Private enterprises are essential to a nation's economy and society - yet without finance, or risk capital, they may never get off the ground. Lack of risk capital on suitable terms thus frustrates entrepreneurial ambition, and checks economic growth. And, just as damaging, the search for finance can lead companies and businesses into unsuitable funding arrangements - such as bank loans or equity deals with external investors - that burden them with excessive debt or limit the ability of managers to run the business

Fully updated to reflect changes in the rules and regulations governing corporate finance, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, passed in 2002. The new edition discusses this act and its implications in detail, and features new sections on risk management, corporate governance, real options, and behavioral finance. --from publisher description.