We provide evidence concerning the use of historical cost (HCA) versus mark-to-market (MTM) accounting in regulating financial institutions. Accounting rules, through their interactions with capital regulations, alter financial institutions' trading behavior. The insurance industry provides a...

We provide evidence concerning the use of historical cost (HCA) versus mark-to-market (MTM) accounting in regulating financial institutions. Accounting rules, through their interactions with capital regulations, alter financial institutions' trading behavior. The insurance industry provides a...

We study the government equity infusions and the incentives of banks to participate in the Capital Purchase Program (CPP) of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). We show that strong banks opted out of participating in CPP and that equity infusions were provided to banks that posed systemic...