Bank Intermediation Activity in a Low Interest Rate Environment
31 Pages Posted: 9 Sep 2019
There are 2 versions of this paper
Bank Intermediation Activity in a Low Interest Rate Environment
Bank Intermediation Activity in a Low Interest Rate Environment
Date Written: August 30, 2019
Abstract
This paper investigates how the prolonged period of low interest rates affects bank intermediation activity. We use data for 113 large international banks headquartered in 14 major advanced economies during the period 1994-2015. We find that low interest rates induce banks to shift their activities from interest-generating to fee-related and trading activities. This rebalancing is stronger for low capitalised banks.Banks also moderately adjust their funding structure, away from short-term market funding towards deposits. We observe a concomitant decline in the risk-weighted asset ratio and a reduction in loan-loss provisions, which is consistent with signs of evergreening.
Keywords: monetary policy, bank business models, financial crisis
JEL Classification: C53, E43, E52, G21
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation