Recent banking crises in Argentina, Paraguay, and Venezuela suggest that the macroeconomic impact is influenced by the causes of the crisis, the exchange rate regime, the degree of dollarization, and the structure of the banking system. Crises stemming from both macroeconomic and bank-specific...

The banking industry is key for Hong Kong's economy, but Hong Kong is not a big international banking center, at least not when compared with other centers belonging to large economic areas, such as New York and, to a lesser extent, Tokyo. Within Asia, Hong Kong has a larger banking sector as a...

We examine wealth management products (WMP) issued by Chinese commercial banks, which are an important part of China's fast growing shadow banking sector. We document that the WMPs' maturity dates cluster toward the end of a month and then decrease significantly at the beginning of the following...

It is hardly surprising that one of the biggest and more dynamic economies of the world has a financial system with the same characteristics. The authors review its evolution focusing on its qualitative aspect and, specifically, in the reforms carried out to modernize the system. Recent reforms...

The Chinese banking system, characterized by a large proportion of state-ownership and low capitalization, has started a reform process based on three main pillars: (i) bank restructuring, with the cleaning-up of non-performing loans and public capital injections, particularly in the four...

After a brief review of the literature on the determinants of financial development, the paper reviews the Asian and European financial systems in terms of their size and efficiency. It also compares the steps taken in the two regions in the quest for financial development and stability, which...

The banking industry is key for Hong Kong's economy, but Hong Kong is not a big international banking center, at least not when compared with other centers belonging to large economic areas, such as New York and, to a lesser extent, Tokyo. Within Asia, Hong Kong has a larger banking sector as a...