Policy Implications of Using Audits to Detect Bank Insolvencies

Abstract

We present a model where a regulator has to decide how to tackle the potential insolvency of a bank in a context of asymmetric information. We show that, when it can audit the bank, the regulator is unlikely to choose a policy of bailout to induce the bank to reveal its insolvency. We show that, in some circumstances, the regulator can induce the bank to reveal its insolvency by threatening to randomize its decision to nationalize the bank.