In the article, we describe the European Commission's (EC) recapitalisation proposals which were announced as part its road map to stability and growth on 12 October 2011. The EC is calling for ‘significantly' higher capital reserves to help banks replenish their balance sheets to withstand...

We investigate the comovement between sovereign and bank credit risk in the Euro area over the period 2008-2010. We construct two synthetic credit risk measures of the European sovereign and banking sectors that can be used for macro-prudential supervision. We estimate a Vector error-correction...

While the Dodd Frank Act (DFA) broadens the regulatory reach to reduce systemic risks to the U.S. financial system, it does not address some important risks that could migrate to or emanate from entities outside the federal safety net. At the same time, it limits the types of interventions by...

“Has anyone bothered to study the cumulative effect of all these things?” the chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase reasonably inquired of the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board at a bankers gathering in Atlanta last June. The CEO, Jamie Dimon, was referring to the combination of...

In this paper we attempt to evaluate the quantitative impact of financial shocks on key indicators of real activity and financial conditions. We focus on financial shocks as they have received wide attention in the recent literature and in the policy debate after the global financial crisis. We...

Financial regulation should be countercyclical, strengthening during speculative booms to contain excessive leverage and loosening following crises so as to not limit credit extension in hard times. And yet, financial regulation in fact tends to be procyclical, strengthening following crises and...

This study examines whether bank shareholders bear the burden of required reserves tax by analyzing the reaction of banks' stock returns to the changes in the required reserve ratio. Results show that increases in reserve requirements significantly lower bank returns implying that shareholders...

Should central banks lend against low quality collateral? We characterize efficient central bank collateral policy in a model where a bank borrows from the interbank market or the central bank. Collateral has favorable incentive effects but is costly to transfer to lenders who value the...

Among the main issues surround corporate governance in Islamic banking is that dealing with the role of Sharī'ah Supervisory Boards (SSB). The role of the SSB is particularly important before the launching of any new Islamic banking product and in making strategic decisions. Therefore, in...