This paper studies the financial consequences of a reported data breach for bank loan terms. Using a staggered difference-in-differences approach with treatment and control samples matched by data breach propensity, we find that firms that have reported data breaches face higher loan spreads and their loans are more likely to require collateral and demand more covenants. The effects are more pronounced when the data breach involves criminal activities or the loss of a large number of records, or when the breached firm belongs to certain industries or has a high IT reputation. Moreover, using the introduction of state mandatory data breach notification laws as an exogenous shock, we find that the negative effect of data breaches on bank loan terms is more significant after these laws took effect. Our evidence also suggests that breached firms that take more remedial actions following the breach incident receive less unfavorable loan terms.

Institutional cross-owners, specifically institutional investors with significant stakes in multiple firms in the same industry, are becoming increasingly common in the United States. In this paper, we investigate and find that the presence of institutional cross-owners facilitates a firm's financing of its investment opportunities, consistent with institutional cross-owners reducing the adverse selection concerns of those who provide capital for the investment opportunities. We then examine the conditions under which the presence of institutional cross-owners is likely to more significantly reduce adverse selection and thereby have even more of a positive effect on the financing of investment opportunities. We document that relative to transient institutional cross-owners, dedicated institutional cross-owners facilitate more financing of investment opportunities. We also find that institutional cross-owners facilitate the financing of investment opportunities even more for firms with greater dependence on external financing, those with an opaque financial reporting environment, and those with more product market competition. Our paper offers novel insight into how a firm can benefit from the presence of institutional cross-owners.