<p><b>Purpose</b></p>
<p>It is difficult to predict when the next
financial crisis will happen. Identifying financial strategies, which help a
bank to survive a crisis, is the main purpose of the paper. This paper examines the financial strategies of those banks, which managed
to retain good credit ratings both before and after the global financial
crisis, so as to throw light on the characteristics of banks which managed to
remain steady and stable. </p>
Design
<p>This
paper analyses Fitch credit ratings of 51 banks Islamic and commercial banks
operating in GCC, divided into pre global financial crisis (2002 to 2007) and
post global financial crisis (2008 to 2013) periods. Trend and behavior of
average ratios of top rated banks in both the periods is first attempted before
moving to “Ordered Choice Logit” regression method to further analyze the data.
</p>
<p><b>Findings</b></p>
<p>Size
and cost management are very important factors in ratings, both before and
after the financial crisis. As long as
asset quality is under control, liquidity is the focal point in achieving good
ratings. Top rated Islamic banks seem to be following a strategy of allowing
capital ratios to trend down during a crisis as long as capital is well above
the regulatory requirements. </p>
<p><b>Originality and
Value</b></p>
<p>The
paper is the first of its kind which examines credit rating strategies of
Islamic banks as well as commercial banks. <a>The findings
of the paper are extremely important for banks as they throw light on appropriate
strategies to be adopted by banks during crises.</a></p>
Central and Eastern European Countries before and after the 2008 Financial Crisis: Economic Overview and Transportation Companies