depository program.

The Oxygen Society

A selection of U.S. government annual reports from the List of Classes was examined for currency of receipt. Holdings, latest depository issue received, date received, and entries in American Statistics Index were examined for each report. The reports were then categorized as current, not current, current not received, and discontinued. The titles of these reports, except for the current category, are listed in the appendices. Regularity of receipt and microfiche as a factor in current receipt were also considered. Slightly more than half of the reports in the study were found to be current; many of these were erratic in receipt. The study indicates that lack of currency was often due to discontinuation, failure of the publication to enter the depository system, delay in conversion to microfiche, or an agency's delay in publication. No strong evidence of delay in Government Printing Office in-house processing of materials was found.

The U.S. monthly catalog and the publications reference file as collection development tools

The 1991 Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications was examined using a random sample of 668 publications in order to determine what percentage of materials produced at the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) were available through the depository library system, and how many of those were offered through the Sales Division via the Publications Reference File (PRF). It was found that 98 percent of publications (655 titles) in the Monthly Catalog were depository items. The remaining two percent (13 titles) are discussed as an indicator of what was not available through the depository system. It was also found that only nine percent of the publications (62 titles) in the Monthly Catalog were listed as available through the Sales Division. Of that nine percent, only 60 percent (37 titles), were listed in the PRF after one year. The nature of these publications and their average prices are examined. Also discussed are the publications dropped from the PRF. A total of 293 publications were identified as available through either GPO or agency distribution, representing 44 percent of the original sample.

Fixing the depository library system: Some thoughts on vacuum cleaners, the manifesto, and the state of the government information distribution system, with a modest proposal to remedy the various ills therein: A viewpoint

Some of the recent literature discussing the problems of the U.S. federal depository library system is reviewed. Various suggestions for fixing the system are noted and further suggestions advanced. The suggestions in this paper are (1) decrease the size of the List of Classes, (2) open the depository system to more public libraries, and (3) end the requirement that regional depositories keep all material forever.

A new order of things: The political future of documents librarians and a national system of federal depository libraries

Abstract This article places the efforts of documents librarians to reform the Federal Depository Library Program (DLP) in an historical and political perspective. As with many other earlier efforts of reform, the recent “Reinventing Access to Federal Government Information,” held in October 1993, would raise doubts, once again, about the public institutions and national information policy arrangements that support the Government Printing Office and its DLP. The specific reforms calling for centralized information should be abandoned. The depository library system's political power and public convictions were never fully expressed through the program's various national administrative incarnations. Its true community purpose flows from the local conditions and information needs of each depository library community. Democratic distribution of public information must begin and end within these local areas and regions.

FEDERAL ASSISTANCE TO LIBRARIES: CURRENT GRANT PROGRAMS AND ISSUES

A variety of federal programs have provided financial assistance to public and college libraries since enactment of the original Library Services Act in 1956, or even the initiation of the federal depository library system in 1859. Although continued federal funding for most of these programs has been questioned, the programs have continued, and some of the smaller ones have experienced a modest expansion in appropriation levels and authorized activities. This article provides background information on these programs, including brief information on their structure, authorized activities, funding levels, available program evaluations, and issues.

Redesign of the New York state depository system

As the administrative agency for the State Document Program, the New York State Library oversees the distribution of state publications to libraries statewide. Until recently financial constraints, agency ignorance of or noncompliance with the law requiring deposit of publications, and a system with little flexibility for expansion hampered the library in carrying out this function. As a result, a task force was appointed to survey and evaluate the existing distribution program. A standing advisory committee implemented the task force's recommendations, which included major redesign of the depository structure and procedures. Now entering its third year, the program is proving itself as a viable and model system and is being monitored closely and improved on a continuing basis by the standing NYLA/GODORT Committee on New York State Documents in cooperation with the New York State Library.

User awareness and accessibility of Rhode Island state depository publications: A case study

A questionnaire was sent to Rhode Island state depository libraries to determine how the state's publications are located by users. The state of Rhode Island acquires and distributes publications and only suggests standards for bibliographic control. Survey results reveal a wide variety of physical and bibliographic arrangements in current practice. Informal and familiar methods of locating state publications such as using the public catalog are preferred by users. A system of bibliographic access tailored to user needs and universally adopted by the depository libraries would be a step toward a successful full-service depository system.

Putting the public into state publications: The North Carolina saga

From 1983 to 1987, a small group of dedicated documents librarians waged a successful campaign to enact a new state documents depository law in North Carolina. This article documents the activities of the Depository System Committee and the State Library, and describes the process of accumulating evidence, developing system guidelines and draft legislation, building grassroots support, promoting positive media coverage, and lobbying for the legislation.

Currency of selected U.S. federal government agency annual reports received by depository libraries

A selection of U.S. government annual reports from the List of Classes was examined for currency of receipt. Holdings, latest depository issue received, date received, and entries in American Statistics Index were examined for each report. The reports were then categorized as current, not current, current not received, and discontinued. The titles of these reports, except for the current category, are listed in the appendices. Regularity of receipt and microfiche as a factor in current receipt were also considered. Slightly more than half of the reports in the study were found to be current; many of these were erratic in receipt. The study indicates that lack of currency was often due to discontinuation, failure of the publication to enter the depository system, delay in conversion to microfiche, or an agency's delay in publication. No strong evidence of delay in Government Printing Office in-house processing of materials was found.

The European community depository library system in North America

This article describes the history and nature of the European Community's (EC) system of depository libraries after first briefly outlining the structure of the EC itself and the character of its publications and documents. The focus of the article is the EC's Depository Libraries, European Documentation Centres and European Reference Centres in North America. In order to develop a group picture of these depositories, the author sent to each European Community depository in the United States and Canada a 24-question survey in March of 1985. The questions were designed to allow the depositories to present as much information as they desired about the way in which they handle EC publications, about their problems and about changes they would like to have instituted in the EC depository system. Among the most important of the findings is that most depositories in North America believe they need more information about EC publications and their roles and that they would like to participate in conferences and associations designed to assist them. A suggestion is made regarding the most effective way in which EC depositories in North America could organize for self-help.

Historical background and evaluation of mandatory item selections for GPO depositories

With the adoption of GPO depository guidelines in 1976, depository libraries were asked to select all titles in Appendix A, a list of publications deemed essential for reference use. While GPO's General Counsel has said such action is inconsistent with laws governing the depository system, there is little information in legislative histories with which to determine congressional intent. A study of circulation and in-library use indicates that certain titles receive heavy use, and their required selection may be justified. However, some heavily used titles are not in Appendix A. The methodology used is discussed to allow similar studies to be performed in different types of libraries, to determine the composition of a list of mandatory item selections best suited for the needs of the depository library program as a whole.

The development of the Missouri documents depository system: 1971–1977

This article presents a historical account of the various steps taken by Missouri librarians to achieve a distribution system for Missouri state documents. Planning, development, passage, and implementation of Missouri documents depository legislation are addressed. This article will serve as a useful framework for state documents librarians wishing to implement or upgrade their state documents depository programs.

Resource allocation to government documents departments in academic libraries

Abstract Resource allocation to documents departments in academic libraries is not a purely rational process. This lack of rationality leads to wide variation in the local levels of support upon which the GPO depository system depends. This article demonstrates these variations and suggests how documents librarians may change the levels of support their departments receive from sources within and beyond their libraries.