Robert R. Bliss

• Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1991
• Professor Emeritus at Wake Forest University

The Oxford Handbook of Banking, 3rd Edition provides an overview and analysis of developments and research in banking written by leading researchers in the field. This Handbook will appeal to graduate students of economics, banking and finance, academics, practitioners, regulators and policy makers. Consequently, the book strikes a balance between...

With the introduction of Basel II in 2004, "market discipline" became one of the Basel Committee's three pillars of prudential regulation. Although many academic papers have sought to test for the presence of effective market discipline in banking, few have dealt fully with the question. Effective market discipline involves two distinct steps: moni...

Market discipline, as the term is used in financial regulation, refers to the prevention or remediation of excessive risk taking by banks either directly by market participants themselves or indirectly by regulators using market prices as signals of developing problems. Numerous papers have investigated whether market discipline obtains. After crit...

This book isa collection of research papers that contribute to the understanding of ongoing developments in financial institutions and markets both in the United States and globally, including an in-depth look at topics such as universal access, cost recovery, and payment services; the transparency of global monetary policy; and the crisis of finan...

The ModelsConclusions NotesAbout the Authors

This article develops a framework for a resolution regime that is specifically designed for resolving all large insolvent bank and nonbank financial institutions efficiently and in an orderly manner. It incorporates the more effective parts of the existing bank, corporate and new Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act resolution...

The recently enacted provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act for resolving systemically important non-bank financial institutions, like the existing means of resolving large banks on which they were based, are aimed at placing the institution into receivership and then liquidating it. However, receivership is likely to trigger a number of adverse conseque...

This book is a collection of research papers that contribute to the understanding of ongoing developments in financial institutions and markets both in the United States and globally. © Robert R. Bliss and George G. Kaufman, 2009. All rights reserved.

This book isa collection of research papers that contribute to the understanding of ongoing developments in financial institutions and markets both in the United States and globally.

Derivatives market central counterparties play an important role in exchange traded and some OTC derivatives markets. They exist side by side with bilaterally-cleared derivatives. These two clearing structures share common conceptual elements—netting, credit risk mitigation—though they differ in important details with attendant implications for mar...

In the U.S., as in most countries with well-developed securities markets, derivative securities enjoy special protections under insolvency resolution laws. Most creditors are “stayed” from enforcing their rights while a firm is in bankruptcy. However, many derivatives contracts are exempt from these stays. Furthermore, derivatives enjoy netting and...

In the U.S., the insolvency resolution of most corporations is governed by the federal bankruptcy code and is administered by special bankruptcy courts. Most large corporate bankruptcies are resolved under Chapter 11 reorganization proceedings. However, commercial bank insolvencies are governed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and are administe...

Most exchange-traded and some over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives are cleared and settled through clearinghouses that function as central counterparties (CCPs). Most OTC derivatives are settled bilaterally. This article discusses how these alternative mechanisms affect the functioning of derivatives markets and describes some of the advantages and d...

In the U.S., the insolvency resolution of most corporations is governed by the federal bankruptcy code and is administered by special bankruptcy courts. Most large corporate bankruptcies are resolved under Chapter 11 reorganization proceedings. However, commercial bank insolvencies are governed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and are administe...

Derivatives market central counterparties play an important role in exchange traded and some OTC derivatives markets. They exist side by side with bilaterally-cleared derivatives. These two clearing structures share common conceptual elements—netting, credit risk mitigation— though they differ in important details with attendant implications for ma...

Corporate bankruptcy law and judicial procedure are structured to ensure that the proceedings are fair and impartial. Just as in all judicial proceedings, judges overseeing a corporate bankruptcy are required by the rules of judicial ethics to be disinterested—that is they cannot have a direct or indirect personal stake in the proceedings. Furtherm...

In the U.S., as in most countries with well-developed securities markets, derivative securities enjoy special protections under insolvency resolution laws. Most creditors are "stayed" from enforcing their rights while a firm is in bankruptcy. However, many derivatives contracts are exempt from these stays. Furthermore, derivatives enjoy netting and...

ABSTRACT Using a utility function to adjust the risk-neutral PDF embedded in cross sections of options, we obtain measures of the risk aversion implied in option prices. Using FTSE 100 and S&P 500 options, and both power and exponential-utility functions, we estimate the representative agent's relative risk aversion (RRA) at different horizons. The...

Derivatives and certain other off-balance sheet contracts enjoy special legal protection on insolvent counterparties through a process referred to as 'close-out netting.' This paper explores the legal status and economic implications of this protection. While this protection benefits major derivatives dealers and derivatives markets, it is less cle...

Market discipline has become a central element of the discussion of how to advance the supervision and regulation of financial institutions. While market discipline is seen as desirable and several proposals have been made for increasing market discipline, less attention has been paid to what market discipline is, how it functions, and how the regu...

Large complex financial organization (LCFOs) are exposed to multiple problems when they become insolvent. They operate in countries with different approaches to bankruptcy and, within the U.S., multiple insolvency administrators. The special financial instruments that comprise a substantial portion of LCFO assets are exempted from the usual "time o...

The resolution of a large complex financial organization (LCFO) presents numerous problems, including organizational complexity, opacity of positions, and conflicting legal jurisdictions. Of particular concern is the potential impact of large derivatives books. Widespread adoption of laws permitting close-out of derivatives contracts exempts these...

Cross-sections of option prices embed the risk-neutral probability densities functions (PDFs) for the future values of the underlying asset. Theory suggests that risk-neutral PDFs differ from market expectations due to risk premia. Using a utility function to adjust the risk-neutral PDF to produce subjective PDFs, we can obtain measures of the risk...

Much concern has recently been expressed that both large, procyclical changes in bank assets and "credit crunches" caused by bank reluctance to expand loans during recessions contribute to economic instability. These effects are difficult to explain using the standard textbook model of deposit expansion in which deposits are constrained only by res...

The belief that option value increases monotonically as risk increases is widely held. This note shows that the hypothesis derives from the special structure of stochastic processes and option types considered in the early literature on the determinants of option pricing. I show that the monotonicity hypothesis leads to the conclusion that similar...

Requiring banks to issue subordinated debt is one proposal to bring market discipline to bear in aiding regulatory supervision. This article explores the frictions that produce a need for discipline (agency problems) and the mechanisms markets have evolved for dealing with these frictions. Following an examination of the rationales and assumptions...

Cross-sections of option prices embed the risk-neutral probability densities functions (PDFs) for the future values of the underlying asset. Theory suggests that risk-neutral PDFs differ from market expectations due to risk premia. Using a utility function to adjust the risk-neutral PDF to produce subjective PDFs, we can obtain measures of the risk...

This chapter seeks to complement the existing literature on market monitoring by looking for direct evidence of stockholder and bondholder influence in the U.S. banking sector. Because financial regulators are actively considering the formal use of market discipline in their supervisory processes, an empirical investigation of market influence on b...

Market discipline is an article of faith among financial economists, and the use of market discipline as a regulatory tool is gaining credibility. Effective market discipline involves two distinct components: security holders' ability to accurately assess the condition of a firm ("monitoring") and their ability to cause subsequent managerial action...

Implied probability density functions (PDFs) estimated from cross-sections of observed option prices are gaining increasing attention amongst academics and practitioners. To date, however, little attention has been paid to the robustness of these estimates or to the confidence that users can place in the summary statistics (for example the skewness...

This paper examines two qualitative rules of thumb, frequently invoked in discussions of bank regulatory policy. The first, that equity holders prefer more risk to less, derives from a result in option pricing theory, that an option's value increases monotonically with the riskiness of the underlying asset. This result is shown to depend on very re...

This paper examines the absolute and relative robustness of two of the most common methods for estimating implied probability density functions (PDFs) – the double-lognormal approximating function and the smoothed implied volatility smile methods – using short sterling futures options and the FTSE 100 index options. The changes resulting from rando...

Using implied volatility analysis, this article addresses two important issues concerning callable bonds: negative option value anomalies and the optimal call decision rule. In examining apparent negative option values embedded in callable U.S. Treasury bonds, the authors significantly extend the sample periods and breadths covered by previous rese...

This paper presents a careful reexamination of Chan, Karolyi, Longstaff, and Sanders (CKLS 1992). By redefining the possible regime shift period in line with evidence from known policy changes and past empirical research, we find evidence that contradicts the major results in their paper. The widely cited conclusion of their paper is that the elast...

Bond prices tend to move together. Stocks tend to go their own way. This distinction requires completely different approaches to managing risks for these securities. For equities the emphasis is on reducing idiosyncratic risk through portfolio diversification. For interest rate-sensitive securities it is on precisely balancing a portfolio to achiev...

This paper calculates indices of central bank autonomy (CBA) for 163 central banks as of end-2003, and comparable indices for a subgroup of 68 central banks as of the end of the 1980s. The results confirm strong improvements in both economic and political CBA over the past couple of decades, although more progress is needed to boost political auton...

Models for pricing interest rate claims, developed under the Heath-Jarrow-Morton paradigm, differ according to the volatility structure imposed on forward rates. For most general HJM structures the resultant path dependence creates implementation problems. Ritchken and Sankarasubramanian have recently identified necessary and sufficient conditions...

This paper tests and compares five diverse methods for estimating the term structure. The tests demonstrate the dangers of in-sample goodness-of-fit as the sole criterion for judging term structure estimation methods. A series of residual analysis tests are introduced to detect misspecification of the underlying pricing equation relating the term s...

Models for pricing interest rate claims, developed under the Heath-Jarrow-Morton paradigm, differ according to the volatility structure imposed on forward rates. For most general HJM structures the resultant path dependence creates implementation problems. Ritchken and Sankarasubramanian have recently identified necessary and sufficient conditions...

Until 1984, the U.S. Treasury typically issued its long-term bonds in callable form. A number of these securities, totaling $93.8 billion in face value, remain outstanding. After a call protection period, usually five years prior to maturity, the Treasury can call the bonds but must give prior notification of intent to call. This article develops a...

Market risk has become an integral consideration in bank business. Derivatives are increasingly used as a means of risk management, and bank involvement in derivatives trading represents a new, different, and very important line of business. Existing regulations for the determination of bank capital, based on the quality of assets held, are not app...

The prices for callable U.S. Treasury securities provide the sole source of evidence concerning the implied volatility of interest rates over the extended 1926-1994 period. This paper uses the prices of callable as well as non-callable Treasury instruments to estimate implied interest rate volatilities for the past sixty years, and, for the more re...

The purpose of this paper is to provide a test of a state‐dependent multinomial model of intertemporal changes in the term structure of interest rates. The theoretical background for the model comes from Ho and Lee (1986). The current paper extends their model in several significant ways. First, we perform diagnostic tests on the data to demonstrat...

Current 1-year forward rates on 1- to 5-year U.S. Treasury bonds are information about the current term structure of 1-year expected returns on the bonds, and forward rates track variation through time in 1-year expected returns. More interesting, 1-year forward rates forecast changes in the 1-year interest rate 2- to 4-years ahead, and forecast po...