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Rating agency actions and the pricing of debt and equity of European banks: What can we infer about private sector monitoring of bank soundness?

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Author Info
Reint Gropp () (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, Postfach 16 03 19, 60066 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.)
Anthony J. Richards () (Reserve Bank of Australia - Economic Research, GPO Box 3947, Sydney 2001 NSW, Australia.)

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Abstract

The recent consultative papers by the Basel Committee suggest an explicit role for external rating agencies in the assessment of the credit risk of banks’ assets. In this context, an assessment of the information contained in credit ratings is important. We address this issue via an event study of rating change announcements by leading international rating agencies, focussing on a sample of European banks. We find no evidence of announcement effects on bond prices. We are largely able to exclude lack of liquidity as an explanation for this puzzling result and suggest some alternatives, such as "too-big-to-fail." For equity prices, we find strong effects of unexpected ratings changes and confirm prior evidence that stock prices may react very differently to ratings downgrades, depending on the underlying reason. Overall, our results suggest that ratings agencies may perform a useful role in summarising and obtaining non-public information on banks, at least for stockholders. JEL Classification: G21; G14; G18.

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Paper provided by European Central Bank in its series Working Paper Series with number 076.

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Length: 36 pages
Date of creation: Aug 2001
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Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20010076

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Related research
Keywords: bond ratings; event study; banks; abnormal returns.;

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Allen N. Berger & Sally M. Davies & Mark J. Flannery, 2000. "Comparing market and supervisory assessments of bank performance: who knows what when?," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, pages 641-670.
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  2. Reint Gropp & Jukka M. Vesala, 2001. "Deposit insurance and moral hazard: does the counterfactual matter?," Working Paper Series 47, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Calomiris, Charles W., 1999. "Building an incentive-compatible safety net," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(10), pages 1499-1519, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Altman, Edward I. & Saunders, Anthony, 2001. "An analysis and critique of the BIS proposal on capital adequacy and ratings," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 25-46, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Hand, John R M & Holthausen, Robert W & Leftwich, Richard W, 1992. " The Effect of Bond Rating Agency Announcements on Bond and Stock Prices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(2), pages 733-52, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. A. Craig MacKinlay, 1997. "Event Studies in Economics and Finance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 13-39, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Asquith, Paul & Mullins, David Jr., 1986. "Equity issues and offering dilution," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1-2), pages 61-89. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Pinches, George E & Singleton, J Clay, 1978. "The Adjustment of Stock Prices to Bond Rating Changes," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 33(1), pages 29-44, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Katerina Simons & Stephen Cross, 1991. "Do capital markets predict problems in large commercial banks?," New England Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, issue May, pages 51-56.
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Adam Creighton & Luke Gower, 2004. "The Impact of Rating Changes in Australian Financial Markets," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2004-02, Reserve Bank of Australia. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Thierry Tressel & Enrica Detragiache & Asli Demirgüç-Kunt, 2006. "Banking on the Principles: Compliance with Basel Core Principles and Bank Soundness," IMF Working Papers 06/242, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Roman Kraeussl, 2003. "Do Credit Rating Agencies Add to the Dynamics of Emerging Market Crises?," CFS Working Paper Series 2003/18, Center for Financial Studies. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Reint Gropp & Gerard Moerman, 2003. "Measurement of contagion in banks’ equity prices," Working Paper Series 297, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  5. John Krainer & Jose A. Lopez, 2004. "Using securities market information for bank supervisory monitoring," Working Papers in Applied Economic Theory 2004-05, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. [Downloadable!]
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  6. Caprio, Gerard & Honohan, Patrick, 2004. "Can the unsophisticated market provide discipline?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3364, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  7. Reint Gropp & Jukka Vesala & Giuseppe Vulpes, 2002. "Equity and bond market signals as leading indicators of bank fragility," Conference Series ; [Proceedings], Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Reint Gropp & Vesala Jukka & Giuseppe Vulpes, 2004. "Market Indicators, Bank Fragility, and Indirect Market Discipline," Finance 0411015, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Hege, Ulrich & Feess, Eberhard, 2007. "Basel II and the Value of Bank Differentiation," Les Cahiers de Recherche 879, HEC Paris. [Downloadable!]
  10. John Krainer & Jose A. Lopez, 2003. "How might financial market information be used for supervisory purposes?," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, pages 29-45. [Downloadable!]
  11. Roman Kraeussl, 2003. "Do Changes in Sovereign Credit Ratings Contribute to Financial Contagion in Emerging Market Crises?," CFS Working Paper Series 2003/22, Center for Financial Studies. [Downloadable!]
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  12. Eberhard Feess & Ulrich Hege, 2004. "The Basel II Accord: Internal Ratings and Bank Differentiation," CFS Working Paper Series 2004/25, Center for Financial Studies. [Downloadable!]
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