G2 - Financial Institutions and Services

• Democratic Political Economy of Financial Regulation

  Staff Working Paper 2021-59 Igor Livshits, Youngmin Park

  We offer a theory of how inefficiently lax financial regulation could arise in a democratic society.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies, Housing, Interest rates JEL Code(s): E, E4, E43, E44, G, G0, G01, G2, G21, G28, P, P4, P48

• Updated Methodology for Assigning Credit Ratings to Sovereigns

  Staff Discussion Paper 2021-16 Karim McDaniels, Nico Palesch, Sanjam Suri, Zacharie Quiviger, John Walsh

  We update the Bank of Canada’s credit rating methodology for sovereigns, including our approach to assessing their fiscal position and monetary policy flexibility. We also explicitly consider climate-related factors.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Credit risk management, Foreign reserves management JEL Code(s): F, F3, F31, G, G2, G24, G28, G3, G32

• Systemic Risk and Portfolio Diversification: Evidence from the Futures Market

  Staff Working Paper 2021-50 Radoslav Raykov

  This paper explores how the Canadian futures market contributed to banks’ systemic risk during the 2008 financial crisis. It finds that core banks as a whole traded against the periphery, in this way increasing their risk of simultaneous losses.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial markets JEL Code(s): G, G1, G10, G2, G20

• A Q-Theory of Banks

  Staff Working Paper 2021-44 Juliane Beganau, Saki Bigio, Jeremy Majerovitz, Matías Vieyra

  Using stock market data on banks, we show that the book value of loans recognizes losses with a delay. This delayed accounting is important for regulation because the requirements regulators impose are based on book values.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies JEL Code(s): E, E4, E44, G, G2, G21, G3, G32, G33

• Can the characteristics of new mortgages predict borrowers’ financial stress? Insights from the 2014 oil price decline

  Staff Analytical Note 2021-22 Olga Bilyk, Ken Chow, Yang Xu

  We study the relationship between characteristics of new mortgages and borrowers’ financial stress in Canada’s energy-intensive regions following the 2014 collapse in oil prices. We find that borrowers with limited home equity were more likely to have difficulty repaying debt.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Econometric and statistical methods, Financial stability, Housing JEL Code(s): C, C2, C25, D, D1, D14, G, G2, G21, G5, G51, R, R2, R21

• Centralizing Over-the-Counter Markets?

  Staff Working Paper 2021-39 Jason Allen, Milena Wittwer

  Would a shift in trading in fixed-income markets—from over the counter (bilateral trading) to a centralized electronic platform—improve welfare? We use trade-level data on the secondary market for Government of Canada debt to answer this question.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial institutions, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): D, D4, D40, D47, G, G1, G10, G2, G20, L, L1, L10

• Stressed but not Helpless: Strategic Behaviour of Banks Under Adverse Market Conditions

  Staff Working Paper 2021-35 Grzegorz Halaj, Sofia Priazhkina

  Our stress-testing tool considers banks under stress that can strategically manage their balance sheets. Using confidential Canadian supervisory data, we assess whether bank behaviour to maximize shareholder value can amplify a hypothetical stress scenario.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Central bank research, Economic models, Financial institutions, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies JEL Code(s): C, C6, C63, C7, C72, G, G2, G21

• Analyzing supply and demand for business loans using microdata from the Senior Loan Officer Survey

  Staff Analytical Note 2021-13 Dylan Hogg

  Both supply and demand factors help determine the level of business lending in the economy, but most data show only their combined effect on prices and quantities. Using the Bank of Canada’s Senior Loan Officer Survey microdata on financial institutions’ lending conditions and demand, we separate supply from demand effects.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial institutions, Financial stability JEL Code(s): D, D2, D22, G, G0, G01, G2

• Bank Runs, Bank Competition and Opacity

  Staff Working Paper 2021-30 Toni Ahnert, David Martinez-Miera

  How is the stability of the financial sector affected by competition in the deposit market and by decisions banks make about transparency? We find that policies that aim to increase bank competition lead to higher bank deposit rates, increasing both withdrawal incentives and instability.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial markets, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies, Wholesale funding JEL Code(s): G, G0, G01, G2, G21

• Consumer Cash Withdrawal Behaviour: Branch Networks and Online Financial Innovation

  Staff Working Paper 2021-28 Heng Chen, Matthew Strathearn, Marcel Voia

  The physical network of bank branches is important in how consumers manage their cash holdings. This paper estimates how consumer withdrawal behaviour responds to the distance they must travel to their branch.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Bank notes, Digital currencies and fintech JEL Code(s): G, G2, G21, R, R2, R22