European Banking Union Research Articles

Is there a common path for the integration of European Union banking systems?

The main objective of this research article is to explore hypothesis about the integration of the banking systems in European Union (EU). Increasing the European Union member states degree of convergence and integration is one of the major challenges faced by the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The empirical analysis is based on the non-linear time-varying coefficients factor model designed by Phillips and Sul for the sample period 2007–2017. Our results indicate the rejection of the convergence hypothesis for EU banking systems. Additionally, our empirical findings reveal that there are significant differences in how European banks assess the non-financial sector and the households sector. During the period 2011–2013, which is a period coinciding with the most severe episodes of the sovereign debt crisis, the dispersion between trajectories increases, involving a segmentation of interest rates, and this leads to the conclusion that the integration of EU banking systems has been negatively influenced by the sovereign debt crisis. The results of the empirical study also suggested that for most clusters, the convergence speed is relative, which does not lead to an absolute integration in the long run.

Determinants of the non-Performing Loan Ratio in the European Union Banking Sectors with a High Level of Impaired Loans

In the article an attempt is made to identify the quality of credit exposure determinants of banks in European Union countries that were characterized by a high level of impaired loans at the end of 2017 (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Portugal). Using the static panel-based approach the non-performing loan (NPL) determinants for the period from 2011 to 2017 were analyzed. The results showed that the high level of NPLs can be explained mainly by both macroeconomic and microeconomic factors. In particular, it has been shown that in the surveyed countries supervisory authorities should pay special attention to smaller banks with high dynamics of new loans and a low return on assets due to the fact that these entities are characterized by a higher NPL ratio. A higher level of NPL is also affected by a high concentration of the banking sector and higher interest rates on newly granted loans. As a result of research it was also shown that the majority of NPL determinants are the same in all types of banks, regardless of the business model and the scope of banking supervision. The differences were noticeable in characteristics regarding the housing market as well as the profitability of operations and lending dynamics of the analyzed entities.

The Value of Information: The Impact of European Union Bank Stress Tests on Stock Markets

We tested whether the 2010, 2011 and 2014 European Union bank stress tests produced useful and real information to the market. Using an augmented capital asset pricing model, we analyzed the impact of the information disclosures on each stress test (announcement, methodology and results events) on the stock market returns and risk of banks. Our approach allows an integrated analysis, as a sample of 41 banks that participated in all three stress tests was used. The most significant event was the methodology disclosure, in terms of its impact on risk and returns. In contrast, the results events did not have much impact in the stock market when considering the entire sample of banks. On the other hand, after dividing the sample of banks into two groups (those that passed the 2014 European Union stress test vs. those that failed), we observed a significant reaction of the stock markets in both groups. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that stress tests provide real and valuable information to the markets about the banking system. A significant part of that information is conveyed by announcement and methodology events.

Board diversity reforms: Do they matter for EU bank performance?

AbstractWe examine the impact of governance reforms related to board diversity on the performance of European Union banks. Using a difference‐in‐difference approach, we document that reforms increase bank stock returns and their volatility within the first 3 years after their enactment. The type of reform matters, with quotas increasing return volatility. The effectiveness of reforms depends on a country's institutional environment. The impact of reforms on return volatility is found to be beneficial in countries more open to diversity, with common law system and with greater economic freedom. Finally, reforms play a bigger role in banks that have ex ante less heterogeneous boards.

ACTORS OF THE INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS OF THE EUROPEAN BANKING SECTOR IN RESPONSE TO THE CRISIS

W opracowaniu przedstawiono głównych europejskich decydentów reform sektora bankowego w odpowiedzi na współczesny, globalny kryzys finansowy. Dokonano również oceny wprowadzonych zmian instytucjonalnych, w tym stworzenia europejskiej unii bankowej, modyfikacji w unijnych systemach gwarantowania depozytów oraz istotnego zwiększenia roli banków centralnych, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem Europejskiego Banku Centralnego. Ponadto zidentyfikowano potencjalne źródła kolejnego kryzysu finansowego oraz zaprezentowano propozycję dalszych zmian instytucjonalnych w sferze finansów.

Explaining Germany’s Position on European Banking Union

Much has been written about European banking union and Germany’s role in shaping it. Missing, however, is a comprehensive explanation for Germany's contradictory positions on banking union: German policymakers gambled on a single supervisory mechanism, and a single resolution mechanism yet drew the line on European-wide deposit insurance. We explain Germany’s mixed positions on banking union by drawing on prospect theory and theories of policy salience.

Towards a full harmonization of the European banking regulation: Dilemmas in a legal discourse between regulation and enforcement

With the birth of the Single Supervisory Mechanism came the emergence of a new regime of supervision of the banking industry in the Eurozone. The allocation of enforcement powers between the European Central Bank and the National Competent Authorities is the corollary of the unified supervision, which reverberates from the Single Supervisory Mechanism, and it is ultimately the main theme of this contribution. More specifically, the architecture of the enforcement, principally shaped by the SSM and its principles and rules, is assessed and analysed in this paper against the background of the general theory of enforcement, as developed in the legal literature. The enforcement discourse in the European Union banking sector is debated alongside its interaction with the related aspects of the regulation and supervision and the way these three notions have been integrated and codified in the European Union after the 2011 sovereign debt crisis.

The interplay between mandatory country-by-country reporting, geographic segment reporting, and tax havens: Evidence from the European Union

We investigate whether mandatory public country-by-country reporting (CBCR) by European Union (EU) banks affects geographic segment reporting. We find no significant change in the reported number of geographic segments, country segments, or line items per geographic segment disclosed in segment reporting notes after the introduction of CBCR. Consistent with the notion that EU banks may aggregate geographic segments to obfuscate tax haven activities, we find a positive association between tax haven intensity and geographic segment aggregation. Further, we document the location of banks’ operations and the extent of their economic presence in tax havens. We find that EU banks report significantly higher profit margins, turnover per employee, and profit per employee, and lower book effective tax rates for operations located in tax havens, relative to non-tax havens. Our evidence suggests that mandatory public CBCR has limited impact on geographic segment reporting. Nevertheless, CBCR provides additional information to better identify the existence and scale of tax haven involvement. Our results should be informative for EU policymakers currently considering the expansion of public CBCR to all industries. They might also be relevant to researchers considering the decision usefulness of CBCR for financial statement users in estimating after-tax profitability and tax enforcement risk.

Has European monetary union influenced the European Union bank lending flows to the EU countries from Central and Eastern Europe?

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to modify the gravity model to identify the main determinants of the European Union (EU) bank lending to the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries during 1994-2012.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses both two-stage least squares and dynamic generalized method of moments to estimate the modified gravity model.FindingsThis study finds that the CEE countries with more developed stock markets have received the higher EU bank lending inflows. The EU banks have greater access to additional financing in the stock markets. Second, the higher stock market difference between the CEE and EU countries has boosted the EU bank lending. Compared to the developed EU stock markets, the less developed CEE stock markets have become more favorable to the EU banks seeking to earn higher profits.Research limitations/implicationsThe CEE countries can further boost the EU bank lending inflows through deepening capital liberalization. They should facilitate easy foreign bank entry by reducing excessive bank legislations and regulations. Moreover, they can promote the EU bank lending through substantial EU bank integration. This can accelerate the major bank reform which would facilitate better bank supervision and regulations.Originality/valueMost previous studies have primarily used the macroeconomic and institutional factors to explain the EU bank lending. In contrast, this study explores the growing importance of the CEE financial development and bilateral trade in explaining the EU bank lending.

Death in Veneto? European Banking Union and the Structural Power of Large Banks

We argue that the evolving preferences and power resources of large cross-border banks help explain the crucial political moves to European banking union. As they became larger and more European, the relative dependence of these banks on national regulators declined even as the dependence of states on these banks increased – resulting in a net rise in the structural power of large banks. These banks benefited from the supranationalization of supervision through reduced compliance costs and the effective opening of European markets. The political divergence in the interests of large international banks and small national ones eventually caused the German and the French governments’ change of position in intergovernmental bargaining. Once in place, banking union accelerated balance sheet consolidation to the benefit of large banks that took over their weaker competitors.

A study on single supervisory mechanism and single resolution mechanism of european banking union

Banking union is the most important policy initiative to advance Euro-area integration since monetary union started in 1999. It involves the transfer of authority over banking policy from the national level to a pan-European institution level. A significant milestone in the process of building a more robust and resilient banking system in Europe completed through the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), led by the European Central Bank (ECB) in November 2014 And the Single Resolution Board (SRB), launched in January 2015. This article analyses structure of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) of the European Banking Union. The Banking Union represents an unprecedented transfer of sovereignty from participating Member States to an EU institution for conducting banking supervision and for delegating authority to an EU agency to have responsibility for the preparation, implementation and funding of a European bank resolution regime. The article examines the SSM in the Lisbon Treaty and considers whether the European Central Bank's (ECB) strong form of independence is appropriate for its role as a bank supervisor, and whether its limited powers to take macro-prudential regulatory and supervisory measures are adequate to ensure banking sector stability. The article further argues that the SRM provides an important institutional step to build a more effective European banking Union.

Financial Integration in Europe Through the Lens of Composite Indicators

This paper develops composite indicators of financial integration within the euro area for both price-based and quantity-based indicators covering money, bond, equity and banking markets. Prior to aggregation, individual integration indicators are harmonised by applying the probability integral transform. We find that financial integration in Europe increased steadily between 1995 and 2007. The subprime mortgage crisis marked a turning point, bringing about a marked drop in both composite indicators. This fragmentation trend reversed when the European banking union and the ECB's Outright Monetary Transactions Programme were announced in 2012, with financial integration recovering more strongly when measured by price-based indicators. In a growth regression framework, we find that higher financial integration tends to be associated with an increase in per capita real GDP growth in euro area countries. This correlation is found to be stronger the higher a country's growth opportunities. JEL Classification: F36, F43, F45, G01, G15

Financial Integration in Europe Through the Lens of Composite Indicators

This paper develops composite indicators of financial integration within the euro area for both price-based and quantity-based indicators covering money, bond, equity and banking markets. Prior to aggregation, individual integration indicators are harmonised by applying the probability integral transform. We find that financial integration in Europe increased steadily between 1995 and 2007. The subprime mortgage crisis marked a turning point, bringing about a marked drop in both composite indicators. This fragmentation trend reversed when the European banking union and the ECB's Outright Monetary Transactions Programme were announced in 2012, with financial integration recovering more strongly when measured by price-based indicators. In a growth regression framework, we find that higher financial integration can be associated with an increase in per capita real GDP growth in euro area countries. In times of high financial stress, however, such a positive correlation between financial integration and growth seems to break down.

National versus supranational bank regulation: Gains and losses of joining a banking union

We ask how the structure of international banking affects the decision of a national regulator to join a banking union and to transfer regulatory powers to the supranational level. The focus is on bank supervision and bank resolution. A national regulator ignores possible gains or losses, which accrue to other jurisdictions if banks are internationally active. A supranational regulator takes these regulatory external effects into account. While supranational regulation improves total welfare, this is not necessarily the case for welfare in single countries. By analyzing the size and determinants of spillover effects we show how they constrain a country’s willingness to participate in a banking union. Our results may explain why some member states of the European Union currently hesitate to join the European Banking Union.

Reconciling contradictory forces: financial inclusion of refugees and know-your-customer regulations

Providing access to financial services for asylum seekers and refugees is made difficult by know-your-customer financial regulations adopted as part of efforts to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing activities. Difficulties in identifying asylum seekers and refugees further complicate the urgent necessity of opening simple bank accounts, which is a crucial step towards integration. We review certain financial inclusion initiatives and assess European Union banking regulations from the perspective of offering financial services to asylum seekers and refugees. We conduct a novel survey of banks in the European Union to shed light on banks’ attitudes to the financial integration of refugees, their assessment of the relevant banking regulations and possible public–private partnerships to improve the financial integration process. We conclude that the solution to the financial inclusion problem is not to ease regulation, but to tailor it to the specific needs of refugees, while offering clear guidelines to banks and improving refugee identification. We make several recommendations, including the issuance of a European identification document to each refugee and the development of a pan-European registry of refugees.

Measuring the Implementation of the FSB Key Attributes of Effective Resolution Regimes for Financial Institutions in the European Union

There are lingering concerns about the health of European banks and extensive market commentary about whether post-crisis regulatory reforms in Europe have adequately addressed these concerns. In June 2012, European policymakers released the broad outlines of a proposal for a "European banking union" to strengthen the banking sector and help assuage concerns of investors and depositors, however, uncertainty remains regarding how the new EU bank resolution regime, the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD), will work in practice. This paper addresses whether the BRRD has fulfilled the requirements of the FSB Key Attributes for Resolution Regimes, which many take to be the gold standard bank resolution framework. We find that the BRRD diverges from the FSB Key Attributes or allows variation at the Member State level in multiple areas. The majority of these variations point to slight inconsistencies with the FSB recommendations. That said, some variations may have a larger impact than others.

The Single Supervisory Mechanism in the context of a European Banking Union under construction: bridging the Euro debt crisis with defences designed for the future

Set up in the past few years under the shadow of the Euro debt crisis, the European Banking Union (EBU) has been taking its first steps, aiming to prevent the dreaded repetition of the recent shortcomings of the several components of the European Monetary Union (EMU). By revisiting some specific events that led to the Euro crisis, this paper seeks to provide some insights on the understanding of the set-up of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), in the context of the broader conjunction of the several instruments put forward to provide the EBU with the resilience to prevent future crises. The text provides a brief background of the events that triggered the need for setting up the EBU, followed by an overview of its different constitutive elements and, finally, a critical analysis of the most prominent aspects of the SSM.

Stock price effects of bank rating announcements: An application to European Union countries

AbstractThis paper uses daily stock prices data surrounding credit rating announcement dates to examine abnormal returns of stocks of the European Union banks experiencing debt rating announcements, during the period 2004–2015. The results of the event studies suggest that rating agencies, by issuing downgrades and upgrades, provide relevant information to capital markets. The results also indicate that rating agencies contribute to enhance the transparency and efficiency in capital markets by standardizing information for all investors. The large positive preupgrade returns we observe are consistent with the view that upgrades are of most interest to market investors. There is no significant evidence of abnormal returns on announcements of rating watches.

The impact of corporate governance mechanisms on EU banks’ income smoothing behavior

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the impact that governance mechanisms have on European Union ‘banks income smoothing behavior.Design methodology/approachThe authors examine the impact that corporate governance mechanisms included in European Commissions’ proposals regarding the improvement of corporate governance mechanisms (Green Paper) have upon European Union banks’ accounting policy decisions regarding the level of loan loss provisions (LLPs). In addition, the authors examine whether banks’ capital structure operates as an effective internal corporate governance practice. The authors investigate the association between certain corporate governance characteristics and the level of LLPs for a sample of 98 banks from 23 European Union countries for the period of 2010-2013, in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. To test the hypotheses, a multivariate regression model is run. Similar to previous research, the authors use ordinary least squares analysis to test the results.FindingsEmpirical findings provide evidence that there is a positive association between LLPs and accounting income, implying the existence of an income-smoothing pattern of provisions. In addition, the results suggest that banks managers’ decision to smooth income may differ with regard to the board structure, the level of leverage and the provision of disclosure for remuneration for chief executive officer.Originality/valueThe findings of this study contribute to the existing literature concerning banks’ income smoothing behavior. These findings can be useful to regulators, as the authors provide some evidence regarding the effectiveness of the European Union corporate governance framework.

Do more cards and terminals guarantee higher efficiency? The case of European Union banking

Do more cards and terminals guarantee higher efficiency? The case of European Union banking