Basel ii Accord Section 156 to 169

Quantitative criteria
156. In calculating the haircuts, a 99th percentile, one-tailed confidence interval is to be
used.
 
157. The minimum holding period will be dependent on the type of transaction and the
frequency of remargining or marking to market. The minimum holding periods for different
types of transactions are presented in paragraph 167. Banks may use haircut numbers
calculated according to shorter holding periods, scaled up to the appropriate holding period
by the square root of time formula.
 
158. Banks must take into account the illiquidity of lower-quality assets. The holding
period should be adjusted upwards in cases where such a holding period would be
inappropriate given the liquidity of the collateral. They should also identify where historical
data may understate potential volatility, e.g. a pegged currency. Such cases must be dealt
with by subjecting the data to stress testing.
 
159. The choice of historical observation period (sample period) for calculating haircuts
shall be a minimum of one year. For banks that use a weighting scheme or other methods for the historical observation period, the “effective” observation period must be at least one year (that is, the weighted average time lag of the individual observations cannot be less than
6 months).
 
160. Banks should update their data sets no less frequently than once every three
months and should also reassess them whenever market prices are subject to material
changes. This implies that haircuts must be computed at least every three months. The
supervisor may also require a bank to calculate its haircuts using a shorter observation
period if, in the supervisor's judgement, this is justified by a significant upsurge in price
volatility.
 
161. No particular type of model is prescribed. So long as each model used captures all
the material risks run by the bank, banks will be free to use models based on, for example,
historical simulations and Monte Carlo simulations.
 
Qualitative criteria
 
162. The estimated volatility data (and holding period) must be used in the day-to-day
risk management process of the bank.
 
163. Banks should have robust processes in place for ensuring compliance with a
documented set of internal policies, controls and procedures concerning the operation of the
risk measurement system.
 
164. The risk measurement system should be used in conjunction with internal exposure
limits.
 
165. An independent review of the risk measurement system should be carried out
regularly in the bank’s own internal auditing process. A review of the overall risk
management process should take place at regular intervals (ideally not less than once a
year) and should specifically address, at a minimum:
 
the integration of risk measures into daily risk management;
 
the validation of any significant change in the risk measurement process;
 
the accuracy and completeness of position data;
 
the verification of the consistency, timeliness and reliability of data sources used to
run internal models, including the independence of such data sources; and
 
the accuracy and appropriateness of volatility assumptions.
Adjustment for different holding periods and non daily mark-to-market or remargining
 
166. For some transactions, depending on the nature and frequency of the revaluation
and remargining provisions, different holding periods are appropriate. The framework for
collateral haircuts distinguishes between repo-style transactions (i.e. repo/reverse repos and
securities lending/borrowing), “other capital-market-driven transactions” (i.e. OTC derivatives transactions and margin lending) and secured lending.
 
In capital-market-driven transactions and repo-style transactions, the documentation contains remargining clauses; in secured lending transactions, it generally does not.
 
167. The minimum holding period for various products is summarised in the following
table.
 
 
168. When the frequency of remargining or revaluation is longer than the minimum, the
minimum haircut numbers will be scaled up depending on the actual number of business
days between remargining or revaluation using the square root of time formula below:
 
 
When a bank calculates the volatility on a TN day holding period which is different
from the specified minimum holding period TM, the HM will be calculated using the
square root of time formula:
 
 
169. For example, for banks using the standard supervisory haircuts, the 10-business
day haircuts provided in paragraph 151 will be the basis and this haircut will be scaled up or
down depending on the type of transaction and the frequency of remargining or revaluation
using the formula below:
 
 
 

 

 

Sarbanes Oxley Training
Courses designed to provide with the knowledge and skills needed to understand and support Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
www.sarbanes-oxley-training.com  
 
Basel ii Training
Courses designed to provide with the knowledge and skills needed to understand and support Basel ii compliance.
www.basel-ii-training.com 
 
Sarbanes Oxley Act
Sarbanes Oxley Compliance: Books, Software, Certification, Training and Resources.
www.sarbanes-oxley-act.biz 
 
Basel ii Accord
Basel ii Compliance: Books, Software, Certification, Training and Resources
http://www.basel-ii-accord.com/  
 
Compliance Training
Sarbanes Oxley, Basel ii, Data Protection Directive, Information Security Training
www.compliance-training.net