Staff Working Paper No. 1,113
By Robert Czech and Win Monroe
In this paper, we empirically study the role of information in safe asset liquidity crises, using the 2022 UK LDI crisis as a laboratory. Contrary to traditional adverse selection models, which predict higher liquidity costs due to the presence of informed traders, we find that dealers initially reduce liquidity costs for informed investors, and subsequently raise costs and reduce liquidity for the broader market. We interpret this as evidence of dealers seeking to learn from informed investors and then restricting liquidity as they process this information. We also document that dealers exploit their informational advantage in anonymous interdealer markets and that similar dynamics are present in other crises. These patterns reverse when central bank interventions restore market liquidity, thereby mitigating the effects of dealers' information chasing and their liquidity reallocation.
Dealers, information and liquidity provision in safe assets 