Anticipating changes in bank capital buffer requirements Staff analytical note 2025-27 Josef Schroth Time-varying capital buffer requirements are a powerful tool that allow bank regulators to avoid severe financial stress without the cost of imposing very high levels of capital. However, this tool is only effective if banks understand how it is used. I present a model that banks and financial market participants can use to anticipate how time-varying capital buffer requirements change over time. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): E, E1, E13, E3, E32, E4, E44 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Financial institutions and intermediation, Financial system regulation and oversight
Do Firms’ Sales Expectations Hit the Mark? Evidence from the Business Leaders’ Pulse Staff discussion paper 2025-15 Owen Gaboury, Farrukh Suvankulov, Mathieu Utting We analyze Canadian data from the Bank of Canada’s Business Leaders’ Pulse, examining firms’ sales growth expectations. We find that expected growth predicts outcomes, uncertainty influences forecast errors and revisions, and firms with weak past performance anticipate and experience weaker future growth. These results highlight the survey’s value for understanding business expectations. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers JEL Code(s): C, C8, C83, D, D2, D22 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission, Real economy and forecasting
AI Agents for Cash Management in Payment Systems Staff working paper 2025-35 Iñaki Aldasoro, Ajit Desai Can artificial intelligence (AI) think and act like a cash manager? In this paper we explore how generative AI agents can help manage liquidity, prioritize payments and optimize efficiency in real-time gross settlement systems. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): A, A1, A12, C, C7, D, D8, D83, E, E4, E42, E5, E58 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Financial system regulation and oversight, Money and payments, Digital assets and fintech, Payment and financial market infrastructures, Structural challenges, Digitalization and productivity
Transaction Costs, the Value of Convenience, and the Cross-Section of Safe Asset Returns Staff working paper 2025-34 Ragnar Juelsrud, Plamen Nenov, Fabienne Schneider, Olav Syrstad We study the cross-section of equilibrium returns on safe assets using a tractable asset pricing model with a micro-founded demand for liquidity and multiple safe assets with heterogeneous transaction costs. We test the main predictions of our theory using a novel measure of relative (in)convenience yields in the US Treasury market. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E4, E44, G, G1, G12 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market functioning, Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk, Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission
The Dealer-to-Client Repo Market: A Buoy on a Swaying Sea Staff discussion paper 2025-14 Greg Adams, Evan Dudley, Jean-Sébastien Fontaine, Sofia Tchamova, Andreas Uthemann In 2024, the Canadian Overnight Repo Rate Average (CORRA) rose 7 basis points above the Bank of Canada’s target overnight rate as settlement balances declined and hedge fund borrowing increased by $30 billion, straining dealers’ balance sheets. Exercising market power, dealers raised rates, and as client activity grew, these higher rates increasingly influenced CORRAs deviation from target. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers JEL Code(s): D, D4, D5, D53, E, E4, E43, E44, E5, E52, G, G1, G12 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market functioning, Market structure, Financial system, Financial institutions and intermediation, Monetary policy, Monetary policy tools and implementation
Perceived interconnections between Canadian banks and non-bank financial intermediaries under stress Staff analytical note 2025-26 Javier Ojea Ferreiro I study the links between Canadian banks and non-bank financial intermediaries (NBFIs) by observing co-movements in stock prices. Perceived interconnections increased before the COVID-19 pandemic but have since stabilized, with the strongest ties seen between large banks and NBFIs. The secured credit line extended to Home Trust, a non-bank mortgage lender that experienced severe funding stress in 2017, significantly reduced banks' risk exposure to NBFIs during this episode. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): C, C5, C58, G, G0, G01, G2, G21, G23, G3, G32 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Financial institutions and intermediation, Financial stability and systemic risk
Money Talks: How Foreign and Domestic Monetary Policy Communications Move Financial Markets Staff working paper 2025-33 Rodrigo Sekkel, Henry Stern, Xu Zhang We construct a dataset on Federal Reserve and Bank of Canada non-rate announcement events to provide novel insights into how foreign and domestic monetary policy communications affect the financial markets of open economies. We find that Fed non-rate communications have a stronger impact on long-term interest rates and stock futures, while Bank of Canada communications are relatively more important for short-term interest rates and the exchange rate. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, F, F3, F31, G, G1, G15 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market functioning, Monetary policy, Monetary policy tools and implementation, Structural challenges, International trade, finance and competitiveness
A Market-Based Approach to Reverse Stress Testing the Financial System Staff working paper 2025-32 Javier Ojea Ferreiro This article examines what market conditions lead to extreme losses in global financial systems. Using a reverse stress testing approach, it introduces two measures of systemic risk by starting from the tail losses and working backward to identify the events most closely associated with them. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): C, C0, C02, C3, C32, C5, C58, G, G2, G21 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market functioning, Financial system, Financial institutions and intermediation, Financial stability and systemic risk
Uncovering Subjective Models from Survey Expectations Staff working paper 2025-31 Chenyu Hou, Tao Wang This paper shows that survey expectations can be used to uncover how households subjectively think about inflation and unemployment dynamics jointly. The commonly documented "stagflation view", namely the households' tendency to associate inflation with a worse labor market, implies amplified impacts of supply shocks and dampened ones of demand shocks. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): D, D8, D84, E, E2, E21, E3, E30, E32, E7, E71 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods, Economic models, Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Real economy and forecasting
Non-homothetic Preferences and the Demand Channel of Inflation Staff working paper 2025-30 Stephen Murchison An alternative to the standard CES aggregator, based on non-homothetic household preferences, is proposed. Specifically, the elasticity of substitution between goods declines during periods of strong per-capita consumption and vice versa, giving firms an incentive to adjust their desired markup in response to the state of demand. Empirical evidence favouring a direct role for per-capita consumption demand in inflation determination for Canada is presented. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E2, E27, E5, E52, Q, Q4, Q43, Q5, Q58 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures