Market Liquidity Risk

This book explores the effect of liquidity on asset prices, liquidity variations over time and how liquidity risk affects prices.

Liquidity Management is now a core consideration for banks and other financial institutions following the collapse of numerous well-known banks in 2007-8. This timely new edition will provide practical guidance on liquidity risk and its management – now mandatory under new regulation.

Much critical attention has been given in recent years to market and credit risks, which have a significant effect on corporate and financial operations and must be understood and managed with care. While these areas have rightly received considerable scrutiny, another critical dimension of financial risk - based on corporate liquidity - has been largely overlooked. Liquidity risk is the risk of loss arising from an inability to quickly realise asset value or obtain funding and can be damaging if not properly considered or actively managed. Lack of liquidity can lead to large losses in asset/liability portfolios and off balance sheet activities and in extreme cases can trigger financial distress and insolvency. Liquidity Risk is a comprehensive treatment of the topic focusing on the nature of the risk, problems that arise in asset and funding liquidity and mechanisms that can be developed to monitor, measure and control such risks.

Andria van der Merwe provides a thorough guide to the critical tools needed to navigate liquidity markets and value security pricing in the presence of market frictions and information asymmetries. This is essential reading for anyone with a current or future interest in liquidity models, market structures, and trading mechanisms.

The recent turmoil on financial markets has made evident the importance of efficient liquidity risk management for the stability of banks. The measurement and management of liquidity risk must take into account economic factors such as the impact area, the timeframe of the analysis, the origin and the economic scenario in which the risk becomes manifest. Basel III, among other things, has introduced harmonized international minimum requirements and has developed global liquidity standards and supervisory monitoring procedures. The short book analyses the economic impact of the new regulation on profitability, on assets composition and business mix, on liabilities structure and replacement effects on banking and financial products.​

Every business and decision involves a certain amount of risk. Risk might cause a loss to a company. This does not mean, however, that businesses cannot take risks. As disengagement and risk aversion may result in missed business opportunities, which will lead to slower growth and reduced prosperity of a company. In today's increasingly complex and diverse environment, it is crucial to find the right balance between risk aversion and risk taking. To do this it is essential to understand the complex, out of the whole range of economic, technical, operational, environmental and social risks associated with the company's activities. However, risk management is about much more than merely avoiding or successfully deriving benefit from opportunities. Risk management is the identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks. Lastly, risk management helps a company to handle the risks associated with a rapidly changing business environment.

Robust management of liquidity risk within the changing regulatory framework Liquidity Management applies current risk management theory, techniques, and processes to liquidity risk control and management to help organizations prepare in case of future economic crisis and changing regulatory framework. Based on extensive research conducted on banks' datasets, this book addresses the practical challenges and critical issues that frequently go unmentioned, and discusses the recent impact of sovereign crises on banks' liquidity processes and approaches. Market practices and regulatory stances are reviewed and compared to bank treasuries' response to liquidity crunches, refinancing risks are explored in the context of Basel 3, and alternative funding is analyzed in terms of resilience and allocation. Coverage includes the recent crisis, new regulations, and the techniques, processes, and strategies banks use in managing liquidity risk. The 2008 and 2010 crises brought liquidity risk out of the shadows as even profitable and well-capitalized banks were swept away with breathtaking speed. This book reviews modeling and internal process design in the context of the structural change in market conditions on banks' refinancing and control requirements, helping readers rethink and re-design their organization's approach to liquidity risk. Understand the new liquidity regulatory framework and the implications for banks Study the latest liquidity measurement models, with stress testing and scenario analysis Discover the effect of illiquid financing markets and possible lasting impacts Compare market liquidity and warning signals that detect further deterioration With much of the world still reeling from history, it's important that liquidity risk become a major focus going forward. This practical guide provides valuable information, but also real, actionable steps that can be taken today to forecast and mitigate risks with an eye toward greater stability and security. Liquidity Management is a thorough, comprehensive guide to a more robust management of liquidity risk.