The aim of this paper is twofold: first, to study the determinants of banks’ net interest margin with a particular focus on the role of maturity transformation, using a new measure of maturity mismatch; second, to analyse the implications for banks from the relaxation of a binding prudential limit on maturity mismatch, in place in Italy until mid-2000s. The results show that maturity transformation is a relevant driver of the net interest margin, as higher maturity transformation is typically associated with higher net interest margin. However, ‘excessive’ maturity transformation— even without leading to systemic vulnerabilities— increases banks’ interest rate risk exposure and lowers their net interest margin.
The recent financial crisis and the difficulty of using mainstream macroeconomic models to accurately monitor and assess systemic risk have stimulated new analyses of how we measure economic activity and the development of more sophisticated models in which the financial sector plays a greater role. Markus Brunnermeier and Arvind Krishnamurthy have assembled contributions from leading academic researchers, central bankers, and other financial-market experts to explore the possibilities for advancing macroeconomic modeling in order to achieve more accurate economic measurement. Essays in this volume focus on the development of models capable of highlighting the vulnerabilities that leave the economy susceptible to adverse feedback loops and liquidity spirals. While these types of vulnerabilities have often been identified, they have not been consistently measured. In a financial world of increasing complexity and uncertainty, this volume is an invaluable resource for policymakers working to improve current measurement systems and for academics concerned with conceptualizing effective measurement.
Young people, hardest hit by the global economic downturn, are speaking out and demanding change. F&D looks at the need to urgently address the challenges facing youth and create opportunities for them. Harvard professor David Bloom lays out the scope of the problem and emphasizes the importance of listening to young people in "Youth in the Balance." "Making the Grade" looks at how to teach today's young people what they need to get jobs. IMF Deputy Managing Director, Nemat Shafik shares her take on the social and economic consequences of youth unemployment in our "Straight Talk" column. "Scarred Generation" looks at the effects the global economic crisis had on young workers in advanced economies, and we hear directly from young people across the globe in "Voices of Youth." Renminbi's rise, financial system regulation, and boosting GDP by empowering women. Also in the magazine, we examine the rise of the Chinese currency, look at the role of the credit rating agencies, discuss how to boost the empowerment of women, and present our primer on macroprudential regulation, seen as increasingly important to financial stability. People in economics - C. Fred Bergsten, American Globalist. Back to basics - The multi-dimensional role of banks in our financial systems.
PRAISE FOR Banking on Change "In this 140th Anniversary celebration book, The London Institute of Banking and Finance stick to their core function of educating us all, but especially aspirant bankers, on the role and concerns of (retail and commercial) banking in the UK. They have assembled a well-chosen group of practitioners from a range of professions to write clear and easily assimilable essays, no technical expertise required, on a wide variety of current banking issues. If you want to learn about the current practices and problems of UK retail banking, this book must be essential reading." —Charles Goodhart, emeritus professor of banking and finance at the London School of Economics "In this important book, a line from Bill Allen's contribution is key: 'Nobody can predict the ferocity of the gale of creative destruction' that faces the financial services sector. True; but if you read the many and varied contributions, you'll have a pretty good idea. Moreover, you'll understand how we (that is, bankers) got here – and what we should do to make the industry more competitive, fairer and more genuinely useful. It is a soup-to-nuts look at banking – from the early days of the Institute of Banking, through the go-go years of ifs, to a present and future that are likely to be dominated by technology. It is well-worth a long read." —Andrew Hilton, director, Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation "If you were to imagine what a book celebrating 140 years of financial knowledge might contain, you could not come up with a better selection than this. As well as a historic sweep – from no-tech to fintech, the decline of trust and the rise of competition – today's hot subjects are addressed, including sustainable investing, cultural diversity and digital identity. The cradle-to-grave nature of the industry is captured in pieces about financial education and pensions. And it's well written, setting the scene nicely for the next era." —Jane Fuller, Fellow of the Society of Investment Professionals Financial services are undergoing rapid, and potentially dramatic, change. What will happen in payments, in sustainable finance and in fintech? How can the industry boost financial inclusion and ensure that its workforce has the skills it needs to meet regulatory requirements and to compete with new entrants? Can trade finance rise to the challenge of underpinning global trade for all and help the developing world avoid "financial abandonment"? What do financial services need to do to protect our digital identities? Banking on Change provides insights by experts and influencers from across the financial services industry on these and other questions. Published to mark the 140th anniversary of The London Institute of Banking & Finance, this book is intended to be of lasting value to both students and professionals.
In a recently released New York Fed staff report, we present a forward-looking monitoring program to identify and track time-varying sources of systemic risk.
The 'shadow banking system' refers to a system of credit-provision occurring outside of the official regulatory perimeter of commercial banks. Facilitated by securitization vehicles, mutual funds, hedge funds, investment banks and mortgage companies, the function and regulation of these shadow banking institutions has come under increasing scrutiny after the subprime crisis of 2007–8. Matthias Thiemann examines how regulators came to tolerate the emergence of links between the banking and shadow banking systems. Through a comparative analysis of the US, France, the Netherlands and Germany, he argues that fractured domestic and global governance systems determining the regulatory approach to these links ultimately aggravated the recent financial crisis. Since 2008, shadow banking has even expanded and the incentives for banks to bend the rules have only increased with increasing regulation. Thiemann's empirical work suggests how state-finance relations could be restructured to keep the banking system under state control and avoid future financial collapses.
The traditional role of a bank was to transfer funds from savers to investors, engaging in maturity transformation, screening for borrower risk and monitoring for borrower effort in doing so. A typical loan contract was set up along six simple dimensions: the amount, the interest rate, the expected credit risk (determining both the probability of default for the loan and the expected loss given default), the required collateral, the currency, and the lending technology. However, the modern banking industry today has a broad scope, offering a range of sophisticated financial products, a wider geography -- including exposure to countries with various currencies, regulation and monetary policy regimes -- and an increased reliance on financial innovation and technology. These new bank business models have had repercussions on the loan contract. In particular, the main components and risks of a loan contract can now be hedged on the market, by means of interest rate swaps, foreign exchange transactions, credit default swaps and securitization. Securitized loans can often be pledged as collateral, thus facilitating new lending. And the lending technology is evolving from one-to-one meetings between a loan officer and a borrower, at a bank branch, towards potentially disruptive technologies such as peer-to-peer lending, crowd funding or digital wallet services. This book studies the interaction between traditional and modern banking and the economic benefits and costs of this new financial ecosystem, by relying on recent empirical research in banking and finance and exploring the effects of increased financial sophistication on a particular dimension of the loan contract.
As part of Basel III reforms, the NSFR is a new prudential liquidity rule aimed at limiting excess maturity transformation risk in the banking sector and promoting funding stability. The revised package has been issued for public consultation with a plan of making the rule binding in 2018. This paper complements earlier quantitative impact studies by discussing the potential impact of introducing the NSFR based on empirical analysis of end-2012 financial data for over 2000 banks covering 128 countries. The calculations show that a sizeable percentage of the banks in most countries would meet the minimum NSFR prudential requirement at end-2012, and, further, that larger banks tend to be more vulnerable to the introduction of the NSFR. Additionally, by comparing the NSFR to other structural funding mismatch indicators, we find that the NSFR is a relatively consistent regulatory measure for capturing banks’ funding risk. Finally, the paper discusses key policy issues for consideration in implementing the NSFR.
I document that floating-rate loans from banks (particularly important for bank-dependent firms) drive most variation in firms' exposure to interest rates. I argue that banks lend to firms at floating rates because they themselves have floating-rate liabilities, supporting this with three key findings. Banks with more floating-rate liabilities, first, make more floating-rate loans, second, hold more floating-rate securities, and third, quote lower prices for floating-rate loans. My results establish an important link between intermediaries' funding structure and the types of contracts used by non-financial firms. They also highlight a role for banks in the balance-sheet channel of monetary policy.
