Policy responses to the issue of implicit bank debt guarantees: OECD survey results

Abstract

Bank regulatory reform is expected to limit the value of implicit bank debt guarantees, even if not plainly targeting such values. According to the responses from 35 countries to a survey on implicit bank debt guarantees, there is however no one specific policy capable of fully eliminating the market perception that bank debt is “special”. A mixture of several different and complementary policy measures is considered more helpful, with recurrent elements including the implementation of internationally agreed capital and liquidity standards, the tightening of micro- and macro-prudential supervision and making bank failure resolution more effective. As regards the overall thrust of bank regulatory reform efforts, most respondents suggest “strengthening banks” and “strengthening the capacity to withdraw the guarantee function” describes best their own efforts. By contrast, labelling certain policy measures as “effectively charging a user fee” is considered problematic as it might make explicit what currently is at most implicit.