Unsecured and Secured Funding

Abstract

We provide the first joint analysis of the secured and unsecured money markets of the euro area using bank-level data. After the Lehman crisis, two important substitution mechanisms emerge: banks with higher credit risk offset reductions of unsecured borrowing with secured funding. Riskier banks replace unsecured lending by granting more secured loans. However, high leverage and reliance on short-term funding hamper banks' ability to substitute. Moreover, banks enduring money market strains contribute to the credit crunch. Overall, our findings suggest that the secured segment of the euro money market contributes to financial stability, mitigating systemic effects such as short-term funding strains and contagion.