A parsimonious extension of a well-known portfolio credit-risk model allows us to study a salient stylized fact - abrupt switches between high- and low-loss phases - from a risk-management perspective. As uncertainty about phase switches increases, expected losses decouple from unexpected...

The ongoing debate concerning credit concentration risk is mainly driven by the requirements on credit risk management due to Pillar 2 of Basel II since risks (e.g. concentration risk) that are not fully captured by Pillar 1 should be adequately considered in the banks' risk management. This...

The paper proposes a sequential Bayesian updating approach to estimate default probabilities on rating grade level for no- and low-default portfolios.Bayesian sequential updating enables default probabilities to be obtained also for those rating grades for which no defaults have been...

This article proposes a sequential Bayesian updating approach to estimate default probabilities on rating grade level for no- and low-default portfolios. Bayesian sequential updating allows to obtain default probabilities also for those rating grades for which no defaults have been observed. The...

This paper analyzes the level and cyclicality of bank capital requirement in relation to (i) the model methodologies through-the-cycle and point-in-time, (ii) four distinct downturn loss rate given default concepts, and (iii) US corporate and mortgage loans. The major finding is that less...

Our paper addresses firm size as a driver of systematic credit risk in loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Key contributions are the use of a unique data set of SME lending by over 400 German banks and relating systematic risk to the size dependence of regulatory capital requirements....

Under the new Basel II regulatory framework, the need for an effective risk-adjusted pricing mechanism has become even more central in banking than in the past: banks are spurred to develop risk-adjusted measures, to avoid wasteful customers' cross-subsidization and support the value creation...

We study the impact of higher capital requirements on banks' decisions to grant collateralized rather than uncollateralized loans. We exploit the 2011 EBA capital exercise, a quasi-natural experiment that required a number of banks to increase their regulatory capital but not others. This...

Both equity and regulation play key roles in determining the ability of credit creation of banks. The equity endogenously varies while the regulations are exogenously imposed. I propose a banking model to investigate how the changes in bank equity due to interest receipt and expenditure affect...

The present paper shows that, everything else equal, some transactions to transfer portfolio credit risk to third-party investors increase the insolvency risk of banks. This is particularly likely if a bank sells the senior tranche and retains a sufficiently large firstloss position. The results...