The German Commercial Code ("HGB") allows banks to build visible reserves for general banking risks according to section 340g HGB. These "GBR reserves" may, in addition to their risk provisioning function, be used to enhance capital endowment, for internal financing, signaling or earnings...

Section 340f of the German Commercial Code allows banks to provision against the special risks inherent to the banking business by building hidden reserves. Beyond risk provisioning, these reserves are implicitly accepted as an earnings management device. By analyzing financial statements of...

In the last few years it has been possible to observe decreasing interest margins for German universal banks. At the same time, institutions increasingly moved part of their business from interest to fee-earning activities. This study analyzes the determinants of non-interest income and its...