Restructuring and Forgiveness in Financial Crises C: The Swedish Banking Crisis of 1990-1994

Yale Program On Financial Stability Case Study 2015-4C-V2

16 Pages Posted: 28 Jan 2016

See all articles by Christian McNamara

Christian McNamara

Yale University - Yale Program on Financial Stability

Lars Thunell

World Bank - International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Andrew Metrick

Yale School of Management; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Yale University - Yale Program on Financial Stability

Date Written: July 15, 2015

Abstract

In the Spring of 1992 the Swedish government faced a dilemma. The country was in the midst of an economic downturn stemming from the collapse of asset prices (especially in real estate) that had spiked as a result of a credit boom that followed the deregulation of the Swedish banking system in the mid-1980s. Initially the impact of the downturn on the country’s banks had seemed to be limited to a small number of specific firms that the government moved to assist on an ad hoc basis in 1991. However, evidence was mounting that the banking crisis was reaching a systemic level.

Guided by such principles as the need for broad political consensus, prompt action, transparency, and the imposition of strict conditions including shareholder losses in exchange for support, the Swedish government crafted a response centered around a blanket guarantee of all bank liabilities, an immediate recognition of all bank losses, support for banks that was based on each bank’s specific financial condition and prospects, and the use of asset management companies to resolve the troubled assets of struggling banks. This approach, coupled with an improving economy, helped restore the Swedish banking system to profitability by 1995. While the fact that the Swedish banking sector of the early 1990s was much less complex than most major financial systems today cautions against drawing any firm conclusion about the appropriateness of deploying specific Swedish policy responses in new crises, the various principles that guided the Swedish response could well be of interest in addressing future systemic events.

JEL Classification: G01, G28

Suggested Citation

McNamara, Christian and Thunell, Lars and Metrick, Andrew, Restructuring and Forgiveness in Financial Crises C: The Swedish Banking Crisis of 1990-1994 (July 15, 2015). Yale Program On Financial Stability Case Study 2015-4C-V2, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2723501 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2723501

Christian McNamara (Contact Author)

Yale University - Yale Program on Financial Stability ( email )

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Lars Thunell

World Bank - International Finance Corporation (IFC) ( email )

2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
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Andrew Metrick

Yale School of Management ( email )

165 Whitney Avenue
New Haven, CT 06511
United States
(203)-432-3069 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://faculty.som.yale.edu/andrewmetrick/

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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Cambridge, MA 02138
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Yale University - Yale Program on Financial Stability

165 Whitney Avenue
P.O. Box 208200
New Haven, CT 06520-8200
United States

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