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An Evaluation of Money Market Fund Reform Proposals

Author

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  • Samuel G Hanson
  • David S Scharfstein
  • Adi Sunderam

Abstract

U.S. money market mutual funds (MMFs) are an important source of dollar funding for global financial institutions, particularly those headquartered outside the United States. MMFs proved to be a source of considerable instability during the financial crisis of 2007–09, resulting in extraordinary government support to help stabilize the funding of global financial institutions. In light of the problems that emerged during the crisis, a number of MMF reforms have been proposed, which are analyzed in this paper. The paper assumes that the main goal of MMF reform is safeguarding global financial stability. In light of this goal, reforms should reduce the ex ante incentives for MMFs to take excessive risk and increase the ex post resilience of MMFs to system-wide runs. The analysis suggests that requiring MMFs to have subordinated capital buffers could generate significant financial stability benefits. Subordinated capital provides MMFs with loss absorption capacity, lowering the probability that an MMF suffers losses large enough to trigger a run, and reduces incentives to take excessive risks. Other reform alternatives based on market forces, such as converting MMFs to a floating net asset value, may be less effective in protecting financial stability. The analysis sheds light on the fundamental tensions inherent in regulating the shadow banking system.

Suggested Citation

  • Samuel G Hanson & David S Scharfstein & Adi Sunderam, 2015. "An Evaluation of Money Market Fund Reform Proposals," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 63(4), pages 984-1023, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:pal:imfecr:v:63:y:2015:i:4:p:984-1023
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    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Money Funds -- The Empire Strikes Back?
      by Steve Cecchetti and Kim Schoenholtz in Money, Banking and Financial Markets on 2018-01-15 18:48:50
    2. Fix Money Funds Now
      by Steve Cecchetti and Kim Schoenholtz in Money, Banking and Financial Markets on 2021-01-04 12:12:06

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
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    Cited by:

    1. Marco Cipriani & Gabriele La Spada, 2017. "Investors’ appetite for money-like assets: the money market fund industry after the 2014 regulatory reform," Staff Reports 816, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    2. Daniel Carvalho, 2022. "Intra-financial assets and the intermediation role of the financial sector," Trinity Economics Papers tep0622, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics.
    3. Goldstein, Itay & Jiang, Hao & Ng, David T., 2017. "Investor flows and fragility in corporate bond funds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(3), pages 592-613.
    4. Abbas Hejri, 2022. "On the recent developments of mutual funds with fixed‐income holdings: a systematic review," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(2), pages 2313-2338, June.
    5. Baghai, Ramin P. & Giannetti, Mariassunta & Jäger, Ivika, 2022. "Liability Structure and Risk Taking: Evidence from the Money Market Fund Industry," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 57(5), pages 1771-1804, August.
    6. Allen, Kyle D. & Winters, Drew B., 2020. "Crisis regulations: The unexpected consequences of floating NAV for money market funds," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    7. Dunne, Peter G. & Giuliana, Raffaele, 2021. "Do liquidity limits amplify money market fund redemptions during the COVID crisis?," ESRB Working Paper Series 127, European Systemic Risk Board.
    8. Panagiotis Konstantinou & Anastasios Rizos & Artemis Stratopoulou, 2023. "The dynamic effect of macroprudential policies on income inequality: some evidence," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 12(3), pages 248-265.
    9. Cipriani, Marco & La Spada, Gabriele, 2021. "Investors’ appetite for money-like assets: The MMF industry after the 2014 regulatory reform," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 250-269.
    10. Järvenpää, Maija & Paavola, Aleksi, 2021. "Investor monitoring, money-likeness and stability of money market funds," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 2/2021, Bank of Finland.
    11. Järvenpää, Maija & Paavola, Aleksi, 2021. "Investor monitoring, money-likeness and stability of money market funds," Research Discussion Papers 2/2021, Bank of Finland.
    12. La Spada, Gabriele, 2018. "Competition, reach for yield, and money market funds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(1), pages 87-110.
    13. Ivan, Miruna-Daniela & Banti, Chiara & Kellard, Neil, 2022. "Prime money market funds regulation, global liquidity, and the crude oil market," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    14. Antoine Bouveret & Antoine Martin & Patrick E. McCabe, 2022. "Money Market Fund Vulnerabilities: A Global Perspective," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2022-012, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    15. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2021_002 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Cai, Yu & Wang, Qing, 2022. "Money funds manage returns," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    17. Capotă, Laura-Dona & Grill, Michael & Molestina Vivar, Luis & Schmitz, Niklas & Weistroffer, Christian, 2022. "Is the EU money market fund regulation fit for purpose? Lessons from the COVID-19 turmoil," Working Paper Series 2737, European Central Bank.
    18. Parlatore, Cecilia, 2016. "Fragility in money market funds: Sponsor support and regulation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(3), pages 595-623.

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