Systemic financial risk indicators and securitised assets: an agent-based framework

The paper presents an agent-based model of a credit economy which includes a securitisation process and a bailout mechanism for bank bankruptcies. Within this framework, banks are able to sell mortgages to a financial vehicle corporation, which finances its activity by creating mortgage-backed securities and selling them to a mutual fund. In turn, the mutual fund collects liquidity by selling shares to households and remunerates them with a monthly interest. The impact of this mechanism is analysed by means of computational experiments for different levels of banks’ securitisation propensity. Furthermore, we study a set of systemic risk indicators which have the aim of assessing the imbalances in the financial system. Two of them are the mortgage-to-GDP ratio and the capital adequacy ratio, which are constructed to detect only the on-balance sheet changes in banks’ credit exposure. We consider two additional indicators, similar to the previous ones with the only difference that they are also able to account for the off-balance sheet items. Moreover, we adopt an indicator, the so-called “virtuous–unvirtuous cycle” indicator, which, besides off-balance assets, targets also the GDP. The results show that higher securitisation propensity weakens the financial stability of banks with relevant effects on different sectors of the economy. Most importantly, the analysis of systemic risk reveals the important issue of designing suitable systemic risk indicators for predicting incoming financial crises, finding that an essential feature of these indicators should be to integrate banks’ off-balance sheet assets

TOpic: rare and special cases, the real "Strange cases"

Introduction: The bladder hernia represents approximately 1-3% of all inguinal hernias, where patients aged more than 50 years have a higher incidence (10%). Many factors contribute to the development of a bladder hernia, including the presence of a urinary outlet obstruction causing chronic bladder distention, the loss of bladder tone, pericystitis, the perivesical bladder fat protrusion and the obesity

Systemic Financial Risk Indicators and Securitised Assets: an Agent-Based Framework

The paper presents an agent-based model of a credit economy which includes a securitisation process and a bailout mechanism for banks' bankruptcies. Within this model's framework banks are able to sell mortgages to a Financial Vehicle Corporation, which finances its activity by creating Mortgage-Backed Securities and selling them to a mutual fund. In turn, the mutual fund collects liquidity by selling shares to households and remunerating them with a monthly interest rate. The impact of this mechanism is analysed by means of computational experiments for different levels of securitisation propensities of banks. Furthermore, we study a set of systemic risk indicators which have the aim to assess financial imbalances within the financial system. Two of them are the mortgage-to-GDP ratio and the Capital Adequacy Ratio which are constructed to detect only the in-balance sheet changes in banks' credit exposure. We consider two additional indicators, similar to the previous ones with the only difference that they are able to account also for the off-balance sheet items. Moreover, we introduce a novel indicator, the so-called VUC indicator, which also targets the off-balance assets. Results confirm that higher securitisation propensities weaken the financial stability of banks with relevant effects on different sectors of the economy. Most important, the analysis of systemic risk reveals the important issue of designing suitable systemic risk indicators for predicting incoming financial crises, finding that an essential feature of these indicators should be to integrate banks' off-balance sheet assets

Systemic Financial Risk Indicators and Securitised Assets: an Agent-Based Framework

The paper presents an agent-based model of a credit economy which includes a securitisation process and a bailout mechanism for banks' bankruptcies. Within this model's framework banks are able to sell mortgages to a Financial Vehicle Corporation, which finances its activity by creating Mortgage-Backed Securities and selling them to a mutual fund. In turn, the mutual fund collects liquidity by selling shares to households and remunerating them with a monthly interest rate. The impact of this mechanism is analysed by means of computational experiments for different levels of securitisation propensities of banks. Furthermore, we study a set of systemic risk indicators which have the aim to assess financial imbalances within the financial system. Two of them are the mortgage-to-GDP ratio and the Capital Adequacy Ratio which are constructed to detect only the in-balance sheet changes in banks' credit exposure. We consider two additional indicators, similar to the previous ones with the only difference that they are able to account also for the off-balance sheet items. Moreover, we introduce a novel indicator, the so-called VUC indicator, which also targets the off-balance assets. Results confirm that higher securitisation propensities weaken the financial stability of banks with relevant effects on different sectors of the economy. Most important, the analysis of systemic risk reveals the important issue of designing suitable systemic risk indicators for predicting incoming financial crises, finding that an essential feature of these indicators should be to integrate banks' off-balance sheet assets

Financial Innovation, Banking System and Housing Market.

Poster presented at Financial Services Indices: Liquidity and Economic Activity Conference, 23th - 24th May 2017, Bank of England, London (UK) (paper accepted for poster competition; winner of the 2nd prize)

Androgen modulation of pro-inflammatory and antiinflammatory cytokines during preadipocyte differentiation

Background: Macrophages and adipocytes contribute to release of cytokines resulting in the chronic inflammatory profile of the metabolic syndrome. The local increase of proinflammatory cytokines impairs adipogenesis, resulting in formation of dysfunctional adipocytes that are unable to store and handle lipids. The altered lipid fluxes in/from adipocytes affect whole-body metabolism. We investigated the role of androgens on adipocyte-derived proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines during preadipocyte differentiation. Materials and methods: Various differentiation methods were used to obtain full conversion of 3T3-L1 into mature adipocytes. The degree of adipocyte conversion in the presence/absence of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) was analyzed by measuring intracellular triglycerides (Oil Red O staining). The effects of DHT administration on interleukin 1Β (IL-1Β), IL-2, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, interferon γ (IFNΓ) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) secretion was measured at days 0, 4, 6 and 8 of differentiation using the SearchLight multiplex protein array. Results: DHT regulates a number of cytokines in committed and mature 3T3-L1 adipocytes. IL-1Β and TNFα were readily suppressed at the very early stages of differentiation. IFNΓ release was inhibited at day 4, but the effect was no longer detectable on day 8. IL-6 and IL-12 were significantly reduced at day 8 of differentiation. Conversely, the differentiation-dependent increase of IL-2 and IL-10 was further stimulated by DHT since day 0. Conclusions: We provide evidence that androgens promote an anti-inflammatory profile that parallels the acquisition of a functional adipocyte phenotype. The crosstalk between androgens, adipocyte-derived mediators of inflammation and intracellular lipid fluxes could have profound implications on metabolism of men with obesity and metabolic syndrome. © 2010, by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York. All rights reserved

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals: Effects on Endocrine Glands

In recent years, endocrine disrupting chemicals have gained interest in human physiopathology and more and more studies aimed to explain how these chemicals compounds affect endocrine system. In human populations, the majority of the studies point toward an association between exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals and the disorders affecting endocrine axis. A great number of endocrine disrupting chemicals seem to be able to interfere with the physiology of hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis; however, every endocrine axis may be a target for each EDCs and their action is not limited to a single axis or organ. Several compounds may also have a negative impact on energy metabolic homeostasis altering adipose tissue and promoting obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes. Different mechanism have been proposed to explain these associations but their complexity together with the degree of occupational or environmental exposure, the low standardization of the studies, and the presence of confounding factors have prevented to establish causal relationship between the endocrine disorders and exposure to specific toxicants so far. This manuscript aims to review the state of art of scientific literature regarding the effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on endocrine system

Partial response to first generation SSA guides the choice and predict the outcome of second line therapy in acromegaly

Treatment of acromegaly resistant to first generation somatostatin analogues (first gen-SSA) is often difficult. We aimed to investigate the role of partial response and resistance to first gen-SSA in the choice of second line treatments and their outcomes