Abstract
M.Comm. (Financial Management)
The costs of the 2007- 09 financial crises on global economies have resulted in new central bank rules to strengthen financial institutions. The question of whether there were any significant differences in capital structures between banks who were liquid and those who were liquidity constrained in the 2007– 2009 global financial crisis, still needs to be answered. Theoretical models on corporate failure partly explain how bank capital management impacts on whether a bank fails or not. This study investigates the differences in capital ratios between banks who were liquidity- stressed and those who were liquid. A comparative analysis of selected banking capital ratios were done followed by a discriminant analysis to determine if there is a relationship between the capital structures of liquid and liquidity- stressed banks. It was found that there were differences in capital structures of liquid and liquidity- stressed banks but capital ratios on their own, could not be used as early warning sign for bank failure.