Credit rating, banks' capital structure and speed of adjustment: A cross-country analysis

Michal Wojewodzki, Agyenim Boateng and Sanjukta Brahma

Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, 2020, vol. 69, issue C

Abstract: Recent studies examining the effects of a credit rating on firms’ capital structure and adjustment of capital structure to target have focused predominantly on non-financial firms, with virtually no attention given to financial institutions. Using an international sample of 391 rated banks from 76 countries, this study examines the effects of credit ratings on the capital structure of banks. We find that, on average, banks near a credit rating upgrade have a higher capital to assets ratio compared to banks not near a rating upgrade. Most systematically important “too-big-to-fail” banks near a credit rating upgrade tend to have lower capital relative to assets than the rest of the banks in our sample. Furthermore, banks downgraded from an investment-grade rating to a speculative-grade rating, on average, hold 1 (3) percentage points less capital relative to assets in the short (long) run. Contrary to studies based on non-financial firms, our results show that credit ratings have relatively little economic effect on the speed at which banks’ capital is adjusted. Our results suggest that while rating agencies exert influences on banks’ capital structure, they are fewer in number and tend to be weaker, compared to those documented in non-financial firms.

Keywords: Bank ratings; Capital ratio; Speed of adjustment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G21 G24 G28 G32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:intfin:v:69:y:2020:i:c:s104244312030144x

DOI: 10.1016/j.intfin.2020.101260

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