This case study explores the contribution of universal banking to financial stability in Germany during the recent financial crisis. Germany is a prototype for universal banking and has suffered from a rather small number of banking crises in the past. We review the banking literature and...

This paper provides an explanation for the observation that banks hold on average a capital ratio in excess of regulatory requirements. We use a functional approach to banking based on Diamond and Rajan (2001) to demonstrate that banks can use capital ratios as a strategic tool for renegotiating...

This paper compares bank regulation and supervision in Japan and Germany. We consider these countries because they both have bank-dominated financial systems and their banking systems are often lumped together as one model, yet, bank stability differs significantly. We show that Japan and...

Auf Finanzmärkten werden Entscheidungen häufig unter Unsicherheit getroffen. Die Vertragstheorie ist deshalb ein geeignetes Instrument, Interaktionen zwischen Wirtschaftspartnern zu untersuchen und Vertragsinhalte als Ergebnis rationaler Entscheidungen zu erklären. Dieses Lehrbuch beschreibt...

This paper explores the comparative advantage of multinational banking over cross-border financial services in terms of capitalizing on a global access to funding sources. We argue that this advantage depends on the benefit and the cost of multinational banks' intimacy with local markets. The...