Dollar Funding and the Lending Behavior of Global Banks

46 Pages Posted: 6 Nov 2012 Last revised: 15 Feb 2018

See all articles by Victoria Ivashina

Victoria Ivashina

Harvard University; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

David S. Scharfstein

Harvard Business School - Finance Unit; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Jeremy C. Stein

Harvard University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: October 31, 2012

Abstract

A large share of dollar-denominated lending is done by non-U.S. banks, particularly European banks. We present a model in which such banks cut dollar lending more than euro lending in response to a shock to their credit quality. Because these banks rely on wholesale dollar funding, while raising more of their euro funding through insured retail deposits, the shock leads to a greater withdrawal of dollar funding. Banks can borrow in euros and swap into dollars to make up for the dollar shortfall, but this may lead to violations of covered interest parity (CIP) when there is limited capital to take the other side of the swap trade. In this case, synthetic dollar borrowing becomes expensive, which causes cuts in dollar lending. We test the model in the context of the Eurozone sovereign crisis, which escalated in the second half of 2011 and resulted in U.S. money-market funds sharply reducing the funding provided to European banks. Coincident with the contraction in dollar funding, there were significant violations of euro-dollar CIP. Moreover, dollar lending by Eurozone banks fell relative to their euro lending in both the U.S. and Europe; this was not the case for U.S. global banks. Finally, European banks that were more reliant on money funds experienced bigger declines in dollar lending.

Keywords: Banks, Global Banks, Credit Supply, Dollar Funding

JEL Classification: E51, G20, G21

Suggested Citation

Ivashina, Victoria and Scharfstein, David S. and Stein, Jeremy C., Dollar Funding and the Lending Behavior of Global Banks (October 31, 2012). Quarterly Journal of Economics, 130 (3), 1241-1281, 2015, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2171265 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2171265

Victoria Ivashina (Contact Author)

Harvard University ( email )

Harvard Business School
Baker Library 233
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United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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David S. Scharfstein

Harvard Business School - Finance Unit ( email )

Boston, MA 02163
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HOME PAGE: http://www.people.hbs.edu/dscharfstein/

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Jeremy C. Stein

Harvard University - Department of Economics ( email )

Littauer Center
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United States
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617-496-7352 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://post.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/stein/stein.html

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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