Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Miguel Ampudia Author-X-Name-First: Miguel Author-X-Name-Last: Ampudia Author-Name: Manuel A. Muñoz Author-X-Name-First: Manuel Author-X-Name-Last: Muñoz Author-Name: Frank Smets Author-X-Name-First: Frank Author-X-Name-Last: Smets Author-Name: Alejandro Van der Gothe Author-X-Name-First: Alejandro Author-X-Name-Last: Van der Gothe Title: System-wide dividend restrictions: evidence and theory Abstract: We provide evidence that the ECB system-wide dividend recommendation (SWDR) of March 2020 contributed to sustain lending, had a negative but moderate and transitory impact on bank stock prices and largely operated as a deferral of dividend payouts rather than as a dividend cut. Then, we develop a quantitative macro-banking DSGE model that accounts for this evidence and captures the key mechanism through which SWDRs operate to study the general equilibrium effects of the ECB SWDR. The measure contributed to sustain aggregate bank lending and mitigate the adverse impact of the COVID-19 shock on economic activity by safeguarding euro area banks' capitalization. Welfare-maximizing SWDRs stabilize the economy regardless of the shock type but they only induce significant welfare gains in response to financial shocks. Creation-Date: 2023-10 File-URL: https://www.bis.org/publ/work1131.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf File-Function: Full PDF document File-URL: https://www.bis.org/publ/work1131.htm File-Format: text/html Number: 1131 Keywords: dividend recommendation, dividend prudential target (DPT), COVID-19, usable capital buffers, welfare Classification-JEL: E44, E58, E61 Handle: RePEc:bis:biswps:1131