Dissecting Foreign Bank Lending Behavior During the 2008-2009 Crisis

Abstract

This paper analyzes the lending behavior of foreign-owned banks during the recent global crisis. Using bank-level panel data for countries in Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, and Latin America, the paper explores the role of affiliate and parent financial characteristics, host location, as well as the impact of parent geographic origin and reach on foreign banks’ credit growth.

Overall, the analysis finds robust evidence that foreign banks curtailed the growth of credit relative to other banks, independent of the host region. Foreign bank affiliates from the United States reduced loan growth less than those from other regions. The lending growth of foreign affiliates does not depend on whether their parent banks are global or regional banks. However, the funding structure of foreign bank affiliates and the capitalization of parent banks do help explain the lending behavior of foreign affiliates during the global crisis. Although not the focus of the paper, it also finds that government-owned banks played a countercyclical role in all regions.

Keywords: foreign banks, financial globalization, bank lending, crisis

JEL Classification: F21, F23, F65, G21