Forschung

My research explores how financial systems respond to misconduct, regulation, and information—bridging the fields of banking, governance, capital markets, and financial innovation. I am particularly interested in how institutional and market-based mechanisms—such as regulation, investor behavior, and media dynamics—interact to shape the integrity and stability of financial systems.

A core focus of my current work lies in anti-money laundering (AML) infractions. In a multi-study project funded by the OeNB Jubiläumsfonds, I analyze how different stakeholders—regulators, markets, media, and competitors—respond to AML infractions and how these responses affect banks' behavior, governance, and reputational risk.

Beyond AML, my research spans governance failures in banking, spillover effects across firms and countries, and the role of financial communication—including social media—in shaping investor perception. I also study monetary policy spillovers, particularly the cross-Atlantic influence of the US Federal Reserve on European banks.

In collaboration with international scholars, I investigate questions such as:

  1. How do foreign regulatory actions trigger market discipline in global banks?
  2. Do secret offshore affiliations impact the careers of corporate directors?
  3. Can ESG messaging on social media influence investor responses to bad news?

Across these diverse themes, my aim is to generate insights that not only advance academic understanding but also inform policy, regulation, and financial market practice.

 

Ongoing Projects 

  1. 4,400 Miles Across the Sea: Why ECB Decisions Do not Affect Euro Area Bank Stock Prices (Christof Haar, Andrea Schertler and Daniel te Kaat)

This study contributes to the literature by uncovering a previously overlooked transmission mechanism: Euro-area bank stock prices respond more strongly to US monetary policy decisions than to those of the European Central Bank (ECB). We show that this effect depends on the degree to which ECB policy can be anticipated based on actions taken by the US Federal Reserve (Fed). When the ECB is perceived to closely follow the Fed’s lead, the market reacts more to Fed announcements than to ECB decisions, highlighting the global influence of US monetary policy and the interdependence between the two central banks.

  1. Navigating Financial Information Asymmetry: Social Media, Sustainability, and Investor Decision-Making (Sapnoti Eswar, Florian Stöckler, and Andrea Schertler)

Do firms strategically use social media communication with environmental content to counteract negative stock market news? Such a channel is possible and plausible because investors pay attention to and value the firms' sustainability efforts. In line with a strategic use, we find that the intensity with which auto and truck manufacturers communicate environmental content on social media increases on days after information on product-related incidents has been released. We focus on these firms because recent policy changes arrogate more sustainable business models. Environmental tweets posted after investors receive information on product-related incidents have a moderating positive effect on the stock price response, also after controlling endogeneity in tweeting behavior.

  1. Offshore and Onboard: Secret Offshore Companies and Director Career Outcomes (Ron Masulis, Leonid Pugachev, and Andrea Schertler)

We study U.S. corporate directors who hold secret offshore companies (SOCs). We match a novel dataset of four leaks regarding SOC ownership to the registry of U.S. corporate directors from 2005 to 2021. Our preliminary results show that SOC affiliated directors (SOCADs) are more likely to be male, have backgrounds in accounting, hold CEO and CFO positions, chair the board and audit committees, and receive higher pay. Shareholders penalize directors upon learning of their SOC involvement. SOCADs are more likely to exit the director labor market the year after the leak, lose board seats, and receive ‘against’ votes in re-election campaigns. The leak does not affect firm value of SOCAD’s current employers.