Is COVID-19 a Threat to Financial Stability in Europe?
25 Pages Posted: 26 Jun 2020
There are 2 versions of this paper
Is COVID-19 a Threat to Financial Stability in Europe?
Is COVID-19 a Threat to Financial Stability in Europe?
Date Written: June 23, 2020
Abstract
The severe economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic could threaten financial stability. However, assessing the gravity of this threat is challenging, since banks’ accounting-based loan loss provisions are sluggish. We use a Merton contingent claims model to provide a real-time, market valuation-based assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on euro area banks’ corporate loan portfolios. We calibrate the model based on observed stock price responses and use different scenarios for future volatility and incurred losses in case of default. Based on stock prices as of April 20, 2020, we estimate that the market-implied losses for euro area banks could reach over €1 trillion, or 4 to 25% of corporate credits’ book value (7 to 43% of available capital and reserves). Our analysis can be viewed as an early warning indicator of potential accounting losses to follow.
Keywords: Financial stability, bank capital, COVID-19, stress test
JEL Classification: G01, G21, G28
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
