Development of Regional Commercial Banks in Digital Economy: Risks and Opportunities

The article is devoted to the analysis of the activity of regional commercial banks. The purpose of this article is to identify risks and prospects for the development of regional commercial banks in the digital economy. The author explores the concept of a regional bank, analyzes the peculiarities of the activities of regional banks in modern conditions of increasing banking competition. The article analyzes the state and trends of the development of the banking regional sector from the point of view of efficiency increase of their activities. It is shown that the number of regional banks is constantly declining, and a number of constituent entities of the Russian Federation do not have any longer in the structure of their regional banking system banking credit organizations chartered in their territory as a legal entity. The authors concluded that the development of regional banks can be efficient only through the qualitative growth of each individual regional bank, since in quantitative terms this sector of the Russian banking systems will only decrease. As an example the activity of Rostov bank Tsent-Invest and the regional bank of the Republic of Tatarstan Ak Bars Bank are shown, which occupied certain niches in the Russian banking system and fully compete with foreign banks. To identify and assess the current risks of the activity of regional banks specific characteristics of the digital transformation of the banking industry are determined. As the main risks of development, the authors identified the following ones: risk of increased banking competition, on the one hand, and the risk of monopolization of the banking market, on the other; risk of underfunding of financial technologies; information risks and cyber risks; risks of insufficient financial literacy of consumers of banking products and services; risks of customer base reduction. As opportunities for the development of regional banks the use of remote banking services, allowing to attract new customers, expansion of participation in the state programs, emergence of opportunities for the introduction and development of new business models, in particular ESG-banking are identified. The Bank of Russia can provide certain support for the development of regional banks in the context of digital transformation and increasing banking competition by creating and developing nationwide banking infrastructure platforms.

The Impact of Banking Competition on Firm Credit Risk and Leverage

A firm’s default risk is closely related to its macrofinancial stability. As financial reform deepens, banking competition may ease firms’ credit constraints, encouraging them to increase their leverage and default risks. This study uses contingent claims analysis to examine firms’ asset–liability ratio and default distance. We find that companies have low leverage and low overall default risks. Moreover, a pro-cyclical effect exists between leverage and economic growth. As banking competition becomes more intense, the default risk decreases, but firms’ leverage ratio rises significantly. The impact is more prominent for highly leveraged firms. Our findings also indicate that utilizing the contingent claims analysis method to measure firms’ leverage and default risks provides more accurate results. Moreover, we provide empirical evidence of the impact of banking competition on firms’ leverage and credit risks. The results suggest that enhancing financial competition has a positive effect on easing credit constraints and reducing default risks.

Bank Competition Using Networks: A Study on an Emerging Economy

Interconnectedness among banks is a key distinguishing feature of the banking system. It helps mitigate liquidity problems but on the other hand, acts as a curse in propagating systemic risk at times of distress. Thus, as banks cannot function in isolation, this study uses the Contemporary Theory of Networks to examine banking competition in India for five distinct economic phases, emphasizing upon the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This paper proposes a Market Power Network Index (MPNI), which uses network parameters to measure banks’ market power. This network structure shows a formation of bank clusters that are involved in competition. Specifically, network properties, such as centroid, average path length, the distance of a node from the centroid, the total number of connections in the inter-bank market, and network density, do go on to explain banking competition. It is interesting to note that crisis periods witness a lower level of competition, with GFC bearing the least competition. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic shows a lower trend, but it is of a higher magnitude than GFC. It was also found that big-sized, profitable, capital adequate, and public banks dominate the banking system. Notably, this study was conducted on a sample of 33 listed Indian banks from April 2008 to December 2020.

Competition and Financial Stability in the European Listed Banks

The analysis of the relationship between bank competition and financial stability remains a controversial issue and widely discussed in the academic and political community. Using a sample of 117 listed banks in 16 European countries for the years 2011 to 2018, the article explores the impact of market power, measured by the Lerner index, on the bank stability, measured by distance-to-default and Z score. Our results show that for the overall sample, higher market power in banking decreases the risky behavior of banks, confirming the “competition-fragility” view. We do not find any support for a U-shaped relationship between competition and bank risk-taking. However, our findings differ from previous studies pointing out that the relationship between bank competition and risk-taking is differentiated depending on whether the bank is based in a country with a more stable banking system or a less stable one. In countries with a less financially stable banking system, increased competition leads to increased bank risk-taking. In countries with a more stable banking system, market power seems not to influence banks’ financial stability. Public policies must guarantee banking competition but limiting excessive bank risk-taking, especially in countries with less financially sound banking systems. The consolidation of European banking can be a key element for achieving these policies.

Competition, capital growth and risk-taking in emerging markets: Policy implications for banking sector stability during COVID-19 pandemic

This paper investigates how banking competition and capital level impact on the risk-taking behavior of banking institutions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The topic is perceived to be of significant importance during the COVID-19 pandemic. We use data for more than 225 banks in 18 countries in the MENA region to test whether increased competition causes banks to hold higher capital ratios. Employing panel data techniques, and distinguishing between Islamic and conventional banks, we show that banks tend to hold higher capital ratios when operating in a more competitive environment. We also provide evidence that banks in the MENA region increase their capitalization levels in response to a higher risk and vice versa. Further, banking concentration (measured by the HH-index) and credit risk have a significant and positive impact on capital ratios of IBs, whereas competition does play a restrictive role in determining the level of their capital. The results hold when controlling for ownership structure, regulatory and institutional environment, bank-specific and macroeconomic characteristics. Our findings inform regulatory authorities concerned with improving the financial stability of banking sector in the MENA region to strengthen their policies in order to force banks to better align with capital requirements and risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.

What drives the banking competition in Islamic finance oriented countries? Islamic vs conventional banks

Purpose This study aims to examine the dynamics of banking competition between Islamic banks (IBs) and conventional banks (CBs) in emerging finance-oriented Islamic economies, also known as the QISMUT + 3 (i.e. Qatar, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Bahrein, Kuwait and Pakistan). The main aim was to conduct a comparative market power analysis between IBs and CBs in the 2006–2015 period. Design/methodology/approach The study used bank-specific and macro-economic variables available in the Orbis Bank Focus and the World Bank databases. The study applied a dynamic approach to detect endogeneity problems and unobserved heterogeneity using the two-step system GMM estimate. Findings The research shows that market power persists in both types of banks over time. It also demonstrates that capital adequacy does not explain the market power of banking in the studied countries. Unlike IBs, the scale of banking does not influence the market power CBs. Corruption undermines competition in the conventional banking system. However, because of the ideological orientation of IBs, corruption does not affect their competitiveness. IBs outperform CBs in QISMUT + 3 countries in terms of banking competitiveness. They also have higher persistency of market power in the region. Practical implications This study is a very beneficial source of information that can provide effective guidelines for efficient productivity and improved competitiveness of IBs and CBs in finance-oriented Islamic countries. Originality/value The study is the first to compare the market power of IBs and CBs in this country classification. In addition, the study examined a large number of IBs and CBs to carry out this research.