International banking: Current issues in perspective

Recent developments in international banking have raised new problems and policy issues as well as new opportunities for banks. To put these developments in perspective and analyze a number of policy issues of current concern is the purpose of the paper. In particular it sets out to explain three important aspects: the dollar's pre-eminence in spite of the ‘multinationalization’ of international banking, the more rapid growth of the international compared with the domestic banking sector, and the dominant role of banks in the expansion of international finance rather than other financial intermediaries or direct lending.     

National corruption and international banking

This paper identifies national corruption as a determinant of international banking. Using total international banking claims of 21 countries from worldwide borrowers, at the bilateral lender-borrower level, we document that when lender countries are less corrupt than borrower countries, international banking volume tends to be higher between countries with similar corruption levels. In contrast, when lender countries are more corrupt than borrower countries, corruption difference has no significant impact on international banking volume, because relatively more corrupt lenders perceive relatively less corrupt borrowers as generally creditworthy. The effect of corruption difference weakened during the 2007–2009 financial crisis, but subsequently regained its precrisis strength among the relatively less corrupt lenders while gaining new force among relatively more corrupt lenders.     

Correlation and spillover effects between the US and international banking sectors: New evidence and implications for risk management

This paper quantitatively examines return transmission and volatility spillovers between banking sector stocks in the US and eight other countries by applying our newly extended VAR-DCC-MEGARCH-M model with asymmetric spillovers and Student-t or skew-t errors. Our investigations clarify almost unidirectional stock return transmission from the US banking sector to all other eight international banking sectors. In addition, we also uncover bidirectional volatility spillovers between the US and other eight international banking sector stocks, which are all tied to the leverage effect. Moreover, using the dynamic conditional variances and covariances from our extended model, we derive the time-varying optimal hedge ratios and optimal portfolio weights. These analyses reveal that, except for such extraordinary periods as during financial crises, we can hedge the US banking sector stocks with other international banking sector stocks, and that well-balanced portfolios of the US and other banking sector stocks are optimal. Furthermore, additional analysis using gold, silver, and platinum futures reveals that we can hedge international banking sector stocks with precious metal futures highly effectively, and that well-balanced portfolios of banking stocks and precious metals are optimal. Based on the results from our analyses, this paper derives many significant interpretations and implications for financial and systemic risk management.     

中国银行业税负比较、绩效影响与对策选择

本文通过历史比较与国际比较,指出中国银行业虽然综合税负不断下降,但仍较国外偏重,进而运用面板数据模型论证了相对过重的税收负担对中国银行业经营绩效产生负效应,最后,提出降低我国银行业税负的若干政策建议,以应对经济全球化和国际金融危机的双重挑战,提高中国银行业在开放金融体系中的竞争力。     

Protectionism and international banking : Sectorial efficiency, competitive structure and National policy

This paper deals with barriers to trade in services. More specifically, the paper deals with competition and its absence in the provision of international intermediation services by banks. Section 2 of the paper examines the substitutability of international trade and FDI (foreign direct investment) in the services sector as a basis for international competition. It also considers the overlap between commercial policy measures and regulations governing the entry and operations of foreign affiliates. Section 3 describes the types of restrictions imposed on foreign banks and evaluates their effects. Existing practices in some countries are outlined in the fourth section. The countries are the U.S., the U.K., Switzerland, Australia, Brazil and Taiwan. Section 5 evaluates competitive conditions in offshore banking centers, and compares them with conditions in onshore markets. The last section evaluates the costs and the benefits of an ‘open’ (free-trade) banking system. Such a system will tend to improve world welfare as well as the welfare of those countries who have a comparative advantage in international banking. The results are not clear with regard to the countries who have a comparative disadvantage in banking.     

Is sovereign risk related to the banking sector?

We examine whether the banking sector within a nation is related to sovereign risk. We hypothesize that more competitive and sophisticated financial systems are less prone to panics or bank runs, and consequently will be associated with superior sovereign credit ratings. Using Ordered Probit with Aggregate Time Effects methodology, our results show that banking sector characteristics such as concentration in the banking system, liquidity of bank assets, and size of financial system are significantly related to sovereign credit ratings. Since the use of these sovereign ratings is ubiquitous in international finance in varied applications such as determination of the cost of international borrowing by governments, international cost of capital for FDI, and others, the relationships identified in this paper have important public policy implications.     

International investment in financial services

This paper analyzes and models the significant components of international trade in financial services, namely, foreign direct investment in banking for the US, the UK and Germany. It distinguishes between banks' activities abroad and FDI in banking by banks and non-banks. A model for FDI in banking is proposed which contains certain explanatory variables peculiar to FDI in banking as compared to FDI in manufacturing. The components of the model of FDI in banking is different from those models designed to explain banks activities abroad. The empirical results of this study of FDI in banking indicate that bilateral trade, banks' foreign assets, the cost of capital, relative economic growth, exchange rates and FDI in non-finance industries are the major determinants of foreign investment in banking.     

新形势下推进我国银行业国际化经营的战略思考

经济金融全球化是当今重要的时代潮流,它深刻地影响着世界经济格局,也对我国经济金融发展产生深远的影响.本文在全面分析我国银行业国际化经营现状的基础上,提出了推进我国银行业国际化经营战略的基本设想:统一规划和构建银行业国际化经营的战略平台;积极建立以大型商业银行为主体的国际化经营机构布局;重点拓展亚洲、欧洲、美国三大金融战略区域;有选择地推进我国银行业对国外银行机构的重组、并购和联合经营;选择成熟的国际金融产品为平台,逐步构建银行业国际化经营的产品序列;以我国跨国公司为载体,加强国际化经营的战略协同;进一步构建与国际银行业接轨的风险控制系统.     

Cross-border bank mergers: What lures the rare animal?

Although domestic mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the financial services industry have increased steadily over the past two decades, international M&As were until recently relatively rare. Moreover, the share of cross-border mergers in the banking industry is low compared with other industries. This paper uses a novel dataset of over 3000 mergers that took place between 1985 and 2001 to analyze the determinants of international bank mergers. We test the extent to which information costs and regulations hold back merger activity. Our results suggest that information costs significantly impede cross-border bank mergers. Regulations also influence cross-border bank merger activity. Hence, policy makers can create environments that encourage cross-border activity, but information cost barriers must be overcome even in (legally) integrated markets.     

Openness, profit opportunities and foreign banking

Using new data from the World Bank and OCC surveys, we show correlations across a wide range of countries between foreign banking and domestic economic, financial and bank regulatory conditions. Foreign banking tended to be more prevalent in countries that were more open to foreign ownership of their banks, more open to banks’ engaging in a wider range of financial activities and more open to international trade. Restrictions on foreign ownership of domestic banks that were in place in the late 1970s reduced the current extent of foreign banking. Foreign banking was negatively correlated with current restrictions on banks’ securities, insurance and real estate activities. Countries that had more international trade tended to have more foreign banking. Foreign banking was more pervasive in countries where banking was more profitable and where the domestically-owned banking sector was smaller relative to GDP.     

Aspects of international financial services

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the issues related to international financial services, particularly foreign direct investment in banking. The paper discusses the challenges of measuring incomes generated from the activities of multinational banks, including their international lending and direct investment in host countries. The paper highlights the complementary role of FDI and trade in financial services and discusses investment in banking services. The patterns of FDI in banking in Eastern European countries, Latin America and East Asia are also analysed with a focus on the costs and benefits of FDI in banking in the emerging countries.     

Concentration of world banking and the role of U.S. banks among the 100 largest, 1956–1980

During the past two decades, international banking activity has grown rapidly. With institutional change of such magnitude taking place, it is interesting and potentially useful to look at the nature of the change. This paper examines two dimensions of this change: the trend in concentration of banking assets in the world's largest banks, and the relative position of banks from various countries among the world's largest banks. The data indicate that the percentage of banking deposits accounted for by the world's largest banks generally has increased steadily since 1956. The data also reveal that the importance of U.S. banks within the world's largest banks has declined dramatically since 1956. It is suggested that this trend is the result of the readjustment to the distortions of WWII, the rise of the commercial paper market in the U.S., and the large number of U.S. banks compared to other countries.     

国际资本流动“突然停止”、银行危机及其产出效应

国际资本流动突然停止是新兴市场国家金融全球化和金融开放早期面临的重要障碍。本文运用20个新兴市场国家1976~2006年间的面板数据,考察突然停止和银行危机对宏观经济产出的影响。研究发现:突然停止或银行危机都不必然导致产出的大幅下降;如果银行部门不发生系统性的危机,突然停止对产出没有显著影响;给定国际资本流动不出现大幅的逆转,银行危机对产出的影响也不显著;突然停止和银行危机的叠加则对产出造成严重的负面冲击,经济增长率显著下滑。研究结论有重要的政策含义,表明构建一个稳固的银行体系对于一国金融开放和金融自由化过程中的经济安全至关重要。     

Panama's International Banking Center: The direct employment effects

Despite the political saliency of employment, the growing scholarly literature on financial centers contains only a few cursory estimates of employment in international banking. We use simple methods to calculate the total and marginal direct employment effects of Panama's International Banking Center. The results, which appear reasonable, suggest that international banking activities are not very labor intensive and provide even fewer jobs than many observers infer from the relatively impressive asset amounts involved.     

Country risk,portfolio decisions and regulation in international bank lending

This paper examines the concept of ‘country risk’ and relates it to the construction of efficient loan portfolios in international banking. Applicability of conventional portfolio-theoretic concepts to the management of country lending exposure is examined, as are the requisites of country review systems for national exposure management. The issue of international banking regulation is assessed in this context, focusing on the dangers inherent in national and international regulatory initiatives for optimum global capital allocation.     

中外银行业操作风险比较研究

本文从国内外银行业操作风险损失事件分类数据和部门分类数据入手,采用案例分析法对中外银行业操作风险进行比较分析研究,发现我国银行操作风险集中在内部欺诈。中外典型案例的分析进一步说明了我国操作风险严重且集中的原因:信用体制和法律制度急需建立和完善;银行业内控制度和激励制度存在弊端;银行业仍然是分业经营模式,而且产品结构单一。     

我国影子银行体系的发展和管理研究

国际金融危机爆发以来,影子银行体系的迅速发展及其影响成为当前金融界一项重要的研究内容。从国内外现有文献来看,绝大部分是以西方国家的影子银行为研究对象。该文从对比分析中西方影子银行体系间的差别人手,对我国影子银行机构的特征及类别进行了归纳,估算了我国影子银行体系的规模,分析了影子银行快速发展会对金融稳定造成的影0向,并就加强我国影子银行体系管理提出相关政策建议。     

宏观审慎政策协调能否抑制国际性银行危机传染？——基于跨境金融关联视角的实证研究

本文基于跨境金融关联视角对宏观审慎政策能否抑制国际性银行危机传染这一重要的理论与实践问题进行了实证研究。选取亚洲金融危机和全球金融危机时期遭受冲击的10个代表性国家作为样本,构建Logit模型和多元回归模型探讨本国及具有金融关联的国家协调实施宏观审慎政策对本国系统性银行危机传染的影响。研究表明,具有金融关联的国家出现金融危机会显著增加本国系统性银行危机的发生概率,具有金融关联的国家实施宏观审慎政策对本国信贷的影响比对房价的影响更明显,本国及具有金融关联的国家协调实施宏观审慎政策会显著降低本国系统性银行危机的发生概率。在调整银行危机指标及考虑贸易关联和流动性风险的影响后,研究结果依然保持稳健。本文的研究结论揭示了加强宏观审慎政策协调有助于维护全球金融稳定,对于中国政策当局强化宏观审慎管理具有极其重要的政策含义。     

European Banking Integration: Don’t Put the Cart before the Horse

This paper reviews the progress in European banking integration over the last twenty years, and evaluates the current system of banking supervision and deposit insurance based on ‘home country’ control. The public policy implications to draw from the paper are threefold: First, after a relatively slow start, European banking integration is gaining momentum, in terms of cross‐border flows, market share of foreign banks in several domestic markets, and cross‐border M&As of significant size. If this trend continues, the issue of adequate supervision and safety nets in an integrated European banking market will become even more pressing. Second, although until recently banks have relied mostly on subsidiary structures to go cross‐border, this is changing with the recent creation of the European company statute, which facilitates cross‐border branch banking. A review of the case of the Scandinavian bank, Nordea Bank AB, helps to understand some remaining barriers to integration, and the supervisory issues raised by branch banking. Third, it is argued that the principle of ‘home country’ supervision is unlikely to be adequate in the future for large international banks. Because the closure of an international bank would be likely to have cross‐border spillovers, and because some small European countries might be unable to finance the bail‐out of their very large banks, centralization, or at least Europe‐wide coordination, of the decision to close or bail‐out international banks is needed. This raises the issue of European funding of bail‐out costs, European banking supervision, and European deposit insurance.     

我国私人银行发展初探

私人银行是现代服务金融发展的一个重要内容,但其发展中也存在金融风险和监管问题。本文在分析我国私人银行发展现状与存在问题的基础上借鉴国际经验,重点探讨如何加强对私人银行服务的监管,并提出了建立具有中国特色的私人银行服务体系的思路和建议。