After the crisis, bank regulators are considering mitigating liquidity risk by introducing quantity limits on liquidity and maturity mismatch. We argue that aggregate liquidity risk can be reduced with little deadweight loss by encouraging banks, through adequate regulatory relief, to satisfy...

We assess the long-term funding conditions for banks in the US, the euro area and the UK and, separately, for the group of global systemically important financial institutions (G-SIFIs), over the period 1997-2011. After the outbreak of the subprime crisis there was a considerable reshuffling of...

Many studies have questioned the reliability of banks' calculations of risk-weighted assets (RWA) for prudential purposes. The significant divergences found at international level are taken as indicating excessive subjectivity in the current rules governing banks' risk measurement and capital...

Since 1996 the Basel risk-weighting regime has been based on the distinction between the trading and the banking book. For a long time credit items have been weighted less strictly if held in the trading book, on the assumption that they are easy to hedge or sell. The Great Financial Crisis made...

This paper develops a methodology for identifying systemically important financial institutions based on that developed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (2011) and used by the Financial Stability Board in its yearly G-SIBs identification. The methodology uses publicly available data...

We develop a methodology to identify and rank ‘systemically important financial institutions' (SIFIs). Our approach is consistent with that followed by the Financial Stability Board but, unlike the latter, it is free of judgment and it is based entirely on publicly available data, thus filling...

We analyse the wide array of rescue programmes adopted in several countries, following Lehman Brothers' default in September 2008, in order to support banks and other financial institutions. We first provide an overview of the programmes, comparing their characteristics, magnitudes and...

Contingent capital – any debt instrument that converts into equity when a predefined event occurs – has received increasing attention as a viable tool for allowing banks to raise capital when needed at relatively more affordable prices than common equity. While the debate has focused on...

Contingent capital – any debt instrument that converts into equity when a predefined event occurs – has received increasing attention as a viable tool for allowing banks to raise capital when needed at relatively more affordable prices than common equity. While the debate has focused on...

The financial crisis that began in 2007 has revealed a need for a new supervisory and regulatory approach aimed at strengthening the system and containing the risk of future financial and economic disruptions. Three ingredients are needed to ensure financial stability: robust analysis, better...