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We investigate the effectiveness of the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) in mitigating the bank-sovereign nexus in the Euro Area. Using CDS spreads to measure bank and sovereign credit risk and a DCC-MIDAS model to capture the long-term component of bank-sovereign interconnectedness, we document that the dynamic correlation between banks and sovereigns has decreased in Euro Area countries since the introduction of the BRRD. Panel data analysis reveals that the decline in interconnectedness is not driven by the banks' capital adequacy, size or holdings of domestic sovereign securities.

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We investigate whether sovereign bond holdings of European banks are determined by a risk–return trade-off. Using data between 2011 and 2018 for 75 European banks, we confirm that banks exhibited risk-taking behavior during the sovereign debt crisis, e.g., due to moral suasion. In the period 2015–2018, however, banks’ investments in sovereign bonds are characterized by sound risk–return considerations, suggesting a lessening of the doom loop. This result is mainly driven by banks in the core European countries, as banks in the GIPS countries do not exhibit such behavior, nor do they avoid riskier bonds following the sovereign debt crisis.

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