Professor Sotirios Kokas

Biography

Sotirios Kokas is Professor of Finance at Essex Business School, Research Director of the Essex Finance Centre, and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. His research explores how monetary policy, financial regulation, and digital transformation influence financial intermediation, capital allocation, and financial stability. An expert in empirical banking, his work spans topics such as fintech, deposit insurance design, unconventional monetary policy, bond underwriting, and early-warning systems for financial institutions. He also specializes in risk management and valuation analytics, with a focus on corporate default and financial distress. His empirical work relies on high-frequency and proprietary datasets accessed through collaborations with central banks and regulators around the world. For example, he works closely with the Bank of Portugal, the Bank for International Settlements, the European Central Bank, and the Federal Reserve Board. He currently holds visiting scholar positions at the BIS, Banco de Portugal, and Imperial College London. His research has received competitive funding from national and international sources, and he has contributed to impact case study development in Finance. His work engages with real-world policy challenges and supports decision-making by supervisory authorities. His research has been presented at leading academic forums, including the American Finance Association (AFA), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), European Finance Association (EFA), Financial Intermediation Research Society (FIRS), NBER Summer Institute, and CEPR conferences. These venues reflect the broad impact and policy relevance of his work across banking, corporate finance, and monetary economics. He is also the co-founder and co-organiser of the CEPR Summer Conference on Financial Intermediation and Corporate Finance, co-hosted with the Bank of Greece, and co-directs the Essex Finance Centre Conference, which supports early-career scholars and promotes academic collaboration across the UK and Europe.

Qualifications

• PhD in Financial Economics (2015) UCY,

Appointments

University of Essex

• Director of Essex Finance Centre, Essex Business School, University of Essex (7/2022 - present)

• Associate Director of Research and Impact, Essex Business School, University of Essex (1/2021 - 3/2025)

• Deputy Head Finance Group, Essex Business School, University of Essex (9/2016 - 11/2018)