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Regulatory Forbearance in the U.S. Insurance Industry: The Effects of Removing Capital Requirements for an Asset Class

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  • Bo Becker
  • Marcus M Opp
  • Farzad Saidi

Abstract

We analyze the effects of a reform of capital regulation for U.S. insurance companies in 2009. The reform eliminates capital buffers against unexpected losses associated with portfolio holdings of MBS, but not for other fixed-income assets. After the reform, insurance companies are much more likely to retain downgraded MBS compared to other downgraded assets. This pattern is more pronounced for financially constrained insurers. Exploiting discontinuities in the reform’s implementation, we can identify the relevance of the capital requirements channel. We also document that the insurance industry crowds outs other investors in the new issuance of (high-yield) MBS.Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online.

Suggested Citation

  • Bo Becker & Marcus M Opp & Farzad Saidi, 2022. "Regulatory Forbearance in the U.S. Insurance Industry: The Effects of Removing Capital Requirements for an Asset Class," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 35(12), pages 5438-5482.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:rfinst:v:35:y:2022:i:12:p:5438-5482.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/rfs/hhab102
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Lee, Eugenia Y. & Kim, Young Jun & Lee, Sangyoon, 2023. "Fair value information and regulatory capital management using financial asset reclassification by Korean insurers," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    2. Mary Chen & Seung Jung Lee & Daniel Neuhann & Farzad Saidi, 2023. "Less Bank Regulation, More Non-Bank Lending," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2023-026, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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