Determinants of Bank Profitability and Basel Capital Regulation: Empirical Evidence from Nigeria

This study, empirically, investigates the determinants of bank profitability. After including the regulatory variable into the model, I find no significant difference in bank profitability during pre-and post-capital regulation regime. Second, after employing NIM and ROA profitability metrics, I find that the determinants of bank profitability, and its significance, depends on the profitability metric employed. Third, I find that asset quality is a strong determinant of bank interest margin, relative to return on asset. Also, I observe that economies of scale and scope enables larger banks to be profitable (ROA) relative to smaller banks. Overall, the insignificant effect of Basel capital regime on bank profitability seems to suggest that such regulation might not be aimed at decreasing bank profits.