Alper Kara

Large Debt Financing: Syndicated Loans versus Corporate Bonds

Following the introduction of the euro, the markets for large debt financing experienced a historical expansion. We investigate the financial factors behind the issuance of syndicated loans for an extensive sample of euro area non-financial corporations. For the first time, we compare these factors to those of its major competitor: the corporate bond market. We find that large firms, with greater financial leverage, more (verifiable) profits and higher liquidation values tend to choose syndicated loans. In contrast, firms with more short-term debt and those perceived by markets as having more growth opportunities favour financing through corporate bonds. Syndicated loans are the preferred instrument at the extreme where firms are very large, profitable but have less growth opportunities.

Securitization and Lending Standards: Evidence from the Wholesale Loan Market

We investigate the effect of securitization activity on banks’ lending standards using evidence from pricing behavior on the syndicated loan market. We find that banks more active at originating asset-backed securities are also more aggressive on their loan pricing practices. This suggests that securitization activity lead to laxer credit standards. Macroeconomic factors also play a large role explaining the impact of securitization activity on bank lending standards: banks more active in the securitization markets loosened more aggressively their lending standards in the run up to the recent financial crisis but also tightened more strongly during the crisis period. As a continuum of this paper we are examining whether individual loans that are eventually securitized are priced more aggressively by using unique European data on individual loans from all major trustees.

Key factors affecting internationally active banks' decisions to participate in loan syndications

The impact of banks’ financial characteristics on their decisions to participate in loan syndications is assessed. From the analysis, it appears that poorly performing banks tend, on average, to be more involved in syndications. Policymakers should perhaps monitor more closely the concentration of credit risk associated with syndicated loans held on the books of under-performing banks.

The evolution of syndicated loan markets

This paper provides a historical perspective on the development of the global syndicated loan market, where

Access to consumer credit in the UK

2.6 trillion worth of funds were raised in 2004. The emergence of the Eurodollar market in the 1960s, the balance of payments problems of non-oil-exporting emerging countries in the 1970s, the Latin American financial crises and the US merger wave of the 1980s, and finally the competitive financial environment and the emergence of the secondary loan market during the 1990s are reviewed. These have been the most influential financial developments that shaped the syndicated loan markets in the last few decades.

Corporate Governance and Corporate Ownership: The Investment Behaviour of Japanese Institutional Investors

This paper investigates household access to consumer credit in the UK using information on 58,642 households between 2001 and 2009. Employing a treatment-effects model and propensity score matching, we find that non-white households are less likely to have financing compared to white households. We also find that even if they obtain financing, the intensity of borrowing is lower than for white households. Overall, non-white households seem to be in a weaker position to access consumer credit in the UK.

Securitisation and banking risk: what do we know so far?

In this paper, we investigate the investment behaviour of institutional investors in terms of their shareholdings in 2,938 companies listed on the Tokyo and Osaka Stock Exchanges at the end of June 2002. By doing so, we provide one of the first detailed empirical analyses of the involvement of institutional investors in the ownership structure of Japanese listed firms. At the same time, we compare this aspect of Japanese corporate governance with the shareholdings of banks in the same group of firms. Our results show that the equity investments of financial investors — institutional investors and banks — in Japanese listed companies at the end of June 2002 were predominantly in the high-tech manufacturing, traditional manufacturing and communications industries. All financial investors combined held more than 60% of the equity capital of the firms listed on the Tokyo and Osaka Stock Exchanges, with banks being the largest group of these financial investors. Further analysis shows that on average most financial investors were minority shareholders, holding up to 3% of a firm’s total shares. Domestic financial investors tended to have higher levels of ownership than foreign institutions, and small and minority shareholdings were more common among foreign financial investors than among domestic banks and institutional investors. Finally, the average shareholdings of six large Japanese financial groups in Japanese listed companies were considerable, representing an average ownership level of 3.3% of a firm’s stock. However, they were not as high as to exert a significant degree of corporate control. All in all, we conclude that as of end-June 2002, banks continued to be important shareholders of Japanese listed firms, owing around 34% of the market capitalisation of all listed firms on the Tokyo and Osaka Stock Exchanges. At the same time, institutional investors, predominantly investment firms and insurance companies, were important shareholders as well, accounting for around 27% of total market capitalisation. Moreover, we found that foreign investment funds were very important shareholders of Japanese listed firms, which confirms the general perception that foreign ownership of Japan’s corporate sector has become a rather crucial characteristic of the system of corporate governance in Japan.

Securitization and Credit Quality

Bank securitisation is deemed to have been a major contributing factor to the 2007/08 financial crises via fuelling credit growth accompanied by lower banksO credit standards. Yet, prior to the crisis a common view was that securitisation activity makes the financial system more stable as risk was more easily diversified, managed and allocated economy-wide. In this survey paper we review the extant literature to explore the so far generated knowledge on the impact of securitisation on banking risks. In particular, we examine the theoretical arguments and empirical studies on securitisation and banking risks before and after the global financial crisis of 2007/08. We identify the limitations of empirical studies and assess the comparability of findings. Theoretical literature univocally accentuate the undesirable consequences of securitisation, which may promote retention of riskier loans, undermine banksO screening and monitoring incentives and enhance banksO risk appetite. However, empirical evidence does not uniformly support the theoretical conclusions. If banks are securitisation active they lend more to risky borrowers, have less diversified portfolios and hold less capital, retain riskier loans and are aggressive in loan pricing. Others argue that securitisation reduces banks insolvency risk, increases profitability, provides liquidity and leads to greater supply of loans. Mortgage securitisation is an area where there is consistent evidence of bank risk taking via securitisation.

The Turkish Banking Sector and Regional Economic Growth

Banks are usually better informed on the loans they originate than other financial intermediaries. As a result, securitized loans might be of lower credit quality than otherwise similar non- securitized loans. We assess the effect of securitization activity on credit quality employing a uniquely detailed dataset from the euro-denominated syndicated loan market. We find that, at issuance, banks do not select and securitize loans of lower credit quality. Following securitization, however, the credit quality of borrowers whose loans are securitized deteriorates by more than those in the control group. We find tentative evidence suggesting that poorer performance by securitized loans might be linked to banks reduced monitoring incentives.

Securitization and Credit Quality in the European Market

In previous chapters we have covered the rapid development of Turkish banking, its structure, efficiency, Turkey’s financial crises and the country’s economic developments. No doubt macroeconomic instability, chronic high inflation, political conflicts and financial crises constituted an impediment to economic growth but, despite these obstacles, the Turkish economy and banking sector have grown. The total assets of the Turkish banking sector increased by around 300 per cent, from USD 60 billion to 180 billion between 1990 and 2003. In recent years, there has been an increased amount of interest in the relationship between financial development and economic growth. The issue of finance and growth has been researched globally, but different outcomes have arisen from researches. In this chapter, we aim to take the literature a step further, by linking the development of financial institutions, which are mainly represented by the banking industry, to the economic development that Turkey has experienced recently. However, unlike cross-country studies, we use provincial data to examine the relationship between financial development and economic growth in Turkey’s provinces between 1990 and 2003. First, we offer a brief review of the extensive literature on financial and economic development, then introduce our data and methodology, and later present our results with a discussion.