The new Basel III Liquidity Coverage Ratio standard which encourages banks to maintain a diversified pool of high-quality liquid assets against their short-term expected net cash outflows although it appears to be noble from a theoretic perspective it may weigh down banks’ performance because liquid assets earn low returns. It is against this background that this study sought to evaluate the impact of the new Basel III liquidity regulations on the profitability of banks in emerging market economies. A sample of 40 banks operating in 11 emerging markets over the period 2011 to 2016 was used in the study. For estimation, system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator was employed. Surprisingly, empirical results demonstrated that regulatory pressure stemming from Liquidity Coverage Ratio requirement increased instead of diminishing the profitability of banks in emerging markets. The plausible explanation given for this evidence was that banks in emerging markets managed their liquidity in a manner that is consistent with Liquidity Coverage Ratio rule hence the regulation had no detrimental effects on banks in emerging economies.

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Orientation: The behaviour of stock market return volatility and implications thereof in Southern African Development Committee (SADC).Research purpose: The main aim of this study was to examine leverage effects and volatility persistence in selected southern African stock markets.Motivation for the study: To examine the volatility of stock markets in SADC which has implications on investment risk.Research approach, design and method: The study adopted exponential generalised autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (1.1) model using generalised error distribution and Student’s t-distribution.Main findings: Leverage effects were evidenced in Namibia and South Africa. Other nations reflected mixed results depending on the error distribution assumed. Volatility persistence was noted in all nations save for Malawi.Practical/managerial implications: Investors in Namibia and South Africa are encouraged to include leverage effects in portfolio optimisation and value-at-risk computations. Firms raising funds in these nations should be prepared to incur a risk premium as compensation to creditors for assuming high risk. As such raising capital in such nations is expected to be expensive and difficult coupled by market illiquidity, other things being equal. Except for Malawi, firms operating in other SADC nations are encouraged to hedge their operations as the level of stock market volatility is persistent and notable.Contribution/value-add: The study focused on countries that are excluded from recent studies using current models of volatility. A comparison is therefore possible at country level and using two different error distribution assumptions which concretise the results.

In December 2010, the Basel Committee on Baking Supervision introduced the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) standard for banking institutions in response to disturbances that rocked banks during the 2007/08 global financial crisis. The rule is aimed at enhancing banks’ resilience to short term liquidity shocks as it requires banks to hold ample stock of high grade securities. This study attempts to evaluate the impact of the LCR specification on the funding structures of banks in emerging markets by answering the question “Did Basel III LCR requirement induced banks in emerging market economies to increase deposit funding more than they would otherwise do?” The study found that the LCR charge has been effective in persuading banks in emerging markets to garner more stable retail deposits. This response may engender banking sector stability if competition for retail deposits is properly regulated.