Bail-in rules and the pricing of Italian bank bonds

We analyze whether the introduction of the bail-in tool in January 2016 affected the pricing of Italian bank bonds. Using a unique dataset of 1,798 fixed-rate bonds issued during the period 2013–2016, we find an increase of the spread at issuance of bail-inable bonds compared to non-bail-inable bonds. This increase also depends on the intrinsic characteristics of each bank. Large institutions, banks with lower ratings, profitability, capitalization, and higher liquidity faced a higher cost of issuing bail-inable bonds. Overall, our results seem to support the hypothesis of an improved market discipline for the bank bond primary market.