Basel ii Accord Sections 719 to 742

Part 3: The Second Pillar — Supervisory Review Process
 
719. This section discusses the key principles of supervisory review, risk management
guidance and supervisory transparency and accountability produced by the Committee with
respect to banking risks, including guidance relating to, among other things, the treatment of interest rate risk in the banking book, credit risk (stress testing, definition of default, residual risk, and credit concentration risk), operational risk, enhanced cross-border communication and cooperation, and securitisation.
 
I. Importance of supervisory review
 
720. The supervisory review process of the Framework is intended not only to ensure
that banks have adequate capital to support all the risks in their business, but also to
encourage banks to develop and use better risk management techniques in monitoring and
managing their risks.
 
721. The supervisory review process recognises the responsibility of bank management
in developing an internal capital assessment process and setting capital targets that are
commensurate with the bank’s risk profile and control environment. In the Framework, bank management continues to bear responsibility for ensuring that the bank has adequate capital to support its risks beyond the core minimum requirements.
 
722. Supervisors are expected to evaluate how well banks are assessing their capital
needs relative to their risks and to intervene, where appropriate. This interaction is intended
to foster an active dialogue between banks and supervisors such that when deficiencies are
identified, prompt and decisive action can be taken to reduce risk or restore capital.
Accordingly, supervisors may wish to adopt an approach to focus more intensely on those
banks with risk profiles or operational experience that warrants such attention.
 
723. The Committee recognises the relationship that exists between the amount of
capital held by the bank against its risks and the strength and effectiveness of the bank’s risk
management and internal control processes. However, increased capital should not be
viewed as the only option for addressing increased risks confronting the bank.
 
Other means for addressing risk, such as strengthening risk management, applying internal limits, strengthening the level of provisions and reserves, and improving internal controls, must also be considered. Furthermore, capital should not be regarded as a substitute for addressing fundamentally inadequate control or risk management processes.
 
724. There are three main areas that might be particularly suited to treatment under
Pillar 2: risks considered under Pillar 1 that are not fully captured by the Pillar 1 process (e.g.
credit concentration risk); those factors not taken into account by the Pillar 1 process (e.g.
interest rate risk in the banking book, business and strategic risk); and factors external to the bank (e.g. business cycle effects).
 
A further important aspect of Pillar 2 is the assessment of compliance with the minimum standards and disclosure requirements of the more advanced methods in Pillar 1, in particular the IRB framework for credit risk and the Advanced Measurement Approaches for operational risk. Supervisors must ensure that these requirements are being met, both as qualifying criteria and on a continuing basis.
 
II. Four key principles of supervisory review
 
725. The Committee has identified four key principles of supervisory review, which
complement those outlined in the extensive supervisory guidance that has been developed
by the Committee, the keystone of which is the Core Principles for Effective Banking
Supervision and the Core Principles Methodology. (116)  A list of the specific guidance relating to the management of banking risks is provided at the end of this Part of the Framework.
 
(116) Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision, Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (September 1997), and Core Principles Methodology, Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (October 1999).
 
Principle 1: Banks should have a process for assessing their overall capital adequacy
in relation to their risk profile and a strategy for maintaining their capital levels.
 
726. Banks must be able to demonstrate that chosen internal capital targets are well
founded and that these targets are consistent with their overall risk profile and current
operating environment. In assessing capital adequacy, bank management needs to be
mindful of the particular stage of the business cycle in which the bank is operating.
 
Rigorous, forward-looking stress testing that identifies possible events or changes in market conditions that could adversely impact the bank should be performed. Bank management clearly bears primary responsibility for ensuring that the bank has adequate capital to support its risks.
 
727. The five main features of a rigorous process are as follows:
 
Board and senior management oversight;
 
Sound capital assessment;
 
Comprehensive assessment of risks;
 
Monitoring and reporting; and
 
Internal control review.
 
1. Board and senior management oversight (117)
 
(117) This section of the paper refers to a management structure composed of a board of directors and senior management. The Committee is aware that there are significant differences in legislative and regulatory frameworks across countries as regards the functions of the board of directors and senior management.
 
In some countries, the board has the main, if not exclusive, function of supervising the executive body (senior management, general management) so as to ensure that the latter fulfils its tasks. For this reason, in some cases, it is known as a supervisory board. This means that the board has no executive functions.
 
In other countries, by contrast, the board has a broader competence in that it lays down the general framework for the management of the bank. Owing to these differences, the notions of the board of directors and senior management are used in this section not to identify legal constructs but rather to label two decision-making functions within a bank.
 
728. A sound risk management process is the foundation for an effective assessment of
the adequacy of a bank’s capital position. Bank management is responsible for
understanding the nature and level of risk being taken by the bank and how this risk relates
to adequate capital levels. It is also responsible for ensuring that the formality and
sophistication of the risk management processes are appropriate in light of the risk profile
and business plan.
 
729. The analysis of a bank’s current and future capital requirements in relation to its
strategic objectives is a vital element of the strategic planning process. The strategic plan
should clearly outline the bank’s capital needs, anticipated capital expenditures, desirable
capital level, and external capital sources. Senior management and the board should view
capital planning as a crucial element in being able to achieve its desired strategic objectives.
 
730. The bank’s board of directors has responsibility for setting the bank’s tolerance for
risks. It should also ensure that management establishes a framework for assessing the
various risks, develops a system to relate risk to the bank’s capital level, and establishes a
method for monitoring compliance with internal policies. It is likewise important that the board of directors adopts and supports strong internal controls and written policies and procedures and ensures that management effectively communicates these throughout the organisation.
 
2. Sound capital assessment
 
731. Fundamental elements of sound capital assessment include:
 
Policies and procedures designed to ensure that the bank identifies, measures, and
reports all material risks;
 
A process that relates capital to the level of risk;
 
A process that states capital adequacy goals with respect to risk, taking account of
the bank’s strategic focus and business plan; and
 
A process of internal controls, reviews and audit to ensure the integrity of the overall
management process.
 
3. Comprehensive assessment of risks
 
732. All material risks faced by the bank should be addressed in the capital assessment
process. While the Committee recognises that not all risks can be measured precisely, a
process should be developed to estimate risks. Therefore, the following risk exposures,
which by no means constitute a comprehensive list of all risks, should be considered.
 
733. Credit risk: Banks should have methodologies that enable them to assess the
credit risk involved in exposures to individual borrowers or counterparties as well as at the
portfolio level. For more sophisticated banks, the credit review assessment of capital
adequacy, at a minimum, should cover four areas: risk rating systems, portfolio
analysis/aggregation, securitisation/complex credit derivatives, and large exposures and risk concentrations.
 
734. Internal risk ratings are an important tool in monitoring credit risk. Internal risk
ratings should be adequate to support the identification and measurement of risk from all
credit exposures, and should be integrated into an institution’s overall analysis of credit risk
and capital adequacy. The ratings system should provide detailed ratings for all assets, not
only for criticised or problem assets. Loan loss reserves should be included in the credit risk
assessment for capital adequacy.
 
735. The analysis of credit risk should adequately identify any weaknesses at the
portfolio level, including any concentrations of risk. It should also adequately take into
consideration the risks involved in managing credit concentrations and other portfolio issues
through such mechanisms as securitisation programmes and complex credit derivatives.
 
Further, the analysis of counterparty credit risk should include consideration of public
evaluation of the supervisor’s compliance with the Core Principles for Effective Banking
Supervision.
 
736. Operational risk: The Committee believes that similar rigour should be applied to
the management of operational risk, as is done for the management of other significant
banking risks. The failure to properly manage operational risk can result in a misstatement of an institution’s risk/return profile and expose the institution to significant losses.
 
737. A bank should develop a framework for managing operational risk and evaluate the
adequacy of capital given this framework. The framework should cover the bank’s appetite
and tolerance for operational risk, as specified through the policies for managing this risk,
including the extent and manner in which operational risk is transferred outside the bank. It
should also include policies outlining the bank’s approach to identifying, assessing,
monitoring and controlling/mitigating the risk.
 
738. Market risk: Banks should have methodologies that enable them to assess and
actively manage all material market risks, wherever they arise, at position, desk, business
line and firm-wide level. For more sophisticated banks, their assessment of internal capital
adequacy for market risk, at a minimum, should be based on both VaR modelling and stress
testing, including an assessment of concentration risk and the assessment of illiquidity under stressful market scenarios, although all firms’ assessments should include stress testing appropriate to their trading activity.
 
738 (i). VaR is an important tool in monitoring aggregate market risk exposures and
provides a common metric for comparing the risk being run by different desks and business
lines. A bank’s VaR model should be adequate to identify and measure risks arising from all
its trading activities and should be integrated into the bank’s overall internal capital
assessment as well as subject to rigorous on-going validation. A VaR model estimates
should be sensitive to changes in the trading book risk profile.
 
738 (ii). Banks must supplement their VaR model with stress tests (factor shocks or
integrated scenarios whether historic or hypothetical) and other appropriate risk management techniques.
 
In the bank’s internal capital assessment it must demonstrate that it has enough
capital to not only meet the minimum capital requirements but also to withstand a range of
severe but plausible market shocks. In particular, it must factor in, where appropriate:
 
Illiquidity/gapping of prices;
 
Concentrated positions (in relation to market turnover);
 
One-way markets;
 
Non-linear products/deep out-of-the money positions;
 
Events and jumps-to-defaults;
 
Significant shifts in correlations;
 
Other risks that may not be captured appropriately in VaR (e.g. recovery rate uncertainty, implied correlations, or skew risk).
 
The stress tests applied by a bank and, in particular, the calibration of those tests (e.g. the
parameters of the shocks or types of events considered) should be reconciled back to a clear
statement setting out the premise upon which the bank’s internal capital assessment is
based (e.g. ensuring there is adequate capital to manage the traded portfolios within stated
limits through what may be a prolonged period of market stress and illiquidity, or that there is adequate capital to ensure that, over a given time horizon to a specified confidence level, all positions can be liquidated or the risk hedged in an orderly fashion).
 
The market shocks applied in the tests must reflect the nature of portfolios and the time it could take to hedge out or manage risks under severe market conditions.
 
738 (iii). Concentration risk should be pro-actively managed and assessed by firms and
concentrated positions should be routinely reported to senior management.
 
738 (iv). Banks should design their risk management systems, including the VaR
methodology and stress tests, to properly measure the material risks in instruments they
trade as well as the trading strategies they pursue. As their instruments and trading
strategies change, the VaR methodologies and stress tests should also evolve to
accommodate the changes.
 
738 (v). Banks must demonstrate how they combine their risk measurement approaches to
arrive at the overall internal capital for market risk.
 
739. Interest rate risk in the banking book: The measurement process should include
all material interest rate positions of the bank and consider all relevant repricing and maturity data. Such information will generally include current balance and contractual rate of interest associated with the instruments and portfolios, principal payments, interest reset dates, maturities, the rate index used for repricing, and contractual interest rate ceilings or floors for adjustable-rate items. The system should also have well-documented assumptions and techniques.
 
740. Regardless of the type and level of complexity of the measurement system used,
bank management should ensure the adequacy and completeness of the system. Because
the quality and reliability of the measurement system is largely dependent on the quality of
the data and various assumptions used in the model, management should give particular
attention to these items.
 
741. Liquidity risk: Liquidity is crucial to the ongoing viability of any banking
organisation. Banks’ capital positions can have an effect on their ability to obtain liquidity,
especially in a crisis. Each bank must have adequate systems for measuring, monitoring and
controlling liquidity risk. Banks should evaluate the adequacy of capital given their own
liquidity profile and the liquidity of the markets in which they operate.
 
742. Other risks: Although the Committee recognises that ‘other’ risks, such as
reputational and strategic risk, are not easily measurable, it expects industry to further
develop techniques for managing all aspects of these risks.
 
 
    
 

 

 

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