Government of Canada Fixed-Income Market Ecology Staff Discussion Paper 2018-10 Léanne Berger-Soucy, Corey Garriott, André Usche This discussion paper is the third in the Financial Markets Department’s series on the structure of Canadian financial markets. These papers are called “ecologies” because they study the interactions among market participants, infrastructures, regulations and the terms of the traded contract itself. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Debt management, Financial institutions, Financial markets, Financial services JEL Code(s): G, G1, G10, G2, G20, H, H6, H63
Should Bank Capital Regulation Be Risk Sensitive? Staff Working Paper 2018-48 Toni Ahnert, James Chapman, Carolyn A. Wilkins We present a simple model to study the risk sensitivity of capital regulation. A banker funds investment with uninsured deposits and costly capital, where capital resolves a moral hazard problem in the banker’s choice of risk. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial system regulation and policies JEL Code(s): G, G2, G21, G28
Blockchain-Based Settlement for Asset Trading Staff Working Paper 2018-45 Jonathan Chiu, Thorsten Koeppl Can securities be settled on a blockchain and, if so, what are the gains relative to existing settlement systems? We consider a blockchain that ensures delivery versus payment by linking transfers of assets with payments and operates using a proof-of-work protocol. The main benefit of a blockchain is faster and more flexible settlement, whereas the challenge is to avoid settlement fails when participants fork the chain to get rid of trading losses. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Digital currencies and fintech, Economic models, Financial markets, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): G, G2, H, H4, P, P4, P43
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