The Global Financial Crisis and Its Impact on Australian Bank Risk

This paper examines the global financial crisis (GFC) and its impact on Australian banking risk. An augmented market model is developed to identify changes in listed Australian bank systematic risk in relation to three key events: the GFC's start in August 2007, the market downturn in Australian and global share markets in January 2008, and the announcement of Australia's Deposit and Wholesale Funding Guarantee (DWFG) scheme on 12 October 2008. The study also examines changes in bank systemic risk during these event periods. The Australian market offers a unique opportunity to observe the impact of the introduction of the DWFG in that it lacked any explicit deposit insurance prior to the crisis. Initially, the crisis period had little impact on bank systematic risk while bank systemic risk increased considerably. The share market downturn caused a marked increase in both systematic and systemic risks for Australia's major internationally connected banks followed by a reduction in both systematic and systemic risks with the introduction of the guarantee scheme for all Australian banks.