IMF Working Paper – Monetary and Capital Markets Department – The Effects of Unconventional Monetary Policies on Bank Soundness. Prepared by Frederic Lambert and Kenichi Ueda. Authorized for distribution by Gaston Gelos. August 2014.

“Unconventional monetary policy is often assumed to benefit banks. However, we find little supporting evidence. Rather, we find some evidence for heightened medium-term risks. First, in an event study using a novel instrument for monetary policy surprises, we do not detect clear effects of monetary easing on bank stock valuation but find a deterioration of medium-term bank credit risk in the United States, the euro area, and the United Kingdom. Second, in panel regressions using U.S. banks’ balance sheet information, we show that bank profitability and risk taking are ambiguously affected, while balance sheet repair is delayed.”