There is substantial evidence that new banks and rapidly growing banks are risk prone.We study this problem by designing a relationship-lending model in which a bank operates as a financial intermediary and centralised monitor.In the absence of deposit insurance, the bank s limited liability option creates an incentive problem between the bank and its depositors, the likely outcome of which is a reduction in the amounts of resources allocated to monitoring its borrowers.Hence, the bank must signal its safety to depositors by maintaining the equity ratio held.The optimal equity ratio is dynamic, ie new banks need relatively more equity than established banks, which enjoy profitable old lending relationships charter value that reduce the incentive problem.However, if an established bank grows rapidly, its share of old relationships also decreases and the bank will have to raise its equity ratio.With deposit insurance, regulators should set higher equity requirements for new banks and rapidly growing banks than for those in a more established position.The results of the model can be extended to more general inter-firm control of credit institutions. Keywords: financial intermediation, relationship banking, financial fragility, bank regulation, deposit insurance, moral hazard, product quality.

The appropriate level of bank capital and, more generally, a bank’s capacity to absorb losses, has been at the core of the post-crisis policy debate. This paper contributes to the debate by focusing on how much capital would have been needed to avoid imposing losses on bank creditors or resorting to public recapitalizations of banks in past banking crises. The paper also looks at the welfare costs of tighter capital regulation by reviewing the evidence on its potential impact on bank credit and lending rates. Its findings broadly support the range of loss absorbency suggested by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the Basel Committee for systemically important banks.

Central banks may operate perfectly well without capital as conventionally defined. A large negative net worth, however, is likely to compromise central bank independence and interfere with its ability to attain policy objectives. If society values an independent central bank capable of effectively implementing monetary policy, recapitalization may become essential. Proper accounting practice in determining central bank profit or loss and rules governing the transfer of the central bank’s operating result to the treasury are also important. A variety of country-specific central bank practices are reviewed to support the argument.

The effect of bank capital on lending is a critical determinant of the linkage between financial conditions and real activity, and has received especial attention in the recent financial crisis. The authors use panel-regression techniques to study the lending of large bank holding companies (BHCs) and find small effects of capital on lending. They then consider the effect of capital ratios on lending using a variant of Lown and Morgan's VAR model, and again find modest effects of bank capital ratio changes on lending. The authors¿ estimated models are then used to understand recent developments in bank lending and, in particular, to consider the role of TARP-related capital injections in affecting these developments. Illus. A print on demand pub.