The paper discusses the reform of capital regulation of banks in the wake of the financial crisis of 2007/2009. Whereas the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision seems to go for marginal changes here and there, the paper calls for a thorough overhaul, moving away from risk calibration and...

The report provides an analysis of the financial crisis of 2007/2008 and draws some conclusions about the need for regulatory reform. The analysis ascribes the crisis not only to problems in subprime mortgage lending and securitization, but also to excessive maturity transformation and...

We take issue with claims that the funding mix of banks, which makes them fragile and crisisprone, is efficient because it reflects special liquidity benefits of bank debt. Even aside from neglecting the systemic damage to the economy that banks' distress and default cause, such claims are...

In den letzten Jahren dominiert ein Thema die Schlagzeilen: die Finanzkrise und die maroden Banken. Und wer bezahlt, wenn mal wieder eine Bank aus dem Ruder läuft ? Die Sparer und die Steuerzahler! Trotzdem schaff en es die Bankmanager immer wieder, sich strengeren Reglements zu entziehen, und...

We take issue with claims that the funding mix of banks, which makes them fragile and crisis-prone, is efficient because it reflects special liquidity benefits of bank debt. Even aside from neglecting the systemic damage to the economy that banks' distress and default cause, such claims are...

Im Gefolge der Finanzkrise werden Forderungen nach einer Reform oder sogar einer zeitlichen Aussetzung von Basel II laut. Kritisiert wird vor allem die systemimmanente Prozyklizität. Ist dieser Mechanismus mitverantwortlich für die bestehende oder vermeintliche Kreditklemme? Martin Hellwig...

We examine the pervasive view that "equity is expensive" which leads to claims that high capital requirements are costly and would affect credit markets adversely. We find that arguments made to support this view are either fallacious, irrelevant, or very weak. For example, the return on equity...