We document the cyclical dynamics in the balance sheets of US leveraged financial intermediaries in the post-war period. Leverage has contributed more than equity to fluctuations in total assets. All three variables are several times more volatile than GDP. Leverage has been positively...

In a model with bankruptcy costs and segmented deposit and equity markets, we endogenize the cost of equity and deposit finance for banks. Despite risk neutrality, equity capital earns a higher expected return than direct investment in risky assets. Banks hold positive capital to reduce...

The introduction of the 2010 Basel III leverage ratios was intended not only to address shortcomings of the previous Basel capital framework, but also intended to serve as a complement to the risk based capital adequacy framework. However, as with many implementation challenges, other issues...

Using quarterly data of U.S. commercial banks, we investigate the impact of market liquidity shortages on banks' capitalization and balance sheet adjustments. Our findings reveal that an acute liquidity shortage leads small U.S. commercial banks, but not large ones, to positively adjust their...

European banks hold 10% of their total assets in portfolios that give rise to unrealised gains and losses which under Basel III will no longer be allowed to be removed from banks' regulatory capital. Using a sample of European banks, and taking advantage of the different treatment afforded,...

Capital regulation requires banks to hold a prescribed amount of equity relative to their risk-weighted assets. Beyond these minimum requirements, banks usually hold additional capital. In this paper, we argue that a part of this capital buffer represents banks' response to regulatory risk...

Do banks change their portfolio allocation when facing fiscal reforms that increase the relative cost of their debt? Studying various fiscal reforms across Europe with bank- and loan-level data, we find that both the introduction of an equity subsidy and of a tax on bank liabilities lead banks...

With the aim of reigniting inflation in the euro area, in early 2015 the ECB embarked on a large-scale asset purchase programme. We analyse the macroeconomic effects of the Asset Purchase Programme via the banking system, exploiting the cross-section of individual bank portfolio decisions. For...

We analyze the dynamics of banks' regulatory capital ratios. Using monthly data of regulatory capital ratios for a subset of large German banks, we estimate the target level and the adjustment speed of the capital ratio for each bank separately. We find evidence that, first, there exists a...

The structural approach views firm's equity as a call option on the value of its assets, which motivates stockholders to increase risk. However, since bank assets are risky debt claims, bank equity resembles a subordinated debt. Using this assumption, and considering the strategic interaction...