The view that the independent directors of large banks should contribute to safeguarding the interests of bank creditors and taxpayers, by exercising a stringent risk oversight of bank executives, has gained ground in the aftermath of the 2007-2009 crisis. Using a cross-country sample of large...

We analyze the appointments of outside CEOs of financial and non-financial firms as independent directors on US bank boards and their implications for the banks and the outside CEO firms. We show that outside CEOs from financial firms match with less traditional banks and their appointment...

Outside CEOs from non-financial firms match with boards of lending-oriented banks and are sought for their networks. They do not improve board advising and monitoring but their appointment results in lending expansion, increased bank CEO compensation, and more bank debt for their firms. The...