EU新規加盟国における多国籍銀行の現地化と為替相場政策

Abstract

In the aftermath of the Lehman Brothers’ fall, not only the leading countries of the EU but also the new member states (NMS) were facing challenges from economic recession. During the crisis, because of the strong financial inter-linkage relationships among the European Countries, there was concern whether the western European nations would be infected by the financial crisis occurring in some of the NMS. However, even the Baltic countries, which were the most severely affected by the crisis, did not plunge into the situation as did some of the East Asian countries which had experienced a similar crisis in 1997. The aim of this paper is to examine that why the policies implemented by the NMS succeeded in overcoming the crisis. The author particularly verifies the characteristics of the banking sectors in the NMS and the policy responses of euro-pegged countries both before and during the crisis. The data that are referenced in this paper are from the BIS, multinational bank statistics, Eurostat, and national central banks. On the aspect of the banking sectors, it should be the noted that the liquidity of local subsidiaries was preserved. Since the 1990s, some multinational banks which are called “common lenders” had expanded into the NMS and became those countries’ major banks. At the same time, on the background of the EU’s integration, these banks had also provided retail banking services over a long term. Furthermore, on the basis of the Vienna Initiative, the foreign parent banks, the authorities of home-host countries, and the international financial institutions had participated in multiple lending during the crisis. On the aspect of policy responses, what is important is that the fixed exchange rate system was maintained. Depending on the implementation of internal economic adjustments, such as reduction in wages and fiscal restraint, the international competitiveness of exports was restored external debt was also kept at a steady level. In the near future, it is necessary to examine whether the dominant oligopoly of multinational banks will maintain the stability and robustness of the banking sectors and the within the area of NMS. At least, from the case of the current crisis, it is obvious that the dominant oligopoly of multinational banks can avoid rapid and massive capital outflows, and the contagion of crisis.