Working Paper

Revenge of the steamroller: ABCP as a window on risk choices


Abstract: We empirically examine financial institutions' motivations to take systematic bad-tail risk in the form of sponsorship of credit-arbitrage asset-backed commercial paper vehicles. A run on debt issued by such vehicles played a key role in causing and propagating the liquidity crisis that began in the summer of 2007. We find evidence consistent with important roles for both owner-manager agency problems and government-induced distortions, especially government control or ownership of banks.

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File(s): File format is application/pdf http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/ifdp/2013/1076/ifdp1076.pdf

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Bibliographic Information

Provider: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.)

Part of Series: International Finance Discussion Papers

Publication Date: 2013

Number: 1076