International Banking and Cross-Border Effects of Regulation: Lessons from Mexico

Following the methodological specification provided by the International Banking Research Network (IBRN), a panel data model was estimated using bank-level data to assess the inward cross-border spillover effects in Mexico of prudential policies implemented in other jurisdictions. Two specifications were tested, the cross-border spillover effects of prudential policies implemented in counterparty jurisdictions and those in the home countries. It was shown that when home countries of global banks with foreign affiliates operating in Mexico implement prudential policies, there can be a significant impact in such affiliates. In particular, increasing capital requirements in the United States have a negative and significant impact on bank lending growth in Mexico. However, the specification assessing the average effects of prudential policies of counterparty jurisdictions yields results that are not significant or not robust to changes in the specification, which makes them harder to interpret.