Centre for Global Finance

Overview

The Centre for Global Finance is established under the AXA Chair in Global Finance.

The centre undertakes rigorous research which resonates with policy and practice, exploring mega-trends in global finance and how they impact development in the international financial system and the global economy. The centre’s research aims to significantly extend the existing body of knowledge on finance, financial stability and economic growth. This can help identify the drivers of growth in emerging economies and also spotlight the issues that lead to financial crashes.

The Centre for Global Finance also offers an MPhil/PhD scholarship every year to invite talented individuals to support the research of the founding Director of the Centre for Global Finance, Professor Victor Murinde.

Meet the members.

Director

Professor Victor Murinde is a financial economist, with more than 25 years’ expertise, post-PhD, mainly involving university research and teaching, but also including senior-level stints at practitioner, policy and consultancy roles for governments and leading international organisations such as the African Development Bank.

In 2017, he was appointed AXA Chair in Global Finance in the School of Finance and Management at SOAS University of London.

He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. He has contributed over 100 research papers to the financial economics literature, mainly in the areas of banking and finance, development finance, and financial markets. According to the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014), his research on “Shaping Bank Regulatory Reforms in Africa” was recognised for exceptional impact. For REF 2021 he submitted an outstanding impact case study, jointly with Ulrich Volz (SOAS) and Gerhard Kling (Aberdeen) on “climate risk and cost of capital”.

He was the founding Director of African Development Institute at the African Development Bank (2011–2014).

Professor Victor Murinde was the Principal Investigator (PI) of a large research project on “Delivering Inclusive Financial Development and Growth”, funded under the DFID-ESRC Growth Research Programme. He was also a Co-Investigator on ESRC – NSFC Grant on Research on China’s Financial System towards Sustainable Growth: The Role of Innovation, Diversity and Financial Regulation [ESRC Reference: ES/P005241/1] jointly with colleagues at SOAS University of London, Nankai University Tianjen, and Zhejiang University, Hangzou, China. He is a Co-Investigator on ESRC-ICSSR (GRANT REF: ES/T016213/1) project on UK-India Bilateral Trade in FinTech and FinTech-Enabled Services: Emerging trends and potential for growth, led by Professor Thankom Arun (Essex University).

He is the Chair of Group C (Finance & Resource Mobilization) for the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC); Board Member of New Rules for Global Finance, a policy forum based in Washington DC; and Board Member of the British Institute in Eastern Africa.

What we do

  • Leading scientific research: We undertake rigorous research that aims to significantly enhance the knowledge, practice and policy in the areas of financial stability, inclusive and sustainable growth, and economic transformation.
  • Connecting scholars, practitioners and policy makers: In the centre's weekly research seminars and other events, we bring together world-leading scholars, practitioners and policy makers through various events, throughout the year. The idea is to facilitate the generation of new findings as well as dissemination of knowledge and experiences in relation to the global financial system and the world economy. We also host visiting scholars from universities and research institutions across the world.
  • Supporting education: We dedicate our expertise and resources to supporting the teaching and learning of global finance via our host research laboratory, the School of Finance and Management, SOAS University of London, via bespoke BSc, MSc, PhD programmes with some scholarships provided.

Research

The centre conducts research on global challenges and mega trends and in global finance, which has significant policy and practice implications. Major areas include inclusive financial development and growth, climate risk finance, fintech, usage of "big data" and machine learning methodology in finance, financial markets and institutions in Africa, China and India.

The centre's research has been supported by highly competitive grants from various traditional and non-traditional funding agencies, including the AXA Research Fund; Economic and Social Research Council; Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; National Natural Science Foundation of China; and Indian Council of Social Science Research, totalling approximately £3.5m.

Contact us

Professor Victor Murinde

Email: v.murinde@soas.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7898 4057

Professor Hong Bo

Email: hb22@soas.ac.uk
Telephone: +44(0)20 7898 4528

Dr Meng Xie

Email: xm1@soas.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7898 4572

Dr Athina Petropoulou

Email: ap102@soas.ac.uk
Telephone: +44(0)20 7898 4536

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