Mortgage stress tests and household financial resilience under monetary policy tightening Staff Analytical Note 2024-25 Jonathan Hartley, Nuno Paixão This note analyzes mortgage stress tests, a macroprudential tool. We find that when mortgage stress tests are applied to all mortgage purchase originations, they improve credit quality and reduce credit and house price growth. They also improve the resilience of borrowers to financial shocks, such as the large increase in interest rates during 2022–23. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial institutions, Financial system regulation and policies, Monetary policy JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, G, G2, G21, G28, G5, G50, G51
Housing Affordability and Parental Income Support Staff Working Paper 2024-28 Jason Allen, Kyra Carmichael, Robert Clark, Shaoteng Li, Nicolas Vincent In many countries, the cost of housing has greatly outpaced income growth, leading to a housing affordability crisis. Leveraging Canadian loan-level data and quasi-experimental variation in payment-to-income constraints, we document an increasing reliance of first-time homebuyers on financial help from their parents, through mortgage co-signing. We show that parental support can effectively relax borrowing constraints—potentially to riskier borrowers. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial services, Financial system regulation and policies, Housing JEL Code(s): D, D6, D64, E, E2, E21, E24, G, G1, G18, G5, G51
Credit Card Minimum Payment Restrictions Staff Working Paper 2024-26 Jason Allen, Michael Boutros, Benedict Guttman-Kenney We study a government policy that restricts repayment choices with the aim of reducing credit card debt and estimate its effects by applying a difference-in-differences methodology to comprehensive credit-reporting data about Canadian consumers. We find the policy has trade-offs: reducing revolving debt comes at a cost of reducing credit access, and potentially increasing delinquency. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial system regulation and policies JEL Code(s): D, D1, D18, E, E2, E21, G, G2, G28, G5, G51
The Ecology of Automated Market Makers Staff Discussion Paper 2024-12 Annetta Ho, Cosmin Cazan, Andrew Schrumm This paper describes the ecology of automated market makers, which are the most popular decentralized exchange model for the pricing and trading of crypto assets within decentralized finance. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Digital currencies and fintech, Financial markets, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies JEL Code(s): G, G1, G2
Assessing the Impact of the Bank of Canada’s Government Bond Purchases Staff Discussion Paper 2024-5 Chinara Azizova, Jonathan Witmer, Xu Zhang In March 2020, the Bank of Canada implemented the Government of Canada Bond Purchase Program, eventually purchasing approximately $340 billion of government bonds. In this paper, we analyze the impact of this program on financial market prices and yields as well as on GDP and inflation. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial markets, Financial system regulation and policies, Inflation and prices, Monetary policy, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, E58, G, G2, G21, G28
Fire Sales and Liquidity Requirements Staff Working Paper 2024-18 Yuteng Cheng, Roberto Robatto We study liquidity requirements in a framework with fire sales. The framework nests three common pricing mechanisms and produces the same observables. Absent risk-sharing considerations, the equilibrium is efficient with cash-in-the-market pricing; a liquidity requirement is optimal with second-best-use pricing; and a liquidity ceiling (i.e., a cap on liquid assets) is optimal with adverse selection. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Asset pricing, Financial markets, Financial system regulation and policies JEL Code(s): G, G1, G12, G2, G23, G28
Finding a Needle in a Haystack: A Machine Learning Framework for Anomaly Detection in Payment Systems Staff Working Paper 2024-15 Ajit Desai, Anneke Kosse, Jacob Sharples Our layered machine learning framework can enhance real-time transaction monitoring in high-value payment systems, which are a central piece of a country’s financial infrastructure. When tested on data from Canadian payment systems, it demonstrated potential for accurately identifying anomalous transactions. This framework could help improve cyber and operational resilience of payment systems. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Digital currencies and fintech, Financial institutions, Financial services, Financial system regulation and policies, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): C, C4, C45, C5, C55, D, D8, D83, E, E4, E42
May 9, 2024 Release of the Financial Stability Report Opening statement Tiff Macklem, Carolyn Rogers Ottawa, Ontario Press conference following the release of the Financial Stability Report. Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Opening statements Research Topic(s): Asset pricing, Credit risk management, Financial institutions, Financial markets, Financial services, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies, Housing, Interest rates, Recent economic and financial developments
March 21, 2024 Getting to a new normal Speech summary Toni Gravelle CFA Society Toronto Toronto, Ontario Deputy Governor Toni Gravelle speaks about how the Bank of Canada will manage its balance sheet once quantitative tightening ends. Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Speech summaries Research Topic(s): Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Financial institutions, Financial markets, Financial system regulation and policies, Lender of last resort, Monetary policy implementation, Payment clearing and settlement systems, Recent economic and financial developments
March 21, 2024 Going back to normal: The Bank of Canada’s balance sheet after quantitative tightening Remarks Toni Gravelle CFA Society Toronto Toronto, Ontario Deputy Governor Toni Gravelle provides an update on quantitative tightening and talks about how the Bank of Canada will manage its balance sheet once normalization ends. Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Remarks Research Topic(s): Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Financial institutions, Financial markets, Financial system regulation and policies, Lender of last resort, Monetary policy implementation, Payment clearing and settlement systems, Recent economic and financial developments