This paper investigates whether the diversity of activities conducted by financial institutionsinfluences their market valuations. We find that there is a diversification discount: The marketvalues financial conglomerates that engage in multiple activities, e.g., lending and non-lendingfinancial...

Which public policies and ownership structures enhance the governance of banks? This paper constructs a new database on the ownership of banks internationally and then assesses the ramifications of ownership, shareholder protection laws, and supervisory/regulatory policies on bank valuations....