Competition and bank stability in the MENA region: The moderating effect of Islamic versus conventional banks

This paper investigates the impact of competition on bank stability using data from 276 banks across eighteen MENA countries between 2006–2015. We controlled for financial inclusion, productivity, and macroeconomic instability in addition to several different control variables, including bank size, efficiency, diversification and leverage. The two-step system GMM suggested that banks facing little competition tended to take less insolvency and credit risks and enjoy more profitability. Furthermore, we found that the competition-fragility effect is more prominent for Islamic banks than conventional ones in MENA countries. This study contains some significant policy implications for regulators looking to improve bank stability.     

经济多元化对澳门地区商业银行风险及绩效的影响

随着“一带一路”倡议的实施和粤港澳大湾区的建设,澳门经济多元化发展迎来了新的机遇。本文利用2012—2018年的澳门宏观经济数据和银行层面数据,探讨了经济多元化对银行破产风险及经营绩效的影响。结果表明,在现阶段随着澳门经济多元化水平的提升,澳门商业银行破产风险也随之上升,并且经济多元化也导致了澳门商业银行的经营绩效下滑。基于研究结论,我们为澳门经济多元化背景下的银行管理和政策制定提出了几点建议,以资参考。     

Credit risk and bank competition in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper investigates the relationship between bank competition and stability in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using financial statements on 221 banks from 33 countries over the period 2000–15, we provide evidence for a U-shaped relationship between bank competition and credit risk. Up to a certain threshold, higher levels of bank competition are associated with lower credit risk. Above this threshold, more competition increases credit risks as the positive effects of competition are outweighed by the adverse effects of rising competition. The optimal threshold appears to be higher for African banks compared to banks from developed countries. We also find that credit risk in Sub-Saharan Africa is not only related to macroeconomic determinants, such as growth, public debt, economic concentration and financial development, but also to the business and regulatory environment. In particular, bank risks appear to be lower in countries where credit registry coverage is higher and the tenure of supervisors is shorter.     

利率市场化与商业银行资产负债管理研究综述

资产负债管理(Asset-liability Management,ALM)是现代商业银行生存发展的根基和生命线。随着金融机构贷款利率管制全面放开和存款利率有限上浮,利率市场化的步伐正渐行渐近,并对商业银行的经营管理尤其是资产负债管理带来巨大挑战。如何通过管理转型提升资产负债管理能力,已成为值得商业银行深入探索的课题。本文分析了资产负债管理转型的方向并提出对策。     

The bank–firm relationship during economic transition: The impacts on bank performance in emerging economies

We analyze the lending relationships between 1011 banks and 17,284 client borrowers across 11 emerging economies. We first demonstrate that a state-owned bank's risk appetite increases as its number of family business group-owned borrowing partners increases. Second, we show that a non-financial firm-owned bank's risk appetite also increases as its number of family business group-owned borrowing partners increases. Finally, we show that a bank is more likely to reduce its risk appetite and improve its operational cost efficiency as its foreign ownership ratio increases, regardless of the bank's lending partner. These findings suggest that, in the post-privatization period, the ownership structure changes of banks and/or borrowers affect the lending relationship and the bank's risk appetite and cost efficiency.     

同业业务发展、货币政策传导与银行风险承担

商业银行同业业务逐渐从传统信用拆借演变为类信贷业务,一些银行通过同业业务实施监管套利、风险资产出表,同业业务的快速发展对原有货币政策传导体系形成干扰,甚至改变了商业银行的风险承担渠道。使用25家A股上市银行2008-2018年数据,在理论和实证两个方面分析了同业业务发展对银行风险承担的影响。理论上,同业业务能够提高银行风险承担水平和强化货币政策风险承担渠道,上述影响并同时对于不同银行伴有异质性。实证结论验证了理论推演的假设:同业业务发展与银行风险承担水平正相关,并对货币政策银行风险承担渠道具有强化作用;同业业务对大型银行的风险承担水平影响有限,但对股份制银行和中小银行的风险承担水平表现了较强的正相关性。分析货币政策风险承担渠道,中小银行对货币宽松与否更为敏感,其同业业务发展程度与货币宽松情况表现出较强的相关性。根据上述研究结论,监管政策应当更加关注银行体系分层结构下的同业业务发展引导,尤其是对于股份制银行和中小银行,应当逐步引导同业业务占比较高银行压缩同业资产,鼓励商业银行业务回归本源,支持实体经济发展。     

Bank presence in firm equity: A diversification based approach

This study analyses the possible reasons for banks deciding to invest in firm equity, based on the fundamentals of the strategic diversification literature. Those fundamentals suggest that it may be in response to the negative evolution of other aspects of banking business, namely, credit business, fixed interest business and services, as well as the bank's level of efficiency. The results confirm the hypotheses that the decision to hold equity in other firms is related to the evolution of the bank's other businesses. However, the results for savings banks differed from those for banks.     

我国商业银行碳金融发展的制度约束与制度设计

相比于国外众多商业银行对碳金融的深度参与,我国商业银行碳金融业务处于探索尝试阶段,明显存在着发展不足的问题。而造成这种问题的根本原因在于我国商业银行在开展碳金融业务中面临着一系列的制度约束：一是我国现行商业银行管理体制的约束;二是我国商业银行风险控制制度的不完善;三是商业银行开展碳金融的法律法规的缺失;四是缺乏商业银行参与碳金融交易的激励机制。为提高我国商业银行发展碳金融的积极性,扩大碳金融交易的广度与深度,要在政府、市场和商业银行的共同努力下,为商业银行碳金融发展创造良好的制度环境。     

Introduction

This study decomposes the unconditional stock return volatility into two categories: systematic versus idiosyncratic risk, to re-examine the link between size and risk in the banking industry. The feasibility of the model is tested using data for US banks from 1998 to 2007. The evidence uncovered suggests that the practice of size-related diversification obtained with large banks reduces the firm-specific risk, and thus weakens stock return variances. However, rather than eliminating firm-specific risk, it is being transformed into systematic risk. Additionally, our empirical findings can potentially explain why a bank's size-related diversification does not result in a reduction in its unconditional stock return volatility reported in Demsetz and Straha [Historical patterns and recent changes in the relationship between bank size and risk. Federal Reserve Bank of New York Economic Policy Review, 1(2), 13–26 (1995); Diversification, size, and risk at bank holding companies. Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking, 29, 300–313 (1997)].     

Bank board network and financial stability in emerging markets

This study finds that the board network is related to improvements in the financial stability of banks given by asset quality, insolvency risk and volatility of profits. Further, the board network is more critical for the private sector banks in India. The board network also improves the performance of banks, providing evidence in favor of the integrated resource dependence view of the board. Well-connected boards increase information availability and reduce the information asymmetry between the bank and its borrower. For financial firms, restricting the number of directorial positions for bank directors may not have any desirable effect on bank outcomes.     

Diversification and financialization of non-financial corporations: Evidence from China

This paper examines whether and how business diversification affects financialization in non-financial corporations. Using data from the Chinese market, we find that business diversification strategy will significantly increase non-financial corporations' investment in financial assets. Furthermore, exacerbated agency problems, increased investment inefficiency and high operational risk are found to be the consequences of business diversification, which induce companies to hold high-risk financial assets. The impact of business diversification on financial investment is stronger in small-cap firms, SOEs, and firms with weak monitoring mechanisms. Finally, the diversification effect on corporate financialization is more significant where regional economic development and regulatory environment is weak.     

Does Bank Consolidation Hurt the Small Business Borrower?

The recent wave of mergers in the commercial banking sector in the United States has led to tremendous industry consolidation. Some fear that such consolidation will leave the small business borrower with fewer opportunities to obtain bank credit. This study uses regression analysis to empirically determine if consolidation has caused larger banks to abandon relationship loans extended to small businesses over time. If so, this leaves small business borrowers with two distinctly different choices, a low interest rate loan from a large bank for those small business borrowers who qualify or a high interest rate loan from a small bank for those who do not. The results of this study support this theory, and find consolidation has raised small business loan rates at small banks and lowered rates at large banks, ceteris paribus.     

论我国零售银行业务的发展

我国零售银行业务在短短的几年时间内获得了较快的发展,实规了历史性的跨跃,但与发达国家相比,总体规模依然很小,零售银行业务占商业银行利润来源和业务总量的比重仍然偏低.我国零售银行业务的发展仍然存在着许多问题:商业银行的风险控制能力比较薄弱,产品同质性高.缺乏核心竞争力,银行的服务意识和营销能力不足,公司治理不完善,缺乏有效的激励约束机制.拓展国有商业银行零售银行业务,应强化风险管理,构筑风控体系,完善公司治理结构,健全激励约束机制,加强客户关系管理,实施差别化服务,从而更快更好地创造客户价值,实现银行价值与客户价值的有机统一.     

Bank risk-taking and competition in developing banking markets: Does efficiency level matter? Evidence from Africa

We contribute to the existing literature on the nonlinear nexus between competition and risk-taking by exploring how differences in efficiency levels affect the risk-taking of banks when competition increases. Based on a sample of 430 African banks, this paper reveals that, banks with high and low efficiency tend to take more risk than those with average efficiency level. This study further suggests that bank specific characteristics and macroeconomic dynamics, play an important role in the competition-risk-taking nexus within African banking industry. Besides, while the penetration of African Cross-border banks does not stimulate risk-taking in the hosts domestic markets, an improvement of banking regulation (Basel 2.5, 3 and further) is mandatory to mitigate their possible adverse effects on the competition-financial stability nexus.     

Toward global regulatory harmonization in banking

Several principles of international bank regulatory jurisdictions have emerged since the mid-1970s. Each principle has advantages and disadvantages in promoting cross-border competition, ensuring prudent banking practice, and maintaining worldwide financial stability. At the same time, simultaneous application of different principles by different countries has caused overlapping, underlapping, or sheer avoidance of bank regulations, resulting in less transparency and an uneven playing field for internationally competing banks. To level the playing field, bank regulatory harmonization has been advocated, particularly under the auspices of the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision. However, as demonstrated in the case of setting minimum capital standards for market risks, a successive harmonization approach may not be the panacea. There is a need for rethinking of efficiency in regulation, including incentive-compatible approaches.     

经济资本在我国商业银行绩效评估中的应用

以资本为基础的现代商业银行绩效评估体系,有效地促进了商业银行经营理念和增长方式的转变.目前,中国商业银行基于监管资本的绩效评估,能够很好地达到监管要求,但风险衡量的敏感度差,不利于银行价值的实现.如果将经济资本引入银行绩效评估,可以使银行对风险的把握更加精准.同时,将RAROC作为银行绩效评价指标,会使银行资本和资产运用更充分,从而真正实现银行价值最大化.     

International bank lending: Political risk and portfolio diversification

The extent to which a large U.S. bank, all U.S. banks, and banks in the Group of Ten took account of political risk in their international country exposures in 1976 is tested using a simple portfolio diversification model. Assuming that political risks are important relative to economic risks, and that political risks are uncorrelated across countries, these banks' exposures should be negatively related to political risk indices. However, the portfolios of these banks appear to be related to political risk only insofar as political risk is roughly approximated by GNP per capita. International banks were not yet able to systematically vary their international portfolios with respect to political risk.     

The risk effects of combining banking, securities, and insurance activities

We create synthetic universal banks to examine the impact of securities and insurance activities on the banking firms’ risk. We find that these nonbank activities reduce the overall risk to the firm but increase systematic market risk—thus reducing the firm’s ability to diversify. Moreover, the unit price of risk does not appear to contain a risk premium to price the enhanced systemic risk exposure that might be engendered by greater convergence across financial firms. Our finding suggests that if there are net gains to universal banking, potential gains from synergies and demand effects must be powerful enough to overcome the disadvantages of increased systemic risk exposure. The results suggest that diversification benefits, when considered in isolation from the other implications of expanded bank powers, are not sufficiently large to justify expanding bank powers into nonbank securities and insurance underwriting activities.     

信用衍生产品的微观金融效率分析

信用衍生产品的微观金融效率主要体现在信用衍生产品对商业银行和机构投资者金融效率的影响。具体而言,信用衍生产品对商业银行的资产业务效率和风险管理效率都有较大的促进作用;机构投资者在证券市场的投资方式将发生巨大改变。     

我国商业银行碳金融业务研究

＂碳金融＂是指服务于限制温室气体排放的相关金融活动。我国商业银行开展碳金融业务可以促进经济健康发展,推进商业银行经营战略转型并使其收入结构优化,培养商业银行良好的社会信誉。开展碳金融业务应健全碳金融交易法律法规,完善政策制度建设,制定操作性强的碳金融实施细则;培养碳金融业务方面的人才;加大银行对低碳项目的资金支持力度;增强我国商业银行碳交易中间业务创新能力;加强碳金融风险识别与防范。