How do community banks access liquidity during funding stress events?

We examine how community banks access liquidity during funding stress events. We find a liquidity facility utilization pecking order, in which Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) advances are the most utilized liquidity facility, followed by the federal funds market, followed by repurchase agreements. We also find that balance sheet liquidity affects the utilization of liquidity facilities. During funding stress events, banks that have relatively more liquid balance sheets increase their utilization of repurchase agreements and federal funds, and decrease their utilization of FHLB advances, while banks with relatively more illiquid balance sheets increase their utilization of FHLB advances, and decrease their utilization of repurchase agreements and federal funds. Our findings suggest that the FHLB is fulfilling its mission to provide liquidity to its members and support housing finance, and may be the preferred lender of last resort for community banks.