This work was accepted as a dissertation by the University of Muenster, Germany, in 2004. It was written while I was a teaching and research assistant at the Department of Banking. I own many debts - personal and intellectual - to Professor Dr. Andreas Pfingsten, my doctoral adviser, for his overall support while I was writing my dissertation. This thesis benefited much from his constructive criticism. I am also grateful that Professor Dr. Klaus Roder,...