IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bfr/bullbf/202123501.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Convergence trading, arbitrage and systemic risk in the United States
[Convergence trading, arbitrage et risque systémique aux États-Unis]

Author

Listed:
  • Dastarac Hugues

Abstract

Convergence trading, especially arbitrage, is used on a large scale by investment banks and hedge funds, and contributes to the smooth integration of financial markets. However, it is also a source of systemic risk, as the transactions involve short-term debt that can be cut off by the creditor in times of market stress. In this case, arbitrageurs are forced to rapidly unwind their positions, leading to abnormal falls and divergences in asset prices. This risk materialised in the US Treasury market during the crises of 1998 – with the collapse of the hedge fund Long Term Capital Management (LTCM) – and of 2008, but ultimately proved contained in the 2020 health crisis. The intervention or non-intervention in the market of the US Federal Reserve can be linked to the severity of the financial crises. Le convergence trading et en particulier l’arbitrage, pratiqué à grande échelle par les banques d’investissement et les fonds spéculatifs (hedge funds), contribue à la bonne intégration des marchés financiers. Mais il engendre aussi un risque systémique, dans la mesure où cette opération implique un endettement de court terme qui peut s’interrompre en période de tension sur les marchés. Les arbitragistes sont alors forcés de liquider en urgence leurs positions, entraînant des chutes et des écarts anormaux de prix d’actifs. Ce risque s’est matérialisé aux États-Unis, sur le marché des emprunts du Trésor, au cours des crises de 1998 – avec la faillite du fonds LTCM – et de 2008, mais a finalement été contenu lors de la crise sanitaire de 2020. L’intervention ou la non-intervention de la Réserve fédérale sur ce marché peut être mise en relation avec la sévérité des crises financières.

Suggested Citation

  • Dastarac Hugues, 2021. "Convergence trading, arbitrage and systemic risk in the United States [Convergence trading, arbitrage et risque systémique aux États-Unis]," Bulletin de la Banque de France, Banque de France, issue 235.
    • Handle: RePEc:bfr:bullbf:2021:235:01
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://publications.banque-france.fr/sites/default/files/medias/documents/821129_bdf235-1_en_convergence_trading_vfinale.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://publications.banque-france.fr/sites/default/files/medias/documents/bdf235-1_convergence-trading.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andreas Schrimpf & Hyun Song Shin & Vladyslav Sushko, 2020. "Leverage and margin spirals in fixed income markets during the Covid-19 crisis," BIS Bulletins 2, Bank for International Settlements.
    2. Markus K. Brunnermeier & Lasse Heje Pedersen, 2009. "Market Liquidity and Funding Liquidity," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(6), pages 2201-2238, June.
    3. Darrell Duffie, 2010. "The Failure Mechanics of Dealer Banks," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(1), pages 51-72, Winter.
    4. Gromb, Denis & Vayanos, Dimitri, 2002. "Equilibrium and welfare in markets with financially constrained arbitrageurs," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(2-3), pages 361-407.
    5. Hugues Dastarac, 2020. "Market Making and Proprietary Trading in the US Corporate Bond Market," Working papers 754, Banque de France.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jieun Lee, 2023. "Dollar and government bond liquidity: evidence from Korea," BIS Working Papers 1145, Bank for International Settlements.
    2. Boyarchenko, Nina & Kovner, Anna & Shachar, Or, 2022. "It’s what you say and what you buy: A holistic evaluation of the corporate credit facilities," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(3), pages 695-731.
    3. Jiakai Chen & Haoyang Liu & Asani Sarkar & Zhaogang Song, 2020. "Dealers and the Dealer of Last Resort: Evidence from the Agency MBS Markets in the COVID-19 Crisis," Staff Reports 933, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    4. Maurizio Trapanese, 2021. "The economics of non-bank financial intermediation: why do we need to fill the regulation gap?," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 625, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    5. Filipe, Sara Ferreira & Nissinen, Juuso & Suominen, Matti, 2023. "Currency carry trades and global funding risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    6. Nicole Boyson & Jean Helwege & Jan Jindra, 2014. "Crises, Liquidity Shocks, and Fire Sales at Commercial Banks," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 43(4), pages 857-884, December.
    7. Tobias Adrian & Hyun Song Shin, 2008. "Financial intermediaries, financial stability and monetary policy," Proceedings - Economic Policy Symposium - Jackson Hole, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, pages 287-334.
    8. Cakici, Nusret & Zaremba, Adam, 2022. "Salience theory and the cross-section of stock returns: International and further evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 689-725.
    9. John Geanakoplos & Lasse Heje Pedersen, 2012. "Monitoring Leverage," NBER Chapters, in: Risk Topography: Systemic Risk and Macro Modeling, pages 113-127, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Serge Darolles & Jeremy Dudek & Gaëlle Le Fol, 2014. "Liquidity risk and contagion for liquid funds," Post-Print hal-01632776, HAL.
    11. Strobl, Günter, 2022. "A theory of procyclical market liquidity," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    12. Denis Gromb & Dimitri Vayanos, 2018. "The Dynamics of Financially Constrained Arbitrage," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 73(4), pages 1713-1750, August.
    13. Schüler, Yves S. & Hiebert, Paul P. & Peltonen, Tuomas A., 2020. "Financial cycles: Characterisation and real-time measurement," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    14. Karlis, Alexandros & Galanis, Girogos & Terovitis, Spyridon & Turner, Matthew, 2017. "Heterogeneity and Clustering of Defaults," Economic Research Papers 270011, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    15. Khandokar Istiak & Apostolos Serletis, 2017. "Monetary policy and leverage shocks," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 115-128, April.
    16. Bruno Biais & Florian Heider & Marie Hoerova, 2021. "Variation Margins, Fire Sales, and Information-constrained Optimality [Leverage, Moral Hazard, and Liquidity]," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 88(6), pages 2654-2686.
    17. Kim, Daehwan & Iwasawa, Seiichiro, 2017. "Hot money and cross-section of stock returns during the global financial crisis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 8-22.
    18. Langfield, Sam & Liu, Zijun & Ota, Tomohiro, 2014. "Mapping the UK interbank system," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 288-303.
    19. Serge Darolles & Jeremy Dudek & Gaëlle Le Fol, 2012. "Liquidity Contagion. The Emerging Sovereign Debt Markets example," Post-Print hal-01632803, HAL.
    20. Andrei Shleifer & Robert Vishny, 2011. "Fire Sales in Finance and Macroeconomics," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 25(1), pages 29-48, Winter.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bfr:bullbf:2021:235:01. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Michael brassart (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/bdfgvfr.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.