Liquidity regulations and bank behavior: An emerging markets perspective

Abstract

The 2007 to 2009 global financial crisis significantly affected the funding structures of banks, especially internationally active ones (Gambacorta, Schiaffi, & Van Rixtel, 2017). This paper examines the impact of liquidity regulations, in particular, the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR), on funding structures of commercial banks operating in emerging markets over the period 2011 to 2016. Similar to Behn, Daminato, and Salleo (2019) who developed a dynamic partial equilibrium model to examine capital and liquidity adjustments, this paper develops three dynamic error component adjustment models and estimates them using the two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator to analyze funding adjustments adopted by banks in emerging markets in response to the LCR requirement. The results revealed that banks in emerging markets responded to binding liquidity regulations by increasing deposit, equity as well as long-term funding. In terms of the magnitude of response, deposit funding was found to be more responsive to the LCR rule while the elasticity of equity and long-term funding to the LCR specification was found to be weak. The weak response of equity and long-term funding to liquidity standards was attributed to low levels of capital market development in emerging markets (Bonner, van Lelyveld, & Zymek, 2015). By and large, the results suggest that Basel III liquidity regulations have been effective in persuading banks in emerging market economies to fund their business activities with stable funding instruments. Based on this evidence, the study supports the adoption of Basel III liquidity regulations in emerging markets. Moreover, policymakers in emerging market economies should monitor competition for retail deposits to safeguard the benefits of the LCR rule and pay more attention to developing capital markets.