"This study is the first attempt to investigate the relationship between the level of risky assets and capital level in a mixed Malaysian banking system covering 83 months starting December 2006. The results of dynamic OLS (DOLS) indicate positive relationship between capital ratio (CAR) and risk weighted asset ratio (RWA) in the long run. Furthermore, the causality analysis based on panel VECM and two-step dynamic System GMM indicates unidirectional causality from CAR to RWA. Our results further suggest that higher capital growth and capital buffer provide an extra cushion for the Malaysian banks to pursue relatively riskier financial activities, and the nature of risk taking behavior of Islamic banks follows that of the conventional banks."