BIS Quarterly Review, September 2013
The BIS Quarterly Review for September 2013 says markets precipitate tightening.
Statistical tables:
- Summary tables (PDF, 26 pages, 624 kb)
- Detailed tables (PDF, 167 pages, 1177 kb)
International banking and financial market developments
Special features
Spurred by stronger regulatory requirements, banks have steadily increased their capital ratios since the financial crisis. For a sample of 82 large global banks from advanced and emerging economies, retained earnings accounted for the bulk of the increase in risk-weighted capital ratios over the period 2009-12, with reductions in risk weights playing a lesser role. On average, banks continued to expand their lending, though lending growth was slower among advanced economy banks from Europe. Lower dividend payouts and wider lending spreads contributed to banks' ability to use retained earnings to build capital. Banks that came out of the crisis with higher capital ratios and stronger profitability were able to expand lending more.
More...Contingent convertible capital instruments (CoCos) are hybrid capital securities that absorb losses when the capital of the issuing bank falls below a certain level. In this article, we go over the structure of CoCos, trace the evolution of their issuance, and examine their pricing in primary and secondary markets. CoCo issuance is primarily driven by their potential to satisfy regulatory capital requirements. The bulk of the demand for CoCos has come from small investors, while institutional investors have been relatively restrained so far. The spreads of CoCos over other subordinated debt greatly depend on their two main design characteristics - the trigger level and the loss absorption mechanism. CoCo spreads are more correlated with the spreads of other subordinated debt than with CDS spreads and equity prices.
More...Policy rates in advanced economies are at record lows and central banks have resorted to unconventional policy tools, but there are concerns that the low policy rates have not been transmitted to lending rates for households and non-financial firms. In this special feature, we investigate whether the pass-through of monetary policy to rates on bank loans to nonfinancial firms has been impaired in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Our results suggest that the difference between lending rates to the non-financial corporate sector and policy rates is currently close to the pre-crisis level in the United States and Germany, but remains higher in peripheral euro area countries.
More...Increasing demand for collateral assets in the aftermath of the financial crisis has raised concerns about a shortage of high-quality assets (HQA). Drawing on a recent report by the Committee on the Global Financial System, we argue that such concerns seem unjustified. In aggregate, the increase in the supply of HQA appears sufficient to meet the additional demand arising from both market forces and regulatory changes. But given the uneven distribution of HQA among market participants, higher demand is likely to trigger market responses that could themselves generate risks for the financial system and thus warrant further monitoring.
More...A new database for policy actions on housing markets covers 60 economies worldwide from January 1990 (or earliest date available) to June 2012. Policy actions are summarised by type, region, timing and direction. We suggest how the database might help policymakers and researchers to review what types of policy action were taken in other economies and to assess their effectiveness.
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