Bank of America, nothing complex, it’s noblesse oblige!

What surprised me this week about the capital calculation cock-up of Bank of America Meryll Linch were the reactions of the press. The financial press responded to this gaffe by highlighting the difficulties of calculating capital. Reuters, for example wrote: “The announcement illustrates how difficult it is to determine appropriate capital levels for the biggest banks.” Capital… Read More Bank of America, nothing complex, it’s noblesse oblige!

Do Regulatory Bank Capital Adjustments actually work?

This recent social science research network paper (A primer on regulatory bank capital adjustments) examines regulatory adjustments. These are adjustments that banks apply to book equity to calculate Tier 1 regulatory capital. The paper, relying on U.S. data, documents a decreasing relation between regulatory adjustments and bank solvency. Specifically, low solvency banks benefit from regulatory… Read More Do Regulatory Bank Capital Adjustments actually work?