Financial Innovation and Bank Behavior: Evidence from Credit Markets
36 Pages Posted: 6 Apr 2011 Last revised: 24 Aug 2012
Date Written: December 23, 2011
Abstract
This paper investigates whether, and through which channel, the active use of credit derivatives changes bank behavior in the credit market, and how this channel was affected by the crisis of 2007-2009. Our principal finding is that banks with larger gross positions in credit derivatives charge significantly lower corporate loan spreads, while banks' net positions are not related to loan pricing. We argue that this is consistent with banks passing on risk management benefits to corporate borrowers but not with alternative channels through which credit derivative use may affect loan pricing. We also find that the magnitude of the risk management effect remained unchanged during the crisis period of 2007-2009. In addition, banks with larger gross positions in credit derivatives cut their lending by less than other banks during the crisis and have consistently lower loan charge-offs. In sum, our study is suggestive of significant risk management benefits from financial innovations that persist under adverse conditions -- that is, when they matter most.
Keywords: Financial innovations, credit derivatives, syndicated loans, loan pricing, financial crisis
JEL Classification: G21, G32, G01
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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