Quarterly Bulletin
Banking Sector Articles
| Winter 2004 | The external
balance sheet of the United Kingdom: recent developments 
(107k)(by John Elliott and Erica Wong Min of the Bank's Monetary and Financial Statistics Division). The United Kingdom's external balance sheet currently records assets and liabilities of more than £3.5 trillion. Both sides of the external balance sheet grew sharply during 2003, continuing the marked expansion that has been recorded since the early 1990s. This article examines recent trends within the balance sheet components with reference to the associated financial flows and income. There is a particular focus on data reported by monetary financial institutions. The article discusses some of the problems involved in compiling an external balance sheet, examining two key issues through the estimation of a breakdown of revaluations to outstanding stocks and a discussion of foreign direct investment data. We also report on current domestic and international initiatives aimed at further improving the quality of external statistics. |
| Summer 2004 | The economics
of retail banking-an empirical analysis of the UK market for
personal current accounts
(97k) (by Céline Gondat-Larralde and Erlend Nier of the Bank's Financial Industry and Regulation Division). Understanding the economics of retail banking is important for the Bank of England in carrying out both its monetary stability and its financial stability function. In this article, we study the dynamics of the UK market for personal current accounts between 1996 and 2001. Analysing the evolution of banks' market shares and their pricing strategies, two questions are addressed: (i) Do bank market shares respond to price differentials? (ii) If not, why not? Our results point to customer switching costs as a key determinant of the nature of competition in the market for personal current accounts during the 1996 - 2001 period. They are thus broadly supportive of a number of initiatives that have since been undertaken to reduce such costs. |
| Spring 2004 | The relationship
between the overnight interbank unsecured loan market and
the CHAPS Sterling system
(77k) (by Stephen Millard and Marco Polenghi of the Bank's Market Infrastructure Division). This article uses data on CHAPS Sterling transactions to describe the segment of the unsecured overnight loan market that settles within CHAPS. It assesses the size, timing and importance of these transactions for the underlying payments infrastructure. Advances and repayments of overnight loans are estimated to have accounted for around 20% of CHAPS Sterling activity by value over our sample period; four CHAPS Sterling members send and receive virtually all payments corresponding to these loans; and, finally, the value of CHAPS Sterling payments associated with this market rises towards the end of the CHAPS day. How much does bank capital matter?
(99k)(by David Aikman and Gertjan Vlieghe of the Bank's Monetary Assessment and Strategy Division). In this article we consider how the composition of banks' balance sheets between capital and deposits affects the transmission of economic shocks. We use a small, stylised model of the economy to analyse under which conditions firms are unable to borrow as much as they would like from banks, and banks are unable to attract as many deposits as they would like from households. We show that, following shocks to aggregate productivity and bank net worth, the response of output in this model economy with credit constraints is both larger and longer-lasting than in a similar economy where credit constraints do not bind. This is because an adverse shock lowers bank capital, which constrains lending to firms and amplifies the fall in output; and it takes time for banks to rebuild their capital so it takes time for output to return to its initial level. We find that, in our model, only a small proportion of the fluctuations of output in response to productivity shocks is due to the bank capital channel, but this channel is more important when there are direct shocks to bank capital. |
| Winter 2003 | The macroeconomic
impact of revitalising the Japanese banking sector
(185k) (by Katie Farrant and Bojan Markovic of the Bank's International Economic Analysis Division and Gabriel Sterne of the Bank's Monetary Assessment and Strategy Division). In this article we assess the possible macroeconomic effects of proposals to revitalise the banking system in Japan. Our analysis is supported by a theoretical model that incorporates various interactions between the banking sector and the wider economy. In the long run, a planned reduction in the ratio of non-performing loans (NPLs) to total loans and the intended fall in the risk premium faced by Japanese banks may help to boost the level of investment. Achieving a revitalised banking system cannot be done costlessly, however, and our model suggests that there may be some negative short-run macroeconomic impact as credit growth is reduced. |
