Regulation of off-balance sheet exposures and pricing of over-the-counter derivatives

Abstract

In the post-crisis period substantial attention has been placed on regulation of exposures held off balance sheet by large banks. I analyze the effect on equity holders of such regulation. While requiring banks to hold capital against their on balance sheet exposures largely doses not perturb equity holder valuation capital held against off balance sheet exposures decreases the equity claim by generating a deleveraging effect when the balance sheet is expanded. Shareholders command a premium to compensate for the change in the value of their claim leading to a deviation of prices of redundant derivative claims from their replicating portfolios. Importantly, this effect does not appear under a standard capital ratio.