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Bank complexity, governance, and risk

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  • Correa, Ricardo
  • Goldberg, Linda S.

Abstract

Bank holding companies (BHCs) can be complex organizations, conducting multiple lines of business through many distinct legal entities and across a range of geographies. While such complexity raises the costs of bank resolution when organizations fail, the effect of complexity on BHCs’ broader risk profiles is less well understood. Business, geographic, and organizational complexity can engender explicit tradeoffs between the agency problems that increase risk and the diversification, liquidity management, and synergy improvements that reduce risk. The balance of outcomes may depend on the strength of bank governance. We test these conjectures using data on large U.S. BHCs for the 1996–2018 period. Business, geographic, and organizational complexity provide diversification benefits and some reduced idiosyncratic and liquidity risk exposure. All forms of complexity tend to increase BHC systemic risks. A regulatory tightening focused on complexity reduced organizational complexity, while also curtailing systemic risk but increasing liquidity risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Correa, Ricardo & Goldberg, Linda S., 2022. "Bank complexity, governance, and risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:134:y:2022:i:c:s0378426620302740
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2020.106013
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    5. Luciano, Elisa & Wihlborg, Clas, 2023. "Why are BHCs organized as parent-subsidiaries? How do they grow in value?," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    6. Martynova, Natalya & Vogel, Ursula, 2022. "Banks’ complexity-risk nexus and the role of regulation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    7. Ilyes Abidi & Mariem Nsaibi & Khaled Hussainey, 2022. "Does Ownership Structure Moderate the Relationship between Systemic Risk and Corporate Governance? Evidence from Gulf Cooperation Council Countries," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-17, May.
    8. Isabel Argimón & María Rodríguez-Moreno, 2021. "Business complexity and geographic expansion in banking," Working Papers 2132, Banco de España.
    9. Claudia M. Buch & Linda S. Goldberg, 2021. "Complexity and Riskiness of Banking Organizations: Evidence from the International Banking Research Network," Staff Reports 966, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    10. Nyola, Annick Pamen & Sauviat, Alain & Tarazi, Amine & Danisman, Gamze Ozturk, 2021. "How organizational and geographic complexity influence performance: Evidence from European banks," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    11. Minzhi Wu & Emili Tortosa-Ausina, 2020. "Bank Diversification and Focus in Disruptive Times: China, 2007–2018," Working Papers 2020/21, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).
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    13. Kudret Topyan & Chia-Jane Wang & Natalia Boliari & Carlos Elias, 2024. "Credit Risk Management and US Bank-Holding Companies: An Empirical Investigation," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-11, January.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bank complexity; Risk taking; Regulation; Too big to fail; Liquidity; Corporate governance; Agency problem; Global bank; Diversification;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • 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
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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