'When the Cat's Away the Mice Will Play': Does Regulation at Home Affect Bank Risk Taking Abroad?

60 Pages Posted: 14 Mar 2012

See all articles by Alexander A. Popov

Alexander A. Popov

European Central Bank (ECB)

Steven Ongena

University of Zurich - Department Finance; Swiss Finance Institute; KU Leuven; NTNU Business School; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Gregory F. Udell

Indiana University - Kelley School of Business - Department of Finance

Date Written: March 13, 2012

Abstract

This paper provides the first empirical evidence that bank regulation is associated with cross-border spillover effects through the lending activities of large multinational banks. We analyze business lending by 155 banks to 9613 firms in 1976 different localities across 16 countries. We find that lower barriers to entry, tighter restrictions on bank activities, and higher minimum capital requirements in domestic markets are associated with lower bank lending standards abroad. The effects are stronger when banks are less efficiently supervised at home, and are observed to exist independently from the impact of host-country regulation.

Keywords: bank regulation, cross-border financial institutions, lending standards, financial risk

JEL Classification: G21, G28, G32

Suggested Citation

Popov, Alexander A. and Ongena, Steven R. G. and Udell, Gregory F., 'When the Cat's Away the Mice Will Play': Does Regulation at Home Affect Bank Risk Taking Abroad? (March 13, 2012). AFA 2013 San Diego Meetings Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2020906 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2020906

Alexander A. Popov (Contact Author)

European Central Bank (ECB) ( email )

Sonnemannstrasse 22
Frankfurt am Main, 60314
Germany

Steven R. G. Ongena

University of Zurich - Department Finance ( email )

Schönberggasse 1
Zürich, 8001
Switzerland

Swiss Finance Institute

c/o University of Geneva
40, Bd du Pont-d'Arve
CH-1211 Geneva 4
Switzerland

KU Leuven ( email )

Oude Markt 13
Leuven, Vlaams-Brabant 3000
Belgium

NTNU Business School ( email )

Norway

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

Gregory F. Udell

Indiana University - Kelley School of Business - Department of Finance ( email )

1309 E. 10th St.
Bloomington, IN 47405
United States

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