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Journal of Banking & Finance Vol. 37 No. 11 2013

SAFE: An early warning system for systemic banking risk

Mikhail V. Oet1,2; Timothy Bianco1; Dieter Gramlich3; Stephen J. Ong1

1 Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland · 2 Case Western Reserve University · 3 Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University

Abstract

This paper builds on existing microprudential and macroprudential early warning systems (EWSs) to develop a new, hybrid class of models for systemic risk that incorporates the structural characteristics of the financial system and a feedback amplification mechanism. The models explain financial stress using both public and proprietary supervisory data from systemically important institutions, regressing institutional imbalances using an optimal lag method. The Systemic Assessment of Financial Environment (SAFE) EWS monitors microprudential information from the largest bank holding companies to anticipate the buildup of macroeconomic stresses in the financial markets. To mitigate inherent uncertainty, SAFE develops a set of medium-term forecasting specifications that gives policymakers enough time to take ex-ante policy action and a set of short-term forecasting specifications for verification and adjustment of supervisory actions. This paper highlights the application of these models to stress testing and policy.

DOI
10.1016/j.jbankfin.2013.02.016
Volume
37
Issue
11
Pages
4510-4533
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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