Housing and credit market shocks: Exploring the role of rule-based Basel III counter-cyclical capital requirements

This paper examines the extent to which the Basel III bank capital regulation attenuates fluctuations in housing and credit markets and fosters financial and macroeconomic stability. We use a positive housing demand shock to mimic a housing market boom and a negative financial shock for credit squeeze and economic meltdown. The results show that the rule-based Basel III counter-cyclical capital requirement effectively attenuates fluctuations in housing and credit markets and prevents bubbles. In the case of a negative financial shock, it significantly reduces the magnitude of economic meltdown. Our analysis of the transition from Basel II to Basel III suggests that it is the counter-cyclical capital buffer that effectively mitigates the pro-cyclicality of its predecessor, while the impact of the conservative buffer is marginal. In contrast to the credit-to-GDP ratio, the optimal policy analysis suggests that the regulatory authority should adjust the capital requirement to changes in credit and output when implementing the counter-cyclical buffer. Future research could extend the study by comparing the effectiveness of the rule-based Basel III with other macroprudential tools in achieving financial and macroeconomic stability.     

The Macroeconomic Implications of the New Basel Accord

This paper assesses the macroeconomic implications of BaselII in light of recent development in the literature. It arguesthat although Basel II is likely to strengthen banks' incentivesto control their risk-taking, it may reduce credit supply tocertain borrowers, such as small- and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) and firms based in developing countries. Furthermore,Basel II may increase procyclical fluctuation of bank loanswhile weakening the monetary transmission mechanism during recessions.A widespread adoption of the "through-the-cycle" risk modelsmay mitigate these problems, but not completely eliminate them.This paper also considers whether monetary policy can be usedto counter effectively the procyclicality problem inherent inBasel II. (JEL E52, G21, G28)     

中国商业银行体系信用风险评估——基于宏观压力测试的研究

宏观压力测试,作为压力测试方法在宏观经济分析中的具体运用,可以提供极端事件对金融体系影响的前瞻性信息.随着各国金融监管当局对系统性风险的日趋重视,宏观压力测试方法逐渐成为检验一国银行体系的脆弱性、维护金融稳定的首选工具.本文主要研究宏观压力测试在银行信用风险评估中的应用,并在已有的模型成果的对比分析基础上,建立适用于我国的宏观压力测试模型并以此进行实证分析.本文以贷款违约率作为评估银行系统信用风险的指标,选取对银行信贷违约风险构成冲击的宏观经济变量,通过多元线性回归模型将其整合成为一个综合性指标.研究结果发现:名义国内生产总值(NGDP)和通货膨胀率指标(CPI)对银行体系的贷款表现冲击力较强.在此基础上构建了两种宏观经济极端情境,在关于NGDP大幅下降和CPI骤升的压力情境设定下,银行体系的贷款违约率都出现了不同程度的大幅度提高.尤其在关于通货膨胀率的情境设定下,贷款违约率的增幅高于其在NGDP下降情境下的增幅.     

Analyzing the role of mutual guarantee societies on bank capital requirements for small and medium-sized enterprises

This paper analyzes the impact of the guarantee provided by mutual guarantee societies (MGSs) on the risk premium that banks should charge for small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) loans under the new Basel Capital Accords (Basel II and III). We also examine whether the foreseeable decrease in the theoretical credit risk premium would be compensated by the cost of the MGS guarantee. To do so, we develop a rating system for SMEs that uses a large sample of Spanish firms over the period from 2005 to 2009. We find that the final effect of the guarantee on the SME risk premium depends on the values taken by the credit variables of the MGS (essentially, the probability of default).     

A capital adequacy buffer model

We develop a new capital adequacy buffer model (CABM) that is sensitive to dynamic economic circumstances. The model, which measures additional bank capital required to compensate for fluctuating credit risk, is a novel combination of the Merton structural model, which measures distance to default and the timeless capital asset pricing model (CAPM), which measures additional returns to compensate for additional share price risk. We apply the model to a portfolio of mid-cap loan assets over a 10-year period that includes pre-GFC (global financial crisis), GFC and post-GFC. An analysis of actual defaults over this period shows the model to be far more accurate in determining the capital adequacy levels needed to counter credit risk than an unresponsive ratings model such as the Basel standardized approach.     

PIGS or Lambs? The European Sovereign Debt Crisis and the Role of Rating Agencies

This paper asks whether rating agencies played a passive role or were an active driving force during Europe??s sovereign debt crisis. We address this by estimating relationships between sovereign debt ratings and macroeconomic and structural variables. We then use these equations to decompose actual ratings into systematic and arbitrary components that are not explained by previously observed procedures of rating agencies. Finally, we check whether systematic, as well as arbitrary, parts of credit ratings affect credit spreads. We find that both do affect credit spreads, which opens the possibility that arbitrary rating downgrades trigger processes of self-fulfilling prophecies that may drive even relatively healthy countries towards default.     

The Financial Stability Board and Switzerland’s WiR-Credit Mechanism

Abstract:

The incentives banks face, such as the Basel Capital Accords, motivate them to favor lending with collateralized assets, rather than lending to Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs), with associated profound economic consequences for society. Since the 1970s there has not been any direct oversight of whether or not credit contributes to GDP. We need a macroeconomic policy tool that can discriminate among different categories of credit extended to curb speculation in existing assets (non-GDP) and promote new business investment (GDP).

Government money creation and private credit growth are often presumed the only two ways to enhance nominal demand, yet the Swiss Economic Circle (Wirtschaftsring-Genossenschaft or WIR) is a Swiss Bank whose creation of purchasing power for SMEs has counter-cyclically stabilized the Swiss economy for over 80 years. The Financial Stability Board (FSB) should create localized credit-creation architectures utilizing a Swiss-WIR type currency to funnel credit that reflects systemic and macroeconomic risks that individually will never be rational for banks left to themselves.     

Sovereign credit ratings,growth volatility and the global financial crisis

Using monthly data from January 1996 to May 2010 for a panel of 76 developed and emerging economies and adopting an instrumental variable (IV) estimation technique by correcting for both heterogeneity and endogeneity with the generalized two-stage least squares (G2SLS, EC2SLS) procedure method suggested by Balestra and Varadharajan-Krishnakumar (1987) and Baltagi and Li (1995), this article provides empirical evidence that volatility of per capita GDP growth is reduced when there are positive changes in credit ratings; in other words when sovereign credit risk improves. To deal with potential simultaneity between sovereign credit ratings and output volatility, a system (3SLS) approach is undertaken, and our findings remain robust. By weakening the volatility dampening effects of ratings changes, it is found that the global financial crisis (GFC) has enhanced macroeconomic volatility. One of the channels via which sovereign rating changes affect growth volatility is the financial markets’ repricing of sovereign default risk that is reflected in sovereign credit default swap (CDS) spreads and its volatility.     

Rating Agency Actions and the Pricing of Debt and Equity of European Banks: What Can we Infer About Private Sector Monitoring of Bank Soundness?

The recent consultative papers by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has raised the possibility of an explicit role for external rating agencies in the assessment of the credit risk of banks' assets, including interbank claims. Any judgement on the merits of this proposal calls for an assessment of the information contained in credit ratings and its relationship to other publicly available information on the financial health of banks and borrowers. We assess this issue via an event study of rating change announcements by leading international rating agencies, focusing on rating changes for European banks for which data on bond and equity prices are available. We find little evidence of announcement effects on bond prices, which may reflect the lack of liquidity in bond markets in Europe during much of our sample period. For equity prices, we find strong effects of ratings changes, although some of our results may suffer from contamination by contemporaneous news events. We also test for pre-announcement and post-announcement effects, but find little evidence of either. Overall, our results suggest that ratings agencies may perform a useful role in summarizing and obtaining non-public information on banks and that monitoring of banks' risk through bond holders appears to be relatively limited in Europe. The relatively weak monitoring by bondholders casts some doubt on the effectiveness of a subordinated debt requirement as a supervisory tool in the European context, at least until bond markets are more developed.
(J.E.L.: E53, G21, G33)     

Macroeconomic determinants of the credit risk in the banking system: The case of the GIPSI

In this paper, we analyze the link between the macroeconomic developments and the banking credit risk in a particular group of countries – Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy (GIPSI) – recently affected by unfavourable economic and financial conditions.Employing dynamic panel data approaches to these five countries over the period 1997q1–2011q3, we conclude that the banking credit risk is significantly affected by the macroeconomic environment: the credit risk increases when GDP growth and the share and housing price indices decrease and rises when the unemployment rate, interest rate, and credit growth increase; it is also positively affected by an appreciation of the real exchange rate; moreover, we observe a substantial increase in the credit risk during the recent financial crisis period. Several robustness tests with different estimators have also confirmed these results.The findings of this paper indicate that all policy measures that can be implemented to promote growth, employment, productivity and competitiveness and to reduce external and public debt in these countries are fundamental to stabilize their economies.     

Risk-taking channel,bank lending channel and the “paradox of credibility”: Evidence from Brazil

If from one hand credibility is important for the conduct of monetary policy, on the other hand, greater credibility may eventually stimulate the creation of bubbles in the credit market and asset prices through the risk-taking channel, and as a consequence, bring to reality the “paradox of credibility”. The “paradox of credibility” is the new dilemma posed to central banking in the effort to conciliate monetary policy and banking regulation under inflation targeting regimes. Thus, the present work aims to: (i) analyze the impact of central bank actions and the macroeconomic environment on the risk perception of banks, and; (ii) analyze the influence of this risk perception of banks on the credit spread, considering both the credit channel and the risk-taking channel. Based on an econometric analysis, the work provides evidence about: (i) the “paradox of credibility” and the risk-taking channel; (ii) the influence of monetary policies on the risk perception of banks and, as a consequence, on the credit spread; (iii) the procyclical nature of banks in relation to economic activity, and; (iv) the adherence of the countercyclical indicator (called credit gap) proposed in Basel III for the Brazilian case.     

Enforcing the 1988 Basel Capital Requirements: Did it Curtail Bank Credit in Emerging Economies?

We examine whether the enforcement of bank capital asset requirements (CARs) curtailed the supply of credit in emerging economies. Preliminarily, we identify 16 emerging economies that – according to official and impartial reports – enforced the 1988 Basel standard during the 1990s. Then we perform our twofold econometric analysis. In the former part, we use macro data to test whether, controlling for economic fundamental variables, the enforcement brought about a slowdown in aggregate credit in these countries vis-a-vis other emerging economies. We find some support for our hypothesis. In the latter part, we employ individual bank data to better identify the 'capital crunch' effect of the enforcement. Here, we find that CAR enforcement – according to the 1988 Basel standard – significantly curtailed credit supply, particularly at less well-capitalized banks. The two empirical parts together suggest that the CAR enforcement did curtail aggregate credit in the examined emerging countries and that this result is rooted in the attempt by under-capitalized banks to reduce their loans. We argue that among developing countries – where banks are often the only source of financial intermediation – the positive effect of higher capital requirements, represented by the reduction of poor quality lending, may be offset by their negative impact on bank liquidity and on the level of economic activity. Hence, our results suggest that particular care is required to avoid potential negative macroeconomic effects when phasing in new and higher capital requirements in emerging economies.
(J.E.L.: G18, G21, G28)     

基于供应商管理库存信用风险的供应链违约风险控制

受宏观经济因素的影响,市场风险和违约风险是密切相关的。而VMI作为一种在供应链相邻两级,其成功运作最重要的一个关键点,便是建立信用风险度量,以销售商违约为例,利用信用违约互换模型规避供应链违约风险,供应商和销售商更易达成交易。     

The Effect of Regulatory and Risk Management Advancement on Non-Performing Loans in European Banking, 2000–2011

We study whether the implementation of advanced risk management techniques in compliance with the internal ratings-based (IRB) approaches in the Basel Capital Accord reduced non-performing loans (NPLs) and, hence, had a significant impact in controlling credit risk in emerging and advanced European banks during 2000–2011. Our analysis reveals that there exists wide variation in terms of adoption of such advanced techniques across European banks. Emerging Europe, which suffered the most from the surge in NPLs in the post-crisis period, lags significantly behind the Eurozone economies in terms of the intensity of IRB adoption rates. We employ dynamic generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation methods in our panel regressions to investigate the effect of such regimes on the level of NPLs on a country level. Our findings confirm that the intensity of IRB usage within a banking system leads to a statistically significant decrease in the aggregate amount of NPLs in the post-crisis period, after controlling for macroeconomic and bank-specific characteristics of individual economies. This result is consistent with the view that the efficiency of credit risk management may turn out to be a critical factor in avoiding widespread banking distress and for improving the profitability and solvency of banking systems as a whole.     

商业银行信用风险管理及其在中国的应用研究

信用风险是银行业面对的主要风险之一,如何有效地度量和管理信用风险是银行风险管理者尤为关注的问题。介绍了传统的信用风险度量方法和现代信用风险度量模型,在此基础上提出基于新巴塞尔协议的商业银行信用风险管理和基于信用衍生产品的商业银行信用风险管理方法,以期对我国商业银行信用风险管理有所启示。     

Asset correlations in single factor credit risk models: an empirical investigation

The internal ratings–based (IRB) approach (based on a single risk factor model) was designed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) to determine banks’ regulatory credit risk capital. Key inputs of the model – asset correlations – are prescribed by the regulator; relevant banks must use them for capital determination. To ascertain whether these correlations are too onerous or too lenient, empirical asset correlations embedded in loss data spanning different loss milieu were backed out of the regulatory model. Static and rolling correlations over a period of time were compared with the prescribed correlations for developed and developing economies and found to be significantly more conservative.     

Credit ratings and bond spreads of the GIIPS

We examine the relationship between credit ratings and bond yield spreads of peripheral countries in the euro area (Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain) for the period 1995–2014. Since 2012, bond spreads of those countries have come down very fast, whereas credit ratings have hardly changed. Our results suggest that credit rating agencies have become more cautious and have changed their approach to assess credit risk of sovereigns, and that the impact of sovereign credit risk ratings on sovereign bond spreads has changed.     

商业银行信用风险与宏观经济——基于压力测试的研究

本文采用压力测试框架,研究了宏观经济波动对商业银行信用风险的影响。文章以不良贷款率度量信用风险,以名义GDP增长率、广义货币供应量（M2）增速、居民消费价格指数（CPI）以及房地产销售价格指数作为宏观经济变量,建立了合适的宏观压力测试模型。在GDP增速放缓、CPI上升、M2增速下降的压力情景下,预测了2011年第一季度到第四季度的不良贷款率的变化路径。实证结果表明在压力情景下商业银行的不良贷款率将会显著上升。     

Basel II procyclicality: The case of South Africa

This paper studies the impact of bank capital regulation on business cycle fluctuations. In particular, we study the procyclical nature of Basel II claimed in the literature. To do so, we adopt the Bernanke et al. (1999) “financial accelerator” model (BGG), to which we augment a banking sector. We first study the impact of a negative shock to entrepreneurs' net worth and a positive monetary policy shock on business cycle fluctuations. We then look at the impact of a negative net worth shock on business cycle fluctuations when the minimum capital requirement increases from 8 percent to 12 percent. Our comparison studies between the augmented BGG model with Basel I bank regulation and the one with Basel II bank regulation suggest that, in the presence of credit market frictions and bank capital regulation, the liquidity premium effect further amplifies the financial accelerator effect through the external finance premium channel, which, in turn, contributes to the amplification of Basel II procyclicality. Moreover, under Basel II bank regulation, in response to a negative net worth shock, the liquidity premium and the external finance premium rise much more if the minimum bank capital requirement increases, which, in turn, amplify the response of real variables. Finally, small adjustments in monetary policy can result in stronger response in the real economy, in the presence of Basel II bank regulation in particular, which is undesirable.     

Exploring the mismatch between credit ratings and loss-given-default: A credit risk approach

It is commonly observed that high grade loans with better ratings are often associated with low recoveries if they default (i.e. with relatively high loss-given-default (LGD)). To address the mismatch problem, this paper proposes a credit risk approach by minimizing LGD for higher rated loans as a risk-rating matching standard in the sense that the decreasing LGD from creditors’ perspective is associated with higher credit rating for the borrower. This standard forces customers’ credit rating of each grade to be optimally determined in correspondence to its LGD, which means the LGD of high grade loans tends to be low. The approach is then tested using three credit datasets from China, i.e. credit data from 2044 farmers, 2157 small private businesses and 3111 SMEs. The empirical results show that the proposed approach indeed guides the way to solve the mismatch phenomenon between credit ratings and LGDs in the existing credit rating literature. By optimally determining credit ratings, the findings derived from this paper help provide a valuable reference for bankers, and bond investors to manage their credit risk.