Prof. Steven Ongena
SFI Senior Chair, Professor of Banking, University of Zurich
Steven Ongena is Professor of Banking at the University of Zurich. Professor Ongena's papers have been published in leading academic journals in finance and economics. He has received numerous awards and is a research consultant for several European central banks.
Expertise
Professor Ongena focuses on the functioning of banks and their relationship with the economy from various angles. When analyzing the impact of democracy on the credit market, he finds that democratization reduces the cost of loans, which can affect economic growth and development. When looking at climate risks, he shows that banks are exposed to significant stranded asset risk—through their financing of carbon-intensive industries—and seemingly underestimate the actual cost of this risk. He also demonstrates that when a negative funding shock occurs, banks strategically reallocate their loan portfolio toward sectors where they have high market shares and are more specialized and toward low-risk firms. Professor Ongena actively participates in SFI Knowledge Exchange activities on how banks tackle the technological transition and support the green transition.
Expertise Fields
- Financial Markets
- Central Banks and Monetary Policy
- Financial Crises
- Systemic Risk and Regulation
- Financial Institutions
- Banks
- Corporate Finance and Governance
- Bankruptcy and Liquidation
- Corporate Governance and Managerial Compensation
- Frontier Topics
- Sustainable Finance