We show that loan origination time is key for bank lending standards, cycles, defaults and failures. We exploit the credit register from Spain, with the time of a loan application and its granting. When VIX is lower (booms), banks shorten loan origination time, especially to riskier firms. Bank...

Small businesses, the majority of Spanish firms, rarely file for formal bankruptcy when dealing with financial distress. This is why business bankruptcy rates in Spain are among the lowest in the world, even during the current economic crisis. To explain this fact we present the following...

The inefficiency of Spanish insolvency proceedings – evidenced by their length and reflected in the fact that non-financial corporations and sole proprietors make limited use of both insolvency proceedings and pre-insolvency arrangements – is a structural shortcoming of the Spanish economy....