This report presents an overview of the theory of regulation in general, with special attention for the regulation of banks. Two theories of government regulation are described. The first, normative, theory uses market failures as the justification of government regulation. The second, positive,...

Using a new, comprehensive database on bank ownership, identifying also the home country of foreign banks, for 137 countries over the period 1995-2009, this paper provides an overview of foreign bank activity and its impact of financial development and stability. We document substantial...

Government bonds receive preferential treatment in financial regulation. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of this preferential treatment on banks' demand for government bonds. Using unique transaction-level data, our analysis suggests that preferential treatment in liquidity...

The Diamond-Dybvig model provides an explanation for: (1) the existence of banks as a risk sharing agreement between depositors against unexpected liquidity needs, (2) bank runs as an act of collective irrationality by rational depositors, and (3) the introduction of deposit insurance as an...

This paper presents an analysis on the sensitivity of the Dutch interbank payment system with respect to the value transferred and the amount of available collateral. The Dutch system can be characterised as a system with a few large and many relatively small participants.Historical data has...

This paper provides an overview of the literature on intraday credit in payment systems to date and explores the dilemma central banks face when deciding on their intraday credit policies. On the one hand, any strategy in which the costs of liquidity are not fully borne by payment system...

We use focused interviews with bank managers to analyse how multinational banks use internal capital markets to control their subsidiaries. It is found that foreign bank affiliates are strongly influenced by the capital allocation and credit steering mechanisms of the parent bank. Parent banks...

On the basis of focused interviews with managers of foreign parent banks and their affiliates in Central Europe and the Baltic States, the development of small-business lending by foreign banks is analysed. Our approach allows us to complement the standard empirical literature, which has...

We analyse the development of foreign bank penetration in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and its influence on the stability of bank credit. We measure both cross-border credit and activities of foreign bank subsidiaries within CEE. By combining BIS statistics and BankScope data into a unique...

We study whether foreign and domestic banks in Central and Eastern Europe have reacted differently to business cycle conditions and host country banking crises. Our unique panel dataset comprises data of more than 300 banks for the period 1993-2000, with detailed information on bank ownership...