Do bond rating changes affect the information asymmetry of stock trading?

Using a sample of 279 upgrades and 310 downgrades from 1996 to 2004, we find that bond rating changes affect the information asymmetry of stock trading and other measures of information risk. Specifically, when a firm's bond rating is upgraded, its stock information asymmetry and its analysts' earnings forecast dispersion are significantly reduced, while the institutional equity holdings of its shares are significantly increased. The reverse is true for a downgrade. In addition, the degree of change in stock information asymmetry is positively associated with the magnitude of the bond rating changes.     

Do accruals exacerbate information asymmetry in the market?

A considerable body of evidence, both archival and experimental, suggests that accounting accruals are heterogeneously interpreted by investors. We examine whether the information asymmetry among investors arising from this heterogeneous interpretation, implied in these empirical results, affects transactions costs in the form of the adverse selection component of the bid-ask spread. We examine this impact both, in a yearly setting and around the first release of quarterly accrual information. The results of the study provide empirical evidence of a positive association between the adverse selection component and accruals in the yearly analysis. Since wider bid-ask spreads are both theoretically and empirically linked to higher stock returns (Brennan & Subrahmanyam, 1996), our results provide a transaction cost basis for understanding one possible factor underlying the linkage between accruals and cost of equity capital, and accruals and information risk pricing as documented in Francis et al. (2005) and Ecker et al. (2006).     

Did the financial crisis affect the market valuation of large systemic U.S. banks?

We examine the impact of the financial crisis on the stock market valuation of large and systemic U.S. bank holding companies (BHCs). Using the Bertsatos and Sakellaris (2016) model of fundamental valuation of bank equity, we provide evidence that the financial crisis has not altered investors’ attitudes towards bank characteristics. In particular, before, during, and after the crisis, investors in large and systemic U.S. BHCs seemed to penalize leverage, albeit temporarily. Both before and after the crisis, they reward size in the short run. This pattern is appearing only briefly during the crisis. We also show that bank opacity plays no role in market valuation either in the short run or in the long run. Last but not least, we find evidence that stress testing has been informative to the market and that those BHCs that failed at the post-crisis stress tests were not subsequently valued differently by the market.     

Discussion of “How disclosure quality affects the level of information asymmetry”

Brown and Hillegeist (2007) examine how disclosure quality relates to information asymmetry. Specifically, the authors show that the negative association between the overall quality of a firm’s disclosures and the average level of information asymmetry is primarily driven by the negative association between disclosure quality and the frequency of information events. My discussion focuses on issues surrounding proxies for information asymmetry and disclosure quality the authors use. I also suggest some venues for future research.     

What determines the profitability of banks? Evidence from Spain

This paper empirically analyses the factors that determine the profitability of Spanish banks for the period of 1999–2009. We conclude that the high bank profitability during these years is associated with a large percentage of loans in total assets, a high proportion of customer deposits, good efficiency and a low doubtful assets ratio. In addition, higher capital ratios also increase the bank’s return, but only when return on assets (ROA) is used as the profitability measure. We find no evidence of either economies or diseconomies of scale or scope in the Spanish banking sector. Finally, our study reveals differences in the performance of commercial and savings banks.     

Did securitization affect the cost of corporate debt?

This paper investigates whether the securitization of corporate bank loan facilities had an impact on the price of corporate debt. Our results suggest that loan facilities that are subsequently securitized are associated with a 17 basis point lower spread than that of facilities that are not subsequently securitized. We consider facility characteristics that are associated with the likelihood of securitization and estimate the extent to which these characteristics are related to spreads. We document that Term Loan B facilities, facilities of B-rated firms, and facilities originated by banks that originate CLOs are securitized more frequently than other facilities. Spreads on facilities estimated to be more likely to be subsequently securitized have lower spreads than otherwise similar facilities. The results are consistent with the view that securitization caused a reduction in the cost of capital.     

Does monitoring by the media improve the performance of government banks?

By examining cross-country data for the period from 2000 to 2010, this study investigates whether monitoring by the media affects the performance of government-owned banks (GOBs). The results indicate that GOBs under strong monitoring do not underperform privately owned banks (POBs), whereas those under weak monitoring do underperform POBs. Further, we find that the strength of the media's monitoring has an important effect on corruption behavior and banks’ performance. This result provides an important policy implication that the government should minimize its ownership, and therefore its influence, in the media sector if it intends to improve the performance of its GOBs.     

Can central banks be heard over the sound of gunfire?

In this study, we examined the effectiveness of central bank communications during times of significant adverse shocks. Specifically, we examined how the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) regulated foreign exchange (FX) markets during the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2022. Data collected from both the black and authorized FX markets suggested that the content of the NBU's announcements significantly impacted FX market agents. Announcements aimed at maintaining a fixed (floating) FX rate prompted an increase (decrease) in the black market premium in cash transactions. Moreover, the NBU's announcements influenced the sale side of foreign currency more than any other aspect, an area where the black market FX traders held near monopolistic power.     

How does ownership concentration exacerbate information asymmetry among equity investors?

This study investigates the association between ownership concentration and information asymmetry between informed and uninformed investors, and explores several mechanisms that mitigate such a relation. Using a large sample of Korean firms whose ownership structure is highly concentrated, we find that the degree of information asymmetry increases with ownership concentration. We also find that ownership concentration is positively associated with information asymmetry via an increase in the relative amount of informed trading. This effect more than overcomes the unexpected decrease in the frequency of private information events. Furthermore, while neither institutional investors nor internal corporate governance systems help alleviate the negative effects of ownership concentration, analyst following reduces the information asymmetry associated with ownership concentration. Our findings are robust to endogeneity concerns, additional control variables, and an alternative use of empirical proxies.     

What drives the cost of US dollar bond funding for banks?

This paper decomposes issue spreads on US dollar-denominated bonds issued by LIBOR panel banks into credit risk and liquidity premium components. We attribute the recent increase in issue spreads to the investor perception that banks are less creditworthy than in the past. Although the behaviour of the credit risk component is well-explained by a structural model of default, this mechanism is nullified by the introduction of government guarantees. The behaviour of the liquidity premium component is partially explained by the bid/ask spread in the secondary market and issue size. Government guarantees also reduce the liquidity component of the issue spread.     

Did amakudari undermine the effectiveness of regulator monitoring in Japan?

The principal–agent problem between the regulator, regulated banks, and taxpayers is critical to the viability of the financial system’s safety net. There exists the danger that the regulator will collude with regulated banks to pursue their benefits at the expense of taxpayers, thereby reducing effectiveness of financial supervision. This paper proposes that the human relationship prevailing between the regulatory authorities and private banks referred to as “amakudari” is a form of collusion between the regulator and banks that endangers the safety net mechanism in Japan. Statistical analysis of data on regional banks shows that those banks accepting post-retirement officials from the Ministry of Finance have reduced capital adequacy levels and increased non-performing loans. Thus, the statistical result supports the hypothesis proposed in this paper.     

Do asset impairments and the associated disclosures resolve uncertainty about future returns and reduce information asymmetry?

The objective of this study is to provide insights into how Australian listed firms are implementing AASB 136 Impairments of Assets. Our first concern is whether uncertainty about future returns and information asymmetry motivates the recognition of asset impairments. We find no evidence that the recognition of asset impairments is associated with higher uncertainty about future returns. Furthermore, we find no evidence that the recognition of asset impairments is associated with higher information asymmetry. Our second concern is whether asset impairments and the associated disclosures provide information that reduces uncertainty about future returns and information asymmetry. While we find some evidence that asset impairments are associated with decreases in information asymmetry before the financial crisis, during the financial crisis, asset impairments are associated with increases in both measurement uncertainty and information asymmetry.     

Quantifying the components of the banks’ net interest margin

Using unique data sets on German banks, we decompose their net interest margin and quantify the different components by estimating the costs of the various functions they perform. We investigate three major functions: liquidity and payment management for customers, bearing credit risk, and term transformation. For 2013, the costs of liquidity and payment management correspond, in the median, to 47% of the net interest margin, with bearing of credit risk and earnings from term transformation accounting for 12 and 37%, respectively.     

Who should rescue subsidiaries of multinational banks?

This paper asks whether a single resolution authority for multinational banks is desirable. Such an authority was recently established within the European Monetary Union, where the resolution power for large banks was transferred to a Single Resolution Board. To address this issue, we consider the risk incentives of a multinational bank in the presence of different resolution frameworks and determine the welfare-efficient structure which prevents banks from excessive risk-taking. We argue that a single resolution authority is not always welfare-efficient, because it is the heterogeneity of bank resolution power which induces multinational banks to behave prudently. In severe solvency crises, the multinational authority should have the resolution power, whereas in less severe crises national resolution authorities are more efficient in avoiding excessive risk-taking on the part of multinational banks.     

Does high-quality auditing decrease the use of collateral? Analysis from the perspective of lenders’ self-protection

We examine the association between audit quality and the use of collateral in a sample of Chinese firms from 2005 to 2011. Using the full sample, we document a negative relationship between audit quality and the use of collateral that is consistent with lenders' interests. We also show that audit quality and collateral are regarded as alternative means of reducing debt credit risk. Our conclusions are robust after using an auditor-switching test, the Heckman two-stage model and a propensity-score matching model to address endogeneity issues. China's institutional background is also considered. First, we find that in the group of firms in which large shareholders are able to control borrowers' activities, the substitution effects between collateral and audit quality are reduced when the degree of separation between large shareholders' control and ownership is high. Second, these substitution effects are greater when the borrowers' ultimate controller is a state-owned enterprise(SOE) rather than a non-state-owned enterprise(NSOE). Third, the differences in substitution effects between NSOEs and SOEs are smaller in areas with a high marketdevelopment index. We conclude that the substitution effects are smaller in high credit risk firms than in low credit risk firms.     

Can the information content of share repurchases improve the accuracy of equity premium predictions?

We adjust the dividend–price ratio for share repurchases and investigate whether predictive power can be improved when constructing forecasts of the UK and French equity premia. Regulations in the two largest European stock markets allow us to employ actual repurchase data in our predictive regressions. Hence, we are able to overcome problems associated with markets characterised by less stringent disclosure requirements, where investors might have to rely on proxies for measuring repurchase activity. We find that predictability does not improve either in a statistical or in an economically significant sense once actual share repurchases are considered. Furthermore, we employ a proxy measure of repurchases which can be easily constructed in international markets and demonstrate that its predictive content is not in line with that of the actual repurchase data.     

An analysis of the consistency of banks’ internal ratings

Internal ratings-based models are used for a variety of important bank and regulatory decisions. Thus, model risk – the potential for different models to provide different probability-of-default (PD) estimates – is of crucial importance. Using a comprehensive German credit registry dataset from 40 banks and 17,000 corporate borrowers from 2008–2012, we assess the consistency of internal PD estimates across banks. We find three main results. First, the variability of PD estimates for the same borrower across banks is large. Second, bank fixed effects explain 5% of the variation in PD estimates across banks, while 95% of the variation is idiosyncratic. For the 10 largest banks in our sample, reported regulatory capital ratios would change by a maximum of ±10%, equivalent to approximately 1 percentage point, when using average risk weights from all banks instead of risk weights based on banks’ individual PD estimates. Third, we explore various bank characteristics that explain the size of bank fixed effects.     

What drives foreign expansion of the top 100 multinational banks? The role of the credit reporting system

This study explores how information costs, proxied by characteristics of credit reporting systems, affect the foreign expansion of the top 100 multinational banks. We find that banks prefer to expand operations in countries where private credit bureaus exist or where the credit reporting system is of better quality. This preference is particularly strong for banks’ branch decisions. Furthermore, banks prefer subsidiary entry only in countries where private credit bureaus exist with better credit information quality. Overall, our results indicate that banks are attracted to countries where the credit reporting system helps reduce banks’ information costs.     

Should banks be geographically diversified? Empirical evidence from cross-country diversification of European banks

Using a sample of European bank, this paper investigates the impact of banks' geographic diversification on their cost of equity capital. Examining the geographic diversification of European banks gives an insight on the value of cross-border banking. To measure diversification between major geographic areas in which the bank operates, the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index, based on revenues generated at home and abroad is constructed for each bank. To address the problem of endogeneity, system generalized method of moments estimator is used. The main finding of the analysis is that, other things equal, more geographic diversified banks have higher cost of equity capital than geographically focused ones. This result implies that the adverse market valuation effect of geographic diversification (increase in agency problem) dominates the positive ones (increase in efficiency and reduction in risk).     

Does disaggregation of fair value information increase the value relevance of the fair value hierarchy?

In response to pressures from Congress, the SEC and investors, the FASB issued ASU 2010-06, Improving Disclosures about Fair Value Measurement. ASU 2010-06 mandates that firms provide disaggregated fair value information by class of financial instruments under each level of the fair value hierarchy. Using financial statements of publicly traded banks for the first quarters of 2009 and 2010, this study examines whether providing class-level information increases the value relevance of the fair value hierarchy. In support of our hypothesis, we find that fair value relevance increases under ASU 2010-06.