A dynamic provisioning system is one of the instruments that regulators could use for introducing counter-cyclicality into prudential regulation. The potential effectiveness of such instrument depends on how far actual backward-looking provisioning practices exacerbate growth in bank lending. We...

Non-foreign direct investment capital inflows in China were particularly strong in 2003 and 2004. They have led to a rapid accumulation of international reserves and they may have provided excess liquidity to the Chinese economy. This paper investigates how the central bank of China managed the...

This paper examines the determinants of bank failures in the US banking system during the recent financial crisis. The analysis employs a data set on the financial statements of FDIC-insured commercial banks and their bank holding companies, along with information on bank failures, mergers and...

This paper provides the first quantitative assessment of the contribution of global banks in intermediating tax evasion. Applying gravity equations on a unique regulatory dataset based on comprehensive individual country-by-country reporting from all the Systemically Important Institutions in...

We highlight caveats arising in the application of traditional ROA-based Z-scores for the measurement of bank insolvency risk, develop alternative Z-score measures to resolve these issues, and make recommendations for best practice for the US/Europe based on the experience of the financial...

This paper develops a partial equilibrium model of a banking firm to analyze how provisioning rules influence loan market fluctuations. We show that a backward-looking provisioning system amplifies the pro-cyclicality of loan market fluctuations. We demonstrate that, in a forward-looking...

A panel of 186 European banks is used for the period 1992-2004 to determine if banking behaviors, induced by the capital adequacy constraint and the provisioning system, amplify credit fluctuations. We find that poorly capitalized banks are constrained to expand credit. We also find that loan...

This paper investigates whether the probability of a banking crisis depends on the time that has elapsed since the last banking crisis. More than two centuries of banking crises are considered, and a discrete-time duration model that is based on a cubic spline methodology is implemented. The...

We empirically examine whether the way a bank might use loan loss provisions to smooth its income is influenced by its ownership concentration and the regulatory environment. Using a panel of European commercial banks, we find evidence that banks with more concentrated ownership use...