The Basel ii
Accord
From the Basel ii Compliance Professionals Association (BCPA)
the largest association of Basel ii Professionals in the
world
172. Where a supervisor
applies a specific carve-out to repo-style transactions
in securities issued by its domestic government, then
other supervisors may choose to allow banks
incorporated in their jurisdiction to adopt the same
approach to the same transactions.
Treatment of
repo-style transactions covered under master netting
agreements
173. The effects of bilateral netting
agreements covering repo-style transactions will
be recognised on a counterparty-by-counterparty basis
if the agreements are legally enforceable in each
relevant jurisdiction upon the occurrence of an event of
default and regardless of whether the counterparty is
insolvent or bankrupt.
In addition, netting agreements
must:
(a) provide the non-defaulting party the right
to terminate and close-out in a timely manner all
transactions under the agreement upon an event of
default, including in the event of insolvency or
bankruptcy of the counterparty;
(b) provide for the
netting of gains and losses on transactions (including
the value of any collateral) terminated and closed
out under it so that a single net amount is owed by
one party to the other;
(c) allow for the prompt
liquidation or setoff of collateral upon the event of
default; and
(d) be, together with the rights arising
from the provisions required in (a) to (c)
above, legally enforceable in each relevant
jurisdiction upon the occurrence of an event
of default and regardless of the counterparty's
insolvency or bankruptcy.
174. Netting across
positions in the banking and trading book will only be
recognised when the netted transactions fulfil the
following conditions:
(a) All transactions are
marked to market daily; * and
(b) The collateral
instruments used in the transactions are recognised as
eligible financial collateral in the banking
book.
*
The holding period for the haircuts will depend as in
other repo-style transactions on the frequency of
margining.
175. The formula in paragraph 147 will be
adapted to calculate the capital requirements for
transactions with netting agreements.
176. For banks
using the standard supervisory haircuts or own-estimate
haircuts, the framework below will apply to take into
account the impact of master netting agreements.

53.
The starting point for this formula is the formula in
paragraph 147 which can also be presented as the
following:
E*
= max {0, [(E – C) + (E x He) + (C x Hc) + (C x Hfx)]}.
177. The intention here is to
obtain a net exposure amount after netting of the
exposures and collateral and have an add-on amount
reflecting possible price changes for the
securities involved in the transactions and for
foreign exchange risk if any.
The net long or
short position of each security included in the
netting agreement will be multiplied by
the appropriate haircut. All other rules regarding
the calculation of haircuts stated in paragraphs 147
to 172 equivalently apply for banks using bilateral
netting agreements for
repo-style transactions.
Use of models
178. As
an alternative to the use of standard or own-estimate
haircuts, banks may be permitted to use a VaR models
approach to reflect the price volatility of the exposure
and collateral for repo-style transactions, taking
into account correlation effects between
security positions.
This approach would apply to repo-style transactions covered by bilateral
netting agreements on a counterparty-by-counterparty
basis. At the discretion of the national supervisor,
firms are also eligible to use the VaR model approach
for margin lending transactions, if the transactions
are covered under a bilateral master netting agreement
that meets the requirements of paragraphs 173 and 174.
The VaR models approach is available to banks that
have received supervisory recognition for an internal
market risk model according to paragraph 718 (LXX).
Banks which have not received supervisory recognition
for use of models according to paragraph 718 (LXX)
can separately apply for supervisory recognition to
use their internal VaR models for calculation of
potential price volatility for repo-style
transactions.
Internal models will only be accepted when
a bank can prove the quality of its model to the
supervisor through the backtesting of its output using
one year of historical data.
Banks must meet the
model validation requirement of paragraph 43 of
Annex 4 to use VaR for repo-style and other SFTs.
In
addition, other transactions similar to repostyle transactions (like prime brokerage) and
that meet the requirements for
repo-style transactions, are also eligible to use the
VaR models approach provided the model used meets the
operational requirements set forth in Section I.F of
Annex 4.
179. The quantitative and qualitative
criteria for recognition of internal market risk
models for repo-style transactions and other similar
transactions are in principle the same as
in paragraphs 718 (LXXIV) to 718 (LXXVI).
With regard
to the holding period, the minimum will be 5-business
days for repo-style transactions, rather than the
10-business days in paragraph 718 (LXXVI) (c). For
other transactions eligible for the VaR models approach,
the 10-business day holding period will be retained.
The minimum holding period should be adjusted
upwards for market instruments where such a holding
period would be inappropriate given the liquidity of
the instrument concerned.
180. (Deleted)
181. The
calculation of the exposure E* for banks using their
internal model will be the following:
E* = max {0,
[(ΣE – ΣC) + VaR output from internal model]}
In
calculating capital requirements banks will use the
previous business day’s VaR number.
181 (i). Subject
to supervisory approval, instead of using the VaR
approach, banks may also calculate an expected
positive exposure for repo-style and other similar SFTs,
in accordance with the Internal Model Method set out
in Annex 4 of this Framework.
(iii) The simple
approach
Minimum conditions
182. For collateral to
be recognised in the simple approach, the collateral
must be pledged for at least the life of the exposure
and it must be marked to market and revalued with a
minimum frequency of six months.
Those portions of
claims collateralised by the market value of
recognised collateral receive the risk weight applicable
to the collateral instrument.
The risk weight on the
collateralised portion will be subject to a floor of
20% except under the conditions specified in
paragraphs 183 to 185.
The remainder of the
claim should be assigned to the risk weight
appropriate to the counterparty.
A capital
requirement will be applied to banks on either side
of the collateralised transaction: for example,
both repos and reverse repos will be subject to
capital requirements.
Exceptions to the risk weight
floor
183. Transactions which fulfil the criteria
outlined in paragraph 170 and are with a core market
participant, as defined in 171, receive a risk weight of
0%.
If the counterparty to the transactions is not a
core market participant the transaction should receive a
risk weight of 10%.
184. OTC derivative
transactions subject to daily mark-to-market,
collateralised by cash and where there is no currency
mismatch should receive a 0% risk weight.
Such
transactions collateralised by sovereign or PSE
securities qualifying for a 0% risk weight in
the standardised approach can receive a 10% risk
weight.
185. The 20% floor for the risk weight on a
collateralised transaction will not be applied and a
0% risk weight can be applied where the exposure and the
collateral are denominated in the same currency, and
either:
• the collateral is cash on deposit as
defined in paragraph 145 (a); or
• the collateral is
in the form of sovereign/PSE securities eligible for a
0% risk weight, and its market value has been
discounted by 20%.
(iv) Collateralised OTC
derivatives transactions
186. Under the Current
Exposure Method, the calculation of the counterparty
credit risk charge for an individual contract will be
as follows:
counterparty charge = [(RC + add-on) –
CA] x r x 8%
where:
RC = the replacement
cost,
add-on = the amount for potential future
exposure calculated according to paragraph 92(i) and
92(ii) of Annex 4,
CA = the volatility adjusted
collateral amount under the comprehensive approach
prescribed in paragraphs 147 to 172, or zero if no
eligible collateral is applied to the transaction,
and
r = the risk weight of the counterparty.
187.
When effective bilateral netting contracts are in place,
RC will be the net replacement cost and the add-on
will be ANet as calculated according to paragraphs 96(i)
to 96(vi) of Annex 4.
The haircut for currency risk
(Hfx) should be applied when there is a mismatch
between the collateral currency and the settlement
currency.
Even in the case where there are more than
two currencies involved in the exposure, collateral and
settlement currency, a single haircut assuming a
10-business day holding period scaled up as necessary
depending on the frequency of mark-to-market will be
applied.
187(i). As an alternative to the Current
Exposure Method for the calculation of
the counterparty credit risk charge, banks may also
use the Standardised Method and, subject
to supervisory approval, the Internal Model Method as
set out in Annex 4 of this Framework.
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