The level of capital requirement generated by the IRB approach depends crucially on the asset correlation, a parameter that enters the regulatory risk weight formula and is determined by the Regulators. Several studies have estimated the asset correlations and found that the empirical values are...

After publishing its first report in September 1997, the Own Funds Working Group, in agreement with the European Committee of Central Balance Sheet Offices, decided to continue its work in order to gain a better understanding of the differences in financing structures between countries. To this...

Throughout the Member States of the European Union, economic policy debate has centred on the terms of corporate financing, and in particular on whether the companies of each country have sufficient equity to compete in a single market. Moreover, faced with the risk of corporate insolvency,...