Banks use synthetic risk transfers (SRTs) to offload potential losses in their loan portfolios to non-bank investors while retaining the loans on their balance sheets. We investigate this trillion-euro market using transaction-level data from the euro area, the largest SRT market, and highlight...

We develop a general equilibrium framework in which a commercial banker, constrained by capital adequacy requirements, creates a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to hold securitized assets off its balance sheet. By operating the bank and SPV as separate entities, the banker circumvents regulation,...