We analyze the effect of European Union (EU) membership on financial dollarization for the Central and Eastern European countries. Using a unique monthly dataset that spans about two decades, we find that both the accession process toward EU membership and EU entry have a direct impact on...

Consolidation or fragmentation for financial regulators? This debate has gained importance since the 2007-2009 financial crisis. The financial services sector has changed considerably over the last 25 years. Financial institutions have evolved from domestic firms engaged in distinct insurance,...

We investigate the comovement between sovereign and bank credit risk in the Euro area over the period 2008-2010. We construct two synthetic credit risk measures of the European sovereign and banking sectors that can be used for macro-prudential supervision. We estimate a Vector error-correction...

The global financial crisis has shaken the foundations of the deceptively comfortable pre-crisis central banking world. Central banks face a threefold challenge: economic, intellectual and institutional. This essay puts forward a compass to help central banks sail in the largely uncharted waters...

The paper analyses in light of Austrian and Keynesian economic theory the impact of conventional and unconventional monetary policies as therapies for financial crises. It compares the financial market stabilization measures of the Federal Reserve System and the European System of Central Banks...

The paper identifies how a usage fee parallel digital currency is more attractive than Bitcoins, either to provide liquidity in a crisis or for stimulating businesses on a sustainable basis. User fee "Stamp Scrip" successfully stimulated businesses and distressed communities during the Great...

The creation of the European Banking Union has substantially changed the supervisory infrastructure in the participating EU Member States. The underlying rationale is complex and, in part, contradictory. Against this backdrop, present paper critically reviews the policy debate both prior to and...

In this paper, we survey the nascent literature on the transmission of negative policy rates. We discuss the theory of how the transmission depends on bank balance sheets, and how this changes once policy rates become negative. We review the growing evidence that negative policy rates are...

This paper studies the effects of harmonizing collateral policy in a monetary union. In 2007, the European Central Bank replaced national collateral lists with a single list specifying which assets euro area banks can pledge as collateral. Banks holding newly eligible assets experience a...