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Abstract

This thesis comprises three essays on supervisory banking activities and financial stability. The first essay, Chapter 1, develops a qualitative assessment methodology to evaluate national levels of compliance with the Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision (CPs). These principles were issued by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), in accordance with the process adopted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the so called “Financial Sector Assessment Program” (FSAP). It provides a concrete example of how the proposed assessment methodology can be implemented to any country, by applying the model to the case study of the Republic of San Marino, in comparison with a group of similar countries (British Virgin Islands, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Singapore). The methodology does not only appear to be critical in providing a detailed analysis of the quality and effectiveness of the local regulatory and supervisory regime, but it is also a useful tool for all national supervisory authorities who are considering the opportunity to adopt the FSAP. The second essay (Chapter 2) investigates how the Covid-19 pandemic affected the dividend payout policy of listed financial intermediaries on the Italian stock exchange. Utilising data from the 25 financial intermediaries listed on FTSE Mib, FTSE Mib Mid Cap, FTSE Mib Small Cap and FTSE Italia Star, the chapter shows that several listed banks and insurance firms in the sample decided to keep paying dividends, to provide the market with good signals during the outbreak. A logit multivariate regression model is performed to analyse the impact of some key metrics (regarding profitability, leverage, and liquidity) to dividend payout policy before and during the pandemic. The findings show that the capability to generate cash flow is significant for keeping increased dividend payouts, with respect to leverage and profitability. The third essay (Chapter 3) analyses the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the market volatility of the Italian banking industry, by considering the sample of Chapter 2, of 25 financial intermediaries listed on the Italian stock exchange and comparing the findings of the sample with some benchmarks (FTSE Mib, VSTOXX, and VIX). The analysis first provides some relevant descriptive statistics and then performs hypothesis tests and a GARCH model, to investigate relevant discrepancies between the volatility of the sample and the benchmarks, focusing on the significance of Covid-19 before, during and after the pandemic. The results confirm both the significance of Covid-19 on the Italian banking sector volatility and the relevance of the extraordinary measures adopted by the supervisory banking authorities, to mitigate market volatility during the pandemic.

Publication Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HG Finance
Departments:	Bayes Business School > Bayes Business School Doctoral Theses Bayes Business School > Finance Doctoral Theses

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