How do large commercial banks adjust capital ratios: empirical evidence from the US?

Abstract This research explores the balanced panel data to examine the level of capital adjustment for major insured commercial banks over the 2002-2018 period using a two-step GMM estimator. The findings show that the speed of adjustment of the large insured commercial banks is faster than that of non-financial companies. The results contribute to a slower average adjustment pace of a total capital ratio than the total risk-based capital and capital buffer ratios. The adjustment of capital is faster in the post-crisis period than during and before-crises era. The adequately capitalized banks adjust capital ratio faster than well-capitalized banks. In contrast, the under-capitalized banks adjust the total risk-based capital ratio and capital buffer ratio more quickly than that of others. The low liquid banks needed a higher time to restore equilibrium than high liquid banks. The results of this study have economic significance for policy implications and future regulations