I construct a novel dataset to measure the geographic complexity of cross-border African banks and relate it to their default and earnings risk. The results suggest that a higher degree of geographic complexity decreases risk. Further results show that the negative relationship between...

In this paper, we address a long-standing policy question of whether higher levels of regulatory capital, ex-ante, makes banks risk-resilient in times of severe economic downturns. Using the Covid-19 crisis as an exogenous shock to the banking system in a difference-in-difference setting, the...