bailout merely to survive. The bad outcomes of writing riskier business than what the available
capital could support were borne by the taxpayers, not the investors who made the business
decision. Higher capital requirement could certainly reduce the chance of default. However, as
Bolton and Samama (2011) pointed out, the foreseen increased capital requirement for the banking
industry according to Basel III may make it more difficult to earn the required return on equity
(RoE) if the increased capital requirement needs to be met by the issuance of stocks. In addition, a
sudden shift to a much more stringent capital requirement might also result in a credit crisis as the
banks hold much less than the required capital as a buffer than previously required or have to raise
capital to meet the capital requirement. Contingent capital seems to be a promising solution.
(1) As a debt instrument before conversion, it limits the increase in weighted average cost of
capital (WACC). It will not cause the concern of higher required RoE in normal
circumstances, which happens when financing with common equity.
(2) The tax deductibility of the debt instruments is also an argument for investors to utilize
contingent capital in their financing. The disciplining power of creditors might also be
preserved before conversion by maintaining the same leverage level as before.
(3) Firms normally try to sell troublesome assets and get rid of troublesome liabilities instead of
issuing new stocks due to its high cost. Issuing contingent capital in good time fixes the
recapitalization cost at a reasonable level in a future distressed situation. Apparently it is a
cheaper way than raising capital in bad economic times.
(4) It can reduce the default probability without government bailout. Upon conversion, the
capital base of the company will be increased so that it will have a stronger capital position
than that before the conversion. The loss will be borne by the investors of contingent capital
instead of the taxpayers. Therefore, it helps fulfill the goal of applying more stringent capital
rules to too-big-to-fail firms. Bankruptcy and government bailout are very costly. Contingent
capital can lower the chance of going through those expensive processes