This paper examines the relationship between banks' capitalization strategies and their
corporate governance and executive compensation schemes for an international sample of
banks over the 2003–2011 period. Shareholder-friendly corporate governance, in the form
of a separation of the CEO and chairman of the board roles, intermediate board size, and an
absence of anti-takeover provisions, is associated with lower bank capitalization, consistent
with shareholder incentives to shift risk towards the financial safety net. Higher values of …