A granular comparison of banks, fintechs, and stablecoin rails finds that cross-border payment costs are driven by market architecture and pricing power. A complementary policy review confirms that fixing this requires more than better technology: it demands interoperability standards, streamlined compliance regimes, and active public-sector coordination across borders.

New research shows that financial discipline, whether through minimum capital requirements on banks or stricter refinancing standards for firms, is not an obstacle to innovation but its enabler. When prudential rules are relaxed, the result is not a more dynamic economy but a more sclerotic one where incumbents crowd out the next generation of innovators.

Two new studies reshape our understanding of zombie lending across advanced economies by revealing how credit conditions and institutional context critically determine which firms survive and the real effects of financial intermediaries’ lending choices.

Three new papers synthesize state-of-the-art academic, policy, and legal research on effective bank supervision highlighting the importance on clear mandates, strong institutional and legal frameworks, sufficient independence combined with accountability, a risk-focused supervisory culture, and meaningful transparency and collaboration with other authorities and the public.

Two research papers reveal a new reality for banking stability: the digital revolution and unconventional monetary policy have fundamentally altered how deposits behave, creating new risks that challenge traditional approaches to financial regulation and monetary policy.

Recent research highlights the differing capital structures of traditional banks and shadow banks, with shadow banks maintaining significantly more equity capital than banks. Another study explores the regulatory challenges posed by shadow banking activities.

Two new studies analyze how regulatory opacity can be harmful while public supervisory transparency can improve market discipline. They highlight the need for balancing supervisory oversight with market disclosure to optimize financial stability and fairness.

New research examines two key trends reshaping the banking industry: first, how large U.S. banks expanded into less dense areas following deregulation to access retail deposits; and second, how widespread bank branch closures in Sweden impacted the macroeconomy.

Do U.S. banks lend to zombie firms?  Do Portuguese banks specializing in lending to new firms stimulate business creation?

This newsletter delves into two studies on bank runs. One examines 200 years of historical data to highlight the severe economic impacts of systemic bank runs, while the other uses real-time data to analyze recent bank runs, focusing on the role of institutional depositors and public signals.