We analyze the main forces affecting financial system pro-cyclicality (the fact that developments in the financial sector can amplify business cycle fluctuations). We first review some major structural developments in financial markets that may influence pro-cyclicality and that have been...

Starting from the early 1990s, GDP in Japan stagnated for about a decade while inflation has been persistently low, at times even negative. This paper provides new stylized facts about the Japanese deflationary process and puts these facts into the context of the literature addressing the...

Using estimates of the Basel III leverage ratio, we show the rapid convergence of banks in the euro area towards levels well above the preliminary 3 per cent threshold. Contrary to predictions that the new requirement might interfere with the conduct of monetary policy and its transmission via...

Based on a review of the analytical underpinnings of the effects of the NSFR on banks' choices, this paper attempts to relate banks' strategies to developments in the value of the ratio in the euro area. In spite of a not-so-near implementation date, the evidence is that the NSFR already matters...

This paper provides new evidence on the effect of the leverage ratio (LR) on repo market activity in the euro area. The share of trades with central counterparties has increased in recent years as a result of greater regulatory efficiency. After controlling for factors that may affect...

This paper investigates the effects of the tax system on the economic factors that triggered the financial crisis. We examine three cases in which the tax regime interacted with these factors, reinforcing them. First, we focus on the taxation of residential building: while the importance of...

Financial exclusion concerns 2.5 billion individuals and more than 450 million enterprises. The G20 countries are committed to the reduction of this phenomenon. The Bank of Italy has a fundamental role in the field of financial inclusion, both on a national and an international scale through...

Italian Abstract: Il lavoro analizza l'andamento del valore di mercato dei derivati delle banche italiane utilizzando i conti finanziari e proponendo un confronto internazionale. Per il periodo che va dal primo trimestre del 2001 al terzo trimestre del 2008 è stata, inoltre, ottenuta una stima...

Over the last decade and a half non-financial corporations' (NFCs) listings have displayed a heterogeneous pattern across European countries. The number of listed NFCs has increased in Italy and Spain, while it has declined in Germany, France and the United Kingdom. In Italy, the increase in the...

China's financial integration with the rest of the world lags far behind its trade integration, owing to long-standing capital controls and underdeveloped capital markets. Since 2009 Chinese policymakers have actively promoted the internationalization of the renminbi (RMB) and its use abroad,...