Bank capital, liquidity and risk in Ghana

Purpose Capital, risk and liquidity are the vitality of the banking industry, which can improve the efficiency of banking and promote the efficiency of resource allocation. The purpose of this study is to examine how Basel III new liquidity ratios affect bank capital and risk adjustments and how banks respond to the new liquidity rules. Design/methodology/approach The authors adopted the system generalized method of moments (GMM) to examine how Basel III new liquidity ratios affect bank capital and risk adjustments and how banks respond to the new liquidity rules. Based on the call reports data from banks, GMM was used to test the hypotheses that new liquidity ratios affect bank capital and risk adjustments, as well as how banks respond to the regulation. Findings The results indicate banks targeted capital, risk and liquidity and simultaneously coordinate short-term adjustments in capital and risk. New liquidity measures enable banks to coordinate risk and liquidity decisions. Short-term adjustments in new liquidity rules inversely impact bank capital. Short-term adjustments in new liquidity rules inversely impact bank capital and capital adjustments adversely affect changes in the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR). Research limitations/implications The primary results revealed that Ghanaian banks simultaneously coordinate and target capital, risk exposure and liquidity level. Also, capital adjustments positively influence risk adjustments and vice versa while bidirectional negative coordination exists between bank capital and risk on one hand and liquidity on the other hand. Short-term adjustments in new liquidity rule inversely impact bank capital and capital adjustments adversely affect changes in the LCR. The findings partially confirm the theoretical predictions of Repullo (2005) regarding the negative links between capital, risk and liquidity but the authors have higher capital induces higher risk. Practical implications Banks should balance off their targeted risk and liquidity in order not to sacrifice capital accumulation for liquidity. Originality/value This research offers new contributions in the research of bank management of capital and liquidity toward banks during a financial crisis from a theoretical perspective and trust management from an applicative perspective.