Spanish banks had to set aside a countercyclical loan loss provision during the period 2000 2004. The amount of such provision as well as the allowance accumulated had to be disclosed by banks. The former creates a natural experiment to test whether banks smooth earnings to mislead investors and...

In this paper, we analyse the relationship between the Spanish business cycle and the capital buffers held by Spanish commercial and savings banks. We build an incomplete panel of Spanish institutions from 1986 to 2000 –thus covering a complete business cycle– and estimate an equation for...

The paper studies the evolution and determinants of banking integration across European countries, including New Member States, with attention to the impact that the Euro might have on that process. It is the first time that banking integration is being studied using the data on international...

The paper sets an accounting and behavioral framework from which we derive a reduced form equation to test income smoothing and capital management practices through loan loss provisions (PLL) by Spanish banks. Spain offers a unique environment to perform those tests because there are very...