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Bank intermediation activity in a low‐interest‐rate environment
Author(s) -
Brei Michael,
Borio Claudio,
Gambacorta Leonardo
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
economic notes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.274
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1468-0300
pISSN - 0391-5026
DOI - 10.1111/ecno.12164
Subject(s) - intermediation , interest rate , loan , financial intermediary , business , monetary economics , financial system , interest rate derivative , asset (computer security) , economics , finance , computer security , computer science
This paper investigates how a 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.