On Becoming an O-SII (“Other Systemically Important Institution”)

How have financial markets reacted to the disclosure of the list of Other Systemically Important Institutions by the European Banking Authority? With an event study of bank stock prices, we document that the immediate reaction of the stock market is negative, suggesting that the included financial institutions are perceived to be less profitable because they are subject to tighter regulation. However, within a few days, investors change their perception in the case of both euro-zone and noneuro-zone banks, which can be attributed to their too-big-to-fail status. CDS spreads react similarly, increasing first before decreasing almost immediately thereafter. On the day of the event, abnormal returns are more negative for banks selected using supervisory judgement and for large banks. In the long run, the market reacts more positively in the case of financial institutions selected using discretionary information and those with a lower capitalization. (143 words)