Business Case Studies & Business Publications

ArboBank's Capital Game

Hachem, Kinda

Case

ArboBank's Capital Game

Hachem, Kinda

GEM-0261 | Published April 13, 2026 | 6 Pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

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This case was written to simulate the economic decisions that led to the 2008 financial crisis without explicitly referencing that crisis. It focuses on a fictional commercial bank that seeks to grow but is constrained by capital requirements. It simulates an executive committee meeting that ultimately makes the constraint less binding. The focus is on legitimate maneuvers within the scope of accounting rules that existed before the crisis. The case also includes a vignette about an investment bank increasingly funding itself using short-term repurchase agreements (repos). This is meant to capture another aspect of the 2008 financial crisis, specifically Lehman Brothers and the run on repos that led to Lehman Brothers’ failure.

- Understand the process of structured securitization. - Understand regulatory arbitrage of risk-weighted capital requirements. - Introduce off-balance-sheet activities and liquidity guarantees as a form of shadow banking. - Practice identifying maturity transformation and run risk outside of traditional deposits. - Appreciate the difference between privately optimal decision-making and socially optimal outcomes.