Abstract
The international transmission of shocks in the global financial system has always been an important issue for policy makers. Different types of foreign shocks have different effects and policy implications. In this paper, we examine the effects of the recent U.S. financial crisis and the European sovereign debt crisis on foreign bank branches in Hong Kong. Unlike the literature on global banking that studies a global bank’s foreign operations from a home country perspective, our analysis uses foreign bank branches in Hong Kong and has a distinct host country perspective, which is more relevant to the host country policy makers. We find that global banks use their foreign branches in Hong Kong as a funding source during a liquidity crunch in the home country, suggesting that global banks manage their liquidity risk globally. After the central bank in the home country introduced a liquidity facility to relieve funding pressure, this effect disappeared. We also find strong evidence that foreign branches of banks in the crisis countries lend significantly less in Hong Kong relative to a control group, suggesting the presence of a lending channel in the transmission of shocks from the home country to the host country.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.