Journal Article

True confessions: should banks be required to disclose more?

Abstract: Mitchell Berlin examines disclosure requirements for banks. Can market participants play a significant role in ensuring that banks limit their risk-taking? Although regulators find this idea increasingly attractive, economists generally have two schools of thought: Such monitoring could substitute for regulatory discipline to a significant extent or the roles of regulators and market participants could be complementary. But to evaluate banks' risk-taking, investors would want good information about a bank's activities and balance sheet. In light of this, would more disclosure by banks be a good thing? While there are no definitive answers to this question, in \\"True Confessions: Should Banks Be Required to Disclose More?\\" Berlin reviews some recent economic literature that can offer useful insights to policymakers.

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Part of Series: Business Review

Publication Date: 2004

Issue: Q4

Pages: 7-15