G2 - Financial Institutions and Services

• Seeking Safety

  Staff Working Paper 2018-41 Toni Ahnert, Enrico Perotti

  The scale of safe assets suggests a structural demand for a safe wealth share beyond transaction and liquidity roles. We study how investors achieve a reference wealth level by combining self-insurance and contingent liquidation of investment. Intermediaries improve upon autarky, insuring investors with poor self-insurance and limiting liquidation.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial institutions JEL Code(s): G, G2

• Prudential Liquidity Regulation in Banking—A Literature Review

  Staff Discussion Paper 2018-8 Adi Mordel

  Prudential liquidity requirements are a relatively recent regulatory tool on the international front, introduced as part of the Basel III accord in the form of a liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) and a net stable funding ratio (NSFR). I first discuss the rationale for regulating bank liquidity by highlighting the market failures that it addresses while reviewing key theoretical contributions to the literature on the motivation for prudential liquidity regulation.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial system regulation and policies JEL Code(s): G, G2, G21, G28

• The Impact of Government Debt Supply on Bond Market Liquidity: An Empirical Analysis of the Canadian Market

  Staff Working Paper 2018-35 Jeffrey Gao, Jianjian Jin, Jacob Thompson

  This paper finds that Government of Canada benchmark bonds tend to be more illiquid over the subsequent month when there is a large increase in government debt supply. The result is both statistically and economically significant, stronger for the long-term than the short-term sector, and is robust when other macro factors are controlled for.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Asset pricing, Debt management, Financial markets JEL Code(s): D, D5, D53, G, G1, G12, G18, G2, G3, G32

• Incentive Compatibility on the Blockchain

  Staff Working Paper 2018-34 Jonathan Chiu, Thorsten Koeppl

  A blockchain is a digital ledger that keeps track of a record of ownership without the need for a designated party to update and enforce changes to the record. The updating of the ledger is done directly by the users of the blockchain and is traditionally governed by a proof-of-work (PoW) protocol.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Digital currencies and fintech, Economic models, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): G, G2, H, H4, P, P4, P43

• Following the Money: Evidence for the Portfolio Balance Channel of Quantitative Easing

  Staff Working Paper 2018-33 Itay Goldstein, Jonathan Witmer, Jing Yang

  Recent research suggests that quantitative easing (QE) may affect a broad range of asset prices through a portfolio balance channel. Using novel security-level holding data of individual US mutual funds, we establish evidence that portfolio rebalancing occurred both within and across funds.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Monetary policy, Monetary policy implementation, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E5, E58, G, G2, G23

• The Characteristics of Uninsured Mortgages and their Securitization Potential

  Staff Analytical Note 2018-24 Adi Mordel, Maria teNyenhuis

  Following changes to housing finance policies that target insured mortgages, uninsured mortgage credit has been growing. This robust growth creates a larger pool of mortgages that may be suitable for private-label residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS).

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial system regulation and policies, Wholesale funding JEL Code(s): G, G2, G21, G28

• Redemption Runs in Canadian Corporate Bond Funds?

  Staff Analytical Note 2018-21 Rohan Arora

  Mutual funds employ a host of tools to manage redemption run risk. However, our results suggest that Canadian corporate bond funds may be vulnerable to redemption runs, especially when they are less liquid and when market volatility is high.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial markets JEL Code(s): G, G0, G01, G2, G23

• A Primer on the Canadian Bankers’ Acceptance Market

  Staff Discussion Paper 2018-6 Kaetlynd McRae, Danny Auger

  This paper discusses how the bankers’ acceptance (BA) market in Canada is organized and its essential link to the Canadian Dollar Offered Rate (CDOR). Globally, BAs are a niche product used only in a limited number of jurisdictions.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial markets, Financial system regulation and policies, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): G, G1, G18, G2, G21, G23
• June 7, 2018

  The Bank of Canada’s Financial System Survey

  Financial System Review - June 2018 Guillaume Bédard-Pagé, Ian Christensen, Scott Kinnear, Maxime Leboeuf

  This report presents the details of a new semi-annual survey that will improve the Bank of Canada’s surveillance across the financial system and deepen efforts to engage with financial system participants. The survey collects expert opinions on the risks to and resilience of the Canadian financial system as well as on emerging trends and financial innovations. The report presents an overview of the survey and provides high-level results from the spring 2018 survey.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Financial System Review articles Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial markets, Financial services, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): C, C8, C83, G, G1, G11, G18, G2, G28, G3, G32
• June 7, 2018

  Covered Bonds as a Source of Funding for Banks’ Mortgage Portfolios

  Financial System Review - June 2018 Toni Ahnert

  The author traces developments in the Canadian covered bond market. Covered bonds could be a valuable way to provide a stable and diverse source of funding, particularly for smaller banks. However, higher issuance could increase banks’ vulnerability to liquidity stress, with implications for the broader financial system. The author argues that these benefits and challenges can be balanced in a well-designed policy framework.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Financial System Review articles Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies JEL Code(s): G, G1, G2, G21, G28