Purpose: This study evaluates the impact of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) on the performance of Nepalese banks, specifically focusing on the relationship between Return on Equity (ROE) and key financial determinants, including Earnings Per Share (EPS), Return on Investment (ROI), and the Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio. The aim is to assess how these variables influence the financial performance of banks following M&A activities.

Methods: A quantitative research design was employed, analyzing data from Prabhu Bank Limited and Kist Bank Limited over the period 2016/17 to 2022/23. The study utilized a purposive sampling technique, focusing on these banks due to their merger history. Secondary data collection was conducted, and multiple regression analysis was applied to determine the relationship between ROE and its determinants.

Findings: The results indicate a positive and significant correlation between EPS, ROI, and P/E ratio with ROE, emphasizing that effective management of these financial indicators contributes to enhanced bank performance post-merger. Specifically, the correlation values reveal that P/E ratio, EPS, and ROI are strongly associated with ROE, with coefficients of 0.85, 0.90, and 0.88, respectively. Regression analysis further confirms these findings, highlighting the significant impact of these variables on ROE. These results underscore the importance of strategic financial management, particularly in maintaining robust EPS, ROI, and P/E ratios, to boost the performance of Nepalese banks after mergers and acquisitions.

Conclusion: The study demonstrates that mergers and acquisitions contribute to better financial performance in Nepalese banks by improving key financial metrics. Understanding these relationships is crucial for policymakers, investors, and banking professionals as it provides insights that can guide decision-making during M&A processes, thereby enhancing shareholder value and market stability.

Novelty: This study provides a unique contribution to the limited empirical literature on M&As in Nepal’s banking sector, offering valuable insights into financial performance metrics post-merger.

Keywords: Mergers, acquisitions, banking, Return on Equity, Return on Investment.

This study examines the effects of the exchange rate on foreign direct investment in Nigeria from 1986 to 2023. Using time series data sourced from the World Bank (2023) reports on foreign direct investment, exchange rate, inflation rate, financial development, population growth rate, and opening trade (export and imports). The stationarity tests report mixed results and the study adopted the Autoregressive distributive lag technique (ARDL) for data analysis as well as Toda-Yamamoto’s (1995) causality techniques to determine the direction of causality between the variables. The result shows that the exchange rate has a positive and significant effect on foreign direct investment. Also, the inflation rate has a positive and significant impact on foreign direct investment. Financial development has a positive and significant effect on foreign direct investment whereas population growth rate has a negative and significant effect on foreign direct investment both in the short and long runs respectively. In addition, the government should implement policies that would ensure exchange rates are judiciously allocated to productive and key sectors of the economy to promote investment and sustainable growth and development of the economy.

Keywords: Foreign direct investment, exchange rate, inflation rate, financial development, population growth rate, and opening trade (export and imports).

This study is an investigation into the effects of government regulations on insurance operations in Nigeria from 1999 to 2022. The specific objectives of the study were to establish the effects of interest rate on underwriting and claims management operations of insurance companies in Nigeria. The research design employed was an ex-post facto. Data were sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) statistical bulletin, and National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) Insurance Market Performance publication. Stationarity test carried out on the data revealed that data was stationary 5% levels of significance using. Using ordinary least squares regression, the regression analysis results revealed that there is negative but statistical insignificant relationship between government regulations as measured by interest rate and insurance operations using insurance underwriting and insurance claims management in Nigeria. The coefficient of determination (R2) which is 0.584031 indicates that interest rate contributes 58.40% of changes in premium income and claims payment variation. It is therefore recommended, among others that government regulations should be tailored towards encouraging innovative insurance products that meet the needs of the insuring public, use of relationship marketing strategies and establishment of adequately capitalized insurance firms. This will improve insurance contribution significantly to economic growth in Nigeria. Also, laws should be formulated with punitive measures on erring insurance players who violate ethical standard of operation as well as formulation of monetary policies that give room for project financing with considerable interest rate that attaches compulsory insurance on same to avoid risk of repayment default.

Keywords: Government Regulation, Interest Rate, Insurance Operation, Underwriting, Claims Management.

The study examines the impact of information communication technology on insurance marketing in post COVID-19 era in Nigeria. It identifies the imperatives for adoption of ICT to promoting efficient and efficient service delivery in the insurance industry as a strategy for attainment of the profit maximization objectives of insurance companies in Nigeria. The study adopted survey research design, using responses of structured questionnaire of 50 respondents from the four selected insurance companies in Nigeria. The findings revealed that there was statistical significant relationship between effective implementation of ICT and insurance marketing strategies in Nigeria. This implies that adoption of ICT by insurance companies can enhance efficiency and quality of service delivery. It was recommended that for maximum benefits from ICT, government, regulators and other stakeholders in the insurance sector must synergize to eliminate the challenges of digital insurance marketing, as this will encourage investment in ICTs thereby ensuring the effectiveness of the insurance sector in Nigeria providing sustainably financial guarantees to the insuring public, National Assembly should enact potent laws inculcating digital insurance to reduce the cost of insurance apathy aimed at promoting, and restoring trust and confidence in the insurance business in Nigeria, and the stakeholders and management of the insurance companies must as a matter urgency their personnel towards adopting recent development in ICT in marketing research and product development.

Keywords: Information Communication Technology (ICT), Insurance Marketing, COVI-19, Innovation, Economy.