The role of financial institutions : limits and perspectives.

Summary Over the centuries, financial institutions have shaped the financial landscape and influenced economic activity. The objective of this thesis is to highlight, from a theoretical point of view, the fundamental limitations of modern institutions and to deduce the implications for the future role of these institutions.The first chapter proposes an analysis of clearing houses. Following the financial crisis of 2008, financial authorities around the world have implemented regulations imposing central clearing on most derivatives. We show that central clearing requires a higher level of liquidity than bilateral clearing.The second chapter presents a continuous time learning model that is supposed to represent the learning process of an institution with respect to a hidden information held by the market. The last chapter introduces and analyzes the Lightning Network which is a payment network based on the Blockchain. It allows users to transfer value instantly without the need for a trusted third party. We discuss the implications about the structure of this payment network as well as its ability to take an important place in the financial landscape.