This paper studies the differences in the announcement effects of seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) of commercial banks and non-banks, and explores the influence of bank regulation and the financial crisis on such differences. We find that abnormal stock returns on SEO announcements for US commercial banks are significantly higher than those of non-banks, consistent with the hypothesis that bank regulations reduce the likelihood that bank SEOs signal overpriced equity. The propensity score matching-based difference-in-difference analysis indicates that the differences in stock returns between banks and non-banks decreased during the 2007–2009 financial crisis period and increased after the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010.

U.S. and Japanese firms dominate global convertible bond issuance. Previous research documents more favorable convertible bond announcement effects in Japan than in the U.S. and other developed countries. Using a global sample of convertible bonds issued from 1982 to 2012, we find that the more favorable announcement effects of Japanese convertibles are driven by their stated uses of proceeds. Japanese convertibles more often include capital expenditure as an intended use, while U.S. firms tend to mention general purposes to motivate their offering. Our findings illustrate the value to firms of being more explicit when disclosing the intended use of proceeds of security offerings.