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This current research tries to answer the widespread debate about the role of derivatives in propagating the last financial crisis. So, this work aims to examine the effect of derivatives on bank stability in emerging countries by using the bank stability index (BSI) as developed by Ghosh (2011) from three major dimensions of banking operations: stability, soundness, and profitability. We use the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator technique developed by Blundell and Bond (1998) to estimate regressions during the normal, the turbulent, and the whole period, following the guidance given by Chiaramonte, Poli, and Oriani (2013).

The major conclusion of this study reveals that except to futures the other derivative instruments cannot be considered as troubling factors. The main implication of the research shows that derivatives – in general – are not responsible for the propagation of the recent financial crisis. Hence, the common debate accusing derivatives as being responsible for the aggravation of the recent financial crisis should be rejected.

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.

The major objective of this study is to inspect the differences in the effect of derivatives on the stability between banks from emerging countries and those from recently developed countries.

According to the repercussions of the recent financial crisis, we divide the whole period into normal period “the pre-crisis period,” 2003–2006, and turbulent period “the crisis & post-crisis period,” 2007–2011. We use the Generalized Methods of Moments (GMM) estimator technique developed by Blundell and Bond (1998) to estimate our regressions.

Our main conclusions show that, in general, using derivatives by banks from emerging countries deteriorates their stability especially during the turbulent period, whereas, using derivatives do not weaken the stability of banks from recently developed countries. We deduce that banks from emerging countries are more destabilized by using derivatives than banks from recently developed countries.

The collapse of Italian economy has coincided with the global financial crisis to which derivatives are suspected to be responsible of its propagation. For this reason, this study aims to examine whether the use of derivatives affects the profitability of Italian banks during both the global financial crisis period and the recession period of Italian economy. To reach this goal an appropriate econometric procedure namely the dynamic Generalized Method of Moments system is applied using data from 22 Italian banks over the long period 2005–2017. A series of bank-specific indicators are used to explain the effect of overall derivatives and each derivative instrument separately on Italian banks’ profitability. The results of regressions panels indicate that in general derivatives as well as measured in the whole or splitting up in instruments specifically in forwards, options, and, in particular, swaps affect positively the profitability of Italian banks. The main conclusion is that – despite the episode of economic recession in Italy – Italian banks boost their profitability by using derivatives.

As practical contribution, policy-makers in Italy should throw out the assumption of the implication of derivatives in the fragility of the banking system. On the contrary, they should pave the way easily for Italian banks’ managers to deal with derivatives and look out for the real problems of the recent collapse of the Italian economy.