Alejandro García

Policy Advisor

Financial Stability
Strategic Leadership and Support

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Staff Discussion Papers

Market Expectations and Option Prices: Evidence for the Can$/US$ Exchange Rate

Staff Discussion Paper 2010-2 Alejandro García, Andrei Prokopiw
Security prices contain valuable information that can be used to make a wide variety of economic decisions. To extract this information, a model is required that relates market prices to the desired information, and that ideally can be implemented using timely and low-cost methods.
Content Type(s): Staff Research, Staff Discussion Papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Exchange rates, Financial markets JEL Code(s): C, C0, C00, C02, G, G1, G13

Measures of Aggregate Credit Conditions and Their Potential Use by Central Banks

Staff Discussion Paper 2009-12 Alejandro García, Andrei Prokopiw
Understanding the nature of credit risk has important implications for financial stability. Since authorities – notably, central banks – focus on risks that have systemic implications, it is crucial to develop ways to measure these risks.
Content Type(s): Staff Research, Staff Discussion Papers Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial markets, Financial stability JEL Code(s): G, G1, G10, G12, G13

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Staff Working Papers

Managing Adverse Dependence for Portfolios of Collateral in Financial Infrastructures

Staff Working Paper 2007-25 Alejandro García, Ramazan Gençay
We propose a framework that allows a portfolio manager to quantify the probability of simultaneous losses in multiple assets of a collateral portfolio. Using this framework, we propose a methodology to conduct stress tests on the market value of the portfolio of collateral when undesirable extreme dependence occurs.
Content Type(s): Staff Research, Staff Working Papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Financial markets, Financial stability JEL Code(s): C, C1, C10, G, G0, G00, G1, G10

Risk-Cost Frontier and Collateral Valuation in Securities Settlement Systems for Extreme Market Events

Staff Working Paper 2006-17 Alejandro García, Ramazan Gençay
The authors examine how the use of extreme value theory yields collateral requirements that are robust to extreme fluctuations in the market price of the asset used as collateral.
Content Type(s): Staff Research, Staff Working Papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Financial stability, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): C, C1, G, G0, G1

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Bank Publications

Bank of Canada Review Article

May 19, 2011

Central Bank Collateral Policy: Insights from Recent Experience

Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2011 Lorie Zorn, Alejandro García
The collateral policy of central banks played a critical role during the recent financial crisis, as they worked to bolster liquidity and alleviate the funding pressures facing financial institutions. This article examines central bank collateral policy and discusses three areas in which central banks can use their collateral policy to influence financial market practices: promoting greater transparency for securitized products, improving practices related to credit risk, and reducing procyclicality in the management of market risk.
Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review Article Topic(s): Financial markets, Financial stability, Payment clearing and settlement systems
September 11, 2009

Understanding Corporate Bond Spreads Using Credit Default Swaps

Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2009 Alejandro García, Jun Yang
Corporate bond spreads worldwide have widened markedly since the beginning of the credit crisis in 2007. This article examines default and liquidity risk–the main components of the corporate bond spread–for Canadian firms that issue bonds in the U.S. market, focusing in particular on their evolution during the credit crisis. They find that, during this period, the liquidity component increased more for speculative-grade bonds than it did for investment-grade bonds, consistent with a "flight-to-quality" phenomenon. An important implication of their results for policy-makers seeking to address problems in credit markets is that the liquidity risk in corporate spreads for investment and speculative bonds behaves differently than the default risk, especially during crisis episodes.
Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review Article Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Financial markets, Financial stability

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Financial System Review Article