Risk Governance and Bank Performance

Global discourse is geared towards greater accountability and regulatory oversight of banks to promote sound financial systems and charter value. The authors applied dynamic pool panel analysis to investigate the relationship between risk governance and financial performance among African global banks spanning the years 2015 to 2020. They find significant positive association between financial experts on risk committee and bank profitability. The results further reveal that risk committee activism as a proxy for risk committee effectiveness significantly increase bank profitability. Therefore, stakeholders must prioritize regular risk committee meetings and attach importance to risk committee compositions with finance experts on the majority. Additionally, this study offers policy implications for regulators and bank mangers to clearly define risk committee financial experts and minimum financial experts required to serve on the risk committee.

GLOBAL BANK RISK AND MONETARY POLICY IN AN EMERGING ECONOMY

The global financial crisis was characterized by heightened financial risk in the USA, which spread to the rest of the world, including emerging economies. This paper constructs a core–periphery model with a global banking network and financial frictions. Due to a common-lender effect, when global banks lend to an emerging economy, heightened financial risk in the center depresses cross-border lending to the emerging economy, reducing real activities and exacerbating monetary policy trade-offs. As financial markets become more integrated, exchange rate flexibility becomes less welfare enhancing and active capital account policy becomes more welfare enhancing.

Linkage between performance and sustainability initiatives in banking sector–An empirical examination

PurposeThis research study examines the impact of social and governance initiatives on financial performance of global banks. The study is significant in the context of massive changes in regulations, government policy, social attitudes and market development attributed to banking sector.Design/methodology/approachThe source of data for this study was ESG database of Thomson Reuters. The study was based on 472 global banks. The research paper uses two-stage least square model and the study covered the five-year period 2015–2019.FindingsBanks with high intensity of social and governance-related activities have positive market-based valuation effects. Adequately capitalized banks tend to invest more in social initiatives. Banks' governance initiatives directed toward the use of anti-takeover defensive mechanisms are skeptically perceived by markets. Riskier banks tend to have less investments in social initiatives.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings are relevant in the context of expectations from policymakers, consumers and investors with respect to the role which banks ought to play in funding the development of a sustainable economy. The research finding that strong governance and social initiatives by banks are value-enhancing measures is a clear evidence of the significance of ESG initiatives as value-creating mechanisms as perceived by markets.Originality/valueThis study addresses the gap in the research, which examines the role of governance and social initiatives on value creation in the banking sector firms. The study examines the impact of different elements of governance and social initiatives on financial performance of banks.

Arbitrage Capital of Global Banks

We show that the role of unsecured, short-term wholesale funding for global banks has changed significantly in the post-financial-crisis regulatory environment. Global banks mainly use such funding to finance liquid, near risk-free arbitrage positions—in particular, the interest on excess reserves arbitrage and the covered interest rate parity arbitrage. In this environment, we examine the response of global banks to a large negative wholesale funding shock as a result of the U.S. money market mutual fund reform implemented in 2016. In contrast to past episodes of wholesale funding dry-ups, we find that the primary response of global banks to the reform was a cutback in arbitrage positions that relied on unsecured funding, rather than a reduction in loan provision.

Global Versus Non-Global Banks: A Capital Ratios-Based Analysis

This paper examines the Leverage Ratio and Total Capital Ratio of global versus non-global banks in both the pre- and post-crisis periods. A panel data set of 165 global and non-global financial institutions from 38 countries is used for the period 1999-2015 and a random effects model is employed to examine whether global banks perform better or not compared to their non-global counterparts. This study comes up with two important findings. First, global banks do not exhibit heterogeneous behaviour with respect to both ratios neither in the pre- and especially nor in the post-crisis period. Second, the Leverage Ratio is crisis-insensitive, but the Total Capital Ratio is not. Our findings encourage further research on the topic of the contribution of global banks to the financial crisis propagation (at least as far as leverage is concerned).

GLOBAL BANK RISK AND MONETARY POLICY IN AN EMERGING ECONOMY

The global financial crisis was characterized by heightened financial risk in the USA, which spread to the rest of the world, including emerging economies. This paper constructs a core–periphery model with a global banking network and financial frictions. Due to a common-lender effect, when global banks lend to an emerging economy, heightened financial risk in the center depresses cross-border lending to the emerging economy, reducing real activities, and exacerbating monetary policy trade-offs. As financial markets become more integrated, exchange rate flexibility becomes less welfare enhancing and active capital account policy becomes more welfare enhancing.