A number of countries' authorities put in place bank rescue packages using public funds in response to the global financial crisis. Were these public recapitalizations followed by a reduction of risk in banks' loan books? To answer this question, in this paper the balance sheets and syndicated...

Banking regulations (such as, risk-based capital framework and reserve requirements) have had the unintended consequence of incentivizing banks to hold more sovereign debt on their balance sheets than suggested by their strategic motives. As a result, bank stability now depends more heavily than...