This paper studies banks' decision to form financial interconnections using a model of financial contagion that explicitly takes into account the crisis state of the world. This allows us to model the network formation decision as optimising behaviour of competitive banks, where they balance the...

In this paper, we investigate the extent in which creditor rights protection in bankruptcy induces banks to take more risk, leading to a higher level of systemic risk in the financial system. We apply ∆CoVaR, introduced by Adrian and Brunnermeier (2011), as the measure of systemic risk. Our...

This paper examines the relationship between banks' observed credit default swap (CDS) spreads and possible measures of systemic importance. We use five-year CDS spreads from Markit with an international sample of 71 banks to investigate whether market participants are giving them a discount on...

I develop a model of contagion that stems from endogenous risk-sharing when financial firms differ in distress levels. Firms face costly liquidation and strategically trade assets, thereby forming links. A link with a distressed firm can be socially costly as it raises system-wide liquidation...

We propose a new theory of systemic risk based on Knightian uncertainty (or "ambiguity"). We show that, due to uncertainty aversion, beliefs on future asset returns are endogenous, and bad news on one asset class induces investors to be more pessimistic about other asset classes as well. This...

We propose a criteria-based framework to assess the viability of systemic risk measures (SRMs) as a monitoring tool for banking supervision and investigate the determinants of the banking system's overall level of systemic risk. Comparing three prominent SRMs we find that all of them possess...

Central clearing of standardised financial instruments, as promoted by the G20 Leaders, addresses some of the financial stability risks that materialised during the Great Financial Crisis. Its rapid evolution since 2009 may have changed the linkages between central counterparties and the rest of...

We study portfolio compression, a procedure that removes cycles of liabilities in a financial network. We analyze the effect of compression on social welfare and the banks' incentives to accept a compression proposal. Regarding social welfare, we show that, contrary to conventional wisdom,...

The G20's push towards central clearing changed the shape of the world's financial system: all standardized derivative contracts must now be cleared through central counterparties (CCPs). Despite considerable debate, the impact of central clearing nonetheless remains ambiguous and hard to...

We identify current challenges for creating stable, yet efficient financial systems using lessons from recent and past crises. Reforms need to start from three tenets: adopting a system-wide perspective explicitly aimed at addressing market failures; understanding and incorporating into...