Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/110372 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Citation: 
[Journal:] DIW Economic Bulletin [ISSN:] 2192-7219 [Volume:] 5 [Issue:] 20 [Publisher:] Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW) [Place:] Berlin [Year:] 2015 [Pages:] 269-279
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
In the wake of the European debt crisis, it has become clear that government bonds may actually be a risky form of investment. The Basel Committee and the Bundesbank have therefore opened an intense debate as to whether banks investing in EU government bonds should be subject to regulatory capital requirements in the future. Currently, banks do not need equity capital when investing in sovereign bonds. Waiving this exemption privilege would result in an additional Tier 1-capital requirement of 3.34 billion euros for the German banks studied here. This represents just under 1.8 percent of available Tier 1-capital. For French banks, the calculated capital requirement is 3.52 billion euros (a good 1.2 percent), while Swedish banks have a requirement of an additional 80.6 million euros (0.14 percent). Raising these funds is not likely to cause any major problems for banks in these countries. It is an entirely different matter for Greek banks, however. The capital requirement in Greece is relatively high at almost 1.8 billion euros or almost nine percent of existing Tier 1-capital. Despite its modest impact on the leverage on banks' balance sheets, a regulatory obligation to finance investments in EU government bonds with some equity capital would be very welcome. The ratio of equity to total assets would improve, at least slightly, and the reform would probably loosen up the close link between bank risks and sovereign debt in the longer term. Both would help achieving a more stable financial system within Europe.
Subjects: 
bank regulation
bank stress test 2014
JEL: 
G18
H63
F34
G21
Document Type: 
Article

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