Anxious periods and bank lending

Using a number of theoretical considerations, we define distinct periods of anxiety for key economic agents that are involved in lending decisions; namely, consumers, CEOs, and banks. The main characteristic of anxious periods is that the perceptions and expectations about economic conditions worsen for these agents even though the economy is not in a recession. Subsequently, we study the lending behavior of US banks during the three distinct pools of anxious quarters from 1985-2010, using bank-level data. We find that banks’ lending falls when consumers and banks are anxious, and this effect is more pronounced when banks hold a high level of credit risk. Yet, in those anxious periods that were followed by recessions, the negative impact of anxiety on loan growth is significantly weaker for banks with high-credit risk that points to the existence of a moral-hazard mechanism. We also find significant differentiation in banks’ lending within anxious periods across different loan categories. We contend that these findings point to the identification of an ‘expectations channel’ in banks’ lending that exists throughout the business cycle.Banks’ lending; Anxious periods; Consumers; CEOs; Banks; Bank characteristics

Enforcement actions and bank behavior

Employing a unique data set for the period 2000-2010, this paper examines the impact of enforcement actions (sanctions) on bank capital, risk, and performance. We find that high risk weighted asset ratios tend to attract supervisory intervention. Sanctions whose cause lies at the core of bank safety and soundness curtail the risk-weighted asset ratio, but amplify the risk of insolvency and returns volatility, which implies that these sanctions do not improve the risk profile of the involved banks, possibly because they come too late. Sanctions targeting internal control and risk management weaknesses appear to be well-timed and to restrain further increases in the risk-weighted assets ratio without impairing bank fundamentals. Sanctions against institution-affiliated parties do not seem to affect bank behavior. We suggest that supervisory attention should be placed on the timely uncovering of internal control and risk management deficiencies as this would allow the early tackling of the origins of financial distress

Anxious periods and bank lending

Using a number of theoretical considerations, we define distinct periods of anxiety for key economic agents that are involved in lending decisions; namely, consumers, CEOs, and banks. The main characteristic of anxious periods is that the perceptions and expectations about economic conditions worsen for these agents even though the economy is not in a recession. Subsequently, we study the lending behavior of US banks during the three distinct pools of anxious quarters from 1985-2010, using bank-level data. We find that banks’ lending falls when consumers and banks are anxious, and this effect is more pronounced when banks hold a high level of credit risk. Yet, in those anxious periods that were followed by recessions, the negative impact of anxiety on loan growth is significantly weaker for banks with high-credit risk that points to the existence of a moral-hazard mechanism. We also find significant differentiation in banks’ lending within anxious periods across different loan categories. We contend that these findings point to the identification of an ‘expectations channel’ in banks’ lending that exists throughout the business cycle

Enforcement actions and bank behavior

Employing a unique data set for the period 2000-2010, this paper examines the impact of enforcement actions (sanctions) on bank capital, risk, and performance. We find that high risk weighted asset ratios tend to attract supervisory intervention. Sanctions whose cause lies at the core of bank safety and soundness curtail the risk-weighted asset ratio, but amplify the risk of insolvency and returns volatility, which implies that these sanctions do not improve the risk profile of the involved banks, possibly because they come too late. Sanctions targeting internal control and risk management weaknesses appear to be well-timed and to restrain further increases in the risk-weighted assets ratio without impairing bank fundamentals. Sanctions against institution-affiliated parties do not seem to affect bank behavior. We suggest that supervisory attention should be placed on the timely uncovering of internal control and risk management deficiencies as this would allow the early tackling of the origins of financial distress

Anxious periods and bank lending

Using a number of theoretical considerations, we define distinct periods of anxiety for key economic agents that are involved in lending decisions; namely, consumers, CEOs, and banks. The main characteristic of anxious periods is that the perceptions and expectations about economic conditions worsen for these agents even though the economy is not in a recession. Subsequently, we study the lending behavior of US banks during the three distinct pools of anxious quarters from 1985-2010, using bank-level data. We find that banks’ lending falls when consumers and banks are anxious, and this effect is more pronounced when banks hold a high level of credit risk. Yet, in those anxious periods that were followed by recessions, the negative impact of anxiety on loan growth is significantly weaker for banks with high-credit risk that points to the existence of a moral-hazard mechanism. We also find significant differentiation in banks’ lending within anxious periods across different loan categories. We contend that these findings point to the identification of an ‘expectations channel’ in banks’ lending that exists throughout the business cycle

The use of a Multi-label Classification Framework for the Detection of Broken Bars and Mixed Eccentricity Faults based on the Start-up Transient

[EN] In this article a data driven approach for the classification of simultaneously occurring faults in an induction motor is presented. The problem is treated as a multi-label classification problem with each label corresponding to one specific fault. The faulty conditions examined, include the existence of a broken bar fault and the presence of mixed eccentricity with various degrees of static and dynamic eccentricity, while three "problem transformation" methods are tested and compared. For the feature extraction stage, the startup current is exploited using two well-known time-frequency (scale) transformations. This is the first time that a multi-label framework is used for the diagnosis of co-occurring fault conditions using information coming from the start-up current of induction motors. The efficiency of the proposed approach is validated using simulation data with promising results irrespective of the selected time-frequency transformation.This work was supported in part by the Spanish MINECO and FEDER program in the framework of the "Proyectos I + D del Subprograma de Generacion de Conocimiento, Programa Estatal de Fomento de la Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnica de Excelencia" under Grant DPI2014-52842-P and in part by the Horizon 2020 Framework program DISIRE under the Grant Agreement 636834.Georgoulas, G.; Climente Alarcón, V.; Antonino-Daviu, J.; Tsoumas, IP.; Stylios, CD.; Arkkio, A.; Nikolakopoulos, G. (2016). The use of a Multi-label Classification Framework for the Detection of Broken Bars and Mixed Eccentricity Faults based on the Start-up Transient. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics. 13(2):625-634. https://doi.org/10.1109/TII.2016.2637169S62563413

Formal Enforcement Actions and Bank Behavior

Employing a unique data set for the period 2000-2010, this paper examines the impact of formal enforcement actions targeting the core of the banks’ financial safety and soundness in terms of bank capital, risk, and performance. We find that, on average, these actions reduce both the risk-weighted assets and the non-performing loans ratios of punished banks, but there is no increase in the level of regulatory capital. These effects are less powerful during the post-crisis period, suggesting that banks’ scope to improve their safety and soundness condition in crisis periods is much more limited. We also find, albeit with some limitations, that the timing of formal enforcement actions is important: the more the actions are deferred relative to the continuous deterioration of the banks’ financial condition, the more limited their impact on the risk-based capital ratio, while actions taken earlier help banks to improve their financial soundness

Neuroendocrine abnormalities in a neonate with congenital toxoplasmosis

The central nervous system is often affected in patients with congenital toxoplasmosis. However, hypothalamo-pituitary dysfunction has rarely been reported in children with congenital toxoplasmosis, and no case with prolonged fever of central origin has been documented so far. We describe a newborn with congenital toxoplasmosis who presented with fever due to hypothalamo-pituitary dysregulation and combined hypothalamo-pituitary deficiencies consisting of central diabetes insipidus, hypothyroidism and ACTH deficiency. © Freund Publishing House Ltd., London