IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jfsres/v64y2023i2d10.1007_s10693-023-00417-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Window Dressing and the Designation of Global Systemically Important Banks

Author

Listed:
  • Luis Garcia

    (European Banking Authority)

  • Ulf Lewrick

    (Bank for International Settlements
    University of Basel)

  • Taja Sečnik

    (European Securities and Markets Authority)

Abstract

We study how banks’ year-end window dressing affects the identification of global systemically important banks (G-SIBs) and their capital requirements. Some G-SIBs reduce their balance sheet at year-end, especially their derivative books and intra-financial system exposures, to an extent that they can reduce their requirements or avoid G-SIB designation. While window-dressing G-SIBs benefit from lower funding costs during normal conditions, they face tighter funding constraints and increased systemic risk during stress episodes. Supervisory judgement is thus crucial in assessing G-SIBs, and greater use of average as opposed to point-in-time data in regulation is recommended to mitigate window dressing incentives.

Suggested Citation

  • Luis Garcia & Ulf Lewrick & Taja Sečnik, 2023. "Window Dressing and the Designation of Global Systemically Important Banks," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 64(2), pages 231-264, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jfsres:v:64:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s10693-023-00417-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10693-023-00417-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10693-023-00417-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10693-023-00417-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Reint Gropp & Thomas Mosk & Steven Ongena & Carlo Wix, 2019. "Banks Response to Higher Capital Requirements: Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 32(1), pages 266-299.
    2. Aldasoro, Iñaki & Ehlers, Torsten & Eren, Egemen, 2022. "Global banks, dollar funding, and regulation," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    3. Benjamin Munyan, 2015. "Regulatory Arbitrage in the Repo Market," Working Papers 15-22, Office of Financial Research, US Department of the Treasury.
    4. Markus Behn & Giacomo Mangiante & Laura Parisi & Michael Wedow, 2022. "Behind the Scenes of the Beauty Contest—Window Dressing and the G-SIB Framework," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 18(5), pages 1-42, December.
    5. Fields, Thomas D. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Vincent, Linda, 2001. "Empirical research on accounting choice," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 255-307, September.
    6. Henri Fraisse & Mathias Lé & David Thesmar, 2020. "The Real Effects of Bank Capital Requirements," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(1), pages 5-23, January.
    7. Favara, Giovanni & Ivanov, Ivan & Rezende, Marcelo, 2021. "GSIB surcharges and bank lending: Evidence from US corporate loan data," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(3), pages 1426-1443.
    8. Duan, Yuejiao & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Li, Haoran & Li, Xinming, 2021. "Bank systemic risk around COVID-19: A cross-country analysis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    9. Viral Acharya & Robert Engle & Matthew Richardson, 2012. "Capital Shortfall: A New Approach to Ranking and Regulating Systemic Risks," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(3), pages 59-64, May.
    10. Vladimir Kotomin & Drew Winters, 2006. "Quarter-End Effects in Banks: Preferred Habitat or Window Dressing?," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 29(1), pages 61-82, February.
    11. Jihad Dagher & Giovanni Dell'Ariccia & Luc Laeven & Massimo Lev Ratnovski & Massimo Hui Tong, 2020. "Bank Capital: A Seawall Approach," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 16(2), pages 249-291, March.
    12. Aurélien Violon & Dominique Durant & Oana Toader, 2020. "The Impact of the Designation of Global Systemically Important Banks on Their Business Model," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 16(5), pages 95-142, October.
    13. Bongini, Paola & Nieri, Laura & Pelagatti, Matteo, 2015. "The importance of being systemically important financial institutions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 562-574.
    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. Luis Garcia & Ulf Lewrick & Taja Sečnik, 2021. "Is window dressing by banks systemically important?," BIS Working Papers 960, Bank for International Settlements.
    2. Behn, Markus & Schramm, Alexander, 2021. "The impact of G-SIB identification on bank lending: Evidence from syndicated loans," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    3. Jose M. Berrospide & Arun Gupta & Matthew P. Seay, 2021. "Un-used Bank Capital Buffers and Credit Supply Shocks at SMEs during the Pandemic," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2021-043, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    4. Retselisitsoe I. Thamae & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2022. "The impact of bank regulation on bank lending: a review of international literature," Journal of Banking Regulation, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(4), pages 405-418, December.
    5. van Horen, Neeltje & Kotidis, Antonios, 2018. "Repo market functioning: The role of capital regulation," CEPR Discussion Papers 13090, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Favara, Giovanni & Ivanov, Ivan & Rezende, Marcelo, 2021. "GSIB surcharges and bank lending: Evidence from US corporate loan data," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(3), pages 1426-1443.
    7. Gündüz, Yalin, 2020. "The market impact of systemic risk capital surcharges," Discussion Papers 09/2020, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    8. Goel, Tirupam & Lewrick, Ulf & Mathur, Aakriti, 2021. "Does regulation only bite the less profitable? Evidence from the too-big-to-fail reforms," Bank of England working papers 946, Bank of England.
    9. Brausewetter, Lars & Ludolph, Melina, 2023. "Distributional income effects of banking regulation in Europe," IWH Discussion Papers 24/2023, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    10. Nina Boyarchenko & Giovanni Favara & Moritz Schularick, 2022. "Financial Stability Considerations for Monetary Policy: Empirical Evidence and Challenges," Staff Reports 1003, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    11. Homma, Yasutake & Suzuki, Katsushi, 2023. "TLAC bonds and bank risk-taking," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    12. Mayu Kikuchi & Alfred Wong & Jiayue Zhang, 2019. "Risk of window dressing: quarter-end spikes in the Japanese yen Libor-OIS spread," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 149-166, December.
    13. Matteo Benetton, 2021. "Leverage Regulation and Market Structure: A Structural Model of the U.K. Mortgage Market," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(6), pages 2997-3053, December.
    14. Ambrocio, Gene & Hasan, Iftekhar & Jokivuolle, Esa & Ristolainen, Kim, 2020. "Are bank capital requirements optimally set? Evidence from researchers’ views," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    15. Martynova, Natalya & Vogel, Ursula, 2022. "Banks’ complexity-risk nexus and the role of regulation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    16. Elif C. Arbatli-Saxegaard & Ragnar E. Juelsrud, 2020. "Countercyclical capital requirement reductions, state dependence and macroeconomic outcomes," Working Paper 2020/9, Norges Bank.
    17. Berger, Allen N. & Molyneux, Phil & Wilson, John O.S., 2020. "Banks and the real economy: An assessment of the research," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    18. Björn Imbierowicz & Jonas Kragh & Jesper Rangvid, 2018. "Time‐Varying Capital Requirements and Disclosure Rules: Effects on Capitalization and Lending Decisions," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 50(4), pages 573-602, June.
    19. David Glancy & Robert Kurtzman, 2022. "How Do Capital Requirements Affect Loan Rates? Evidence from High Volatility Commercial Real Estate," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 11(1), pages 88-127.
    20. Chiara Pederzoli & Costanza Torricelli, 2017. "Systemic risk measures and macroprudential stress tests: an assessment over the 2014 EBA exercise," Annals of Finance, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 237-251, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Systemically important bank; Systemic risks; Regulatory arbitrage; Financial stability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation

    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:kap:jfsres:v:64:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s10693-023-00417-3. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.