Bank asset allocation and finance structure under uncertainty in Vietnam

PurposeThe paper investigates the link between uncertainty and banks' balance sheet reactions.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs bank-level data in Vietnam during 2007–2019 to measure micro uncertainty in banking through the dispersion of bank-level shocks. Empirical regressions are performed by the two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator and then verified using the least squares dummy variable corrected (LSDVC) technique.FindingsBanks tend to reduce risky loans, hoard more liquidity and decrease financial leverage in response to higher uncertainty. The relationship between uncertainty and banks' balance sheet reactions is more pronounced for banks that suffer more credit risk and overall risk, thus supporting the precautionary motive of banks. Additionally, uncertainty also leads to a decline in the Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) under Basel III, implying that banks may fail to find a more stable source of funding and be more subject to maturity mismatch during periods of higher uncertainty.Originality/valueThe paper is the first to explore comprehensively the relationship between uncertainty and banks' balance sheet aspects as simultaneously estimated by bank loans, bank liquidity and bank leverage. While many other uncertainty measures display aggregate uncertainty sources, an important contribution in this study is to anatomize uncertainty originating exclusively from banking at a disaggregate level. Besides, shedding light on how uncertainty drives bank funding liquidity as captured by the NSFR under Basel III is entirely novel in the literature.

Evolution of Islamic liquidity management in Turkey

Purpose There is not a comprehensive study which covers the evolution of the Turkish Islamic liquidity management landscape so far. The purpose of this study is to show how Turkish PBs have been gradually furnished with the needed liquidity management instruments by the Turkish Treasury, Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey and other related regulatory bodies and to analyze the repercussions of the evolution of Islamic liquidity management on balance sheets of participation banks (PBs) over time. This study also aims to come up with some humble policy recommendations that can improve Islamic liquidity management set up going forward. Design/methodology/approach The study acknowledges that at least two important elements of liquidity management should be in place on the way of improving the Islamic liquidity management environment. The first one is asset side liquidity or having an adequate amount of high-quality liquid assets. The second one is liability side liquidity, meaning that having access to funding liquidity, especially to central bank liquidity. Historical development of liquidity-related asset-side and liability-side balance sheet items between 2010 and 2020 are analyzed and visualized to demonstrate the progress in the Islamic liquidity management landscape in Turkey. Findings From 2010 to 2020, Turkish financial authorities made a great effort to get PBs to have more proper liquidity management tools. Turkish authorities have leveled the playing field for PBs via enriching liquidity management tools. Government sukuk issuances has filled the liquid asset gap, improved the liquidity profile of PBs and lessened overall liquidity risk while introduced central bank liquidity facilitates have reduced funding liquidity risk. Islamic liquidity management setup is much more advanced and participation banking system is more resilient than the past, but there are still some missing steps that can further ameliorate the Islamic liquidity management ecosystem in Turkey. Research limitations/implications This study is a visualized ratio analysis of PB’s improving liquidity profile in the past 10 years and fills an important gap in terms of displaying the overall Islamic liquidity management landscape in Turkey. Further studies and analysis can be built on this paper on Islamic liquidity management, banking and finance in the future. This paper can be a useful basement for researchers who intend to study on potential impacts of improving the liquidity of PBs on monetary transmission, banking profitability and overall banking system systemic risks. Practical implications Three different and interconnected areas should be further improved. These are enriching the diversity of government securities, providing central bank liquidity facilities under various available Islamic contracts and establishing an organized Islamic money market which will facilitate fund flows among various Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) and conventional financial institutions. Policymakers should act together, handle arising issues in a holistic manner, design and operationalize these incomplete parts of the puzzle to further optimize the playing field for the IFIs. Thus, there will be a more inclusive and competitive finance industry in which all risks are better managed and resources are more efficiently allocated. Originality/value Although various other studies are available on the Turkish Islamic banking industry, there is not such a specific study on Islamic liquidity management of Turkish PBs which makes this study a preliminary and different one. Apart from shedding light on the Turkish journey that has built a sound Islamic liquidity management infrastructure in the past 10 year, this study also shows an exemplary country experience in developing a more inclusive and robust financial ecosystem. This paper also contributes to financial development and inclusion literature as a policy paper.

Systemic liquidity contagion in the European interbank market

Systemic liquidity risk, defined by the International Monetary Fund as “the risk of simultaneous liquidity difficulties at multiple financial institutions,” is a key topic in financial stability studies and macroprudential policy-making. In this context, the complex web of interconnections of the interbank market plays the crucial role of allowing funding liquidity shortages to propagate between financial institutions. Here, we introduce a simple yet effective model of the interbank market in which liquidity shortages propagate through an epidemic-like contagion mechanism on the network of interbank loans. The model is defined by using aggregate balance sheet information of European banks, and it exploits country and bank-specific risk features to account for the heterogeneity of financial institutions. Moreover, in order to obtain the European-wide topology of the interbank network, we define a block reconstruction method based on the exchange flows between the various countries. We show that the proposed contagion model is able to estimate systemic liquidity risk across different years and countries. Results suggest that our effective contagion approach can be successfully used as a viable alternative to more realistic but complicated models, which not only require more specific balance sheet variables with high time resolution but also need assumptions on how banks respond to liquidity shocks.

EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF CAPITAL, FUNDING LIQUIDITY AND BANK LENDING IN EMERGING MARKET ECONOMIES: AN APPLICATION OF SYSTEM GMM APPROACH

Funding Liquidity is the key component of loanable funds of the bank. Sufficient liquidity also boosts banks’ ability to pay-off its dues timely but at the same time it has been proven to be a significant determinant of various historical banking sector crises all over the world. However, there exists very weak empirical evidence suggesting a clear relationship between funding liquidity and bank lending growth (BLG). We have attempted to address this gap by empirically testing the impact of bank capital, funding liquidity and their interaction variable on the BLG using a dataset of 59 commercial banks operating in India for the period 2006 to 2018 consisting of 21 public sector banks, 18 private sector banks and 20 foreign banks. An attempt has been made to examine the interactive impact of the bank capital and funding liquidity ratio on BLG rate using system GMM approach. Our model reveals a positive and significant impact of capital funding, indicating induction of capital in bank leads to higher growth in BLG rate. The results also suggest that the interaction impact of funding liquidity and bank capital on the bank lending growth is significantly negative. Further, a higher capital induction neutralises the overall impact of funding liquidity on the bank lending growth. The study provides implications for academicians and policy makers to comprehend the role of funding liquidity.

Accounting for COVID-19 Related Funding, Credit, Liquidity, and Loan Facilities in the Financial Accounts of the United States

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. government policymakers took extraordinary actions to support the nation's households and businesses. As a part of this crisis response, the Federal Reserve established a number of funding, liquidity, and loan facilities to help maintain the flow of credit and improve financial conditions, in most cases with a backstop of funds appropriated by the U.S. Congress.

Dynamics of Funding Liquidity and Risk-Taking: Evidence from Commercial Banks

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of funding liquidity risk on the banks’ risk-taking behavior. To test the hypotheses, we apply the two-step system GMM technique on US commercial banks data from 2002 to 2018. We find that funding liquidity increases the banks’ risk-taking of US commercial banks. Furthermore, banks with higher deposits are less likely to face a funding shortage, and bank managers’ aggressive risk-taking activity is less likely to be monitored. Our findings infer that increases in bank funding liquidity increase both risk-weighted assets and liquidity creation, and deposit insurance creates a moral risk issue for banks taking excessive risks in response to deposit rises. The relationship between funding liquidity and the banks’ risk-taking varies with their capitalization and market conditions; the impact of funding liquidity on risk-taking is pronounced for well-capitalized banks and the Global Financial Crisis 2007. Our tests are robust for the usage of alternate proxy of funding liquidity and by controlling economic conditions. The findings of this study have implications for regulators to develop guidelines for the level of liquidity and risk-taking of commercial banks.

Funding Liquidity and Market Liquidity: The Broker-Dealer Perspective

We provide direct evidence of how dealers’ funding liquidity affects their liquidity provision in securities markets. Worse funding liquidity (higher repo haircuts and rates) leads to larger bid-ask spreads and transaction costs in corporate bonds. We also find that dealers’ relationships with money funds are important determinants of their repo haircuts and rates. Using dealers’ exposure to the 2016 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) money fund reform as an instrument, we show that funding liquidity indeed has a causal effect on market liquidity. Finally, dealers with lower funding liquidity tend to have smaller market shares and execute more trades on an agency basis. This paper was accepted by Haoxiang Zhu, finance.

Liquidity Mismatch Index and Bank Performance

The relationship between liquidity and bank performance in finance literature remains an unresolved empirical issue. The main objective of this article was to investigate the relationship between liquidity mismatch index (LMI) initially developed by Brunnermeier, Gorton and Krishnamurthy (2012) and further developed by Bai, Krishnamurthy, and Weymuller (2018) and South African bank performance empirically. Different from other prior studies, the study undertook to determine the relationship employing the liquidity measure that integrates both market liquidity and funding liquidity within a context of asset liability mismatches. The unit of analysis was a panel of 12 South African banks over the period 2008–2018. Specifically, two liquidity measures – the bank liquidity mismatch index (BLMI) and the aggregate liquidity mismatch index (ALMI) were regressed against bank performance matrices. The newly developed liquidity measures are based on portfolio management theory and they account for the significance of liquidity spirals. Results revealed that, bank performance is negatively and significantly related with BLMI. While the bank performance is positively related to ALMI, the relationship is not significant. Also, the nature of relationship is dependent on the measure of profitability employed.