欧洲银行业联盟架构设计及建设进展

作为应对欧债危机的重要举措,2012年6月,欧盟委员会提出建立欧洲银行业联盟的设想。文章介绍了近一年多来欧洲银行业联盟的三大支柱——单一监管机制、单一处置机制和存款保险机制的架构设计和建设推进情况。目前,银行业单一监管机制建设已基本完成,欧央行发挥维护金融稳定的主导作用;对单一处置机制重要性的认识得到提升,但一些核心问题仍有待明确;存款保险机制建设仍可能保留在各国层面。     

欧洲银行业联盟评述

2013年7月10日,欧盟委员会就银行“单一处置机制”发布新方案。这标志着欧洲银行业联盟继续向前推进。然而,前进之路不会太平坦,仍有许多障碍需要克服。     

Financial freedom and bank efficiency: Evidence from the European Union

This paper investigates the dynamics between the financial freedom counterparts of the economic freedom index drawn from the Heritage Foundation database and bank efficiency levels. We rely on a large sample of commercial banks operating in the 27 European Union member states over the 2000s. After estimating bank-specific efficiency scores using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), we develop a truncated regression model combined with bootstrapped confidence intervals to test our main hypotheses. Results suggest that the higher the degree of an economy’s financial freedom, the higher the benefits for banks in terms of cost advantages and overall efficiency. Our results also show that the effects of financial freedom on bank efficiency tend to be more pronounced in countries with freer political systems in which governments formulate and implement sound policies and higher quality governance.     

欧洲银行联盟的设想、争论及前景

2012年以来,欧洲银行联盟作为欧洲应对欧债危机的重要举措被提出,并在几个月内取得显著进展,但目前,围绕欧洲银行联盟作用及相关制度设计还存在较多争论与分歧。文章详细回顾了欧洲银行联盟设想的细化与改进过程,以及各方对重大争议问题的相关看法,指出欧盟各国将会努力推动银行联盟建设,但由于涉及问题的复杂性和艰巨性,银行联盟建设只能分步进行,其长期作用有待观察。     

Determinants of domestic and cross-border bank acquisitions in the European Union

This paper analyzes the determinants of bank acquisitions both within and across countries in the EU-25 over the period 1997–2004. Our results suggest poorly managed banks (high cost to income) and larger banks are more likely to be acquired by other banks in the same country. The probability of being a target in a cross-border deal is larger for banks that are quoted in the stock market. Finally, banks operating in more concentrated markets are less likely to be acquired by other banks in the same country but are more likely to be acquired by banks in other EU-25 countries.     

Environmental disclosure and environmental risk: Sceptical attitudes of UK sell-side bank analysts

In responding to the mixed evidence on the decision-usefulness of environmental disclosures to capital market participants, this paper examines the decision-usefulness, to sell-side bank analysts, of annual report environmental narratives. In doing so it focuses mainly on the materiality of environmental reporting and the perceived importance of environmental risks in the assessment of bank risk profile and valuation. Noting that banks themselves have recognised the importance of environmental filtration of loan decisions, this paper seeks to examine the attitudes of a prominent reporting user group (19 London-based sell-side bank analysts) towards environmental reporting and the materiality of environmental risks. Findings showed that recognition of the materiality of environmental risks in banks is uncommon among sell-side analysts and that environmental narratives are often ignored and regarded as perfunctory. The findings are discussed in terms of the role of analysts in the reporting information ‘supply chain’ and how the analysts’ frame of reference may limit the inclusion of longer-term issues, such as the environment, in their analysis.     

European bank equity risk: 1995–2006

We examine changes in bank equity risk following the formation of the Economic Monetary Union (EMU) in 1999. With the exception of Germany, we observe a decline in bank risk across euro-zone countries. Total risk decreased for 70% of the euro-zone banks in our sample with a statistically significant decrease in total risk observed for 51% of the sample. Similar results are found for idiosyncratic risk and systematic risk. These results are robust to financial crisis effects and test specification. Moreover, we find some evidence of a decrease in bank equity risk for a sample of neighbouring non-euro-zone European countries, consistent with the existence of some spill over effects.     

Independence in bank governance structure: Empirical evidence of effects on bank risk and performance

We investigate how different governance arrangements affect risk and return in banks. Using a new data set for UK banks over the period 2003–2012, we employ a simultaneous equations framework to control for the reciprocal relationship between risk and return. We show that separation of the roles of CEO and Chairman increases bank risk without causing a concurrent increase in return. We also find that oversight by a Remuneration Committee and Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) lowers the probability of bank failure, indicating that empowering an independent Chairman has different effects from empowering independent NEDs. Overall, our results underline the importance of accounting for the heterogeneity in corporate governance arrangements within banks.     

欧洲央行流动性管理措施创新实践与效应

欧洲央行拥有较为完善的常规流动性供给机制,面对危机状态下市场融资功能的萎缩,欧央行通过创新和运用多种非常规流动性供给工具,为金融机构和市场提供必要的流动性支持。文章系统梳理了危机前后欧央行常规和非常规流动性管理工具的操作方式和功能,评估了非常规货币工具在市场流动性、利率和经济方面的实施效果,并探讨了其对于完善我国流动性管理的几点启示。     

The impact of European bank mergers on bidder default risk

We analyze the implications of European bank consolidation on the default risk of acquiring banks. For a sample of 134 bidding banks, we employ the Merton distance to default model to show that, on average, bank mergers are risk neutral. However, for relatively safe banks, mergers generate a significant increase in default risk. This result is particularly pronounced for cross-border and activity-diversifying deals as well as for deals completed under weak bank regulatory regimes. Also, large deals, which pose organizational and procedural hurdles, experience a merger-related increase in default risk. Our results cast doubt on the ability of bank merger activity to exert a risk-reducing and stabilizing effect on the European banking industry.     

Quality of information disclosure,property rights,and bank loans: A bank heterogeneity perspective

Using the context of the financial reform and the development of the non-state sector in China in the past decade, we examine the roles that the quality of information disclosure and property rights play in the allocation of different types of bank credit. We find that foreign banks and policy banks exercise “financial discrimination,” and that local commercial banks, large state-owned commercial banks, national joint-stock banks, local city commercial banks, and rural commercial banks not only exercise financial discrimination but also provide significant “financial support” to non-state-owned enterprises by providing more lending opportunities and larger loans. However, when enterprises commit information disclosure violations, the local commercial banks, national joint-stock banks, local city commercial banks, and rural commercial banks reverse their credit decisions and begin to exercise financial discrimination against non-state-owned enterprises. At the same time, large state-owned commercial banks continue to provide financial support to non-state-owned enterprises. We also find that the quality of the information disclosed by enterprises has a moderating effect rather than an intermediary effect on the relationship between property rights and bank loans. Overall, the results of this paper shine new light on the market-oriented reform of the banking industry, and provide new empirical evidence for the presence of financial discrimination in the supply of bank credit. Our findings also have practical implications for solving the financing difficulties of non-state-owned enterprises.     

银行监管事先承诺制探索与实践

随着银行业监管工作形势的发展,银行业机构总量和业务总量的相对无限的发展空间与监管机关人力资源和监管能力的有限增长之间的矛盾愈来愈突出。为使银行监管顺应银行业发展的需要,真正实现有效监管保证银行业健康有序发展,摆在银行监管者面前的唯一选择就是充分发挥想象力和创造力,通过监管方法的创新提高监管工作的有效性,     

Evaluating the risk of life insurer insolvency: implications from the US for the European Union

Insolvencies of life insurers in Europe have been virtually nonexistent. The deregulation of European markets, however, is likely to dramatically alter that situation. The goal of this study is two-fold: first, to identify significant variables in the early detection of financially distressed life insurers; and second, to consider the importance of these variables to the evaluation of life insurer insolvency risk in the European Union (EU). The availability of a data sample approaching the universe of insurers in the US allows us to stratify a large sample in order to make reasonable inferences regarding the factors likely to influence insolvency experience in the EU. The most significant findings for EU consumers, regulators, and insurers relate to the importance of capital and surplus, geographic focus, asset mix, and leverage in determining the likelihood of insurer bankruptcy.     

The wealth effects of takeover bids regulation in the European Union

We investigate the wealth effects of the Takeover Bids Directive, enacted by the European Union (EU), on mergers and acquisitions. The directive aims at protecting target minority shareholders by restricting antitakeovers provisions and preventing managerial entrenchment. We test the regulation impact using a treatment sample of EU public acquisitions and a control sample from outside the EU. Our results suggest diverse effects of the regulation across treatment countries: acquirers from countries with better shareholder protection engage in more value-enhancing acquisitions postregulation that could otherwise be too costly. The regulation also increases the likelihood of firms becoming targets and raises market value.     

Asymmetric effects of the business cycle on bank credit risk

Prior empirical research on the relation between credit risk and the business cycle has failed to properly investigate the presence of asymmetric effects. To fill this gap, we examine this relation both at the aggregate and the bank level exploiting a unique dataset on Italian banks’ borrowers’ default rates. We employ threshold regression models that allow to endogenously establish different regimes identified by the thresholds over/below which credit risk is more/less cyclical. We find that not only are the effects of the business cycle on credit risk more pronounced during downturns but cyclicality is also higher for those banks with riskier portfolios.     

The effects of DIDMCA on bank stockholders' returns and risk

In this paper we examine the effects of the 1980 DIDMCA on bank stockholders' returns and risk. While at the time of the announcement both commercial banks and thrifts appeared to benefit (measured by abnormal returns), over a longer period of time surrounding the announcement week, it is evident that thrift stockholders were the primary beneficiaries of the acts passage. When the effects of DIDMCA on risk was analysed, it was found that after the act's passage the (total) return risk of both money center and regional banks increased while that for thrifts decreased. However, some of the beneficial effects of the Act appear to have been mitigated by an increase in the absolute size of unexpected interest-rate risk in the post- enactment period.     

The external effects of bank executive pay: Liquidity creation and systemic risk

We develop a conceptual framework that links the compensation incentives of bank executives to the risk and return externalities generated by banks but borne by society. Using 1994 to 2016 data from large U.S. commercial banks, we find that CEO pay-performance incentives reduce both negative systemic risk externalities and positive liquidity creation externalities, while pay-risk incentives increase both externalities. Our findings offer support for Federal Reserve guidelines that encourage greater reliance on long-term equity-based compensation, and they infer a regulatory tradeoff: Bank executive pay rules aimed at reducing systemic risk will result in reduced system-wide liquidity creation as well.     

Banking on the principles: Compliance with Basel Core Principles and bank soundness

This study finds that banks receive more favorable Moody's financial strength ratings in countries with better compliance with Basel Core Principles related to information provision. The results are robust to controlling for broad indexes of institutional quality, macroeconomic variables, sovereign ratings, and reverse causality. Compliance with other Core Principles does not affect ratings robustly. Measuring bank soundness through Z-scores yields broadly similar results for advanced and emerging markets. Countries aiming to upgrade banking regulation and supervision should consider giving priority to information provision over other elements of the core principles.