In recent history, it looked to many as if rural financial markets would become dominated by large banks that offered relatively expensive credit to agricultural firms. However, the 1990's have seen a resurgence in smaller banks with a focus on smaller, agricultural producer loans. Moreover, small banks may be more competitive than ever with respect to interest rates. This report outlines some ...

In any country, commercial banks lay the groundwork for economic growth by collecting national resources and capitals and allocating them to different economic sectors. Optimal allocation of resources is especially important in achieving this goal. Banks with an effective and dynamic system of customer assessment can efficiently allocate their resources to customers regardless of their geograph...

Before the credit crisis that started in mid-2007, it was generally believed by top regulators that credit derivatives make banks sounder. In this paper, we investigate the validity of this view. We examine the use of credit derivatives by US bank holding companies with assets in excess of one billion dollars from 1999 to 2005. Using the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Bank Holding Company Data...

Traditionally, the literature on financial intermediation and credit channels, especially credit crunches, emphasized the relation between banks and entrepreneurs requiring credit, neglecting the funding of banks. With this paper, we want to be much more precise in this respect and study the impact of funding on credit. Indeed, regulation that has become world wide with the Basle Accord puts li...

In response to the call of the Chinese government to support low-carbon development, the issue has come to the view gradually as to whether the behaviors of banks’ green credit will contribute to easing their own credit risk. To reflect the behaviors of green credit of banks in detail, an indicator, named the carbon intensity of loans (CIL), is first proposed in this paper to measure the carbon...

Credit risk is the most important of banks’ financial risks. As far as the largest Swedish banking groups are concerned, 60 per cent of their assets consist in lending to the public. Consequently, measures for mitigating credit risk are of significant importance for banks in their risk management. During the financial crisis, credit risk in the financial system has become of focal importance fo...