Heterogeneity in Bank Leverage: the Funding Channels of Complexity

Matthieu Bussi Re, Baptiste Meunier and Justine Pedrono
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Matthieu Bussière

Working papers from Banque de France

Abstract: This paper assesses the net impact of complexity on leverage, at the Bank Holding Companies (BHCs) level using unique French supervisory data from 2010 to 2017. Geographical and structural complexity introduce diversification benefits and agency problems that affect the risk of BHCs. Whether investors price this risk or not is decisive for the cost of equity and finally leverage. Our results show a negative impact of complexity on leverage. To explain this result, we then focus on the funding channels of complexity. We find that complexity goes hand in hand with additional capital surplus and increasing cost of equity. As a second major finding, our results show that the impact of complexity on leverage and the funding channels of complexity are heterogeneous across BHCs and depend on their systemic status. In fact, size, complexity and systemic status complement each other. Omitting one of these dimensions leads to misleading conclusions on bank stability.

Keywords: bank; complexity; risk; capital structure; leverage; cost of equity; funding cost; capital requirements. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F33 F36 F65 G15 G21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 36 pages
Date: 2020
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ban and nep-hme
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bfr:banfra:771

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