An Inter-Country Analysis on Growth of Non-Bank Financial Intermediaries

Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs) or shadow banks are internationally recognized as financial intermediaries. There have been debates in the literature on the exact relation (complementary or substitutability) between non-banking and banking sectors and between financial sector development/liberalization and economic growth. This study analyzes these issues using the data from 25 major nations in the world during 2006-13 and panel data methodology. Results of the study suggest that (i) NBFIs hold nearly 22 percent of the total financial system assets; (ii) both credit risk and funding risk associated with interconnectedness between banks and non-banks sectors was larger for NBFIs than for banks in almost all nations; (iii) banks and Non-banking institutions are competing each other; (iv) financial sector represented by banking sector plays a significant role in determining GDP growth of nations, thereby confirming the Schumpeterian idea of finance spurring growth and (v) the economic growth and non-banking sectors growth are positively related, supporting the Robinsonian conjecture of economic growth leading to more dynamic financial sector development. The NBFI regulation is generally underdeveloped in almost all countries. The most nations do not have policy instruments that are specially designed for dealing with systemic risks associated with NBFIs. A perpetual challenge for financial regulators and supervisors in various nations is to choose appropriate regulatory mechanism suited to their countries.