We argue that the rapid asset growth of nonbank financial intermediaries (NBFIs) relative to banks is the outcome of transformations of risks between banks and NBFIs that increase the interconnectedness of the two sectors. These transformations are consistent with avoiding tighter, post-GFC bank...

Under which conditions do usability constraints for regulatory capital buffers emerge? To answer this question, we build a non-linear structural banking sector model with a minimum capital requirement that banks are not allowed to breach, and a capital buffer requirement (CBR) that banks can...

Bank failures can stem from runs on otherwise solvent banks or from losses that render banks insolvent, regardless of withdrawals. Disentangling the relative importance of liquidity and solvency in explaining bank failures is central to understanding financial crises and designing effective...

Decentralised Finance (DeFi) emerged in 2021 as a fast-growing crypto segment, attracting policymakers' attention due to its innovative approach of delivering financial services without relying on centralised intermediaries. This paper assesses DeFi governance arrangements for regulating and...

In essence, the currently large stablecoins are electronic money issued by narrow balance sheet vehicles into a distributed ledger (or a "programmable platform"). Many believe that they will have significant success as a new form of money. Members of the current US administration expect that US...

In this paper we employ the natural experiment of German Division and Reunification in order to study the effect of institutional reform on the decision to hold risky assets. We present empirical evidence indicating that even 16 years after German Reunification risky portfolios of East and West...

The report outlines the efforts of the International Monetary Fund to assist the Central Bank of the Congo (BCC) in operationalizing a special resolution regime for credit institutions. This initiative implements key recommendations from the Financial Sector Stability Review mission conducted by...

The rise of fintech lenders has intensified competition in the banking industry. This study utilizes Brazilian bank-level data to examine the causal impact of increased competition on commercial banks’ lending rates and profitability. Employing a bank-specific Bartik exposure, constructed from...

The paper synthesizes global experiences and key lessons in the regulation and supervision of cyber risk in the financial sector. It draws on the IMF’s financial stability surveillance and technical assistance work. It underscores the increasing frequency and complexity of cyber threats. These...

We study how the type of money used in blockchain-based trade affects interest rates, investment, and welfare. Stablecoins in our model are backed by safe assets, while banks issue deposits (both traditional and tokenized) to fund a portfolio of safe and risky assets. Deposit insurance creates a...

Green fintech merges sustainable finance with data-intensive innovation, but national translations of EU rules can create regulatory risk. This study examines how such risk manifests in Central Europe and which policy tools mitigate it. We develop a three-dimension framework-regulatory clarity...

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,...

This paper studies the impact of US interstate bank branching deregulation on school finance and student achievement, leveraging the deregulation as a state tax revenue shock. Total revenue and expenditure increase following the deregulation. The revenue increase stems mainly from higher state...

This paper examines the interplay between financial inclusion and FinTech in shaping banking stability, with a focus on economies in the Asia and Pacific region. Using an unbalanced panel dataset from 21 economies from 2000 to 2021, the paper finds that financial inclusion enhances banking...

Asia presently houses some of the top and dynamic economies in the world. These economies have also experienced high fintech adoption in their banking sectors. This paper examines the impact of fintech adoption and integration on the efficiency and stability of banks in 9 Asian countries, using...

Since U.S. bank capital holdings began rising almost concurrently with the monetary policy change after 2008, we examine the role of capital requirements for monetary policy regimes. While standard models predict that equilibrium determination and responses to aggregate shocks are fundamentally...

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...

This paper studies the effectiveness of risk management, one of the two channels identified by the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS, 2024) as those through which the financial system contributes to physical risk adaptation in the European Union (EU). We assess the efficacy of...

This paper describes and evaluates the European Union (EU) banking sector capital framework, focusing on how the international standards set by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision have been implemented within the EU. Using granular supervisory data for significant institutions under the...

Financial liberalization is often seen as a way to deepen credit markets and stimulate economic growth, but it may also fuel credit booms that end in crisis. We construct a new cross-country database of banking regulation policies covering 21 regulatory indicators for 18 advanced economies since...

This paper provides a comparative analysis of the economic crises in Argentina and Lebanon to derive policy-relevant lessons for the design of IMF-supported adjustment programs in fragile economies. Using a structured comparative case study approach, the study examines crisis dynamics, policy...

The acceleration of digital financial services in Ghana has transformed the country's banking landscape while simultaneously reshaping its financial crime risk profile. Drawing on insights from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) Annual Fraud Reports, Ghana Association of Banks (GAB) Quarterly Fraud...

This paper links microeconomic theory with the political economy of regulation. We explain why modern economies tend to become persistently over-regulated and we outline a practical strategy for deregulation. We argue that regulations are not the works of a benevolent central planner but rather...

Amidst the escalating geopolitical fragmentation of the global financial system, divergent stablecoin architectures are emerging. This study employs Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and introduces a formalized 'Geopolitical Stablecoin' (GPSC) model to conduct a systematic comparison of...

This paper studies the role of banking supervision in anticipating, monitoring, and disciplining failing banks. We document that supervisors anticipate most bank failures with a high degree of accuracy. Supervisors play an important role in requiring troubled banks to recognize losses, taking...

External ratings (agency ratings) and internal ratings were already in use before Basel II, as powerful management tools. Basel II "adopts" them (the former in the Standard approach, the latter in the IRB approaches) in a productive way: internal ratings represent the final summary of the...

This study emphasizes three solid questions: (i) the extent to which African banking systems are globalized; (ii) the role of regulation and technology in this process; and (iii) whether economic globalization reinforces banking stability. We conceptualize financial globalization through two...

Since 2014, several countries have implemented the Basel III countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB) to enhance the banking sector's resilience against risks arising from excessive credit growth. We analyze the CCyB decision-making process of macroprudential authorities across Europe. Our findings...

The shift in monetary policy has different repercussions on bank profits depending on the prevalence of fixed or floating interest rates charged on loans. The Baltic states provide a case study of the impact of monetary tightening on profits in predominantly floating interest rates setup amid...

Spikes in geopolitical risk indices have been associated with lower bank stability, leading supervisors to closely monitor how they are being managed by lenders. We propose a set of key elements that should be part of bank's geopolitical risk management systems and review an array of plausible...