Bank Credit Lines Research Articles

Debt capacity, cash holdings and financial constraints

AbstractIn this study, we explore the relationship among debt capacity, cash holdings and financial constraints by using the deviation in leverage as a proxy for debt capacity. Our findings show a positive relationship between cash holdings and debt capacity. Furthermore, financially constrained firms benefit more from holding cash that leads to larger increases in debt capacity and easier access to bank loans and credit lines by reducing the heterogeneous beliefs of creditors. Our results indicate that cash holdings complement debt capacity for financially constrained firms.

Experience and Firms’ Financing Behavior: A Behavioral Perspective

Abstract Using multinomial logit methodology for financing application decisions for bank loans, credit lines and trade credits, we show that firms’ financial behavior is driven by their lagged experience. Moreover, the optimism and pessimism of firms (animal spirit) is another important determinant. Our results stress the importance of the behavioral perspective to corporate finance. The policy of quantitative easing of the ECB had only weak effects on the access to banking loans, while it was significantly correlated with lower internal funding. Our results have possible implications to understand the behavioral dynamics of corporate financing structure the in the post pandemic period.

Pirates without borders: The propagation of cyberattacks through firms’ supply chains

This paper examines the supply chain effects of the most damaging cyberattack in history so far. The attack propagated from the directly hit firms to their customers, causing a four-fold amplification of the initial drop in profits. These losses were larger for affected customers with fewer alternative suppliers. Internal liquidity buffers and increased borrowing, mainly through bank credit lines, helped firms navigate the shock. Nonetheless, the cyberattack led to persistent adjustments to the supply chain network, with affected customers terminating trading relations with directly hit firms and forming new ones with alternative suppliers with a stronger cybersecurity posture.

Bank Lines of Credit as a Source of Long-Term Finance

AbstractHand-collecting credit line drawdowns that firms classify as long-term debt, we first document how long-term drawdowns rise with high investment needs or weak external capital market conditions. Nearly all drawdown proceeds finance long-term investment, including M&A activity. Unrated and lower-rated firms rely more on long-term drawdowns than high or very poorly rated firms. We further find that credit lines have tighter covenants than terms loans. Drawdowns are repaid fairly quickly and often refinanced with other long-term debt. Our findings support the monitored liquidity insurance theory of credit lines and highlight that long-term drawdowns act as a valuable bridge financing mechanism.

Economic Policy Uncertainty and Corporate Bank Credits: Evidence from China

ABSTRACT This paper studies the relationship between economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and corporate bank credits for Chinese listed companies. We find that high EPU reduce the corporate bank credits. The negative association is less obvious in state-owned companies, that is, SOEs have a higher capacity to resist uncertainty than non-SOEs. Further research indicates that the positive effect of state-owned status on bank credit lines during times of rising EPU is stronger among companies facing more severe financing constraints.

Credit line pricing under heterogeneous risk beliefs

We develop a model of a firm with multistage investment options and a bank providing a commitment for financing using a credit line. We analyze differences in beliefs between equity holders and the bank about the risk of assets and show that unfavourable beliefs by the bank reduce credit line capacity and lead to underinvestment. Constraints on alternative sources of financing cause firms to heavily rely on bank credit lines even when facing unfavourable beliefs by the bank about the risk of assets. Higher loan commitment fees, charged by the bank on the unused portion of the credit line, result in an acceleration of initial investment but may reduce follow-on investment and use of the credit line. Our analysis examines the optimal choice between accelerated versus sequential investment and provides predictions on the optimal drawdown of the credit line used to finance staged investments.

Weathering Cash Flow Shocks

Unexpectedly severe winter weather, which is arguably exogenous to firm and bank fundamentals, represents a significant cash flow shock for bank-borrowing firms. Firms respond to these shocks by drawing on and increasing the size of their credit lines. Banks charge borrowers for this liquidity via increased interest rates and less borrower-friendly loan provisions. Credit line adjustments occur within one calendar quarter of the shock and persist for at least nine months. Overall, we provide evidence that bank credit lines are an important tool for managing the non-fundamental component of cash flow volatility, especially for solvent small bank borrowers.

Weathering Cash Flow Shocks

ABSTRACTUnexpectedly severe winter weather, which is arguably exogenous to firm and bank fundamentals, represents a significant cash flow shock for bank‐borrowing firms. Firms respond to these shocks by drawing on and increasing the size of their credit lines. Banks charge borrowers for this liquidity via increased interest rates and less borrower‐friendly loan provisions. Credit line adjustments occur within one calendar quarter of the shock and persist for at least nine months. Overall, we provide evidence that bank credit lines are an important tool for managing the nonfundamental component of cash flow volatility, especially for solvent, small bank borrowers.

Credit Lines and the Liquidity Insurance Channel

AbstractWe suggest a new mechanism—the liquidity insurance channel—based on the widespread reliance of high credit quality firms on bank credit lines for liquidity management. Our model matches the patterns of usage of loans and credit lines in the cross‐section of firms and defines the conditions under which shocks to bank health affect primarily low or high credit quality firms. Our framework can explain why credit line origination is more cyclical than loan origination. Overall, we uncover a novel interaction between bank health and economic activity through the provision of bank credit lines to high credit quality firms.

Customer risk and the choice between cash and bank credit lines

I use a matched buyer–supplier sample of U.S. industrial firms to investigate the impact of customer risk on suppliers' choice between cash and credit lines. I show that customer risk decreases the reliance on bank-managed liquidity insurance relative to cash. I also find evidence indicating that firms actively shy away from credit lines in response to customer risk to maximize the future availability of their liquidity reserves. Consistently, my findings suggest that high-customer-risk firms are particularly more likely to be subject to (stricter) borrowing base provisions, which tie the value of a credit line to that of some eligible collateral (notably accounts receivable). I also find that steeper credit line spreads alone cannot explain firms' response to customer risk. These results highlight how customer–supplier relationships affect the precautionary demand for liquidity, and significantly shape corporate financial decisions.

Bank Borrowings by Asset Managers Evidence from U.S. Open-End Mutual Funds and Exchange-Traded Funds

In this note, we look into investment funds' access to and usage of bank credit, based on a new dataset on credit line (and other types of loan) extension by top bank holding companies to open-end mutual funds and ETFs in the United States. We find that the aggregate amount of bank lending to open-end funds and ETFs was small and greatly fluctuated across time. Bank credit, particularly in the form of credit lines, has offered funds a flexible liquidity source from which they can draw down cash in times of excessive fund outflows, such as during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. In particular, funds that hold relatively more illiquid assets, such as bank loan funds, are more reliant on bank credit lines.

Liquidity Management During the Covid‐19 Pandemic*

With the help of the United States Government and committed funding from bank credit lines, the United States corporate sector responded to the Covid‐19 cash flow shock by issuing long‐term debt to increase cash holdings. I use a case study, evidence from recent research, and a theoretical model to explain the logic behind the changes in corporate financial policy that happened during 2020, and to discuss the importance of United States Government policies to support the market for long‐term debt. I also point to open research questions about liquidity management, in particular questions that were highlighted by how companies reacted to the Covid‐19 pandemic.

Liquidity Management During the COVID-19 Pandemic

With the help of the US government and committed funding from bank credit lines, the US corporate sector responded to the COVID-19 cash flow shock by issuing long-term debt to increase cash holdings. I use a case study, evidence from recent research and a theoretical model to explain the logic behind the changes in corporate financial policy that happened during 2020, and to discuss the importance of US government policies to support the market for long-term debt. I also point out to open research questions about liquidity management, in particular questions that were highlighted by how companies reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Debt Structure

We review the literature on debt structure, which is a central element in a firm's capital structure. We first survey both theoretical and empirical research pertaining to debt characteristics—maturity and priority—and debt types—bank loans, corporate bonds, credit lines, commercial paper, and capital leases. We then present comprehensive empirical evidence on public US firms’ debt structure over the period 2002–2018, highlighting that more than three-quarters of US firms concentrate their borrowing in one debt type, and offer some suggestive explanations for the observed pattern. Finally, we discuss directions for future research, including a better understanding of debt structure choices by non-US firms and by private firms, the cross-sectional and temporal variations in debt structure, the corporate policy implications of firms’ debt structure choices, and the interaction between types of assets and debt structure.

Crowding Out Bank Loans: Liquidity-Driven Bond Issuance

Using corporate balance sheets data following the COVID-19 shock, we provide evidence that the bond market is central to firms' access to liquidity, crowding out bank loans even when the crisis did not originate in the banking sector. Contrary to good times, bond issuers increased holdings of liquid assets rather than real investment. Moreover, many issuers left their bank credit lines untouched, while others used bond proceeds to repay existing bank loans. This liquidity-driven bond issuance suggests that the V-shaped recovery of bond markets, propelled by the Federal Reserve, is unlikely to lead to a V-shaped recovery in real activity.

How Does Competitive Strategy Influence the Complementary Between Trade Credit and Bank Credit

As the main sources of financing, the optimal allocation between trade credit and bank lines of credit is crucial for the long-term development of enterprises. Based on Chinese A-share listed companies from 2000 to 2017, this paper examines the complementary relationship between trade credit and bank credit. Furthermore, comparing with cost leadership strategy, higher degree of differentiation strategy can enhance the bargaining power of suppliers by differentiated products and diversifying risks, so as to strength the complementary relationship between trade credit and bank credit. By employing a new method of natural language processing and deep learning to identify firm strategy from textual annual financial report, this article enriches the research of trade credit and bank credit, and is instructive for companies to make reasonable financing decisions based on their strategic characteristics.

SMEs debt financing in the EU: on the eve of the coronacrisis

SMEs are the main drivers of economic development. As the debt crisis and coronavirus crisis show, despite their importance, they are extremely sensitive to economic downturns. Therefore, SMEs need to be supported through various tools. The paper is aimed at evaluating the SMEs’ bank and governmental support in the northern and southern EU countries in two crisis periods and assessing the financial state of SMEs on the eve of coronacrisis using micro-level data. It was proved that bank loans and credit lines remain the main sources of SMEs’ financing. After the debt crisis, banks are becoming more loyal to SMEs.It was proved that SMEs from the northern EU countries suffered less from the previous crisis and therefore started their recovery earlier than the southern ones in terms of profitability, liquidity and debt burden. In addition, it was shown that both groups on the eve of the new turbulence period were in better financial state compared to the previous debt crisis. The southern EU countries suffered more from both crises. At the same time, due to effective governmental support and bank loyalty, their SMEs entered the coronacrisis at the same level of financial stability as the northern ones. Since the new support measures are concentrated primarily in the banking sector through loan guarantee schemes and reduced interest rates, it is essential to provide debt financing to high-quality borrowers and avoid the debt crisis in southern counties.

The Risk of Being a Fallen Angel and the Corporate Dash for Cash in the Midst of COVID

Data on firm-loan-level daily credit line drawdowns in the United States reveals a corporate “dash for cash” induced by COVID-19. In the first phase of extreme precaution and heightened aggregate risk, all firms drew down bank credit lines and raised cash levels. In the second phase following the adoption of stabilization policies, only the highest-rated firms switched to capital markets to raise cash. Consistent with the risk of becoming a fallen angel, the lowest-quality BBB-rated firms behaved more similarly to non-investment grade firms. The observed corporate behavior reveals the significant impact of credit risk on corporate cash holdings.

The Risk of Being a Fallen Angel and the Corporate Dash for Cash in the Midst of COVID

Data on firm-loan-level daily credit line drawdowns in the United States expose a corporate “dash for cash” induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first phase of the crisis, which was characterized by extreme precaution and heightened aggregate risk, all firms drew down bank credit lines and raised cash levels. In the second phase, which followed the adoption of stabilization policies, only the highest-rated firms switched to capital markets to raise cash. Consistent with the risk of becoming a fallen angel, the lowest-quality BBB-rated firms behaved more similarly to non-investment grade firms. The observed corporate behavior reveals the significant impact of credit risk on corporate cash holdings.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Your Radiology Practice: Case Triage, Staffing Strategies, and Addressing Revenue Concerns.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Your Radiology Practice: Case Triage, Staffing Strategies, and Addressing Revenue Concerns.