Deposit interest rates, asset risk and bank failure in Croatia

Financial deregulation, while beneficial in the long-term, seems to be linked to instability. Intense competition for deposits appears to be an ingredient in instability. We examine the aftermath of deregulation in Croatia, which included rapid growth of both deposits and deposit interest rates, followed by numerous bank failures.

Using panel regression techniques, we find evidence of “market-stealing” via high deposit interest rates. We connect high deposit interest rates to bank failure using logit models. High deposit interest rates were a reliable signal of risk-taking. When supervisory capabilities and powers are weak, deposit interest rate regulation may be worth considering.     

Guarantees,transparency and the interdependency between sovereign and bank default risk

Bank debt guarantees have traditionally been viewed as costless measures to prevent bank runs. However, as recent experiences in some European countries have demonstrated, guarantees may link the coordination problems of bank and sovereign creditors and induce a functional interdependence between the likelihoods of a government default and bank illiquidity. Employing a global-game approach, we model this link, showing the existence and uniqueness of the joint equilibrium and derive its comparative statics properties. In equilibrium, the guarantee reduces the probability of a bank run, while it increases the probability of a sovereign default. The latter erodes the guarantee’s credibility and thus its effectiveness ex ante. By setting the guarantee optimally, the government balances these two effects in order to minimize expected costs of crises. Our results show that the optimal guarantee has clear-cut welfare gains which are enhanced through policies that promote greater balance sheet transparency.     

商业银行理财产品创新对宏观审慎管理的影响分析

2005年以来,商业银行理财产品创新迅猛发展,在满足大众旺盛的投资需求的同时也为商业银行创造了新的利润增长点。与此同时,我们注意到,商业银行理财产品创新对宏观审慎管理的实施提出了新的要求。本文在对理财产品市场发展现状和特点进行总结的基础上,梳理出理财产品创新对宏观审慎管理影响的六个突出问题,最后提出下一步的政策建议。     

中国国有银行改革的理论与实践问题

当前对国有银行改革的讨论应立足于其初始条件,国有独资银行与商业银行不相容,国有银行具有特殊的职能边界———金融支持国家经济增长;在我国特定的历史阶段,国有银行改革应遵循两种截然相异的路径:完全的股份制或国有独资,而国有控股将导致较高的道德风险;机构利益的独立性并非国有银行的专有问题,通过激励机制设计应该保持国有独资银行的利益从属于中央政府的经济金融政策;国有银行的分支机构和人力资源在不同的改革思路下会具有“历史包袱”和“历史财富”的或然双重性质,关键在于能否从时间序列上观察银行绩效;银行改革成本只能是因支持经济增长和经济体制改革所付出的代价,这一代价的跨期承担优于即期摊销。     

Competitive effects of Basel II on US bank credit card lending

We analyze the potential competitive effects of the proposed Basel II capital regulations on US bank credit card lending. We find that bank issuers operating under Basel II will face higher regulatory capital minimums than Basel I banks, with differences due to the way the two regulations treat reserves and gain-on-sale of securitized assets. During periods of normal economic conditions, this is not likely to have a competitive effect; however, during periods of substantial stress in credit card portfolios, Basel II banks could face a significant competitive disadvantage relative to Basel I banks and nonbank issuers.