Mortgage-backed Securitization and SME Lending During the Financial and Economic Crisis: Evidence from the Italian Cooperative Banking System

摘要

I investigate the determinants of the securitization activities of Italian cooperative banks during the financial and economic crisis (2007-2014) and the impact of securitization on the supply of loans to SMEs. The less deposit-funded, less profitable and less capitalized cooperative banks are, the more likely they are to securitize and the more likely it is that they will securitize to a larger extent. Furthermore, I find that securitization has not directly affected the supply of new SME loans. However, there is strong evidence of a risk-rebalancing effect of securitization on the balance sheet, especially in the period 2010-2014.