October 12, 2007 Bank of Canada Workshop on Derivatives Markets in Canada and Beyond Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2007 Toni Gravelle At this 2006 workshop hosted by the Bank of Canada, an international group of market participants, regulators, and policy-makers gathered to assess recent developments in the derivatives market. Among the topics discussed were the recent prodigious growth in risk-transfer instruments, including credit derivatives and inflation-linked derivatives, as well as the accompanying challenges and benefits. Overall, the development of derivatives markets was seen as providing broad economic benefits, including more complete financial markets, improved market liquidity, and increased capacity of the financial system to effectively price and bear risk. Yet concern was also voiced that market participants do not fully understand the risks that arise in trading credit derivatives. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Financial markets, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies
Hedge Funds and Financial Stability: The State of the Debate Staff Discussion Paper 2007-9 Michael R. King, Philipp Maier The authors review the state of the debate on hedge funds and the potential threat that hedge funds pose to financial stability. The collapse of a hedge fund or a group of hedge funds might pose a systemic risk directly by damaging systematically important financial institutions, or indirectly by increasing market volatility and generating a […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies JEL Code(s): G, G1, G15, G18, G2
A vision for IMF Surveillance Staff Working Paper 2007-37 Robert Lavigne, Philipp Maier, Eric Santor The ongoing review of the IMF, initiated in 2005 by Managing Director De Rato, presents an excellent opportunity to re-examine the role, functions and governance of the Fund. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial stability, International topics JEL Code(s): F, F3, F33
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
Firms Dynamics, Bankruptcy Laws and Total Factor Productivity Staff Working Paper 2007-17 Hajime Tomura This paper analyzes endogenous fluctuations in total factor productivity (TFP) in a dynamic general equilibrium model with heterogeneous agents, and illustrates the interaction of credit market frictions, asset prices, the entry and exit of firms, and fluctuations in TFP in response to firm-level productivity and aggregate credit-market shocks. I also analyze the effect of bankruptcy and foreclosure laws on fluctuations in TFP through their effect on credit market frictions. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial stability, Productivity JEL Code(s): D, D2, D24, E, E4, E44, G, G3, G33
Do We Need the IMF to Resolve a Crisis? Lessons from Past Episodes of Debt Restructuring Staff Working Paper 2007-10 Philipp Maier This study investigate how debt restructurings have evolved over the decades. Debtors and creditors have a long history of engaging an outsider – a “third party”, such as the IMF – to organise and facilitate debt restructurings. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial stability, International topics JEL Code(s): E, E5, F, F3, N, N1, N2
Stress Testing the Corporate Loans Portfolio of the Canadian Banking Sector Staff Working Paper 2006-47 Miroslav Misina, David Tessier, Shubhasis Dey Stress testing, at its most general level, is an investigation of the performance of an entity under abnormal operating conditions. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial stability JEL Code(s): C, C1, C15, G, G2, G21, G3, G33
The Role of Debt and Equity Finance over the Business Cycle Staff Working Paper 2006-45 Francisco Covas, Wouter den Haan The authors show that debt and equity issuance are procyclical for most listed U.S. firms. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Financial stability JEL Code(s): E, E3, G, G1, G3
Linking Real Activity and Financial Markets: The Bonds, Equity, and Money (BEAM) Model Staff Working Paper 2006-42 Céline Gauthier, Fuchun Li The authors estimate a small monthly macroeconometric model (BEAM, for bonds, equity, and money) of the Canadian economy built around three cointegrating relationships linking financial and real variables over the 1975–2002 period. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial markets, Financial stability JEL Code(s): C, C5, E, E4
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