El problema del capital de los bancos

Esta columna de Vox llama la atención sobre el limitado valor que tiene incrementar sustancialmente el capital de los bancos y la necesidad de mejorar la gestión del riesgo y la capacidad de supervisión lo que llevaría a resaltar la importancia del gobierno corporativo de los bancos y la calidad institucional de los supervisores y, por tanto, la importancia del diseño institucional

Capital is a residual. It is the difference between the value of bank assets and liabilities. Because most bank liabilities – in general- are carried at cost, capital is heavily influenced by a bank’s asset selection criteria (origination standards); and second, the reliability of ongoing asset valuations, particularly impairment on loans and securities not held for trading, and “hard-to-value” assets carried in the trading book, where quoted market prices are not available. Herein lies the challenge. Both the quality of origination standards and price “discovery” for a substantial portion of bank assets, remains more art than science; and it is wholly reliant on the exercise of sound judgment –supported by critical analysis – by bank risk managers and bank supervisors. These qualitative factors cannot be appropriately addressed by simply increasing the minimum CAR.… a small change in asset values can have a disproportionate impact on the reported CAR… a 5% drop in asset values approximates a 48% decline in the minimum Basel III capital requirement, if capital is measured as a percentage of total assets. Even an increase in the minimum CAR to 15% will not materially alter this relationship.