Elsa Allman

Research Interests: Sustainable Finance, Climaterisk, ESG Disclosure, Banking, Financial Stability

Education:

Baruch College, City University of New York (CUNY)
Finance PhD Candidate,”Essays on Green Finance and Climate Risk”
New York
2016 – Present
Paris School of Economics (PSE)
Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Development
Paris
2009-2010
University Paris-Dauphine
Master 203: Security Markets, Commodity Markets and Risk Management
Paris
2006-2008
University Paris-Dauphine and Autonomous University of Madrid
Joint Bachelor Degree, Economics and Management
Paris & Madrid
2003-2006

Experience:

 

French Central Bank (Banque de France), Prudential Supervisory Authority (ACPR)
International Banking Regulatory Expert, within International Affairs Division 
Paris
Jan 2012 – June 2016
  • Member of the European Banking Authoritys (EBA) Sub-Group on Market Risk: negotiation and participa­tion in technical debates, elaboration of technical standards and guidelines on risk modeling, consultation with the banking industry, conduct of data collection exercises and quantitative impact studies
  • Member of the Basel Task-Force on Regulatory Consolidation: development of a new framework to incorpo­rate step-in risk of shadow banking entities and review impact on existing Basel requirements
  • Lead expert on market risk, Credit Valuation Adjustment (CVA), counterparty credit risk and prudent valuation: jurisprudential assistance to banking supervisors, internal training, speaker at external conferences
  • Conduct of Benchmarking exercises (at the EBA and Basel level) of banks internal risk models
 Banking Regulation Methodologist, within the Norms and Methods Division  Sept 2010 – Dec 2011 
  • Developed methodological reports and ensured regulatory monitoring: Basel III, large exposures regime, Supervisory review and evaluation process, Capital Requirements Directive II and III
  • Conducted statistical and methodological studies on the ACPRs internal Risk Assessment System
  • Coordinated and supported the implementation of prudential regulation within the ACPR as a member of expert study groups: EBA guidelines, supervisory colleges, home/host supervision
BNP Paribas
Sales Assistant
London
May – Oct 2008
  • Within Northern Europe Equities Derivatives sales team: in charge of assisting the sales desk and addressing clients daily requests (draft term sheets; price, book, settle trades; develop fund performance monitoring tools).

 

 

Skills and Background

Languages: Bilingual in English and French; good written and spoken level of Spanish

IT: Advanced in R, Stata, LaTeX, MS Office; knowledge of VBA, Eviews, Matlab, Python

International Background: Lived in Haiti, Vietnam, Madagascar, India and attended international schools (French School of New Delhi, Lycée of Antananarivo, American School of Antananarivo).

 

Working Papers:

The Effect of ESG Disclosure on Corporate Investment Efficiency, with Joonsung Won 2021

This paper examines the effects of environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure on investment efficiency, using the adoption of Directive 2014/95/EU as a quasi-natural shock on disclosure quality. We document a significant and robust reduction of underinvestment for U.S. firms with significant activities in the EU, which exposes them to the Directive, relative to U.S. firms not affected. These firms are able to raise additional debt after the adoption of the Directive, although there is no evidence of any impact on new capital raised in equity markets. In addition, investment efficiency gains are strongest for firms with ex-ante lower ESG disclosure levels and firms that are financially constrained. These results suggest that nonfinancial disclosure requirements can play a role in mitigating adverse selection problems for underinvesting firms, especially in debt markets, in a manner similar to disclosure of financial information.
Presentations: Baruch Finance Brownbag (February 2020), Financial Markets and Corporate Governance Conference (FMCG) (2021)

External Reviews and Green Bond Credibility, with Brandon Lock, 2021

In an effort to alleviate greenwashing concerns, firms are increasingly commissioning voluntary external reviews and certifications of their green bond issues. This paper examines the role of external parties in reducing information asymmetry in the green bond market and the ensuing effects on green bond pricing. Initial evidence does not suggest that external reviews, on average, provide issuers with at-issue funding cost reductions. In subsequent analyses, we find that external reviews reduce at-issue costs for green issuers domiciled in common law countries, including the United States. Specifically, these issuers benefit from a 0.5 percentage point lower greenium (i.e., the difference between the yield on a green bond and the yield on a similar conventional bond). Funding costs are lowest when issuers obtain external reviews from audit firms or rating agencies. Overall, our results suggest that the pricing implications of green bond external reviews depend crucially on both the location of the green issuer and the reputation of the external reviewer.
Presentations: Baruch Finance PhD Symposium (May 2020)

Pricing Climate Change Risk in Corporate Bonds, 2020

Using a firms geographic footprint to measure its exposure to sea level rise (SLR), I find that corporate bonds bear a climate risk premium upon issuance. A one standard deviation increase in firms SLR exposure is associated with a 7 basis point premium, representing a 3% increase in average yield spread. This effect is more pronounced for geographically concentrated firms, and within industries vulnerable to extreme weather conditions. I do not find evidence that credit rating agencies account for SLR exposure at bond issuance. Results are robust to placebo tests and inverse propensity weighting to address possible endogeneity.
Presentations: Baruch Finance Brownbag (April 2020), ASSA Poster Session (January 2021)

Shadow Banks and Bank Systemic Risk, 2019

Shadow banks, non-bank lenders defined as unregulated non-depository institutions, currently dominate the U.S. residential mortgage market. Their market share has risen from 21% to 35% between 2007 and 2013, surpassing pre-crisis levels. In this paper, I examine empirically whether the rise of shadow banks in the mortgage market impacts systemic risk in the regulated banking system. I find that shadow banks penetration increases systemic risk of small banks but reduces it for larger banks. Controlling for endogeneity, I find that a 10 percentage point increase in shadow banking penetration increases average systemic risk contributions by 23% for small banks with assets of $500 million. In contrast, for large banks with $1 trillion in assets, a 10percentage point increase of shadow banks market share is accompanied by an 80% reduction in systemic risk. These results suggest that shadow banks act as disruptive substitutes to small banks, but complement larger banks which subsequently reduce their systemic risk.
Presentations: Baruch Finance Seminar (March 2019), Banque de France Seminar DEMS (July 2019)

ESG-Linked Loans, with Sonali Hazarika and Mo Qiao, Work in Progress

 

Disclaimer: The biographical information is as of the date of posting.

Event Name:Authors Present their Winning Research Papers

Event Date:2021-06-17