Cleaning-up Bank Balance Sheets


Book Description

To stabilize and bring down nonperforming loans (NPLs) in the Italian banking system, the Italian authorities have been implementing a number of reforms, aimed among others at speeding up insolvency and enforcement proceedings, strengthening bank corporate governance, cleaning up balance sheets, and facilitating bank consolidation. This paper examines the Italian banking system’s NPL problem, which ties up capital, weighing on bank profitability and authorities’ economic reforms. It argues for a comprehensive approach, encompassing economic, supervisory, and legal measures. The authorities’ reforms are important steps toward this end. The paper describes measures that could further support their actions.




Profitability and Balance Sheet Repair of Italian Banks


Book Description

The profitability of Italian banks depends, among other factors, on the strength of the ongoing economic recovery, the stance of monetary policy, and the beneficial effects of current and past reforms, notably to address structural obstacles to resolving nonperforming loans (NPLs) and to foster banking sector consolidation. Improved profitability would enable banks to raise capital buffers and accelerate the cleanup of their balance sheets. This paper investigates quantitatively the current and prospective earnings capacity of Italian banks. A bottom-up analysis of the 15 largest Italian banks suggests that the system is on the whole profitable, but that there is significant heterogeneity across banks. Many banks should become more profitable as the economy recovers, but their capacity to lend depends on the size of their capital buffers. However, a number of smaller banks face profitability pressures, even under favorable assumptions. There is thus a need to push ahead decisively on cleaning up balance sheets, including through cost cutting and efficiency gains.







How to Read a Balance Sheet


Book Description




Financial Development and Economic Growth


Book Description

The most successful economies have the best working financial markets. While causation obviously runs in both directions, current research has increasingly emphasized the role of finance in promoting growth. Here seven leading financial economists explore the links between financial development and growth. The book seeks to answer the question of the role of finance in promoting sustainable growth and in the reduction of poverty, for example via micro-financial institutions.




OECD Economic Outlook, Volume 2014 Issue 1


Book Description

The OECD Economic Outlook is the OECD's twice-yearly analysis of the major economic trends and prospects for the next two years. A special chapter covers growth prospects and fiscal requirments over the long term.




EU Competition Law and the Financial Services Sector


Book Description

Competition law is a complex and constantly evolving area of law which affects every aspect of the market economy, including the financial services sector. This book is a comprehensive and practical guide to the application of the EU competition rules to banking and insurance industries. This book is divided into two parts: the first part explores the application of Articles 101, 102 and 107 TFEU to the insurance industry. Emphasis is placed on recent changes which have progressively eroded the block exemption regime that traditionally benefited the insurance industry. In the second part of the book, focus is on the application of the Articles of TFEU to the banking industry, with specific reference to card payment systems, which give rise to some of the most intricate antitrust issues in the financial services sector. Relevant Commission decisions and European Court of Justice case law are discussed and suggestions are made for an alternative regulatory framework through comparative analysis of US regulations. This book will be an invaluable reference point for legal practitioners specialising in EU Competition law, as well as postgraduate students and academic researchers working in competition law and the financial services sector.




Portugal


Book Description

This paper discusses that the average investment growth needed for Portugal was to achieve the 2-percent and 2.5-percent real GDP growth in the medium term. It is likely that the growth rate of investment must significantly exceed the projected 4.9 percent in order to achieve the GDP growth path envisaged in the 2017 Stability Program. Specifically, per staff estimates, investment needs to grow at around 8.5 percent per year in case the TFP growth remains at -0.26 percent. The challenges confronting Portuguese banks were discussed in the 2016 Article IV staff report, which highlighted low profitability and weak asset quality as key concerns. The regulatory environment has exerted positive pressure insofar as the review of business models has now become an integral part of the supervisory agenda, especially for Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM)-supervised banks. Pursuant to the Capital Requirements Directive IV (CRD-IV), banks’ business models are considered in the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP) performed by the supervisory authorities not only to determine capital and liquidity requirements but also to assess banks’ recovery plans.




Euro Area Policies


Book Description

This staff paper on euro area policy 2013 Article IV Consultation discusses economic development and policies. Severe market stresses have subsided, although private borrowing costs have remained too high in the periphery. In these economies, sovereign borrowing costs have declined from unsustainable levels. This has led to slightly lower private borrowing costs, spurring bond issuance among some banks, and firms. Capital flight has gradually eased, bank deposits have stabilized, and Target 2 imbalances have narrowed. This has contributed to some early repayment of official liquidity support by stronger banks, though largely from core countries. Still, periphery bank risks are significantly higher than in the core.




Research Handbook on International Financial Regulation


Book Description

The globalisation of financial markets has attracted much academic and policymaking commentary in recent years, especially with the growing number of banking and financial crises and the current credit crisis that has threatened the stability of the global financial system. This major new Research Handbook sets out to address some of the fundamental issues in financial regulation from a comparative and international perspective and to identify some of the main research themes and approaches that combine economic, legal and institutional analysis of financial markets. Specially commissioned contributions represent diverse viewpoints on the financial regulation debate and cover a number of new and controversial topics not yet adequately addressed in the literature. Specifically, these include; financial innovation particularly in the context of the credit risk transfer market, securitization and the systemic importance of the over-the-counter trading markets; the institutional structure of international financial regulation; and risk management and corporate governance of financial institutions. This Handbook will provide a unique and fully up-to-date resource for all those with an interest in this critical issue including academic researchers in finance and regulation, practitioners working in the industry and those involved with regulation and policy.