This note considers the role debt-equity conversions and NPL securitization can play in addressing excessive corporate debt in China, and the corresponding burden on banks of impaired assets. It finds that such techniques can play a role, but getting their design right is critical, as is nesting...

Firms that buy assets in fire sales earn excess returns that are two percentage points higher than in regular acquisitions. The mechanism behind this result is the reduced bargaining power of the seller. We find no difference in real effects or in the combined returns for buyers and sellers...