This note validates the key results of prior studies of bank loan announcement effects using a common data set drawn from the Canadian capital market. Announcements of bank loans are associated with positive abnormal returns significantly higher than for private placements and loan syndications. Announcement effects are most pronounced when monitoring is most intense and when an announcement signals that the bank's private information is favorable. Conclusions of prior studies on bank loan announcements, conducted exclusively on US data, are robust for a different banking system.

China has an A-share market that is open only to local investors and a B-share market that is open only to foreign investors. Contrary to what has been observed in other markets with a similar segmented structure, the China B shares trade at a discount relative to the A shares. We show that the phenomenon can still be explained by basic economic principles. Specifically, the existence of the H-share and the “red-chip” markets in Hong Kong provide good substitutes for the B-share market. We find that when more H shares and red chips are listed in Hong Kong, the B-share discount becomes larger. This is consistent with the model of differential demand elasticity proposed by Stulz and Wasserfallen (Stulz, R., Wasserfallen, W., 1995. Review of Financial Studies 8, 1019–1057).