Short-sale constraints and financial stability : evidence from the Spanish market

We examine the effect of the short-selling ban in 2011 on Spanish stocks on the level of risk in the banking sector. Before the ban, short positions were found to be positive and significantly related to the creditworthiness of medium-sized banks, these being generally less internationally diversified and more reliant on official support. We show that the ban helped stabilise the credit risk of medium-sized banks, especially those more exposed to short-sellers’ activity, but not that of large banks and non-financial corporations. This stabilising effect came at the cost of a significantly sharp decline in liquidity, trading and price efficiency of medium-sized banks’ stocks relative to other stocksEn este artículo se analiza el efecto que tuvo sobre el riesgo de crédito la restricción a la operativa de ventas en corto aplicada en 2011 a las acciones de un conjunto de entidades financieras españolas. En el periodo que precedió a la entrada en vigor de la prohibición sobre las ventas en corto, las posiciones cortas sobre estos valores estaban correlacionadas, significativamente, con los indicadores de solvencia financiera de las entidades de crédito de tamaño medio, que, en general, estaban menos diversificadas geográficamente y presentaban un mayor grado de dependencia, explícita o implícita, del apoyo público. En el artículo se muestra que la prohibición de ventas en corto contribuyó a moderar el riesgo de crédito de las entidades de tamaño medio, especialmente de aquellas más expuestas a este tipo de práctica, pero no el de aquellas otras entidades financieras de gran tamaño ni tampoco el relativo a las sociedades no financieras. El efecto estabilizador del riesgo de crédito de la prohibición, sin embargo, vino de la mano de una cierta pérdida de calidad de funcionamiento del mercado de valores, de modo que la liquidez, el volumen de negociación y la eficiencia de los precios de las acciones de las entidades de crédito de tamaño medio se resintieron con motivo de la aplicación de esta medida excepciona

The effects of the Eurosystem's corporate sector pruchase programme on Spanish companies

Artículo de revistaIn March 2016, the ECB announced the extension of the asset purchase programme (APP) to investment-grade bonds issued by non-financial corporations established in the euro area. Following the announcement of this new programme (known as the CSPP), there was a significant fall in the interest rates on bonds issued by Spanish companies eligible for purchase by the Eurosystem, which also extended to those on lower-rated securities, through the usual rebalancing of investment portfolios. At the same time, a significant increase was seen in bond issuance, as a result of which Spanish bond issuers (usually large corporations) reduced their demand for bank credit. Resident banks responded by shifting their credit offering towards other firms that do not have the same ability to issue bonds and that tend to be smaller in size. The analysis presented in this article reveals that for each euro reduction in the outstanding debt of large companies with Spanish banks during the three months after the announcement of the programme, some 78 cents were diverted to other non-issuing firms, including SMEs. These firms, in turn, increased their levels of real investment significantl

Adapting lending policies against a background of negative interest rates

Artículo de revistaSince June 2014 the European Central Bank (ECB) has placed its deposit facility interest rate (DFR) at negative levels. Against this background, the question arises as to whether maintaining negative interest rates over a prolonged period can adversely affect credit institutions’ net interest income and, ultimately, the supply of credit. Euro area banks’ responses to the Bank Lending Survey (BLS) enable the banks to be classified into two groups, depending on whether their net interest income has been impaired or not by the negative rates (“affected” versus “unaffected” banks). The analysis in this article shows that the affected banks are generally not as well capitalised. This circumstance might have hindered these banks from taking on fresh risks under their lending policy in order to attempt to offset the adverse effect of the negative rates on their unit lending margins. Indeed, the banks most affected by negative interest rates tightened the terms and conditions on their loans to a greater extent than those unaffected, to optimise their riskweighted assets and, therefore, their capital ratios. Lastly, the article shows there are no differences between both groups of banks as regards the total credit offered and that the credit supply has been adapted via loan terms and conditions and not through the total amount offered. This result suggests that the current level of the DFR (-0.4%) is not causing a contraction in the volume of credit supplied by the banks affecte

Making room for the needy : the credit-reallocation effects of the ECB’s corporate QE

Este trabajo analiza cómo afecta la compra de bonos corporativos por parte del Banco Central Europeo (BCE), conocido como CSPP, por sus siglas en inglés, a la financiación de las sociedades no financieras españolas. En primer lugar, se muestra que el anuncio del CSPP en marzo de 2016 tuvo un efecto negativo significativo sobre los tipos de interés de los bonos emitidos por las sociedades no financieras, que fue particularmente notable en el caso de aquellos bonos que satisfacían los requisitos de compra por parte del BCE, pero que también se extendió a otros bonos no elegibles bajo este programa. Al mismo tiempo, se incrementó de forma significativa el incentivo de las empresas a emitir bonos elegibles por el programa. Como consecuencia, se produjo un descenso en la demanda de préstamos bancarios por las empresas emisoras de valores de renta fija. La caída en la demanda de crédito por parte de estas empresas, que en su mayoría son grandes compañías, desencadenó un efecto colateral positivo sobre el flujo de nuevos préstamos concedidos a empresas que no emiten bonos, que normalmente son de tamaño menor que las anteriores. En concreto, se muestra que cerca del 78 % de la caída en los préstamos concedidos a emisores de bonos fue redirigido a otras compañías no emisoras, lo cual propició un aumento significativo de su inversión. Este proceso de reasignación del crédito se vio, a su vez, amplificado por la extensión, también anunciada en marzo de 2016, del programa especial de financiación concedida por el BCE a las entidades de crédito, conocido como Targeted Longer Term Refinancing Operations (TLTRO)We analyse how the European Central Bank’s purchases of corporate bonds under its Corporate Sector Purchase Programme (CSPP) affected the financing of Spanish nonfinancial firms. Our results show that the announcement of the CSPP in March 2016 significantly raised firms’ propensity to issue CSPP-eligible bonds. The flipside was a drop in the demand for bank loans by these firms. This drop in the demand for credit by bondissuers, which are usually large corporations, unchained a positive and significant side effect on the flow of new loans extended to – typically smaller – firms that do not issue bonds. Specifically, we find that around 78% of the drop in loans previously given to bond issuers was redirected to other companies, which led them to raise investment. This reallocation of credit was amplified by the ECB’s Targeted Longer Term Refinancing Operations (TLTRO

The cooperative methodology in the construction of the professional identity of the teacher

Comunicaciones. Área tématica 4: Otras experiencias de aprendizaje cooperativo[ES] Este trabajo pretende mostrar las vivencias de un docente novel acerca del aprendizaje cooperativo, favoreciendo a la construcción de la identidad profesional del docente de Educación Física. La experiencia práctica, bajo este modelo pedagógico, ha sido plasmada en unidades didácticas de distinta índole en la etapa de Educación Primaria. Estas implementaciones han favorecido a la introducción progresiva del aprendizaje cooperativo de forma transversal, potenciando los objetivos y contenidos didácticos establecidos y aprovechando los beneficios que aporta este tipo de aprendizaje a favor del alumnado. Las experiencias vividas, los objetivos alcanzados, las reflexiones por parte del alumnado y las autorreflexiones por parte del docente del cómo ha aplicado dichas estrategias, aportan a nuestra identidad profesional como docentes de Educación Física, favoreciendo a la concepción de cómo abordar la asignatura, de forma transversal e interconectada, bajo este tipo de aprendizaje.[EN] This work aims to show the experiences of a new teacher about cooperative learning, favoring the construction of the professional identity of the Physical Education teacher, understanding this as a subject still to be exploited. The practical experience under this pedagogical model has been translated into teaching units of different kinds in the Primary Education stage. These implementations have favoured the progressive introduction of cooperative learning in a transversal way, promoting the established didactic objectives and contents and taking advantage of the benefits that this type of learning brings in favour of students. The experiences, the objectives achieved, the reflections on the part of the student body and the self-reflections on the part of the teacher of how he has applied these strategies, contribute to our professional identity as a Physical Education teacher, favouring the conception of how to approach the subject, of transversal and interconnected with the learning under this type of learning

Structural characterization of HPM-7, a more ordered than expected germanosilicate zeolite

HPM-7, a germanosilicate synthesized using long imidazolium-based dications with two different linkers, is shown to possess the POS topology, although disorder may exist but it is very difficult to discern. First, three simple ordered polymorphs (POS-A to POS-C) with very similar energies and structural motifs could give rise to intergrowths that would be very difficult to recognize by powder X-ray diffraction, according to DIFFaX simulations. Another four structures (POS-D to POS-G) can be derived from POS by changing the orientation of two single four rings within the structure, possibly providing an additional source of disorder. While 3D EDT strongly suggests that HPM-7 basically possesses the POS-A (i.e. POS) topology, a detailed HR-STEM study demonstrates the rare existence of some disorder compatible with the polymorph POS-D. The general avoidance of polymorphs with very similar structural motifs and comparable energies points to a rather specific structure-direction by the organic dications used

Adapting lending policies when negative interest rates hit banks’ profits

SANFI Award to the best paper on Banking of the 26th Finance Forum, held in Santander on 5-6 July 2018¿Cuál es el impacto de los tipos de interés negativos en la oferta de crédito y en la asunción de riesgos por parte de los bancos? Para responder a esta pregunta estudiamos los cambios en las políticas crediticias a partir de la Encuesta sobre Préstamos Bancarios del área del euro y de registro de crédito español. Los bancos cuyos ingresos netos por intereses están adversamente afectados por los tipos de interés negativos están poco capitalizados, corren menos riesgos y ajustan las condiciones de los préstamos para reforzar sus activos ponderados por riesgo y sus ratios de capital. Estos bancos también aumentan sus comisiones. Por el contrario, no encontramos diferencias en la oferta de crédito y en los criterios de concesión de préstamos ni en el área del euro ni en España. Estos resultados sugieren que los tipos de interés negativos no contraen necesariamente la oferta de crédito y que el reversal rate aún no se ha alcanzadoWhat is the impact of negative interest rates on bank lending and risk-taking? To answer this question we study the changes in lending policies using both the Euro area Bank Lending Survey and the Spanish Credit Register. Banks whose net interest income is adversely affected by negative rates are concurrently lowly capitalized, take less risk and adjust loan terms and conditions to shore up their risk weighted assets and capital ratios. These banks also increase non-interest charges more. But, importantly, we find no differences in banks’ credit supply or standard setting, neither in the Euro area nor in Spain. These findings suggest that negative rates do not necessarily contract the supply of credit and that the so-called “reversal rate” may not have been reached ye

Synthesis of large-pore zeolites from chiral structure-directing agents with two l-prolinol units

In this work, we perform an in-depth experimental and computational study about the structure-directing effect of two new chiral organic quaternary ammonium dications bearing two N-methyl-prolinol units linked by a xylene spacer in para or meta relative orientation, displaying four enantiopure stereogenic centers in (S) configuration. Synthesis results show that the para-xylene derivative is an efficient structure-directing agent, promoting the crystallization of ZSM-12 (in pure-silica composition), beta zeolite (as pure-silica, or in the presence of Al or Ge), and a mixture of polymorphs C, A and B of zeolite beta (in the presence of Ge). In contrast, the meta-xylene derivative showed a much poorer structure-directing activity, yielding only amorphous materials unless Ge is present in the gel, where beta and polymorph C (together with A and B) zeolites crystallized. Molecular simulations showed that the para-xylene dication displays a cylindrical shape suitable for confining in zeolite pores, while the meta-xylene derivative has an angular shape that shifts from the typical dimensions required for 12MR zeolite channels. Despite enantio-purity of the para-xylene dication with (S, S, S, S) configuration, no enrichment in polymorph A of the zeolite beta samples obtained was observed by Transmission Electron Microscopy. With the aid of molecular simulations, the failure in transferring chirality to the zeolite is explained by the loose fit of this SDA in the large-pores of zeolite beta, and a lack of close geometrical fit with the chiral element of polymorph A, as evidenced by the very similar interaction of the cation with the two enantiomorphic space groups of polymorph A. Nevertheless, the molecular-level knowledge gained in this work can provide insights for the future design of more efficient SDAs towards the synthesis of chiral zeolites

Tailoring the acid strength of microporous silicoaluminophosphates through the use of mixtures of templates: Control of the silicon incorporation mechanism

SAPO-5 samples have been synthesized with triethylamine (TEA), benzylpyrrolidine (BP) and mixtures of them as structure directing agents (SDAs). It has been observed that in the as-synthesised materials the concentration of SDAs (molecules per unit cell) and the Si content are similar. According to the different molecular size of both SDAs, the samples exhibit higher organic weight and lower water content as the molar fraction of BP in the synthesis gel increases. These differences in selectivity for organic/water incorporation influences the mechanism of Si substitution in the AlPO lattice: the higher organic content obtained at higher BP/TEA ratio leads to the formation of large Si islands, while the higher water content of the sample obtained with TEA enhances the formation of isolated Si(OAl)4 environments. Interestingly, it has been found that these two opposite trends can be tailored to a certain point by using mixtures of both SDAs, TEA and BP, in the required ratio. The catalytic activity of the samples has been tested in the isomerisation of m-xylene. It has been observed a higher activity of samples obtained with BP as the main SDA, thus evidencing the better performance of large Si islands in this reaction.MEC (CTQ2006-06282)Peer reviewe