The traditional approach to bank regulation, and notably to capital requirements, is based on microprudential cost-benefit analyses. The emphasis is, therefore, on rules that aim at ensuring that each and every banking firm is safe and sound. This note examines possible extensions of the...

Using the SEC’s 2004 decision to begin publicly disclosing its comment letters, we study the consequences of increased regulatory transparency on the banking industry. Because the SEC only issues comment letters to public banks, we exploit a difference-in-differences design to examine the...