Financial Reporting Quality and Dual-Holding of Debt and Equity

I investigate whether the financial reporting quality (FRQ) of a firm influences the propensity of institutional investors to simultaneously hold the firm's debt and equity (dual-holding). I predict that the underlying reason for institutional dual-holding is access to the better information that is available to lenders in firms with low FRQ. Accordingly, I find that dual-holders are more likely to participate in firms with low FRQ. Additionally, I predict and find that dual-holders trade on the additional information received from borrowers. I find that dual-holders achieve excess returns of 8 percent on their trades in the borrower's equity, and that the direction of their trades predicts the direction of borrowers' news on the earnings announcement day. Finally, I demonstrate that dual-holders' trades generate excess returns only in firms with low FRQ, suggesting that investors become dual-holders in firms with low FRQ because informed trades in such firms offer higher returns. JEL Classifications: G14; M41.