---
_id: '67389'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: We investigate banks' risk-taking and deposit flows around first-time going
    concern opinions (GCOs). While GCOs may strengthen market monitoring, they are
    also often suspected of destabilizing banks by triggering depositor runs. Our
    evidence is difficult to reconcile with that concern. Uninsured deposits begin
    to decline several quarters before the GCO, while insured deposits increase over
    the same period, leaving total deposits broadly stable around the opinion. This
    pattern suggests that more sophisticated depositors respond to timelier information
    than the annual audit report and shift from uninsured to insured funding before
    the GCO becomes public, whereas insured retail depositors do not exhibit large-scale
    withdrawals around the GCO. We also document that bank risk measures rise in the
    quarters leading up to the GCO and then stabilize and subsequently decline after
    the opinion. In addition, severe enforcement actions become more likely in the
    post-GCO period. Taken together, these patterns are consistent with an indirect
    supervisory channel that may help interpret the post-GCO change in risk-taking.
    Overall, our findings suggest that concerns about GCOs precipitating depositor
    runs may be overstated in the banking setting and that systematic auditor forbearance
    is not clearly justified on financial stability grounds.
author:
- first_name: Jan
  full_name: Riepe, Jan
  id: '86351'
  last_name: Riepe
  orcid: 0000-0002-1413-4953
- first_name: Ulf
  full_name: Mohrmann, Ulf
  last_name: Mohrmann
citation:
  ama: Riepe J, Mohrmann U. Banks’ Risk-Taking and Deposits Around Going Concern Opinions.
    <i>Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance</i>. Published online 2026. doi:<a
    href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6334698">https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6334698</a>
  apa: Riepe, J., &#38; Mohrmann, U. (2026). Banks’ Risk-Taking and Deposits Around
    Going Concern Opinions. <i>Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance</i>. <a
    href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6334698">https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6334698</a>
  bibtex: '@article{Riepe_Mohrmann_2026, title={Banks’ Risk-Taking and Deposits Around
    Going Concern Opinions}, DOI={<a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6334698">https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6334698</a>},
    journal={Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance}, author={Riepe, Jan and
    Mohrmann, Ulf}, year={2026} }'
  chicago: Riepe, Jan, and Ulf Mohrmann. “Banks’ Risk-Taking and Deposits Around Going
    Concern Opinions.” <i>Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance</i>, 2026. <a
    href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6334698">https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6334698</a>.
  ieee: 'J. Riepe and U. Mohrmann, “Banks’ Risk-Taking and Deposits Around Going Concern
    Opinions,” <i>Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance</i>, 2026, doi: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6334698">https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6334698</a>.'
  mla: Riepe, Jan, and Ulf Mohrmann. “Banks’ Risk-Taking and Deposits Around Going
    Concern Opinions.” <i>Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance</i>, 2026, doi:<a
    href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6334698">https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6334698</a>.
  short: J. Riepe, U. Mohrmann, Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance (2026).
date_created: 2026-10-05T08:55:36Z
date_updated: 2026-10-21T08:54:31Z
department:
- _id: '186'
- _id: '944'
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6334698
keyword:
- banks
- going concern opinions
- market discipline
- risk-taking
- enforcement actions
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- url: https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6334698
publication: Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance
status: public
title: Banks' Risk-Taking and Deposits Around Going Concern Opinions
type: journal_article
user_id: '88603'
year: '2026'
...