This paper explores the effect of taxation on the capital structure of banks. For identification, we exploit exogenous regional variations in the rate of the Italian tax on productive activities (IRAP) using administrative, confidential data on regional banks provided by the Bank of Italy...

This paper provides an assessment of the costs of complying with Basel III for the Italian economy. The main findings are the following. For each percentage point increase in the capital ratio implemented over an eight-year horizon, the level of GDP would decline by 0.00-0.33% (0.03-0.39% if...

We assess the long-term economic impact of the new regulatory standards (the Basel III reform), answering the following questions. (1) What is the impact of the reform on long-term economic performance? (2) What is the impact of the reform on economic fluctuations? (3) What is the impact of the...

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...

Current policy debate has renewed interest in counter-cyclical provisioning policies; dynamic provisions are regarded as a valuable device for pursuing this goal. Last July, Ecofin supported "the introduction of forward-looking provisioning, which consists in constituting provisions deducted...

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...

Il Credito Cooperativo giunge alla sfida di Basilea 3 dopo un decennio di profonde trasformazioni, che hanno influito sulle politiche creditizie e sulle modalità di gestione dei rischi; i fattori congiunturali continuano a esercitare pressione sul modello di business tradizionale. La prossima...

In December 2010 the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision published a set of new regulations for banks in response to the financial crisis. This paper aims at evaluating the possible effects of the new framework on banks' available regulatory capital and risk-weighted assets and assessing...

In the post-crisis era banks' capital adequacy is established by the Basel III capital standards and, in many jurisdictions, also by supervisory stress tests. In this paper we first describe the ways in which supervisory stress tests can supplement the risk-based capital framework of Basel III...