The traditional approach to bank regulation, and notably to capital requirements, is based on microprudential cost-benefit analyses. The emphasis is, therefore, on rules that aim at ensuring that each and every banking firm is safe and sound. This note examines possible extensions of the...

In the current European macroeconomic context Asset Backed Securities (ABS) represent an appropriate instrument to revitalize bank lending and to help overcoming the manifestations of credit crunch notably for SMEs. As evidence of this, the purchase of properly designed ABS has been recently...

Italian Abstract: L'autore propone una lettura critica dell'articolo di Paolo Sylos Labini "Inflazione, disoccupazione e banca centrale: temi per un riesame critico". Testo del discorso tenuto alla conferenza "Paolo Sylos Labini e la politica delle riforme", tenutasi all'Università La Sapienza...

This paper offers a review of the new CRR/CRD IV capital regulatory framework for banks in the EU, which represents the transposition into European law of the Basel III standard. Major shortcomings of the Second Capital Accord are examined, and the repair work is assessed in the light of the...

Following bank failures in 1974, notably in Germany (Bankhaus Herstatt of Cologne on June 16) and the US (Franklin National Bank of New York on October 8), the Central Bank Governors of the G10 countries decided to set up a Committee at the BIS in Basel to improve quality and enhance the...

This paper offers a critical survey of the swings in banking regulation, notably with reference to leverage and Risk-Weighted Ratios (RWR). At the outset, a distinction is made between economic and Regulatory Capital (ReC) and between private and social costs/benefits of equity finance for...

This paper investigates the actual impact of new accounting and regulatory requirements on banks’ provisioning policies and earnings management in the context of the capital adequacy of Euro Area (EA) credit institutions. This paper also examines whether loan-loss provisions signal...