TY - JOUR
T1 - Growth in financial derivatives
T2 - The public policy and accounting incentives
AU - Abdel-khalik, A. Rashad
AU - Chen, Po Chang
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - During the period 1995-2012, U.S. financial institutions had contributed significantly to the growth in financial derivatives. The notional amount of total derivatives held by the 25 largest U.S. bank holding companies grew eighteen times from $16.6 trillion in 1995 to $308. trillion in 2012, while the U.S. GDP merely doubled from $7.7 trillion to $16.2 trillion over the same period. In this paper, we examine three possible drivers of this growth: (a) the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, (b) the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, and (c) FAS 133 (now ASC 815), Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities, which became effective in 2000. Using a sample of U.S. bank holding companies, we find a temporal association between the passage of the two Congressional Acts and the abnormal growth in trading/over-the-counter derivatives. We also predict and find that the use of cash flow hedge accounting treatment helps reduce earnings volatility/equity risk, and that firms increase their use of non-trading derivatives when facing high level of earnings volatility/equity risk.
AB - During the period 1995-2012, U.S. financial institutions had contributed significantly to the growth in financial derivatives. The notional amount of total derivatives held by the 25 largest U.S. bank holding companies grew eighteen times from $16.6 trillion in 1995 to $308. trillion in 2012, while the U.S. GDP merely doubled from $7.7 trillion to $16.2 trillion over the same period. In this paper, we examine three possible drivers of this growth: (a) the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, (b) the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, and (c) FAS 133 (now ASC 815), Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities, which became effective in 2000. Using a sample of U.S. bank holding companies, we find a temporal association between the passage of the two Congressional Acts and the abnormal growth in trading/over-the-counter derivatives. We also predict and find that the use of cash flow hedge accounting treatment helps reduce earnings volatility/equity risk, and that firms increase their use of non-trading derivatives when facing high level of earnings volatility/equity risk.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2015.01.002
DO - 10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2015.01.002
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84931568242
SN - 0278-4254
VL - 34
SP - 291
EP - 318
JO - Journal of Accounting and Public Policy
JF - Journal of Accounting and Public Policy
IS - 3
ER -