The
Basel ii Accord
-
Supervisory Review Process
From the Basel ii Compliance Professionals Association (BCPA)
the largest association of Basel ii Professionals in the
world
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.*
*
Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision, Basel
Committee on Banking Supervision (September 1997 and
April 2006 – for comment), and Core Principles
Methodology, Basel Committee on Banking Supervision
(October 1999 and April 2006 – for comment).
A
list of the specific guidance relating to
the management of banking risks is provided at the end
of this Part of the Framework.
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*
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.
*
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.
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 toarrive 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.
4. Monitoring and reporting
743. The bank should establish an adequate system for
monitoring and reporting risk
exposures and assessing how the bank’s changing risk
profile affects the need for capital.
The bank’s senior management or board of directors
should, on a regular basis, receive
reports on the bank’s risk profile and capital needs.
These reports should allow senior
management to:
• Evaluate the level and trend of material risks and
their effect on capital levels;
• Evaluate the sensitivity and reasonableness of key
assumptions used in the capital
assessment measurement system;
• Determine that the bank holds sufficient capital
against the various risks and is in
compliance with established capital adequacy goals; and
• Assess its future capital requirements based on the
bank’s reported risk profile and
make necessary adjustments to the bank’s strategic plan
accordingly.
5. Internal control review
744. The bank’s internal control structure is essential
to the capital assessment process.
Effective control of the capital assessment process
includes an independent review and,
where appropriate, the involvement of internal or
external audits.
The bank’s board of
directors has a responsibility to ensure that management
establishes a system 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.
The board should regularly verify
whether its system of internal controls is adequate to
ensure well-ordered and prudent
conduct of business.
745. The bank should conduct periodic reviews of its
risk management process to ensure
its integrity, accuracy, and reasonableness. Areas that
should be reviewed include:
• Appropriateness of the bank’s capital assessment
process given the nature, scope
and complexity of its activities;
• Identification of large exposures and risk
concentrations;
• Accuracy and completeness of data inputs into the
bank’s assessment process;
• Reasonableness and validity of scenarios used in the
assessment process; and
• Stress testing and analysis of assumptions and inputs.
Principle 2: Supervisors should review and evaluate
banks’ internal capital adequacy
assessments and strategies, as well as their ability to
monitor and ensure their
compliance with regulatory capital ratios. Supervisors
should take appropriate
supervisory action if they are not satisfied with the
result of this process.
746. The supervisory authorities should regularly review
the process by which a bank
assesses its capital adequacy, risk position, resulting
capital levels, and quality of capital
held.
Supervisors should also evaluate the degree to
which a bank has in place a sound
internal process to assess capital adequacy.
The
emphasis of the review should be on the
quality of the bank’s risk management and controls and
should not result in supervisors
functioning as bank management.
The periodic review can
involve some combination of:
• On-site examinations or inspections;
• Off-site review;
• Discussions with bank management;
• Review of work done by external auditors (provided it
is adequately focused on the
necessary capital issues); and
• Periodic reporting.
747. The substantial impact that errors in the
methodology or assumptions of formal
analyses can have on resulting capital requirements
requires a detailed review by
supervisors of each bank’s internal analysis.
1. Review of adequacy of risk assessment
748. Supervisors should assess the degree to which
internal targets and processes
incorporate the full range of material risks faced by
the bank.
Supervisors should also review
the adequacy of risk measures used in assessing internal
capital adequacy and the extent to
which these risk measures are also used operationally in
setting limits, evaluating business
line performance, and evaluating and controlling risks
more generally.
Supervisors should
consider the results of sensitivity analyses and stress
tests conducted by the institution and
how these results relate to capital plans.
2. Assessment of capital adequacy
749. Supervisors should review the bank’s processes to
determine that:
• Target levels of capital chosen are comprehensive and
relevant to the current
operating environment;
• These levels are properly monitored and reviewed by
senior management; and
• The composition of capital is appropriate for the
nature and scale of the bank’s
business.
750. Supervisors should also consider the extent to
which the bank has provided for
unexpected events in setting its capital levels.
This
analysis should cover a wide range of
external conditions and scenarios, and the
sophistication of techniques and stress tests used
should be commensurate with the bank’s activities.
3. Assessment of the control environment
751. Supervisors should consider the quality of the
bank’s management information
reporting and systems, the manner in which business
risks and activities are aggregated,
and management’s record in responding to emerging or
changing risks.
752. In all instances, the capital level at an
individual bank should be determined
according to the bank’s risk profile and adequacy of its
risk management process and
internal controls.
External factors such as business
cycle effects and the macroeconomic
environment should also be considered.
4. Supervisory review of compliance with minimum
standards
753. In order for certain internal methodologies, credit
risk mitigation techniques and
asset securitisations to be recognised for regulatory
capital purposes, banks will need to
meet a number of requirements, including risk management
standards and disclosures.
In
particular, banks will be required to disclose features
of their internal methodologies used in
calculating minimum capital requirements.
As part of the
supervisory review process,
supervisors must ensure that these conditions are being
met on an ongoing basis.
754. The Committee regards this review of minimum
standards and qualifying criteria as
an integral part of the supervisory review process under
Principle 2.
In setting the minimum
criteria the Committee has considered current industry
practice and so anticipates that these
minimum standards will provide supervisors with a useful
set of benchmarks that are aligned
with bank management expectations for effective risk
management and capital allocation.
755. There is also an important role for supervisory
review of compliance with certain
conditions and requirements set for standardised
approaches.
In this context, there will be a
particular need to ensure that use of various
instruments that can reduce Pillar 1 capital
requirements are utilised and understood as part of a
sound, tested, and properly
documented risk management process.
5. Supervisory response
756. Having carried out the review process described
above, supervisors should take
appropriate action if they are not satisfied with the
results of the bank’s own risk assessment
and capital allocation. Supervisors should consider a
range of actions, such as those set out
under Principles 3 and 4 below.
Principle 3: Supervisors should expect banks to operate
above the minimum
regulatory capital ratios and should have the ability to
require banks to hold capital in
excess of the minimum.
757. Pillar 1 capital requirements will include a buffer
for uncertainties surrounding the
Pillar 1 regime that affect the banking population as a
whole.
Bank-specific uncertainties will
be treated under Pillar 2.
It is anticipated that such
buffers under Pillar 1 will be set to provide
reasonable assurance that a bank with good internal
systems and controls, a well-diversified
risk profile and a business profile well covered by the
Pillar 1 regime, and which operates
with capital equal to Pillar 1 requirements, will meet
the minimum goals for soundness
embodied in Pillar 1.
However, supervisors will need to
consider whether the particular
features of the markets for which they are responsible
are adequately covered.
Supervisors
will typically require (or encourage) banks to operate
with a buffer, over and above the
Pillar 1 standard.
Banks should maintain this buffer for
a combination of the following:
(a) Pillar 1 minimums are anticipated to be set to
achieve a level of bank
creditworthiness in markets that is below the level of
creditworthiness sought by
many banks for their own reasons.
For example, most
international banks appear to
prefer to be highly rated by internationally recognised
rating agencies.
Thus, banks
are likely to choose to operate above Pillar 1 minimums
for competitive reasons.
(b) In the normal course of business, the type and
volume of activities will change, as
will the different risk exposures, causing fluctuations
in the overall capital ratio.
(c) It may be costly for banks to raise additional
capital, especially if this needs to be
done quickly or at a time when market conditions are
unfavourable.
(d) For banks to fall below minimum regulatory capital
requirements is a serious matter.
It may place banks in breach of the relevant law and/or
prompt non-discretionary
corrective action on the part of supervisors.
(e) There may be risks, either specific to individual
banks, or more generally to an
economy at large, that are not taken into account in
Pillar 1.
758. There are several means available to supervisors
for ensuring that individual banks
are operating with adequate levels of capital.
Among
other methods, the supervisor may set
trigger and target capital ratios or define categories
above minimum ratios (e.g. well
capitalised and adequately capitalised) for identifying
the capitalisation level of the bank.
Principle 4: Supervisors should seek to intervene at an
early stage to prevent capital
from falling below the minimum levels required to
support the risk characteristics of a
particular bank and should require rapid remedial action
if capital is not maintained or
restored.
759. Supervisors should consider a range of options if
they become concerned that a
bank is not meeting the requirements embodied in the
supervisory principles outlined above.
These actions may include intensifying the monitoring of
the bank, restricting the payment of
dividends, requiring the bank to prepare and implement a
satisfactory capital adequacy
restoration plan, and requiring the bank to raise
additional capital immediately.
Supervisors
should have the discretion to use the tools best suited
to the circumstances of the bank and
its operating environment.
760. The permanent solution to banks’ difficulties is
not always increased capital.
However, some of the required measures (such as
improving systems and controls) may
take a period of time to implement.
Therefore, increased
capital might be used as an interim
measure while permanent measures to improve the bank’s
position are being put in place.
Once these permanent measures have been put in place and
have been seen by
supervisors to be effective, the interim increase in
capital requirements can be removed.
III. Specific issues to be addressed under the
supervisory review
process
761. The Committee has identified a number of important
issues that banks and
supervisors should particularly focus on when carrying
out the supervisory review process.
These issues include some key risks which are not
directly addressed under Pillar 1 and
important assessments that supervisors should make to
ensure the proper functioning of
certain aspects of Pillar 1.
A. Interest rate risk in the banking book
762. The Committee remains convinced that interest rate
risk in the banking book is a
potentially significant risk which merits support from
capital.
However, comments received
from the industry and additional work conducted by the
Committee have made it clear that
there is considerable heterogeneity across
internationally active banks in terms of the nature
of the underlying risk and the processes for monitoring
and managing it.
In light of this, the
Committee has concluded that it is at this time most
appropriate to treat interest rate risk in
the banking book under Pillar 2 of the Framework.
Nevertheless, supervisors who consider
that there is sufficient homogeneity within their
banking populations regarding the nature and
methods for monitoring and measuring this risk could
establish a mandatory minimum capital
requirement.
763. The revised guidance on interest rate risk
recognises banks’ internal systems as the
principal tool for the measurement of interest rate risk
in the banking book and the
supervisory response.
To facilitate supervisors’
monitoring of interest rate risk exposures
across institutions, banks would have to provide the
results of their internal measurement
systems, expressed in terms of economic value relative
to capital, using a standardised
interest rate shock.
764. If supervisors determine that banks are not holding
capital commensurate with the
level of interest rate risk, they must require the bank
to reduce its risk, to hold a specific
additional amount of capital or some combination of the
two.
Supervisors should be
particularly attentive to the sufficiency of capital of
‘outlier banks’ where economic value
declines by more than 20% of the sum of Tier 1 and Tier
2 capital as a result of a
standardised interest rate shock (200 basis points) or
its equivalent, as described in the
supporting document Principles for the Management and
Supervision of Interest Rate Risk.
B. Credit risk
1. Stress tests under the IRB approaches
765. A bank should ensure that it has sufficient capital
to meet the Pillar 1 requirements
and the results (where a deficiency has been indicated)
of the credit risk stress test
performed as part of the Pillar 1 IRB minimum
requirements (paragraphs 434 to 437).
Supervisors may wish to review how the stress test has
been carried out.
The results of the
stress test will thus contribute directly to the
expectation that a bank will operate above the
Pillar 1 minimum regulatory capital ratios.
Supervisors
will consider whether a bank has
sufficient capital for these purposes.
To the extent
that there is a shortfall, the supervisor will
react appropriately.
This will usually involve requiring
the bank to reduce its risks and/or to
hold additional capital/provisions, so that existing
capital resources could cover the Pillar 1
requirements plus the result of a recalculated stress
test.
2. Definition of default
766. A bank must use the reference definition of default
for its internal estimations of PD
and/or LGD and EAD.
However, as detailed in paragraph
454, national supervisors will issue
guidance on how the reference definition of default is
to be interpreted in their jurisdictions.
Supervisors will assess individual banks’ application of
the reference definition of default and
its impact on capital requirements.
In particular,
supervisors will focus on the impact of
deviations from the reference definition according to
paragraph 456 (use of external data or
historic internal data not fully consistent with the
reference definition of default).
3. Residual risk
767. The Framework allows banks to offset credit or
counterparty risk with collateral,
guarantees or credit derivatives, leading to reduced
capital charges.
While banks use credit
risk mitigation (CRM) techniques to reduce their credit
risk, these techniques give rise to
risks that may render the overall risk reduction less
effective.
Accordingly these risks (e.g.
legal risk, documentation risk, or liquidity risk) to
which banks are exposed are of supervisory
concern.
Where such risks arise, and irrespective of
fulfilling the minimum requirements set
out in Pillar 1, a bank could find itself with greater
credit risk exposure to the underlying counterparty than
it had expected.
Examples of these risks include:
• Inability to seize, or realise in a timely manner,
collateral pledged (on default of the
counterparty);
• Refusal or delay by a guarantor to pay; and
• Ineffectiveness of untested documentation.
768. Therefore, supervisors will require banks to have
in place appropriate written CRM
policies and procedures in order to control these
residual risks.
A bank may be required to
submit these policies and procedures to supervisors and
must regularly review their
appropriateness, effectiveness and operation.
769. In its CRM policies and procedures, a bank must
consider whether, when calculating
capital requirements, it is appropriate to give the full
recognition of the value of the credit risk
mitigant as permitted in Pillar 1 and must demonstrate
that its CRM management policies
and procedures are appropriate to the level of capital
benefit that it is recognising.
Where
supervisors are not satisfied as to the robustness,
suitability or application of these policies
and procedures they may direct the bank to take
immediate remedial action or hold
additional capital against residual risk until such time
as the deficiencies in the CRM
procedures are rectified to the satisfaction of the
supervisor.
For example, supervisors may
direct a bank to:
• Make adjustments to the assumptions on holding
periods, supervisory haircuts, or
volatility (in the own haircuts approach);
• Give less than full recognition of credit risk
mitigants (on the whole credit portfolio or
by specific product line); and/or
• Hold a specific additional amount of capital.
4. Credit concentration risk
770. A risk concentration is any single exposure or
group of exposures with the potential
to produce losses large enough (relative to a bank’s
capital, total assets, or overall risk level)
to threaten a bank’s health or ability to maintain its
core operations.
Risk concentrations are
arguably the single most important cause of major
problems in banks.
771. Risk concentrations can arise in a bank’s assets,
liabilities, or off-balance sheet
items, through the execution or processing of
transactions (either product or service), or
through a combination of exposures across these broad
categories.
Because lending is the
primary activity of most banks, credit risk
concentrations are often the most material risk
concentrations within a bank.
772. Credit risk concentrations, by their nature, are
based on common or correlated risk
factors, which, in times of stress, have an adverse
effect on the creditworthiness of each of
the individual counterparties making up the
concentration.
Concentration risk arises in both
direct exposures to obligors and may also occur through
exposures to protection providers.
Such concentrations are not addressed in the Pillar 1
capital charge for credit risk.
773. Banks should have in place effective internal
policies, systems and controls to
identify, measure, monitor, and control their credit
risk concentrations.
Banks should explicitly
consider the extent of their credit risk concentrations
in their assessment of capital adequacy
under Pillar 2.
These policies should cover the
different forms of credit risk concentrations to
which a bank may be exposed. Such concentrations
include:
• Significant exposures to an individual counterparty or
group of related
counterparties.
In many jurisdictions, supervisors
define a limit for exposures of this
nature, commonly referred to as a large exposure limit.
Banks might also establish
an aggregate limit for the management and control of all
of its large exposures as a
group;
• Credit exposures to counterparties in the same
economic sector or geographic
region;
• Credit exposures to counterparties whose financial
performance is dependent on the
same activity or commodity; and
• Indirect credit exposures arising from a bank’s CRM
activities (e.g. exposure to a
single collateral type or to credit protection provided
by a single counterparty).
774. A bank’s framework for managing credit risk
concentrations should be clearly
documented and should include a definition of the credit
risk concentrations relevant to the
bank and how these concentrations and their
corresponding limits are calculated.
Limits
should be defined in relation to a bank’s capital, total
assets or, where adequate measures
exist, its overall risk level.
775. A bank’s management should conduct periodic stress
tests of its major credit risk
concentrations and review the results of those tests to
identify and respond to potentialchanges in market conditions that could adversely impact
the bank’s performance.
776. A bank should ensure that, in respect of credit
risk concentrations, it complies with
the Committee document Principles for the Management of
Credit Risk (September 2000)
and the more detailed guidance in the Appendix to that
paper.
777. In the course of their activities, supervisors
should assess the extent of a bank’s
credit risk concentrations, how they are managed, and
the extent to which the bank
considers them in its internal assessment of capital
adequacy under Pillar 2.
Such
assessments should include reviews of the results of a
bank’s stress tests.
Supervisors
should take appropriate actions where the risks arising
from a bank’s credit risk
concentrations are not adequately addressed by the bank.
5. Counterparty credit risk
777(i). As counterparty credit risk (CCR) represents a
form of credit risk, this would include
meeting this Framework’s standards regarding their
approaches to stress testing, “residual
risks” associated with credit risk mitigation
techniques, and credit concentrations, as
specified in the paragraphs above.
777(ii). The bank must have counterparty credit risk
management policies, processes and
systems that are conceptually sound and implemented with
integrity relative to the
sophistication and complexity of a firm’s holdings of
exposures that give rise to CCR.
A
sound counterparty credit risk management framework
shall include the identification,
measurement, management, approval and internal reporting
of CCR.
777(iii). The bank’s risk management policies must take
account of the market, liquidity,
legal and operational risks that can be associated with
CCR and, to the extent practicable,
interrelationships among those risks.
The bank must not
undertake business with a
counterparty without assessing its creditworthiness and
must take due account of both
settlement and pre-settlement credit risk.
These risks
must be managed as comprehensively
as practicable at the counterparty level (aggregating
counterparty exposures with other credit
exposures) and at the firm-wide level.
777(iv). The board of directors and senior management
must be actively involved in the
CCR control process and must regard this as an essential
aspect of the business to which
significant resources need to be devoted.
Where the bank
is using an internal model for
CCR, senior management must be aware of the limitations
and assumptions of the model
used and the impact these can have on the reliability of
the output.
They should also
consider the uncertainties of the market environment
(e.g. timing of realisation of collateral)
and operational issues (e.g. pricing feed
irregularities) and be aware of how these are
reflected in the model.
777(v). In this regard, the daily reports prepared on a
firm’s exposures to CCR must be
reviewed by a level of management with sufficient
seniority and authority to enforce both
reductions of positions taken by individual credit
managers or traders and reductions in the
firm’s overall CCR exposure.
777(vi). The bank’s CCR management system must be used
in conjunction with internal
credit and trading limits. In this regard, credit and
trading limits must be related to the firm’s
risk measurement model in a manner that is consistent
over time and that is well understood
by credit managers, traders and senior management.
777(vii). The measurement of CCR must include monitoring
daily and intra-day usage of
credit lines.
The bank must measure current exposure
gross and net of collateral held where
such measures are appropriate and meaningful (e.g. OTC
derivatives, margin lending, etc.).
Measuring and monitoring peak exposure or potential
future exposure (PFE) at a confidence
level chosen by the bank at both the portfolio and
counterparty levels is one element of a
robust limit monitoring system.
Banks must take account
of large or concentrated positions,
including concentrations by groups of related
counterparties, by industry, by market,
customer investment strategies, etc.
777(viii). The bank must have a routine and rigorous
program of stress testing in place as a
supplement to the CCR analysis based on the day-to-day
output of the firm’s risk
measurement model.
The results of this stress testing
must be reviewed periodically by
senior management and must be reflected in the CCR
policies and limits set by management
and the board of directors.
Where stress tests reveal
particular vulnerability to a given set of
circumstances, management should explicitly consider
appropriate risk management
strategies (e.g. by hedging against that outcome, or
reducing the size of the firm’s
exposures).
777(ix). The bank must have a routine in place for
ensuring compliance with a documented
set of internal policies, controls and procedures
concerning the operation of the CCR
management system.
The firm’s CCR management system must
be well documented, for
example, through a risk management manual that describes
the basic principles of the risk
management system and that provides an explanation of
the empirical techniques used to
measure CCR.
777(x). The bank must conduct an independent review of
the CCR management system
regularly through its own internal auditing process.
This review must include both the
activities of the business credit and trading units and
of the independent CCR control unit.
A
review of the overall CCR management process must take
place at regular intervals (ideally
not less than once a year) and must specifically
address, at a minimum:
• the adequacy of the documentation of the CCR
management system and process;
• the organisation of the CCR control unit;
• the integration of CCR measures into daily risk
management;
• the approval process for risk pricing models and
valuation systems used by front
and back-office personnel;
• the validation of any significant change in the CCR
measurement process;
• the scope of counterparty credit risks captured by the
risk measurement model;
• the integrity of the management information system;
• the accuracy and completeness of CCR data;
• the verification of the consistency, timeliness and
reliability of data sources used to
run internal models, including the independence of such
data sources;
• the accuracy and appropriateness of volatility and
correlation assumptions;
• the accuracy of valuation and risk transformation
calculations;
• the verification of the model’s accuracy through
frequent backtesting.
777(xi). A bank that receives approval to use an
internal model to estimate its exposure
amount or EAD for CCR exposures must monitor the
appropriate risks and have processes
to adjust its estimation of EPE when those risks become
significant.
This includes the following:
• Banks must identify and manage their exposures to
specific wrong-way risk.
• For exposures with a rising risk profile after one
year, banks must compare on a
regular basis the estimate of EPE over one year with the
EPE over the life of the
exposure.
• For exposures with a short-term maturity (below one
year), banks must compare on
a regular basis the replacement cost (current exposure)
and the realised exposure
profile, and/or store data that allow such a
comparisons.
777(xii). When assessing an internal model used to
estimate EPE, and especially for banks
that receive approval to estimate the value of the alpha
factor, supervisors must review the
characteristics of the firm’s portfolio of exposures
that give rise to CCR.
In particular,
supervisors must consider the following characteristics,
namely:
• the diversification of the portfolio (number of risk
factors the portfolio is exposed to);
• the correlation of default across counterparties; and
• the number and granularity of counterparty exposures.
777(xiii). Supervisors will take appropriate action
where the firm’s estimates of exposure or
EAD under the Internal Model Method or alpha do not
adequately reflect its exposure to
CCR.
Such action might include directing the bank to
revise its estimates; directing the bank
to apply a higher estimate of exposure or EAD under the
IMM or alpha; or disallowing a bank
from recognising internal estimates of EAD for
regulatory capital purposes.
777(xiv). For banks that make use of the standardised
method, supervisors should review
the bank’s evaluation of the risks contained in the
transactions that give rise to CCR and the
bank’s assessment of whether the standardised method
captures those risks appropriately
and satisfactorily.
If the standardised method does not
capture the risk inherent in the bank’s
relevant transactions (as could be the case with
structured, more complex OTC derivatives),
supervisors may require the bank to apply the CEM or the
SM on a transaction-by transaction
basis (i.e. no netting will be recognised).
C. Operational risk
778. Gross income, used in the Basic Indicator and
Standardised Approaches for
operational risk, is only a proxy for the scale of
operational risk exposure of a bank and can
in some cases (e.g. for banks with low margins or
profitability) underestimate the need for
capital for operational risk.
With reference to the
Committee document on Sound Practices for the Management and Supervision of Operational Risk
(February 2003), the supervisor
should consider whether the capital requirement
generated by the Pillar 1 calculation gives a
consistent picture of the individual bank’s operational
risk exposure, for example in
comparison with other banks of similar size and with
similar operations.
D. Market risk
1. Policies and procedures for trading book eligibility
778(i). Clear policies and procedures used to determine
the exposures that may be
included in, and those that should be excluded from, the
trading book for purposes of
calculating regulatory capital are critical to ensure
the consistency and integrity of firms’
trading book.
Such policies must conform to paragraph
687(i) of this Framework.
Supervisors
should be satisfied that the policies and procedures
clearly delineate the boundaries of the
firm’s trading book, in compliance with the general
principles set forth in paragraphs 684 to
689(iii) of this Framework, and consistent with the
bank’s risk management capabilities and
practices.
Supervisors should also be satisfied that
transfers of positions between banking
and trading books can only occur in a very limited set
of circumstances.
A supervisor will
require a firm to modify its policies and procedures
when they prove insufficient for
preventing the booking in the trading book of positions
that are not compliant with the general
principles set forth in paragraphs 684 to 689(iii) of
this Framework, or not consistent with the
bank’s risk management capabilities and practices.
2. Valuation
778(ii). Prudent valuation policies and procedures form
the foundation on which any robust
assessment of market risk capital adequacy should be
built.
For a well diversified portfolio
consisting of highly liquid cash instruments, and
without market concentration, the valuation
of the portfolio, combined with the minimum quantitative
standards set out in paragraph
718(Lxxvi), as revised in this section, may deliver
sufficient capital to enable a bank, in
adverse market conditions, to close out or hedge its
positions within 10 days in an orderly
fashion.
However, for less well diversified portfolios,
for portfolios containing less liquid
instruments, for portfolios with concentrations in
relation to market turnover, and/or for
portfolios which contain large numbers of positions that
are marked-to-model this is less
likely to be the case.
In such circumstances,
supervisors will consider whether a bank has
sufficient capital.
To the extent there is a shortfall
the supervisor will react appropriately.
This
will usually require the bank to reduce its risks and/or
hold an additional amount of capital.
3. Stress testing under the internal models approach
778(iii). A bank must ensure that it has sufficient
capital to meet the minimum capital
requirements set out in paragraphs 718(Lxx) to 718(xciv)
and to cover the results of its stress
testing required by paragraph 718(Lxxiv) (g), taking
into account the principles set forth in
paragraphs 738(ii) and 738(iv).
Supervisors will
consider whether a bank has sufficient
capital for these purposes, taking into account the
nature and scale of the bank’s trading
activities and any other relevant factors such as
valuation adjustments made by the bank.
To
the extent that there is a shortfall, or if supervisors
are not satisfied with the premise upon
which the bank’s assessment of internal market risk
capital adequacy is based, supervisors
will take the appropriate measures.
This will usually
involve requiring the bank to reduce its
risk exposures and/or to hold an additional amount of
capital, so that its overall capital
resources at least cover the Pillar 1 requirements plus
the result of a stress test acceptable
to the supervisor.
4. Specific risk modelling under the internal models
approach
778(iv). For banks wishing to model the specific risk
arising from their trading activities,
additional criteria have been set out in paragraph
718(Lxxxix) , including conservatively
assessing the risk arising from less liquid positions
and/or positions with limited price
transparency under realistic market scenarios.
Where
supervisors consider that limited
liquidity or price transparency undermines the
effectiveness of a bank’s model to capture the
specific risk, they will take appropriate measures,
including requiring the exclusion of
positions from the bank’s specific risk model.
Supervisors should review the adequacy of the
bank’s measure of the default risk surcharge; where the
bank’s approach is inadequate, the
use of the standardised specific risk charges will be
required.
IV. Other aspects of the supervisory review process
A. Supervisory transparency and accountability
779. The supervision of banks is not an exact science,
and therefore, discretionary
elements within the supervisory review process are
inevitable.
Supervisors must take care to
carry out their obligations in a transparent and
accountable manner.
Supervisors should
make publicly available the criteria to be used in the
review of banks’ internal capital
assessments.
If a supervisor chooses to set target or
trigger ratios or to set categories of
capital in excess of the regulatory minimum, factors
that may be considered in doing so
should be publicly available.
Where the capital
requirements are set above the minimum for
an individual bank, the supervisor should explain to the
bank the risk characteristics specific
to the bank which resulted in the requirement and any
remedial action necessary.
B. Enhanced cross-border communication and cooperation
780. Effective supervision of large banking
organisations necessarily entails a close and
continuous dialogue between industry participants and
supervisors.
In addition, the
Framework will require enhanced cooperation between
supervisors, on a practical basis,
especially for the cross-border supervision of complex
international banking groups.
781. The Framework will not change the legal
responsibilities of national supervisors for
the regulation of their domestic institutions or the
arrangements for consolidated supervision
as set out in the existing Basel Committee standards.
The home country supervisor is
responsible for the oversight of the implementation of
the Framework for a banking group on
a consolidated basis; host country supervisors are
responsible for supervision of those
entities operating in their countries.
In order to
reduce the compliance burden and avoid
regulatory arbitrage, the methods and approval processes
used by a bank at the group level
may be accepted by the host country supervisor at the
local level, provided that they
adequately meet the local supervisor’s requirements.
Wherever possible, supervisors should
avoid performing redundant and uncoordinated approval
and validation work in order to
reduce the implementation burden on banks, and conserve
supervisory resources.
782. In implementing the Framework, supervisors should
communicate the respective
roles of home country and host country supervisors as
clearly as possible to banking groups
with significant cross-border operations in multiple
jurisdictions.
The home country supervisor
would lead this coordination effort in cooperation with
the host country supervisors.
In
communicating the respective supervisory roles,
supervisors will take care to clarify that
existing supervisory legal responsibilities remain
unchanged.
783. The Committee supports a pragmatic approach of
mutual recognition for
internationally active banks as a key basis for
international supervisory co-operation.
This
approach implies recognising common capital adequacy
approaches when considering the
entities of internationally active banks in host
jurisdictions, as well as the desirability of
minimising differences in the national capital adequacy
regulations between home and host
jurisdictions so that subsidiary banks are not subjected
to excessive burden.
V. Supervisory review process for securitisation
784. Further to the Pillar 1 principle that banks should
take account of the economic
substance of transactions in their determination of
capital adequacy, supervisory authorities
will monitor, as appropriate, whether banks have done so
adequately.
As a result, regulatory
capital treatments for specific securitisation exposures
might differ from those specified in
Pillar 1 of the Framework, particularly in instances
where the general capital requirement
would not adequately and sufficiently reflect the risks
to which an individual banking
organisation is exposed.
785. Amongst other things, supervisory authorities may
review where relevant a bank’s
own assessment of its capital needs and how that has
been reflected in the capital
calculation as well as the documentation of certain
transactions to determine whether the
capital requirements accord with the risk profile (e.g.
substitution clauses).
Supervisors will
also review the manner in which banks have addressed the
issue of maturity mismatch in
relation to retained positions in their economic capital
calculations.
In particular, they will be
vigilant in monitoring for the structuring of maturity
mismatches in transactions to artificially
reduce capital requirements.
Additionally, supervisors
may review the bank’s economic
capital assessment of actual correlation between assets
in the pool and how they have
reflected that in the calculation.
Where supervisors
consider that a bank’s approach is not
adequate, they will take appropriate action. Such action
might include denying or reducing
capital relief in the case of originated assets, or
increasing the capital required against
securitisation exposures acquired.
A. Significance of risk transfer
786. Securitisation transactions may be carried out for
purposes other than credit risk
transfer (e.g. funding). Where this is the case, there
might still be a limited transfer of credit
risk.
However, for an originating bank to achieve
reductions in capital requirements, the risk
transfer arising from a securitisation has to be deemed
significant by the national supervisory
authority.
If the risk transfer is considered to be
insufficient or non existent, the supervisory
authority can require the application of a higher
capital requirement than prescribed under
Pillar 1 or, alternatively, may deny a bank from
obtaining any capital relief from the
securitisations.
Therefore, the capital relief that can
be achieved will correspond to the
amount of credit risk that is effectively transferred.
The following includes a set of examples
where supervisors may have concerns about the degree of
risk transfer, such as retaining or
repurchasing significant amounts of risk or “cherry
picking” the exposures to be transferred
via a securitisation.
787. Retaining or repurchasing significant
securitisation exposures, depending on the
proportion of risk held by the originator, might
undermine the intent of a securitisation to
transfer credit risk.
Specifically, supervisory
authorities might expect that a significant portion
of the credit risk and of the nominal value of the pool
be transferred to at least one
independent third party at inception and on an ongoing
basis.
Where banks repurchase risk
for market making purposes, supervisors could find it
appropriate for an originator to buy part
of a transaction but not, for example, to repurchase a
whole tranche.
Supervisors would
expect that where positions have been bought for market
making purposes, these positions
should be resold within an appropriate period, thereby
remaining true to the initial intention to
transfer risk.
788. Another implication of realising only a
non-significant risk transfer, especially if
related to good quality unrated exposures, is that both
the poorer quality unrated assets and
most of the credit risk embedded in the exposures
underlying the securitised transaction are
likely to remain with the originator.
Accordingly, and
depending on the outcome of the
supervisory review process, the supervisory authority
may increase the capital requirement
for particular exposures or even increase the overall
level of capital the bank is required to
hold.
B. Market innovations
789. As the minimum capital requirements for
securitisation may not be able to address
all potential issues, supervisory authorities are
expected to consider new features of
securitisation transactions as they arise.
Such
assessments would include reviewing the
impact new features may have on credit risk transfer
and, where appropriate, supervisors will
be expected to take appropriate action under Pillar 2.
A
Pillar 1 response may be formulated
to take account of market innovations. Such a response
may take the form of a set of
operational requirements and/or a specific capital
treatment.
790. Support to a transaction, whether contractual (i.e.
credit enhancements provided at
the inception of a securitised transaction) or
non-contractual (implicit support) can take
numerous forms.
For instance, contractual support can
include over collateralisation, credit
derivatives, spread accounts, contractual recourse
obligations, subordinated notes, credit
risk mitigants provided to a specific tranche, the
subordination of fee or interest income or the
deferral of margin income, and clean-up calls that
exceed 10 percent of the initial issuance.
Examples of implicit support include the purchase of
deteriorating credit risk exposures from
the underlying pool, the sale of discounted credit risk
exposures into the pool of securitised
credit risk exposures, the purchase of underlying
exposures at above market price or an
increase in the first loss position according to the
deterioration of the underlying exposures.
791. The provision of implicit (or non-contractual)
support, as opposed to contractual
credit support (i.e. credit enhancements), raises
significant supervisory concerns.
For
traditional securitisation structures the provision of
implicit support undermines the clean
break criteria, which when satisfied would allow banks
to exclude the securitised assets from
regulatory capital calculations. For synthetic
securitisation structures, it negates the
significance of risk transference.
By providing implicit
support, banks signal to the market that
the risk is still with the bank and has not in effect
been transferred.
The institution’s capital
calculation therefore understates the true risk.
Accordingly, national supervisors are
expected to take appropriate action when a banking
organisation provides implicit support.
792. When a bank has been found to provide implicit
support to a securitisation, it will be
required to hold capital against all of the underlying
exposures associated with the structure
as if they had not been securitised.
It will also be
required to disclose publicly that it was
found to have provided non-contractual support, as well
as the resulting increase in the
capital charge (as noted above).
The aim is to require
banks to hold capital against
exposures for which they assume the credit risk, and to
discourage them from providing non contractual
support.
793. If a bank is found to have provided implicit
support on more than one occasion, the
bank is required to disclose its transgression publicly
and national supervisors will take
appropriate action that may include, but is not limited
to, one or more of the following:
• The bank may be prevented from gaining favourable
capital treatment on securitised
assets for a period of time to be determined by the
national supervisor;
• The bank may be required to hold capital against all
securitised assets as though
the bank had created a commitment to them, by applying a
conversion factor to the
risk weight of the underlying assets;
• For purposes of capital calculations, the bank may be
required to treat all securitised
assets as if they remained on the balance sheet;
• The bank may be required by its national supervisory
authority to hold regulatory
capital in excess of the minimum risk-based capital
ratios.
794. Supervisors will be vigilant in determining
implicit support and will take appropriate
supervisory action to mitigate the effects. Pending any
investigation, the bank may be
prohibited from any capital relief for planned
securitisation transactions (moratorium).
National supervisory response will be aimed at changing
the bank’s behaviour with regard to
the provision of implicit support, and to correct market
perception as to the willingness of the
bank to provide future recourse beyond contractual
obligations.
D. Residual risks
795. As with credit risk mitigation techniques more
generally, supervisors will review the
appropriateness of banks’ approaches to the recognition
of credit protection.
In particular,
with regard to securitisations, supervisors will review
the appropriateness of protection
recognised against first loss credit enhancements.
On
these positions, expected loss is less
likely to be a significant element of the risk and is
likely to be retained by the protection buyer
through the pricing.
Therefore, supervisors will expect
banks’ policies to take account of this
in determining their economic capital.
Where supervisors
do not consider the approach to
protection recognised is adequate, they will take
appropriate action.
Such action may include
increasing the capital requirement against a particular
transaction or class of transactions.
E. Call provisions
796. Supervisors expect a bank not to make use of
clauses that entitles it to call the
securitisation transaction or the coverage of credit
protection prematurely if this would
increase the bank’s exposure to losses or deterioration
in the credit quality of the underlying
exposures.
797. Besides the general principle stated above,
supervisors expect banks to only
execute clean-up calls for economic business purposes,
such as when the cost of servicing
the outstanding credit exposures exceeds the benefits of
servicing the underlying credit
exposures.
798. Subject to national discretion, supervisory
authorities may require a review prior to
the bank exercising a call which can be expected to
include consideration of:
• The rationale for the bank’s decision to exercise the
call; and
• The impact of the exercise of the call on the bank’s
regulatory capital ratio.
799. The supervisory authority may also require the bank
to enter into a follow-up
transaction, if necessary, depending on the bank’s
overall risk profile, and existing market
conditions.
800. Date related calls should be set at a date no
earlier than the duration or the
weighted average life of the underlying securitisation
exposures.
Accordingly, supervisory
authorities may require a minimum period to elapse
before the first possible call date can be
set, given, for instance, the existence of up-front sunk
costs of a capital market securitisation
transaction.
F. Early amortisation
801. Supervisors should review how banks internally
measure, monitor, and manage
risks associated with securitisations of revolving
credit facilities, including an assessment of
the risk and likelihood of early amortisation of such
transactions.
At a minimum, supervisors
should ensure that banks have implemented reasonable
methods for allocating economic
capital against the economic substance of the credit
risk arising from revolving securitisations
and should expect banks to have adequate capital and
liquidity contingency plans that
evaluate the probability of an early amortisation
occurring and address the implications of
both scheduled and early amortisation.
In addition, the
capital contingency plan should
address the possibility that the bank will face higher
levels of required capital under the early
amortisation Pillar 1 capital requirement.
802. Because most early amortisation triggers are tied
to excess spread levels, the
factors affecting these levels should be well
understood, monitored, and managed, to the
extent possible (see paragraphs 790 to 794 on implicit
support), by the originating bank.
For
example, the following factors affecting excess spread
should generally be considered:
• Interest payments made by borrowers on the underlying
receivable balances;
• Other fees and charges to be paid by the underlying
obligors (e.g. late-payment
fees, cash advance fees, over-limit fees);
• Gross charge-offs;
• Principal payments;
• Recoveries on charged-off loans;
• Interchange income;
• Interest paid on investors’ certificates;
• Macroeconomic factors such as bankruptcy rates,
interest rate movements,
unemployment rates; etc.
803. Banks should consider the effects that changes in
portfolio management or business
strategies may have on the levels of excess spread and
on the likelihood of an early
amortisation event.
For example, marketing strategies or
underwriting changes that result in
lower finance charges or higher charge-offs, might also
lower excess spread levels and
increase the likelihood of an early amortisation event.
804. Banks should use techniques such as static pool
cash collections analyses and
stress tests to better understand pool performance.
These techniques can highlight adverse
trends or potential adverse impacts.
Banks should have
policies in place to respond promptly
to adverse or unanticipated changes.
Supervisors will
take appropriate action where they do
not consider these policies adequate.
Such action may
include, but is not limited to, directing
a bank to obtain a dedicated liquidity line or raising
the early amortisation credit conversion
factor, thus, increasing the bank’s capital
requirements.
805. While the early amortisation capital charge
described in Pillar 1 is meant to address
potential supervisory concerns associated with an early
amortisation event, such as the
inability of excess spread to cover potential losses,
the policies and monitoring described in
this section recognise that a given level of excess
spread is not, by itself, a perfect proxy for
credit performance of the underlying pool of exposures.
In some circumstances, for example,
excess spread levels may decline so rapidly as to not
provide a timely indicator of underlying
credit deterioration.
Further, excess spread levels may
reside far above trigger levels, but still
exhibit a high degree of volatility which could warrant
supervisory attention.
In addition,
excess spread levels can fluctuate for reasons unrelated
to underlying credit risk, such as a
mismatch in the rate at which finance charges reprice
relative to investor certificate rates.
Routine fluctuations of excess spread might not generate
supervisory concerns, even when
they result in different capital requirements.
This is
particularly the case as a bank moves in
or out of the first step of the early amortisation
credit conversion factors.
On the other hand,
existing excess spread levels may be maintained by
adding (or designating) an increasing
number of new accounts to the master trust, an action
that would tend to mask potential
deterioration in a portfolio.
For all of these reasons,
supervisors will place particular
emphasis on internal management, controls, and risk
monitoring activities with respect to
securitisations with early amortisation features.
806. Supervisors expect that the sophistication of a
bank’s system in monitoring the
likelihood and risks of an early amortisation event will
be commensurate with the size and
complexity of the bank’s securitisation activities that
involve early amortisation provisions.
807. For controlled amortisations specifically,
supervisors may also review the process by
which a bank determines the minimum amortisation period
required to pay down 90% of the
outstanding balance at the point of early amortisation.
Where a supervisor does not consider
this adequate it will take appropriate action, such as
increasing the conversion factor
associated with a particular transaction or class of
transactions.
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