Russian banks will need tight control and pruning

Subject Measures to keep Russia's banking system sustainable. Significance In 2015, the majority of Russian banks recorded operating losses, with the exception of Sberbank. Banks had to repay foreign currency-denominated loans whose cost rose as the ruble fell in value. Access to further foreign loans was severely constrained by Western sanctions, the cost of domestic borrowing was high and consumers' real incomes declined. The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) continues to support the sector by offering refinancing facilities and capital support for systemically important banks while shutting down banks engaged in high-risk activity. Impacts Western sanctions continuing into 2017 will worsen investor perceptions of risk. CBR intervention will avoid a collapse in depositor confidence. Geopolitical isolation will limit banking sector development.


Subject Oil and COVID-19 shocks in Azerbaijan. Significance The COVID-19 pandemic and oil price collapse present a dual challenge to the government, whose economic or political responses are likely to mirror its behaviour in past crises. Despite reasonable fiscal strength, there are policy risks in areas such as defending the national currency at the cost of depleting foreign currency reserves. Impacts Demands for healthcare and welfare spending will rise, as will unemployment. The banking sector looks vulnerable: four major banks are already in temporary administration. The size of the shadow economy makes it difficult to assess numbers of lay-offs and the resulting demand for welfare assistance.



2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 391-410
Author(s):  
Kekoura Sakouvogui ◽  
Saleem Shaik

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the importance of financial liquidity and solvency on US commercial and domestic banks’ cost efficiency while accounting for internal and external factors. Design/methodology/approach The Stochastic Frontier Analysis and Data Envelopment Analysis estimators are used to estimate the cost efficiency of 11,044  US commercial and domestic banks from 2005 to 2017. Using Tobit regression model, the importance of financial liquidity and solvency on cost efficiency is examined. Findings The results provide evidence that the financial liquidity and solvency negatively impact the cost efficiency of US commercial and domestic banks. Overall, US commercial and domestic banks were inefficient during the financial crisis in comparison to the tranquil period. The importance of financial solvency on the cost efficiency was not statistically significant, while the financial liquidity negatively collapsed because of contagion. Finally, the results provide evidence that the amount of total assets matters in the improvement of the cost efficiency. Originality/value This paper estimates and identifies the 2007-2009 financial crisis with liquidity, solvency or both financial factors.



2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sin-Yu Ho ◽  
Nicholas M. Odhiambo

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the macroeconomic drivers of stock market development in Hong Kong during the period 1992Q4-2016Q3. Specifically, it investigates the impact of banking sector development, economic growth, inflation rate, exchange rate, trade openness and stock market liquidity on stock market development. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses quarterly time-series data covering the period 1992Q4-2016Q3, which have been obtained from various reliable sources. The study uses the autoregressive distributed lag bounds testing procedure to identify both the long- and short-run macroeconomic drivers of stock market development in Hong Kong. Findings We find that banking sector development and economic growth have positive impacts on stock market development, whereas the inflation rate and the exchange rate have negative impacts on stock market development both in the long and short run. In addition, the results show that trade openness has a positive long-run impact but a negative short-run impact on stock market development. Originality/value Despite the phenomenal growth of stock market in Hong Kong, there are, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no relevant studies on the macroeconomic drivers of stock market development in Hong Kong. Therefore, this paper endeavours to enrich the literature by examining the macroeconomic drivers of stock market development in Hong Kong during the period 1992Q4-2016Q3.



2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 335-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafik Harkati ◽  
Syed Musa Alhabshi ◽  
Salina Kassim

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of economic freedom and six relevant subcomponents of it on the risk-taking behavior of banks in the Malaysian dual banking system. It also aims to make a comparative analysis between Islamic and conventional banks operating in this dual banking sector. Moreover, the study is an effort to enrich the existing literature by presenting empirical evidence on the argument that the risk-taking behavior of the two types of banks is indistinguishable given that they operate in the same regulatory environment. Design/methodology/approach Secondary data of all banks operating in the Malaysian banking sector are collected from FitchConnect database, in addition to the economic freedom index from Foundation Heritage for the period 2011–2017. Generalized least squares technique is employed to estimate the influence of economic freedom and the six relevant subcomponents of it on the risk-taking behavior of banks. Findings The level of economic freedom influenced risk-taking behavior within the banking sector as a whole, conventional and Islamic banking sectors negatively during the study period (2011–2017). Risk-taking behavior of conventional and Islamic banks is similar. However, conventional banks turn to be less influenced by economic freedom level as compared to Islamic banks. Practical implications The government and regulators may benefit from the results by rethinking and setting the best economic freedom index that better serves the stability of the banking system, and lessens banks’ risk-taking inclination. Originality/value To the present time, this paper is thought to be of a significant contribution. Given the argument that Islamic and conventional banks behave in the same way. This is one of the first attempts to address this issue in light of the influence of economic freedom and six subcomponents of it on the risk-taking behavior of banks operating in a dual banking system.



2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 601-619
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Abiodun Oladapo ◽  
Roshayani Arshad ◽  
Ruhaini Muda ◽  
Manal Mohammed Hamoudah

Purpose The perception of different stakeholder groups on governance dimensions, such as transparency, accountability and ethics, in the Islamic banking sector is examined, given the global growth of Islamic banking and its purpose of enhancing economic growth and development through Shari’ah-compliant instruments. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether the stakeholders in Nigeria perceive each dimension differently. Design/methodology/approach The data for the study were collected using a survey questionnaire. Simple random sampling was used to select the respondents. The respondents are customers, employees and shareholders of the Islamic banking sector in Nigeria. Findings Findings show that ethics is highly perceived as the key dimension in governance for the Islamic banking sector, whilst a positive and significant relationship is observed between the variables. Based on the variance analysis, there were statistically significant differences in perception between the stakeholders groups in the Islamic banking system. However, similar positive perceptions are accorded towards the overall governance dimensions across stakeholder groups namely, customers, employees and shareholders. Originality/value This study will extend the current body of knowledge in the field of Islamic finance by providing insights into policy makers, operators and regulators of the Islamic banking sector in Nigeria on the prospective stakeholders’ level of perception of the governance dimension, which could form part of the solutions to many contemporary issues in the banking system. This contribution is important, considering the clear relationship among governance dimensions which should be viewed in light of Islamic ideals.



2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasin Mahmood ◽  
Maqsood Ahmad ◽  
Faisal Rizwan ◽  
Abdul Rashid

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of banking sector concentration, banking sector development and equity market development in corporate financial flexibility (FF). Design/methodology/approach The study used annual data for the period from 1991 to 2014 to examine the relationship between banking sector concentration, banking sector development, equity market development and corporate FF; hypotheses were tested using an unbalanced panel logistic regression model. Findings The paper provides empirical insights into the relationships between macroeconomic factors and corporate FF. The results suggest a substantial change in FF across firms; banking sector concentration discourages firms from borrowing, leading to the reduction of corporate borrowing, consequently an increase in FF can be observed. Banking sector development facilitates debt financing, hence reducing FF. Equity market development also has a positive impact on FF, as it is a substitute for debt financing. Practical implications The banking sector is an important provider of capital to business entities. A concentrated banking system discourages the provision of capital to firms; hence regulators have to take appropriate measures to resolve the problem of a reduced supply of capital. Banking sector development facilitates the provision of capital; further development may reduce bank lending rates to firms. Equity market development positively affects FF; hence, firm managers can use equity financing to resume FF. By following pecking order theory, managers use internal sources to finance value-maximizing investment projects, debt and issue shares as the last choice to get financing. When borrowing capacity is depleted, managers can obtain further funds by issuing stocks. Originality/value FF is an emergent area of research in advanced countries, while in developing economies, it is in the initial stages. Little work is available in this area to find the impact of banking sector concentration, banking sector development and equity market development, therefore, this study fills this gap in the existing literature.



Subject Iran’s banking sector in urgent need of reform. Significance Tehran's banks face major corruption scandals, and a complex policy environment. In July 2016, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) announced major plans to reform the country’s banking system in line with global standards. Iranian banks have been cut off from the international financial system since 2012, owing to sanctions. After the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran expected that the lifting of sanctions would reverse this situation. However, despite interest among Central Asian and Turkish banks, progress has been limited. Impacts European banks will be slow to engage with Iran, fearing unpredictable US penalties. Differing US and Iranian interpretations of sanctions lifting under the nuclear deal may come up before the dispute resolution mechanism. Macroeconomic strains will put depreciatory pressure on the currency. If President Hassan Rouhani fails to win re-election in May, the chances of banking reform would be much lower.



2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thanh Ngo ◽  
David Tripe

Purpose This paper aims to examine alternative methods for treating nonperforming loans (NPLs) in bank cost-efficiency studies using stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). Design/methodology/approach The authors consider three methods of treating NPLs in SFA: as an additional control variable, as an environmental factor or as a deduction from total loans. Using data from the Vietnamese banking system (2003-2010), the authors then compare these results with those of the base model (where total loans is used regardless of the NPLs) to see which one is more appropriate for this study. Findings The authors observed that the first two methods are inappropriate for the analysis: one cannot find the significant relationship between NPLs and the banks’ total cost, and the other cannot account for any inefficiency at all. The authors suggested that the third method of separating NPLs from total loans can provide better insights. Using the proposed method, the authors showed that the cost-efficiency of Vietnamese banks over the period examined was moderate with a slight decreasing trend. When NPLs are separated, the cost-efficiency decreases in state-owned banks and big banks, whereas it increases in small and private banks. Research limitations/implications Research is limited to Vietnamese banks during a certain period, and it would be useful to apply the same technique to other data sets. Practical implications The paper suggests a new approach to account for NPLs in cost SFA studies in banking. Originality/value The paper provides a much more searching analysis of NPLs in banking than has generally been seen in previous research.



2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 1762-1794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zois Sompolos ◽  
Maria Mavri

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the efficiency of the four largest Greek banking organizations for the period 2004–2014, including both a period of strong economic growth and a period of economic crisis and recession, which is still plaguing the Greek economy and more specifically the Greek banking sector. Design/methodology/approach The study incorporates the application of financial ratio analysis and the data envelopment analysis (DEA) in order to calculate the technical efficiency of Greek financial institutions. More specifically, a two-stage output-oriented DEA model is developed in order to estimate the global efficiency of banks. The banking function is considered as consisting of two stages in series, a service/operational efficiency and a profitability efficiency. In both output-oriented models, methods of constant returns to scale and variable returns to scale were applied. Findings The results show that in terms of operational efficiency, banks started from a low rate of return in 2004, which improved until 2008, which marked the peak of operational efficiency. By 2010, the operating efficiency varied with downward trend until 2012–2013. In terms of profitability efficiency, the image is clearer, since the impact the financial crisis had on bank’s profit efficiency led, by 2012, to a plunge in the average efficiency by 30–40 percent. Originality/value A multi-stage DEA process, input oriented, was used in order to estimate changes in the performance and efficiency of banking system. The period 2004–2014 has not been examined until recently and all previous studies used the output-oriented DEA model.



Author(s):  
Elżbieta Kacperska ◽  
Jakub Kraciuk

The financial sector presents the strongest tendency towards capital concentration, what is the effect of its deregulation, liberalization and strong competitiveness. Fusions and foreign investors, who are taking banks over, are accomplishing this concentration. From the beginning of 1993 until the first quarter of 2004, the number of active commercial banks decreased from 87 to 59 and 27 fusions and assumptions were noticed. At the beginning of 2004 foreign investors controlled 46 commercial banks out of 59 operating in Poland. The value of their investments exceeded 7 .2 billions PLN and they owned 76.3% of equity and supplementary funds and 67.4% of assets. Owing to these investments, the banking sector development has started and the investors subsidised existing banks, improved infrastructure and made many innovations. The large foreign banks, which were set up as a result of concentration, made banking system more effective and facilitated development of national economy. On the other hand, the superior contribution of large foreign banks obstructs national financial policy and makes the financial sector sensitive to prosperity fluctuations and a crisis of the world banking system.



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