The Side Effects of Shadow Banking on Liquidity Provision

Abstract

Shadow banks had a negligible presence in the US corporate loan market in the 1990s, but by 2016 they funded about 45% of the outstanding corporate term loans. Consistent with banking theories on liquidity provision, shadow banks remained absent from the credit line business. Nonetheless, they had a negative impact on the liquidity insurance provided by credit lines. The arrival of shadow banks increased competition in the term loan business and triggered a substitution of traditional term loans that amortize linearly with bullet loans that are paid at maturity. These changes led to the exit of banks, in particular those with lower risk appetite, not only from term loans but also from credit lines that are part of the deals containing those term loans. As a result, credit line syndicates have become more concentrated and funded by riskier banks, thereby, reducing the liquidity insurance they offer to corporations.

Keywords: shadow banks, term loan and credit line deals

JEL Classification: G21