Finance and Financial Management Commons^™

From Market Making To Matchmaking: Does Bank Regulation Harm Market Liquidity?, Gideon Saar, Jian Sun, Ron Yang, Haoxiang Zhu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Post-crisis bank regulations raised market-making costs for bank-affiliated dealers. We show that this can, somewhat surprisingly, improve overall investor welfare and reduce average transaction costs despite the increased cost of immediacy. Bank dealers in OTC markets optimize between two parallel trading mechanisms: market making and matchmaking. Bank regulations that increase market-making costs change the market structure by intensifying competitive pressure from non-bank dealers and incentivizing bank dealers to shift their business toward matchmaking. Thus, post-crisis bank regulations have the (unintended) benefit of replacing costly bank balance sheets with a more efficient form of financial intermediation.

Corporate Crime And Punishment: An Empirical Study, Dorothy S. Lund, Natasha Sarin

All Faculty Scholarship

For many years, law and economics scholars, as well as politicians and regulators, have debated whether corporate criminal enforcement overdeters beneficial corporate activity or in the alternative, lets corporate criminals off too easily. This debate has recently expanded in its polarization: On the one hand, academics, judges, and politicians have excoriated enforcement agencies for failing to send guilty bankers to jail in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis; on the other, the U.S. Department of Justice has since relaxed policies that encouraged individual prosecutions and reduced the size of fines and number of prosecutions. A crucial and yet understudied …

Auditor Response To Changing Risk: Money Market Funds During The Financial Crisis, Kyle D. Allen, Drew B. Winters

Finance Faculty Publications and Presentations

Audits provide monitoring for investors. The collapse of markets across the financial crisis made assets more difficult to value, which increased risk for auditors. The money markets were at the center of the financial crisis increasing audit engagement risk on money market funds, which at the time of the crisis were highly opaque. Measuring the response to increased engagement risk with audit fees, this study finds that auditors increase their fees for the riskiest class of funds. However, no evidence was found that audit fees increased as funds increased their holdings in the riskiest class of securities.

Home Price Appreciation And Residential Lending Standards, Yongjia Li, Salman Tahsin

Finance Faculty Publications and Presentations

We explore the effect of home price appreciation on residential lending standards in the U.S. across different sample periods. Using housing supply elasticity measures as instrumental variables for home price changes, we find that rising home prices led to easing lending standards between 2001 and 2006. Mortgage acceptance rates increased more in MSAs that experienced higher home price appreciation, contributing to the credit boom. However, we find that home price appreciation is associated with tighter lending standards between 2012 and 2016, suggesting that banks took a more cautious view of home price appreciation after the financial crisis. To study the …

Bank Partnership And Liquidity Crisis, Seungho Choi, Yong Kyu Gam, Junho Park, Hojong Shin

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study empirically investigates the relationship between banking integration and liquidity management. To measure banks’ connectivity, we use the number of partnerships proxied via the syndicated loan arrangements in which they serve as lead arrangers. If banks establish more business partnerships through syndicated loan arrangements, those under market stress are more likely to face increased funding costs, create reduced liquidity, and originate declined small business loans and mortgages. Those banks with more partners are shown to have a lower liquidity coverage ratio, suggesting that business partnerships create a disincentive toward liquidity risk management.

Crisis Regulations: The Unexpected Consequences Of Floating Nav For Money Market Funds, Kyle D. Allen, Drew B. Winters

Finance Faculty Publications and Presentations

From the inception of money market funds (MMFs), all MMFs reported a fixed $1 NAV (Net Asset Value). In July 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued new regulations for MMFs that require Prime institutional MMFs to report floating NAVs. The SEC did not expect a significant impact on the MMF industry from requiring floating NAVs for Prime institutional funds. We find that over 70% of the assets under management in Prime MMFs left Prime funds with over half the Prime funds closing. We find that more than half of the Prime retail MMFs (which are not required to …

Private Equity Value Creation In Finance: Evidence From Life Insurance, Divya Kirti, Natasha Sarin

All Faculty Scholarship

This paper studies how private equity buyouts create value in the insurance industry, where decentralized regulation creates opportunities for aggressive tax and capital management. Using novel data on 57 large private equity deals in the insurance industry, we show that buyouts create value by decreasing insurers' tax liabilities; and by reaching-for-yield: PE firms tilt their subsidiaries' bond portfolios toward junk bonds while avoiding corresponding capital charges. Previous work on affiliated or "shadow" reinsurance and capital management misses the important role that private equity buyouts play as recent drivers of these phenomenon. The trend we document is of growing importance in …

A Tale Of Two Markets: Regulation And Innovation In Post-Crisis Mortgage And Structured Finance Markets, William W. Bratton, Adam J. Levitin

All Faculty Scholarship

This Article takes the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the financial crisis to review recent developments in the structured products market, connecting the emergent pattern to post-crisis regulation.

The Article tells a tale of two markets. The financial crisis stemmed from excessive risk-taking and shabby practice in the subprime home mortgage market, a market that owed its existence to the private-label, originate to securitize model. But the pre-crisis boom in private label subprime mortgage-backed securities could never have happened absent back up financing from an array of structured products and vehicles created in the capital markets—the CDOs that found …

Financial Sector In Singapore, Hwee Kwan Chow, Sai Fan Pei

Research Collection School Of Economics

This chapter reviews the financial development strategies adopted by the Singapore government as it navigates internal and external changes to build a vibrant center of finance in the Asia Pacific region. Sections 2 and 3 provide an overview of the structure of the financial system and the financial governance framework respectively. This is followed by a discussion, in Section 4, on the outward looking development strategy that underpinned the successful development of Singapore’s financial sector. Section 5 highlights the reforms undertaken in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis that led to the building of a well-diversified and thriving international …

Effects Of Informal Institutions On The Relationship Between Accounting Measures Of Risk And Bank Distress, Kiridaran Kanagaretnam, Jimmy Lee, Chee Yeow Lim, Gerald J. Lobo

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We investigate the effects of informal institutions (trust, religiosity and the media) on the relationship between accounting-based risk measures and bank distress. We conduct our analysis in two stages. In the first stage, we extend the prior literature by documenting a link between accounting-based risk measures and bank distress during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. In particular, given the environment characterized by rapid growth in financial innovation and complex financial transactions prior to the crisis, simple accounting-based risk measures continue to predict bank distress during this crisis period. In the second stage, we address our main research question related to the …

Using Financial Statement Variables To Predict Stock Prices: Lessons From The 2007-2009 Financial Crisis, Benjamin B. Boozer Jr., Lenn H. Rainwater, S. Keith Lowe

Research, Publications & Creative Work

This analysis considers balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow account ratios in measuring the impact of the 2007-2009 financial crisis on the stock prices of American companies. Fourteen companies that trade on S & P 500 were selected for the model and data gathered for the ten years of the analysis, 2004-2013. Results indicate a mixed relationship on the predictive power of financial statement analysis on stock prices before and after the financial crisis. Size of the company and sales were both strong predictors. Liquidity has a small impact through net working capital, but the post intervention counter variable …

The Risk-Relevance Of Securitizations During The Recent Financial Crisis, Yiwei Dou, Yanju Liu, Gordon Richardson, Dushyantkumar Vyas

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We investigate changes in the risk-relevance of securitized subprime, other nonconforming, and commercial mortgages for sponsor-originators during the recent financial crisis. Using the volatility of realized stock returns, option-implied volatility, and credit spreads, we observe a pronounced increase in the risk-relevance of subprime securitizations as early as 2006. Furthermore, reflecting the evolution of the financial crisis in waves, we find that investors recognized the increased credit risk of other nonconforming and commercial mortgage securitizations as the financial crisis progressed. Additional analyses show that risk-relevance varies cross-sectionally with structural characteristics such as monoline credit-enhancement and the presence of special servicers for …

Behaviorism In Finance And Securities Law, David A. Skeel Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

In this Essay, I take stock (as something of an outsider) of the behavioral economics movement, focusing in particular on its interaction with traditional cost-benefit analysis and its implications for agency structure. The usual strategy for such a project—a strategy that has been used by others with behavioral economics—is to marshal the existing evidence and critically assess its significance. My approach in this Essay is somewhat different. Although I describe behavioral economics and summarize the strongest criticisms of its use, the heart of the Essay is inductive, and focuses on a particular context: financial and securities regulation, as recently revamped …

Liquidity And Crises In Asian Equity Markets, Charlie Charoenwong, David K. Ding, Yung Chiang Yang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This article presents a discussion of stock market liquidity and its relation to financial crises. It begins by defining liquidity and explaining possible measures of liquidity and then explores factors influencing liquidity. It also analyzes the liquidity among 11 Asian countries. The empirical findings based on the time-series analysis show a sharp decline in stock liquidity during both the 1997-1998 Asian and the recent 2007-2008 global financial crisis. The multivariate regression results show that both stock liquidity and trading activity decrease after large market declines. Stock liquidity responds significantly to large market declines in South Korea and Taiwan whereas it …

Financial Regulation And The Crisis Of 2008, Aniello Franzese

Honors Scholar Theses

The effects of the global financial crisis that began in the United States during the year 2008 are still being felt today, and the full long term impact of the crisis remains unknown. However, causes of the crisis and strategies for reform of the global financial regulatory system have already been analyzed in depth by various scholars and institutions. By studying the existing literature this paper examines the regulatory and economic environment present in the United States at the onset of the crisis, the regulatory response of the United States government presented within the Dodd-Frank Act, and discusses possibilities for …

What Causes Bank Failures During The Recent Economic Recession?, Qingyu Li

Honors Projects

More than 400 banks failed during the recent financial crisis. Bank failures have a significant impact on the financial system and the economy as a whole. It is important to identify factors that may contribute to bank failures so that banks can take measures to reduce their default risk. This paper examines how bank specific characteristics and economic conditions affect bank failures during the recent financial crisis. We employ the logistic regression model to study this issue using the U. S. commercial bank data over the sample period 2007-2012. We find that the ratio of the loan and leases to …

Virtue, Vice, And The Globalization Of World Economies, Stephen Preacher

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study postulates that the recent world financial crisis, symptomatically manifested in the financial markets, is more fundamentally the result of a systemic disregard for moral constraints. This has occurred at macroeconomic levels within the industrialized nations and has pervaded the global economy. Moral relativism has become the dominant ethical system in society and government, and has undermined the virtuous ideals and self-restraint that foster the benefits of capitalism. Coupled with advances in technology and globalization, the effect of vices such as avarice, irresponsibility, excessive risk tolerance and criminal activities have been exacerbated. Government manipulation and intervention has further served …

The Fiscal Forensics Of The Las Vegas Strip Lessons From The Financial Crisis, Dean M. Macomber

Occasional Papers

Hitting with the force of a 100-year storm, the first two years of the financial crisis caused a $5.2 billion swing from profitability to loss for the top 22 performing Las Vegas Strip properties between peak fiscal year 2007 and 2009. By fiscal year 2011 visitor count had almost climbed back to peak levels but the aggregate loss is still stubbornly high at $ -1.6 billion. Other signs of recovery trickle in but are sporadic and volatile. This article is an attempt to disaggregate the variance and look at where Las Vegas has been, where it is now and how …

The Greek Financial Crisis: An Overview Of The Crisis In Entirety And Proposed Measures: Recommended Solutions And Results, Androniki Podaras

Honors College Theses

This paper examines the Greek financial crisis from 2009 in entirety and analyzes the best option for economic growth from this point forth. The history and culture of Greece is discussed, along with a background of the economy and several economic policies that led to the increased debt levels and the poor economic health of the country. The Gross Domestic Product of Greece and the inflation levels are analyzed to show the changes and signs of poor economic health, and one that was affected by the entry into the Eurozone in 2000.

Then, I discuss how this led to the …

Reit Etfs Performance During The Financial Crisis., Stoyu Ivanov

Faculty Publications

In this study the “disintegration hypothesis” is tested. It is examined whether the Vanguard Real Estate Investment Trust and iShares Dow Jones US Real Estate Index Fund exchange traded funds disintegrate from their underlying indexes during the recent financial crisis. Failure to support the “disintegration hypothesis” of the exchange traded fund and underlying index is found. It is also found that the Vanguard Real Estate Investment Trust exchange traded fund is consistently cointegrated with its underlying index the MSCI US REITs Index, before, during and after the financial crisis. It is also found that the iShares Dow Jones US Real …

The Risk Exposures Of Asia-Focused Hedge Funds, Melvyn Teo

Research Collection BNP Paribas Hedge Fund Centre

How have Asia-focused hedge funds adjusted their risk exposures in response to the recent financial crisis? By evaluating fund performance relative to an augmented Fung and Hsieh (2004) model, we find that Asia-focused hedge funds have broadly trimmed risk exposures post-crisis. They have reduced their exposure to small stocks relative to large stocks, scaled back their loadings on high yield corporate bonds relative to low yield U.S. sovereign debt, and pared their allocation to the Japanese equity markets. At the same time, however, they are now more exposed to Asian equity markets.

Using Monte Carlo Simulations To Establish A New House Price Stress Test, James R. Follain, Seth H. Giertz

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

The focus of this paper is on the house price stress test (termed ALMO) that was designed to assess the fiscal strength of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and, if necessary, to trigger remedial action in order to avert a crisis. We assess whether the ALMO stress test was an adequate representation of an extremely weak housing market, given the best available information leading up to the Great Recession. A Monte Carlo simulation model is developed to estimate the severity of low probability events (i.e., severe house price declines). We illustrate the complexity and subjective nature of the process used …

The Fed And The 2007-2009 Financial Crisis: Treating A Virus With Antibiotics? Evidence From The Commercial Paper Market, Mark D. Griffiths, Vladimir Kotomin, Drew B. Winters

Faculty Publications - Finance, Insurance, and Law

The two main explanations for the 2007-2009 financial crisis in the money markets are credit concerns and liquidity issues. These risks are intimately related, especially in the money markets, and either can lead to somewhat similar behavior by market participants. We study the U.S. commercial paper (CP) market to draw insights about the nature of the crisis which resulted in the amount of outstanding CP shrinking from the peak of $2.18 trillion in early August 2007 to $1.27 trillion in early July 2009. However, the CP market is not homogeneous in terms of credit quality, maturities and types of issues …

Measuring Real Capital Adequacy In Extreme Economic Conditions: An Examination Of Swiss Banking Sector, David E. Allen, Robert Powell

Research outputs 2011

The global financial crisis (GFC) has placed the creditworthiness of banks under intense scrutiny. In particular, capital adequacy has been called into question. Current capital requirements make no allowance for capital erosion caused by movements in the market value of assets. This paper examines default probabilities of Swiss banks under extreme conditions using structural modeling techniques. Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) and Conditional Probability of Default (CPD) techniques are used to measure capital erosion. Significant increase in Probability of Default (PD) is found during the GFC period. The market asset value based approach indicates a much higher PD than external …

Weathering The Storm: Asian Hedge Funds, Melvyn Teo

Research Collection BNP Paribas Hedge Fund Centre

How has the financial crisis shaped the hedge fund industry in Asia? We survey the style, investment region, and assets under management landscape of Asia-based hedge funds before and after the recent economic downturn. Our findings suggest that during the early part of the crisis in 2007, macro and fixed income funds based in Australia were especially vulnerable. When Asian financial markets succumbed in 2008 and 2009, hedge fund exits ramped up in Singapore and Hong Kong, particularly amongst event driven and Japan-focused funds. Small funds were most susceptible to closure during the liquidity crunch. Conversely, CTAs and Greater China-focused …

Out Of The Black Hole: Regulatory Reform Of The Over-The-Counter Derivatives Market, Michael Greenberger

Faculty Scholarship

Unregulated OTC derivatives have been at the heart of recent systemic or near systemic collapses. After each financial crisis, governments worldwide proclaim that the OTC market has to be regulated for transparency, capital adequacy, regulation of intermediaries, self regulation, and strong enforcement of fraud and manipulation. But, aided by the passage of time, Wall Street always deflates those aspirations with aggressive lobbying. The present financial reform regulatory effort may be the only chance to get this issue right before the country devolves into a further financial quagmire with more bankruptcies and more job losses. This paper is a chapter of …

Financial Liberalization And Banking Crises: A Cross-Country Analysis, Apanard P. Angkinand, Wanvimol Sawangngoenyuang, Clas Wihlborg

Business Faculty Articles and Research

Several studies indicate that financial liberalization contributes to the likelihood of a financial crisis. We focus on banking crises and argue that they are most likely to occur after an intermediate degree of liberalization. Using a recently updated dataset for financial reforms in 48 countries between 1973 and 2005, we find an inverted U-shaped relationship between liberalization and the likelihood of crisis. We ask whether the relationship remains when institutional characteristics of countries and dynamic effects of liberalization are considered. The empirical results indicate that the relationship between liberalization and banking crises depends strongly on the strength of capital regulation …

Bankruptcy Phobia, David A. Skeel Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

As the recent economic crisis has unfolded, bankruptcy has offered possible solutions at several key junctures. The first of these solutions, often referred to as mortgage modification, was geared toward homeowners who faced the loss of their homes in the months—now several years—since the start of the subprime crisis On the corporate side, Chapter 11 was an obvious alternative when large nonbank financial institutions like Bear Stearns and AIG stumbled in 2008. But regulators repeatedly balked, and the one exception to the avoidance of bankruptcy at all costs—Lehman Brothers—was anomalous. This aversion to bankruptcy, which seems to pervade all sides …