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The study examines the role of regulation in the fintech-based financial inclusion (FBFI)–risk-taking nexus in the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) region.

Using a sample of 10 countries in SSA over the period 2014 to 2021, the study employed the fixed-effect regression model and the two-step generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator.

The results show that FBFI mitigates commercial banks risk-taking in SSA. But as FBFI progresses, the association takes the shape of an inverted U, increasing risks initially and decreasing them later on. Effective supervision and regulatory quality, in particular, are essential in moderating this relationship by offsetting the adverse consequences of FBFI in its early stages.

First, while our sample is limited to banks in ten SSA countries, future studies could extend the sample size, enabling more explicit generalization of the results. Second, the FBFI–bank risk nexus can be explored further by comparing diverse forms of fintech participation, such as fintech company investment, fintech technology investment, cooperation with specific fintech service providers and cooperation with Internet giants.

Policymakers, banks and fintech companies should collaborate to certify the sustainable utilization of fintech tools to ensure financial inclusion. Policymakers should craft policies that encourage effective supervision and regulatory quality of fintechs since they reduce banks' risk-taking practices, which usually have positive effect on the economy.

The study adds value to the debate on the role of regulation on the FBFI–risk-taking nexus, taking into account countries that are at different levels of development.

A review of the literature provides a solid reason to believe that an increase in environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) activities have a positive impact on banks’ default risk (DR). However, the increasing impact of climate risk on credit, operational and market risks, as well as the reduced availability of funding for banks that underperform in terms of ESG risk, is a concern. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to verify the relevance of the implementation of ESG policies to a bank’s DR, against the background of macroeconomic and bank-specific factors.

Using a data set of 303 commercial banks from 61 countries from 2012 to 2021 and a panel regression methodology, the empirical importance of ESG activities for bank DR is documented. The two-stage generalized method of moments estimator was used to test the research questions.

Comparing different factors, the results highlight the positive impact of ESG activities on the bank’s DR. However, this relationship varies according to the specific pillars of the bank’s sustainability policies and changes into negative ones.

This paper fits the domain of DR management research, investigating whether ESG performance affects bank DR while controlling macroeconomic and market drivers. Prior literature has shown evidence on the relationship between macro and market forces and a bank’s risk profile while a limited one on the non-market drivers. The main contribution is to consider ESG (in total and as separate pillars) as independent drivers of the bank risk profile.

This study uses data from the Chinese banking sector to explore the relationship between green credit and risk-taking in commercial banks. It also examines whether the level of regional green development acts as a moderator regarding this relationship.

Using a dataset composed of annual observations from 57 Chinese commercial banks between 2008 and 2021, this study employs both piecewise and curvilinear models.

Our results indicate that when the scale of green credit is low (<0.164), it increases the risk-taking of commercial banks. Conversely, when the scale of green credit is high (>0.164), it reduces the risk-taking of commercial banks. Moreover, this nonlinear relationship impact exhibits bank heterogeneity. Furthermore, the results show that the level of regional green development and local government policy support negatively moderate the relationship between green credit and commercial bank risk-taking. Furthermore, we find that green credit can directly enhance the net interest margin of commercial banks.

This study is the first to provide evidence of a nonlinear relationship between green credit and risk-taking in commercial banks, and it identifies the significant roles of regional green development level and local government policy support in the Chinese context.

This study sought to examine the interaction between rural bank performance, information and communication technology (ICT) investment, ICT diffusion and financial development.

Data were sourced from the Association of Rural Banks (ARB) Apex and World Development Indicators (WDI) for the period 2014–2020. A total of 122 rural banks were used for this study. The study adopted the two-step system generalized method of moments (SGMM) estimation technique in assessing the interactions among variables.

This study found compelling evidence to support the positive effect of ICT investment on banks’ performance (return on asset and net interest margin). Further, ICT diffusion and financial development positively influence banks’ performance. The results show a positive moderating effect exerted by ICT diffusion and financial development on the impact of bank risk (bank stability) and ICT investment on all three performance measures.

The study focuses on the rural banking sector in the Ghanaian economy, compared to related studies that examine the subject matter for commercial banks. The moderating effects of ICT diffusion and financial development are assessed to guide policy on rural banking development in Ghana.

This study delves into the critical issue of banks' stability and profitability, which are crucial elements for fostering economic growth and preserving depositor confidence. Specifically, we scrutinize the impact of geopolitical risks on the profitability and solvency of banks operating in emerging economies across the Middle East and Africa.

Employing a two-step Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) approach, we analyze a comprehensive dataset comprising 125 banks spanning 13 emerging economies in the Middle East and Africa, covering the period from 2003 to 2019.

Our study reveals a significant sensitivity of Middle Eastern banks to geopolitical risks, wherein effective anticipation or adaptation to these risks positively influences bank performance. Conversely, the impact of geopolitical risk on African banking profitability appears inconclusive and statistically insignificant. These nuanced findings underscore the complex interplay between geopolitical dynamics and financial performance in diverse regional contexts, with implications for policymakers and industry stakeholders.

Our findings underscore the need for nuanced policy responses and risk management strategies tailored to the unique challenges posed by geopolitical dynamics in emerging markets. Furthermore, they highlight the importance of continued research efforts to deepen our understanding of these complex interactions and inform more effective decision-making in the financial sector.

Amidst growing recognition of the importance of geopolitical risks in financial markets, empirical studies exploring their precise impact on bank performance remain scarce. This study fills this gap by offering a pioneering investigation into the influence of geopolitical risks on bank profitability and solvency, using advanced econometric techniques and a substantial, diverse sample of banks in emerging economies across the Middle East and Africa.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of off-balance sheet activities on the credit risk of African banks.

The theory about the relationship between off-balance sheet activities and bank risk was used to construct a conceptual model of the effect of off-balance sheet on credit risk in an African context. The accounting approach is chosen by collecting accounting data extracted from the annual reports of 24 private and conventional African banks during the period 2010–2019. Both statistical and empirical studies are conducted. The statistical study aims to give a description of sample banks in terms of off-balance sheet activities and key financial indicators. The empirical study has the goal of exploring the correlations between, on the one hand, credit risk and, on the other hand, off-balance sheet ratio and control variables (bank- and country-specific variables). This study is based on dynamic panels using the two-step generalized method of moments technique to estimate regressions between credit risk and the explanatory variables.

The statistical study reveals that sample banks use moderately off-balance sheet activities; most of them use essentially guarantees and letters of credit, have satisfactory financial indicators and are slightly exposed to credit risk. The empirical results from the two-step generalized method of moments technique disclose that off-balance sheet activities have an intensifying effect on the credit risk of African banks. However, the increasing effect can be minimized when African banks use moderately off-balance sheet activities.

Using judiciously off-balance sheet activities does not exacerbate the exposure of African banks to credit risk. Therefore, managers of African banks are recommended to maintain a moderate level of off-balance sheet activities, especially guarantees and letters of credit.

The findings of this study eliminate the opacity about the effect of off-balance sheet activities on credit risk. Moreover, this study fulfills the huge gap in the related literature by completing the scarcity of recent studies, considering all items of the off-balance sheet, focusing on the African context, describing off-balance sheet activities and financial indicators of sample banks due to a statistical study and estimating regressions of dynamic panels between credit risk and both bank-specific and country-specific variables due to a two-step generalized method of moments technique.

This study examined how economic freedom and its related components, such as open markets, regulatory efficiency, rule of law and the size of government, affect bank risk behavior, focusing on the Japanese context.

The study employs a two-step GMM framework on the annual data of Japanese banks ranging from 2005 to 2020 to empirically test the hypotheses. Furthermore, we also use the ordinary least square method to ensure the robustness of our mainline findings.

The finding suggests that economic freedom increases the banks' risk-taking, thus making them fragile. The results also highlight that out of the four main subcomponents of economic freedom, regulatory efficiency and government size increase bank risk-taking, while the rule of law and open markets decrease banks' risk-taking. Additionally, we examine how the banks' specific characteristics affect the results by creating a subsample based on capitalization and liquidity ratios. Overall, the results are consistent with the baseline findings. Moreover, the results are robust to alternative proxy measures of risk.

The study's findings have several implications for regulators and policymakers. The results suggest that regulators and policymakers should reconsider their strategies for economic freedom to ensure that they promote stability in the banking system and reduce banks' risk-taking inclinations.

Although previous studies have examined the impact of economic freedom on bank stability and risk-taking, this study is the first to do so in the Japanese context, contributing to the literature by providing new insights and empirical evidence.

The purpose of this research is to examine the connections between liquidity risk, credit risk, and bank profitability in India.

In order to examine the interlinkage between liquidity risk, credit risk, and profitability of banks in India, the researcher has gathered data from all commercial banks in India from 2004–2005 to 2020–2021. The data sources included in this study encompass the International Country Risk Guide, World Development Indicators and Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) has been utilised for the study.

Findings of this research identified that liquidity risk is inversely proportional to credit risk. Return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) are both impacted negatively by liquidity risk. ROA is impacted positively by credit risk, while ROE is impacted negatively by it. The profitability of banks is harmed by the interaction between liquidity risk and credit risk. It also shows that law and order, are beneficial to bank earnings and risk management. The capital risk-adjusted ratio has a negative relationship with bank profitability, indicating the need for better capital allocation.

The originality of this work lies in its unique contributions, It emphasises explicitly the Indian context, thereby providing insights tailored to this particular setting. It employs the SUR methodology, a statistical approach allowing for a more comprehensive data analysis. Additionally, it identifies and explores interaction effects, which can shed light on the complex relationships between variables.

This study aims to investigate the effect of income and asset diversification on earnings management using discretionary loan loss provisions (LLP) in banks, and the role of risk level in mediating this effect.

A sample of banks operating in Middle East and North Africa countries was used to test the mediation model of Baron and Kenny (1986) with different measures of diversification and risk.

The results show that bank income and asset diversification have unique and combined effects on earnings management. The results also support the idea that a risk-mediating effect contributes to explaining this relationship among banks. Specifically, bank diversification strategies positively affect LLP-based earnings management by increasing bank risk. This result is relevant for conventional banks. However, only a direct and positive effect of diversification strategies on LLP-based earnings management can be observed in Islamic banks, and the indirect effect is not supported.

This study extends previous research by examining the unique and combined effects of income and asset diversification strategies on earnings management in the banking sector. Specifically, it provides new evidence that diversification strategies increase LLP-based earnings management, both directly and indirectly, through bank risk.