We build on earlier work in the literature on economies of scale and scope in the financial services industry by using a unique French data set covering 162 financial institutions. In the institutional context of the French mutual funds industry, it has been argued that consumers incur...

A fair level of provisions on bad and doubtful loans is an essential input in mark-to-market accounting, and in the calculation of bank profitability, capital and solvency. Loan-loss provisioning is directly related to estimates of loan-loss given default (LGD). A literature on LGD on bank loans...

A new argument for the Basel III leverage ratio requirement is proposed: the need to limit the risk of a bank run when there is imperfect information on the value of a bank’s assets. In addition to screening and monitoring borrowers, banks provide liquidity insurance with the supply of...

Ten years ago, the White Paper on the Completion of the Single Market announced the integration of European banking markets. the purpose of this essay is to identify four public issues that remain to be addressed. Home country control of international banks need to be complemented by host...