Domestic Commercial Banks

Abstract

The first group of investors considered in detail is domestic commercial banks. As already discussed, a stark distinction is frequently drawn between bank-based and capital market-based financial systems; too stark a distinction, this chapter will suggest, when we consider government bond markets. Commercial banks have traditionally been among the largest market actors in domestic government bond markets, particularly in emerging markets, as buyers of securities (either enforced through regulation or as the result of voluntarily-taken investment decisions), as market makers and as distributors of securities to other investors. Their investment decisions are therefore of central importance to a government’s ability to finance its activities. Institutions seen as commercial banks also vary greatly in their activities and business strategies, with implications for their financialization. Banks can concentrate on the buying of government securities, or prioritize lending to the private sector. They can also seek to make money from the trading of bonds or long-term investment.