Chapter 9 Liquidity Risk
A. Introduction
1. Liquidity risk is the risk that a Bank may not be able to meet its financial obligations as they fall due. Funding Liquidity Risk of a Bank, is the risk that the Bank will not be able to efficiently meet:
(a) its expected and unexpected current and future cash flow; and
(b) its collateral needs;
without affecting its daily operations or financial condition.
2. Funding Liquidity Risk may arise because of unexpected withdrawals or transfers of funds by the Bank’s depositors and other account holders.
3. On the assets side, a Bank may face funding strain due to problems in its financing and investment portfolio. The Bank may also face Liquidity Risk because of counterparties’ operational and information system failures, or because problems in a payment and settlement system result in late payment or non-payment of funds.
4. Examples of problems that may lead to Liquidity Risk
➢ fall in the value of marketable assets held for trading or in the banking book
➢ lack of liquid markets for holdings
➢ impairment of assets due to the financial distress of customers
➢ large drawdowns under committed line-of-credit agreements
5. Market Liquidity Risk, of a Bank, is the risk that the Bank cannot offset or eliminate a position at the market price because of market disruption or inadequate market depth. In a period of crisis, problems with funding liquidity may lead to asset sales and may lower asset prices and affect the Bank’s market liquidity. Efforts by a Bank to sell a significant amount of its assets because of doubts about their quality and future performance can affect market liquidity by reducing the price of assets.
6. The collapse of market liquidity is also likely when market-makers are risk- averse or lack absorption capacity. The interaction can also become significant when Banks start stockpiling liquid assets because of pessimistic expectations about market conditions. Overall market confidence is an important factor in understanding the interrelationship between funding and market liquidity.
7. Liquidity risk tolerance refers to both the absolute risk a Bank is open to take and the actual limits that the Bank pursues. The Bank’s Liquidity Risk tolerance must be appropriate for its business and its role in the financial system and must be expressed in a way that clearly states that it is a trade- off between risks and profits.
8. The terms ‘risk tolerance’ and ‘risk appetite’ are used interchangeably to describe both the absolute risks a Bank is open to take (which some may call risk appetite) and the actual limits within its risk appetite that a Bank pursues (which some call risk tolerance). For example, a Bank may have set, as the absolute Liquidity Risk it is willing to take, a limit of 20% (risk tolerance) but at the same time prefer to keep to an actual level of 10% (risk appetite).
B. Liquidity Risk - Management Framework & Governance
9. This section of the BPG sets out the standards, guidance and norms required to fulfil the regulatory requirements in respect of the Liquidity Risk management framework and governance, as specified in Chapter 9 of BBR. These elements convey the supervisory expectations of the AFSA on Liquidity risk management framework and its governance. Compliance with the standards and guidance detailed in this section of BPG, both in letter and in spirit, is required to demonstrate fulfillment of the regulatory obligations specified in Chapter 9 of BBR. The AFSA will use these standards, norms and key elements specified here to assess compliance with BBR Rules on Liquidity Risk management.
10. A Bank’s Liquidity risk management policy is expected to address the following key elements:
(a) effective systems for the accurate and timely identification, measurement, evaluation, management and control or mitigation of Liquidity risk;
(b) the criteria and responsibility for reporting, and the scope, manner and frequency of reporting, to the governing body or a committee of the governing body;
(c) prudent and appropriate Liquidity risk limits that are consistent with the Bank’s risk tolerance, risk profile and capital, and with the management’s ability to manage;
(d) who is responsible for identifying, measuring and reporting Liquidity risk; and
(e) procedures for tracking and reporting exceptions to, and deviations from, limits or policies.
(f) the Bank’s approach to day-to-day (and, where appropriate, intraday) liquidity management;
(g) the Bank’s funding strategy and contingency funding plan; and
(h) effective information systems to enable the identification, measurement, monitoring and control of Liquidity Risk exposures and funding needs.
11. The AFSA expects that a Bank’s Liquidity Risk strategy will set out the approach that the Bank will take to Liquidity Risk management, including various quantitative and qualitative targets. It should be communicated to all relevant functions and staff within the organisation and be set out in the Bank's Liquidity Risk policy. The AFSA expects that a Bank’s Liquidity Risk policy and strategy for managing Liquidity Risk will take into account the need to:
(a) develop a liquidity management strategy, policies and processes in accordance with the Bank’s stated Liquidity Risk tolerance;
(b) ensure that the Bank maintains sufficient liquidity at all times;
(c) determine the structure, responsibilities and controls for managing Liquidity Risk and for overseeing the liquidity positions of all branches and subsidiaries in the jurisdictions in which the Bank is active, and outline these elements clearly in the Bank’s liquidity policies;
(d) have in place adequate internal controls to ensure the integrity of its Liquidity Risk management processes;
(e) ensure that stress tests, contingency funding plans and holdings of HQLA are effective and appropriate for the Bank;
(f) establish a set of reporting criteria, specifying the scope, manner and frequency of reporting to various recipients (such as the Governing Body, senior management and the asset/liability committee) and who is responsible for preparing the reports
(g) establish the specific procedures and approvals necessary for exceptions to policies and limits, including the escalation procedures and follow-up actions to be taken for breaches of limits;
(h) monitor closely current trends and potential market developments that may present significant, unprecedented and complex challenges for managing Liquidity Risk so that appropriate and prompt changes to the liquidity management strategy can be made as needed; and
(i) continuously review information on the Bank’s liquidity developments and report regularly to the Governing Body
12. A Bank’s liquidity management should take account of its liquidity needs under periods of liquidity stress (including those involving the loss or impairment of funding sources, whether secured or unsecured), as well as normal conditions. The source of liquidity stress could be specific, a Bank must ensure that its governing body is informed immediately of new and emerging liquidity concerns. Examples of concerns
➢ increasing funding costs, concentrations and requirements
➢ the lack of alternative sources of funding
➢ significant or persistent breaches of limits to control Liquidity Risk exposures
➢ any significant decline in the Bank’s holdings of unencumbered high-quality liquid assets
➢ changes in external market conditions that could signal potential difficulties.
13. In accordance with BBR Rule 9.1, a Bank is required to ensure that there is no significant risk that liabilities cannot be met as they fall due. With specific reference to liquidity, a Bank may meet its obligations in a number of ways, including:
(a) by holding sufficient immediately available cash or readily marketable assets;
(b) by securing an appropriate matching future profile of cashflows; and
(c) by further borrowing.
“future profile of cashflows” refers to the pattern of cashflows including, for example, in the terms of source, maturity date, amounts and nature of cashflows.
14. In order to comply with BBR Rule 9.1 and 9.2 the senior management and the governing body of a Bank are expected to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the links between funding Liquidity Risk and market Liquidity Risk, as well as how other risks, including credit, market, operational and reputation risks, affect the Bank’s overall Liquidity Risk strategy. In respect of this, senior management are expected to:
(a) oversee the development, establishment and maintenance of procedures and practices that translate the goals, objectives and risk tolerances approved by the governing body into operating standards that are consistent with the governing body's intent and which are understood by the relevant members of a Bank's staff;
(b) adhere to the lines of authority and responsibility that the governing body has established for managing Liquidity Risk;
(c) oversee the establishment and maintenance of management information and other systems that identify, assess, control and monitor the Bank's Liquidity Risk; and
(d) oversee the establishment of effective internal controls over the Liquidity Risk management process.
C. Liquidity Risk management
15. In respect of BBR Rule 9.3, Liquidity Risk tolerance of a Bank defines the level of Liquidity Risk that the Bank is willing to assume. A Bank’s risk management strategy usually refers to risk tolerance although risk appetite may also be used. The two terms are used interchangeably to describe both the absolute risks a Bank is open to take (by some called risk appetite) and the actual limits within its risk appetite that a Bank pursues (by some called risk tolerance).
16. In order to implement and maintain a comprehensive Liquidity Risk management framework to comply with the requirements imposed by BBR Rules 9.1 & 9.2, such a framework implemented by a Bank is expected to include:
(a) a statement of the Bank’s Liquidity Risk tolerance, approved by the Bank’s governing body;
(b) a statement of the Bank’s Liquidity Risk management strategy and policy, approved by the governing body;
(c) a statement of the Bank’s operating standards (in the form of policies, procedures and controls) for identifying, measuring, monitoring and controlling its liquidity risk in accordance with its Liquidity risk tolerance;
(d) a statement of the Bank’s funding strategy, approved by the governing body; and
(e) a contingency funding plan.
17. The framework must clearly set out the Bank’s organisational structure as it relates to Liquidity Risk management, and must define the responsibilities and roles of senior management involved in managing Liquidity Risk. The framework must be formulated to ensure that the Bank maintains sufficient liquidity to withstand a range of liquidity stress events (whether specific to the Bank, market-wide, or a combination of the two), including the loss or impairment of both unsecured and secured funding sources. The framework must be well integrated into the Bank’s overall risk management process.
18. The Liquidity Risk management framework must be subject to ongoing effective and comprehensive independent review. In most cases, the independent reviews could be facilitated by the Bank’s internal audit function but may require the engagement of independent experts outside that function. A Bank’s Liquidity Risk management oversight function must be operationally independent. It must be staffed with personnel who have the skills and authority to challenge the Bank’s treasury and other liquidity management functions.
19. The Bank must have adequate policies, procedures and controls to ensure that the Bank’s governing body and senior management are informed immediately of new and emerging liquidity concerns. Such concerns could include:
(a) increasing funding costs or concentrations
(b) increases in funding requirements
(c) shortage of other sources of liquidity
(d) material or persistent breaches of limits
(e) significant decline in the Bank’s holdings of unencumbered liquid assets
(f) changes in market conditions that could signal future difficulties.
20. The Bank’s senior management must be satisfied that all of the Bank’s business units whose activities affect the Bank’s liquidity:
(a) are fully aware of the Bank’s Liquidity Risk management strategy; and
(b) operate in accordance with the Bank’s approved policies, procedures, limits and controls.
21. If a Bank delegates its day-to-day Liquidity Risk management to another member of its group, in accordance with BBR Rule 9.3, ultimate responsibility for the Liquidity Risk management function and the responsibility for its effectiveness will remain with the Bank’s Governing Body.
Identifying Liquidity Risk
22. A Bank must fulfill the requirements in this Section, in order to comply with the provisions in BBR Rule 9.1, in relation to identification of Liquidity Risk. In this regard, a Bank must:
(a) assess the repayment profiles of its assets under both normal and stressed market conditions resulting from either systemic stress or idiosyncratic stress.
(b) assess the reliability of committed facilities under stressed conditions.
(c) consider potential liability concentrations when determining the appropriate mix of liabilities.
(d) consider how its off-balance sheet activities affect its cash flows and Liquidity Risk profile under both normal and stressed conditions.
23. If a Bank has significant, unhedged liquidity mismatches in particular currencies, it must assess:
(a) the volatilities of the exchange rates of the mismatched currencies;
(b) likely access to the foreign exchange markets in normal and stressed conditions; and
(c) the stability of deposits in those currencies with the Bank in stressed conditions.
24. As part of the assessment of the repayment profiles of its assets as referred in 1 (a) above, a Bank should identify significant concentrations within its asset portfolio.
25. In order to assess the potential liability concentrations referred in 1 (c ) above, a Bank should consider factors including, but not limited to:
(a) the term structure of its liabilities;
(b) the credit-sensitivity of its liabilities;
(c) the mix of secured and unsecured funding;
(d) concentrations among its liability providers or related Groups of liability providers;
(e) reliance on particular instruments or products;
(f) the geographical location of liability providers; and
(g) reliance on intra-Group funding.
26. A Bank is also be expected to consider the amount of funding required by:
(a) commitments given;
(b) standby facilities given;
(c) wholesale overdraft facilities given;
(d) proprietary derivatives positions; and
(e) liquidity facilities given for securitisation transactions.
Measuring and monitoring Liquidity Risk
27. In order to meet the expectations of the AFSA and meet the Rules in BBR 9.1 regarding measuring and monitoring of Liquidity Risk, a Bank must ensure that its Liquidity Risk measurement systems are:
(a) Capable of measuring the extent of its Liquidity Risk exposure;
(b) Equipped with early warning indicators to support its daily Liquidity Risk management processes;
(c) Capable of dealing with the dynamic aspects of the Bank's liquidity profile;
(d) Capable of measuring the Bank's Exposure to Foreign Currency Liquidity Risk, where appropriate;
(e) Capable of measuring the Bank's intra-day liquidity positions, where appropriate; and
(f) Capable of measuring the Bank's Exposure to PSIA and Islamic Contract Liquidity Risk, where appropriate.
28. A Bank must establish and maintain a system of management reporting which provides relevant, accurate, comprehensive, timely, forward looking and reliable Liquidity Risk reports to relevant functions within the Bank. Early warning indicators for day-to-day Liquidity Risk management should be designed to assist the Bank to identify any negative trends in its liquidity position and to assist its management to assess and respond to mitigate its exposure to those trends.
29. A Bank should actively manage its intraday liquidity positions and risks in order to meet payment and settlement obligations on time under both normal and stressed conditions, thus contributing to the orderly functioning of payment and settlement systems. Management information in respect of Liquidity Risk management should include the following:
(a) a cash-flow or funding gap report;
(b) a funding maturity schedule;
(c) a list of large providers of funding;
(d) where appropriate, a schedule of Islamic funding sources
(e) a limit monitoring and exception report;
(f) asset quality and trends;
(g) earnings projections; and
(h) the Bank's reputation in the market and the condition of the market itself.
30. Where a Bank is a member of a Group, it should be able to assess the potential impact on it of Liquidity Risk arising in other parts of the Group.
Controlling Liquidity Risk
31. In order to meet the expectations of the AFSA and meet the Rules in BBR 9.1 in relation to Controlling Liquidity Risk, a Bank must ensure that its Liquidity Risk management systems:
(a) enable the Bank's Governing Body and senior management to review compliance with limits set to comply with BBR Rule 9.2 (3) and operating procedures; and
(b) has appropriate approval processes, limits and other mechanisms designed to provide reasonable assurance that the Bank's Liquidity Risk management processes are adhered to.
(c) A Bank must periodically review and, where appropriate, adjust the limits when its Liquidity Risk policy changes.
(d) A Bank must promptly resolve any policy or limit exceptions according to the processes described in its Liquidity Risk policy.
32. A Bank should set limits to control its Liquidity Risk exposure and vulnerabilities. Limits and corresponding escalation procedures should be reviewed regularly. Limits should be relevant to the business in terms of its location, complexity of activity, nature of products, currencies and markets served. If a Bank breaches a Liquidity Risk limit, it should implement a plan to review its exposure and reduce it to a level that is within the limit.
33. A Bank should actively manage its collateral positions, differentiating between encumbered and unencumbered assets. A Bank should monitor the legal entity and physical location where collateral is held and how quickly the collateral may be used.
D. Funding Strategy
34. In order to meet the requirements in BBR Rule 9.5 on funding strategy, a Bank must:
(a) identify the main factors that affect its ability to raise funds and must monitor those factors closely to ensure that its estimates of its fund-raising capacity remain valid.
(b) take into account how other risks affect its overall liquidity.
(c) Employ robust assumptions that are consistent with the Bank’s Liquidity Risk management strategy and business objectives.
35. The funding strategy implemented to fulfill BBR Rule 9.5 must include:
(a) an analysis of funding requirements under various scenarios;
(b) the maintenance of a reserve of unencumbered high-quality liquid assets that can be used, without impediment, to obtain funding in times of liquidity stress;
(c) the regular review of, and diversification in, the sources and tenor of funding;
(d) regular efforts to establish and maintain relationships with liability holders and funding sources; and
(e) the regular assessment of the Bank’s capacity to sell assets and raise funds quickly.
36. In preparing its strategy, the Bank must be aware that sources of funding such as guarantees and other commitments that may be readily available to the Bank in normal conditions may not be available in times of stress, even if the guarantee or commitment is described as irrevocable. A Bank should maintain an ongoing presence in its chosen funding markets and strong relationships with funds providers.
E. Stress Testing
37. A Bank is required to conduct stress tests regularly. The frequency with which a Bank should conduct stress tests will depend on the risks to the particular Bank. For some Banks, it may be adequate to conduct tests annually, but, for others, it may be necessary to conduct tests more frequently e.g. quarterly
38. A Bank should consider carefully the design of stress scenarios and the variety of shocks used in its liquidity stress testing programme. Regardless of how strong its current liquidity situation appears to be, it should take a conservative approach when setting stress testing assumptions. It should consider the potential impact of severe stress scenarios including, but not limited to:
(a) a simultaneous drying up of market liquidity in several previously highly liquid markets;
(b) severe constraints in accessing secured and unsecured funding;
(c) restrictions on currency convertibility; and
(d) severe operational or settlement disruptions affecting one or more payment or settlement systems.
39. The identification of the possible balance sheet and off-balance sheet impact referred to in BBR Rule 9.9 (2)(c) should take into account:
(a) possible changes in the market’s perception of the Bank and the effects that this might have on the Bank’s access to the markets, including:
(i) where the Bank funds its holdings of assets in one currency with liabilities in another, access to foreign exchange markets, particularly in less frequently traded currencies;
(ii) access to secured funding, including by way of repurchase agreement transactions; and
(iii) the extent to which the Bank may rely on committed facilities made available to it;
(b) whenever applicable the possible effect of each scenario tested on currencies whose exchange rates are currently pegged or fixed; and
(c) general market turbulence may trigger a substantial increase in the extent to which persons exercise rights against the Bank under off-balance sheet instruments to which the Bank is party;
(d) access to OTC derivative and foreign exchange markets is sensitive to credit- ratings;
(e) Early Amortisation in asset securitisation transactions with which the Bank has a connection may be triggered;
(f) its ability to securitise assets may be reduced; and
(g) there may be a potential need to buy back debt or honour non-contractual obligations to mitigate reputational risk.
40. A Bank must ensure that stress tests conducted to comply with BBR Rule 9.5, enable it to analyse the impact of stress scenarios on its liquidity positions, as well as on the liquidity positions of its individual business lines. A Bank must ensure that results of the stress tests are integrated into its strategic planning process and its day-to-day risk management practices. The Bank must also apply the results of the stress tests:
(a) to adjust its liquidity management strategy, policies and positions, including to determine an appropriate buffer of HQLA;
(b) in assessing and planning for potential funding shortfalls as part of its Contingency Funding Plan;
(c) for the setting of internal limits; and
(d) for the purpose of the IRAP and ICAAP assessments under Chapter 10, where applicable.
41. A Bank must ensure that the stress test results and vulnerabilities and any resulting actions are reported to, and discussed with, its Governing Body and the AFSA. If the AFSA considers that a Bank has not carried out effective stress tests under BBR Rules 9.5, it may use its power under AIFC Financial Services Framework Regulations to require the Bank to maintain a buffer of liquid assets in excess of that required under LCR and liquid assets buffer Rules.
F. Contingency Funding Plan (CFP)
42. A Contingency Funding Plan, or CFP, is a compilation of policies, procedures and action plans for responding to severe disruptions to a Bank’s ability to meet its liabilities as they fall due or its ability to fund some or all of its activities quickly and at a reasonable cost. In order to comply with the requirements in BBR Rule 9.10 on Contingency Funding Plan, a bank’s CFP must:
(a) list the events or circumstances that will lead the Bank to put any part of the plan into action;
(b) set out available potential contingency funding sources and the amount of funds a Bank estimates can be derived from these sources;
(c) estimate the lead time needed to tap additional funds from each of the contingency sources;
(d) set out the extent to which the plan relies upon:
(i) asset sales, using assets as Collateral on secured funding (including repurchase agreements), securitising its assets or otherwise reducing its assets;
(ii) modifying the structure of, or increasing, its liabilities; and
(iii) the use of committed facilities; and
(e) contain clear administrative policies and procedures that will enable the Bank to manage the implementation of the plan, including:
(i) the roles and responsibilities of senior management, including who has the authority to invoke the CFP;
(ii) the names, location and contact details of members of the team responsible for implementing the plan;
(iii) the details of who is responsible for contact with the Bank’s head office (if appropriate), analysts, investors, external auditors, media, significant customers, regulators and others; and
(iv) the mechanisms that enable senior management and the Governing Body to receive relevant, accurate, comprehensive, timely and reliable management information.
43. The CFP should provide a framework with a high degree of flexibility so that a Bank can respond quickly in a variety of situations. The CFP should assist the Bank to manage a range of scenarios of severe liquidity stress that include both Bank-specific and more generalised market-wide stress, as well as the potential interaction between them
44. The CFP's design, plans and procedures should be closely integrated with the Bank’s ongoing analysis of Liquidity Risk and with the results of the scenarios and assumptions used in stress tests. The CFP should, for each of the tested scenarios, demonstrate that the Bank has sufficient liquid financial resources to meet its liabilities over a range of different time periods, including intraday. A Bank must ensure that its CFP accounts for:
(a) the impact of stressed market conditions on its ability to sell or securitise assets;
(b) the link between asset liquidity and funding liquidity;
(c) second round and reputational effects related to execution of contingency funding measures; and
(d) the potential to transfer liquidity across Group entities, borders and lines of business, taking into account legal, regulatory, operational and time zone constraints.
45. Key aspects of CFP testing include ensuring that roles and responsibilities are appropriate and understood, confirming that contact information is up to date, proving the transferability of cash and collateral (especially across borders and entities) and ensuring that the necessary legal and operational documentation is in place to execute the plan at short notice. The Bank should also test key assumptions regularly, such as its ability to sell or repo certain assets or periodically draw down credit lines.
46. A Bank should ensure effective coordination between teams managing issues surrounding liquidity crises and business continuity. Liquidity crisis team members and alternates should have ready access to CFPs on-site and off-site.
Management of Encumbered Assets
47. In relation to BBR Rule 9.13, the limit for encumbered assets is intended to mitigate the risks arising from excessive levels of encumbrance in terms of:
(a) the effect on the Bank’s cost of funding; and
(b) the implications for the sustainability of its long-term liquidity position
G. Liquidity Coverage Ratio
48. The objective of the LCR is to promote short-term resilience of a Bank’s Liquidity Risk profile. The LCR aims to ensure that a Bank maintains an adequate level of unencumbered HQLA that can be converted into cash to meet its liquidity needs for a 30 calendar day period under a severe liquidity stress scenario.
49. The purpose of requiring Banks to maintain the HQLA portfolio and to meet the LCR requirement, is to ensure that such Banks are resilient, in the short term, to Liquidity Risk. The LCR requirement is intended to ensure that such a Bank always holds unencumbered assets that can be readily converted into sufficient cash to meet the Bank’s liquidity needs for 30 calendar days even under severe liquidity stress.
50. The LCR is calculated under Rule 9.16 using the following formula:
Value of stock of HQLA
____________________________________________________
Total Net Cash Outflows over the next 30 calendar days
51. The LCR has two components:
(a) Value of the stock of HQLA in stressed conditions; and
(b) Total Net Cash Outflows, calculated according to the stressed scenario parameters outlined in this section
52. The stress scenario entails both institution-specific and systemic shocks including:
(a) the run-off of a proportion of retail deposits;
(b) a partial loss of unsecured wholesale funding capacity;
(c) a partial loss of secured, short-term financing with certain collateral and counterparties;
(d) additional contractual outflows that would arise from a downgrade in the Bank’s public credit rating, where applicable, by up to and including three notches, including collateral posting requirements;
(e) increases in market volatility that affect the quality of collateral or potential future exposure of derivative positions and so require larger collateral haircuts or additional collateral, or lead to other liquidity needs;
(f) unscheduled draws on committed but unused credit and liquidity facilities that the Bank has provided to its clients; and
(g) the potential need for the Bank to buy back debt or honour non-contractual obligations to mitigate reputational risk.
53. For the purposes of complying with BBR Rule 9.16 (4), a currency is considered material to a Bank, if the aggregate liabilities denominated in that currency amount to 5% or more of the Bank’s total liabilities.
High Quality Liquid Assets (HQLA)
54. Assets that meet the conditions and requirements specified in the following paragraphs 7 to 15 are eligible to be considered as HQLA. Those assets are considered to be HQLA as they can be converted easily and immediately into cash at little or no loss of value. To qualify as HQLA, assets should be liquid in markets during a time of stress.
55. In determining whether or not the market for an asset can be relied upon to raise liquidity during a
time of stress, the following fundamental factors should be taken into account:
(a) low risk: high credit standing of the issuer and a low degree of subordination, low duration, low legal risk, low inflation risk, denomination in a convertible currency with low foreign exchange risk;
(b) ease and certainty of valuation;
(c) low correlation with risky assets, not subject to wrong-way risk; and
(d) listing on a developed and recognised exchange.
56. In assessing the reliability of a market for raising liquidity during a time of stress, the following market-related characteristics should be taken into account, though not limited to them:
(a) active and sizable market, including active outright sale or repo markets at all times. This can be demonstrated through:
(i) historical evidence of market breadth and market depth (low bid-ask spreads, high trading volumes, large and diverse number of market participants); or
(ii) existence of robust market infrastructure (presence of multiple committed market makers);
(b) low price volatility, including historical evidence of relative stability of market terms (e.g. prices and haircuts) and volumes during stressed periods; or
(c) flight to quality, i.e. that historically the market has shown a tendency to move into these types of high quality assets in a systemic crisis.
HQLA – general operational requirements
57. To be eligible as HQLA, assets in the portfolio of HQLA must be appropriately diversified in terms of type of assets, type of issuer and specific counterparty or issuer. To be eligible as HQLA, assets must meet the following requirements:
(a) the assets must be under the control of the specific function or functions charged with managing the liquidity of the Bank who must have the continuous authority and legal and operational capability to liquidate any asset in the stock; and
(b) a representative portion of the assets in the stock of HQLA must be liquidated periodically and at least annually by the Bank to test its access to the market, the effectiveness of its processes for liquidation, the availability of the assets, and to minimise the risk of negative signalling during a period of actual stress.
58. To be eligible as HQLA, an asset must also meet the following requirements:
(a) the asset must be unencumbered and free of legal, regulatory, contractual or other restrictions that affect the ability of the Bank to liquidate, sell, transfer, or assign the asset;
(b) the asset must not be pledged, either explicitly or implicitly, to secure, collateralise or credit- enhance any transaction, nor be designated to cover operational costs (such as rents and salaries); and
(c) an asset received in a reverse repo or securities financing transactions that is held at the Bank, is eligible for inclusion in the stock of HQLA only if the asset has not been
rehypothecated and is legally and contractually available for the Bank’s use.
59. These requirements in paragraphs above are intended to ensure that the stock of HQLA is managed in such a way that the Bank can, and is able to demonstrate that it can, immediately use the assets as a source of contingent funds that is available to convert into cash to fill funding gaps between cash inflows and outflows at any time during the 30-day stress period, with no restriction on the use of the liquidity generated. The control of the HQLA may be evidenced either by:
(a) maintaining assets in a separate pool managed by the identified liquidity management function (typically the treasurer) with the sole intent to use it as a source of contingent funds; or
(b) demonstrating that the relevant function can liquidate the asset at any point in the 30- day stress period and that the proceeds are available to the function throughout the 30- day stress period without directly conflicting with a stated business or risk management strategy.
60. Operational capability to liquidate assets referred to in paragraph 59 above, requires procedures and appropriate systems to be in place. This includes providing the liquidity management function with access to all necessary information to liquidate any asset at any time. Liquidation of the asset should be executable operationally within the standard settlement period for the asset class in the relevant jurisdiction.
Caps on different types of HQLA – calculation of LCR
61. Assets eligible to be included in the stock of HQLA for the purpose of the LCR calculation are classified under the following two categories:
(a) Level 1 HQLA, consisting of the highest quality and most liquid assets; and
(b) Level 2 HQLA, including Level 2A HQLA and Level 2B HQLA, consisting of other high quality liquid assets.
62. When calculating the total stock of HQLA, a Bank must apply the following caps in respect of each category of assets:
(a) Level 1 HQLA can be included in the total stock of HQLA without any limit (i.e. up to 100% of HQLA);
(b) Total Level 2 HQLA, including both Level 2A HQLA and Level 2B HQLA, can comprise only up to 40% of the total stock of HQLA; and
(c) Level 2B HQLA can comprise only up to 15% of the total stock of HQLA within the overall 40% limit on Level 2 HQLA in (b).
63. The caps on Level 2 HQLA and Level 2B HQLA must be determined after applying the haircuts required under paragraphs 22 & 23, and after unwinding the amounts of HQLA involved in short- term secured funding, secured lending and collateral swap transactions maturing within 30 calendar days that involve the exchange of HQLA.
64. The assets to be included in each category of HQLA must be restricted to assets being held or owned by the Bank on the first day of the stress period, irrespective of their residual maturity.
65. The following paragraphs illustrate how the caps on various types of HQLA, as specified in paragraphs 15 & 16 are to be applied in practice, for the calculation of LCR. The adjusted amounts of HQLA should be calculated as the amount of HQLA that would result after unwinding those short- term secured funding, secured lending and collateral swap transactions that involve the exchange of any HQLA for any other HQLA. The calculation of the stock of HQLA for paragraph 15 can be expressed as the following formula:
Stock of HQLA = Level 1 HQLA + Level 2A HQLA + Level 2B HQLA – Adjustment for 15% cap – Adjustment for 40% cap
Where:
(a) Adjustment for 15% cap = Max (Adjusted Level 2B HQLA – 15/85 x(Adjusted
Level 1 HQLA + Level 2A HQLA), Adjusted Level 2B HQLA - 15/60 x (Adjusted Level 1 HQLA, 0)
(b) Adjustment for 40% cap = Max ((Adjusted Level 2A HQLA + Adjusted Level 2B
HQLA – Adjustment for 15% cap) - 2/3 x Adjusted Level 1 HQLA, 0)
Level 1 HQLA
66. Level 1 HQLA must be valued at market value and it consists of:
(a) banknotes and coin;
(b) central bank reserves, to the extent that such reserves are capable of being drawn down immediately in times of stress
(c) marketable securities representing claims on or claims guaranteed by sovereigns, central banks, Public Sector Entities (PSEs), the Bank for International Settlements, the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and European Commission or Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), and that satisfy all of the following conditions:
(i) they are assigned a zero % risk-weight according to Chapter 4 and App4 of this Module;
(ii) they are traded in large, deep and active repo or cash markets characterised by a low level of concentration
(iii) they have a proven record as a reliable source of liquidity in the markets (repo or sale) even during stressed market conditions; and
(iv) they are not an obligation of a financial institution or any of its associated entities
(d) in the case of sovereigns that are not eligible for zero % risk-weight, sovereign or central bank debt securities issued in domestic currencies by the sovereign or central bank in the country in which the Liquidity Risk is being taken or in the Bank’s home jurisdiction, where those securities satisfy all of the conditions in paragraph (c) (ii)(iii) and (iv) above;
(e) in the case of sovereigns that are not eligible for zero % risk-weight, domestic sovereign or central bank debt securities issued in foreign currencies, up to the amount of the Bank’s stressed net cash outflows in that specific foreign currency stemming from the Bank’s operations in the jurisdiction where the Bank’s Liquidity Risk is being taken, where those securities satisfy all of the conditions in paragraph
(c) (ii)(iii) and (iv) above; and
(f) any other types of assets approved by the AFSA under paragraph 24 as being eligible to be Level 1 HQLA.
Level 2A HQLA
67. Level 2A HQLA must be valued at market value and subject to a 15% haircut and it consists of:
(a) marketable securities representing claims on or guaranteed by sovereigns, central banks, PSEs or MDBs that satisfy all of the following conditions:
(i) they are assigned a 20% risk-weight according to Chapter 4 and App4 of this Module;
(ii) they are traded in large, deep and active repo or cash markets characterised by a low level of concentration;
(iii) they have a proven record as a reliable source of liquidity in the markets (repo or sale) even during stressed market conditions (i.e. maximum decline of price or increase in haircut over a 30-day period during a relevant period of significant liquidity stress not exceeding 10%); and
(iv) they are not an obligation of a financial institution or any of its associated entities.
(b) corporate debt securities (including commercial paper) and covered bonds that satisfy all of the following conditions:
(i) in the case of corporate debt securities: they must not be issued by a financial institution or any of its associated entities and must include only plain vanilla assets (i.e. not include complex structured products or subordinated debt) whose valuation is readily available based on standard methods and does not depend on private knowledge;
(ii) in the case of covered bonds: they must not be issued by the Bank itself or any of its associated entities
(iii) the assets must have a Credit Quality Grade of 1 from a recognised ECAI or, if the assets do not have a credit assessment by a recognised ECAI, they must be internally rated as having a probability of default (PD) corresponding to a Credit Quality Grade of 1;
(iv) they must be traded in large, deep and active repo or cash markets characterised by a low level of concentration; and
(v) they must have a proven record as a reliable source of liquidity in the markets (repo or sale) even during stressed market conditions (i.e. maximum decline of price or increase in haircut over a 30-day period during a relevant period of significant liquidity stress not exceeding 10%); and
(c) any other types of assets approved by the AFSA under paragraph 24 as being eligible to be Level 2A HQLA.
Level 2B HQLA
68. Level 2B HQLA must be valued at market value and subject to an appropriate haircut, as specified in (2), for each type of asset and it consists of:
(a) residential mortgage backed securities that satisfy all of the following conditions, subject to a 25% haircut:
(i) they are not issued by, and the underlying assets have not been originated by, the Bank itself or any of its affiliated entities;
(ii) they have a Credit Quality Grade of 1 from a recognised ECAI;
(iii) they are traded in large, deep and active repo or cash markets characterised by a low level of concentration;
(iv) they have a proven record as a reliable source of liquidity in the markets (repo or sale) even during stressed market conditions, (i.e. maximum decline of price or increase in haircut over a 30-day period during a relevant period of significant liquidity stress not exceeding 20%);
(v) the underlying asset pool is restricted to residential mortgages and does not contain structured products;
(vi) the underlying mortgages are “full recourse’’ loans (i.e. in the case of foreclosure the mortgage owner remains liable for any shortfall in sales proceeds from the property) and have a maximum loan-to- value ratio (LTV) of 80% on average at issuance; and
(vii) the securitisations are subject to “risk retention” regulations which require issuers to retain an interest in the assets they securitise;
(b) corporate debt securities (including commercial paper) that satisfy all of the following conditions, subject to a 50% haircut:
(i) they are not issued by a financial institution or any of its affiliated entities;
(ii) they have a Credit Quality Grade of 2 or 3 from a recognised ECAI or, in the case the assets do not have a credit assessment by a recognised ECAI, are internally rated as having a probability of default (PD) corresponding to a Credit Quality Grade of 2 or 3;
(iii) they are traded in large, deep and active repo or cash markets characterised by a low level of concentration; and
(iv) they have a proven record as a reliable source of liquidity in the markets (repo or sale) even during stressed market conditions, (i.e. maximum decline of price or increase in haircut over a 30-day period during a relevant period of significant liquidity stress not exceeding 20%);
(c) equity shares that satisfy all of the following conditions, subject to a 50% haircut:
(i) they are not issued by a financial institution or any of its affiliated entities;
(ii) they are exchange traded and centrally cleared;
(iii) they are a constituent of the major stock index in the home jurisdiction, or where the Liquidity Risk is taken, as decided by the supervisor in the jurisdiction where the index is located;
(iv) they are denominated in the domestic currency of a Bank’s home jurisdiction or in the currency of the jurisdiction where a Bank’s Liquidity Risk is taken;
(v) they are traded in large, deep and active repo or cash markets characterised by a low level of concentration; and
(vi) they have a proven record as a reliable source of liquidity in the markets (repo or sale) even during stressed market conditions, (i.e. maximum decline of price or increase in haircut over a 30-day period during a relevant period of significant liquidity stress not exceeding 40%); and
(d) any other types of assets approved by the AFSA under paragraph 24 as being eligible to be Level 2B HQLA.
Approval of other types of HQLA
69. The AFSA may approve other types of assets (in addition to those specified in this section of Chapter 9 of BPG) as being eligible to be included in the stock of HQLA for the purposes of the calculation of the LCR. In such cases, the AFSA will also specify whether they are to be classified as Level 1 HQLA or Level 2 HQLA and the haircut, if any, to be applied to them. In such cases, the AFSA may also define the conditions that the assets must satisfy to be treated as HQLA.
Other provisions relating to LCR calculation
70. For the purpose of calculating the LCR, if an eligible asset within HQLA becomes ineligible (e.g. due to a rating downgrade), a Bank is allowed to keep the asset in its stock of HQLA for an additional 30 calendar days to allow time to adjust its stock as needed or replace the asset.
71. For the purpose of calculating a consolidated LCR for a Financial Group, where applicable, qualifying HQLA held to meet statutory liquidity requirements at a legal entity or sub-consolidated level may be included in the stock at the consolidated level only to the extent that the related risks are also reflected in the consolidated LCR. Any surplus of HQLA held at the legal entity can be included in the consolidated stock of HQLA only if those assets would also be freely available to the consolidated parent entity in times of stress.
72. A Bank must be able to meet its liquidity needs in each currency in which it has a material exposure. The currencies of the stock of HQLA of a Bank must be similar in composition to its liquidity needs by currency.
Total Net Cash Outflow
73. A Bank must calculate its Total Net Cash Outflow over the following 30 calendar days in accordance with the following formula:
Total Net Cash Outflows over the next 30 calendar days
= total expected cash outflows – whichever is the lesser amount of total expected cash
inflows or 75% of total expected cash outflows
74. Total expected cash outflows are calculated by multiplying the outstanding balances of various categories or types of liabilities and off-balance commitments by the rates at which they are expected to run off or be drawn down.
75. Total expected cash inflows are calculated by multiplying the outstanding balances of various categories of contractual receivables by the rates at which they are expected to flow in. To ensure a minimum level of HQLA holdings at all times, total cash inflows are subject to an aggregate cap of 75% of total expected cash outflows.
76. A Bank must not double-count items. That is, for assets included as part of the eligible stock of HQLA, the associated cash inflows arising from such assets must not be counted as cash inflows for the purpose of calculating the net cash outflows over the next 30 calendar days.
Cash Outflows
77. The following table specifies, for each of the various categories or types of liabilities and off-balance sheet commitments, the rates at which they are expected to run off or be drawn down for the purpose of calculating the LCR.
Table 9 A - Cash Outflows | |
Item | Factor |
A. Retail Deposits: | |
Demand deposit and term deposits (less than 30 days maturity): | |
● Stable deposits | 5% |
● Less stable retail deposits | 10% |
Term deposits with residual maturity greater than 30 days | 0% |
B. Unsecured Wholesale Funding: | |
Demand and term deposits (less than 30 days maturity) provided by small business customers: | |
● Stable deposits | 5% |
● Less stable deposits | 10% |
Small business customers - Term deposits with residual maturity greater than 30 days with no legal right to withdraw or a withdrawal with a significant penalty | 0% |
Operational deposits generated by clearing, custody and cash management activities: | 25% |
● Portion covered by deposit insurance | 5% |
Cooperative banks in an institutional network (qualifying deposits with the centralized institution | 25% |
Non-financial corporates, sovereigns, central banks, multilateral development banks and PSEs: ● If the entire amount is fully covered by a deposit protection scheme | 40% 20% |
Other legal entity customers | 100% |
C. Secured Funding: | |
● Secured funding transactions with a central bank counterparty or backed by Level 1 HQLA withany | 0% |
counterparty | |
● Secured funding transactions backed by Level 2A HQLA, with any counterparty | 15% |
● Secured funding transactions backed by non-Level 1 HQLA or non- Level 2A HQLA, with domestic sovereigns, multilateral development banks, or domestic PSEs as a counterparty | 25% |
●Backed by RMBS eligible for inclusion in Level 2B HQLA | 25% |
●Backed by other Level 2B HQLA | 50% |
●All other secured funding transactions | 100% |
D. Additional Requirements: | |
Derivatives cash outflows | 100% |
Liquidity needs (e.g. collateral calls) related to financing transactions, derivatives and other contracts | 100% |
Market valuation changes on non-Level 1 HQLA posted collateral securing derivatives | 20% |
Excess collateral held by a bank related to derivative transactions that could contractually be called at any time by its counterparty | 100% |
Liquidity needs related to collateral contractually due from the reporting bank on derivatives transactions | 100% |
Increased liquidity needs related to derivative transactions that allow collateral substitution to non-HQLA assets | 100% |
Market valuation changes on derivatives transactions (largest absolute net 30-day collateral flows realised during the preceding 24 months) | 100% |
ABCP, SIVs, Conduits, etc: ● Loss of funding on Asset Backed Securities, covered bonds and other structured financing instruments | Factor |
100% | |
●Loss of funding on ABCP, SIVs, SPVs, etc | 100% |
Undrawn committed credit and liquidity facilities: ●Credit and Liquidity Facilities: Retail and small and medium- sized enterprise clients | 5% |
● Credit Facilities: Non-financial corporates, sovereigns and central banks, PSEs, MDBs | 10% |
●Liquidity Facilities: Non-financial corporates, sovereigns and central banks, PSEs, MDBs | 30% |
● Credit and Liquidity Facilities: Banks subject to prudential supervision | 40% |
●Credit Facilities: Other financial institutions (include securities firms, insurance companies, fiduciaries and beneficiaries) | 40% |
● Liquidity Facilities: Other financial institutions (include securities firms, insurance companies, fiduciaries and beneficiaries) | 100% |
●Credit and Liquidity Facilities: Other legal entity customers | 100% |
●Other contractual obligations to financial institutions | 100% |
● Other contractual obligations to retail and non-financial corporate clients | 100% |
Other contingent funding obligations: | 100% |
● Non-contractual obligations related to potential liquidity draws from joint ventures or minority investments in entities | |
● Trade finance-related obligations (including letters of credit and guarantees) | 5% |
● Unconditionally revocable "uncommitted" credit and liquidity facilities | 5% |
● Guarantees and letters of credit unrelated to trade finance obligations | 10% |
Non-contractual obligations: | 20% |
● Debt-buy back requests (incl. related conduits) | |
●Structured products | 10% |
●Managed funds | 10% |
●Other non-contractual obligations | 100% |
Outstanding debt securities with remaining maturity > 30 days | 100% |
Non contractual obligations where customer short positions are covered by other customers’ collateral | 50% |
Other contractual cash outflows | 100% |
78. The following paragraphs set out the AFSA’s views about how the table above defining the treatment of various cash outflows should be applied to different items.
Retail Deposits:
79. Retail deposits should include deposits from individuals placed with a Bank. Deposits from legal entities, sole proprietorships or partnerships should be included in wholesale deposit categories. Deposits may include demand deposits and term deposits, unless otherwise excluded. Deposits from individuals are divided under the Table into ‘stable’ and ‘less stable’ deposits. Stable deposits should include the portion of deposits that are fully covered by an effective deposit insurance scheme or by a public guarantee that provides equivalent protection and where:
(a) the depositor has other established relationships with the Bank that make deposit withdrawal highly unlikely; or
(b) the deposits are in transactional accounts (e.g. accounts where salaries are automatically credited).
80. If a Bank is not able to readily identify which retail deposits would qualify as “stable”, it should place the full amount in the “less stable” buckets. Less stable deposits should consist of the portion of deposits that do not meet the conditions in paragraph 34 above and also include types of deposits more likely to be withdrawn in a time of stress. These should include high-value deposits (i.e. deposits above any deposit insurance limit), deposits from customers who do not have established relationships with a Bank that make the deposit withdrawal unlikely, deposits from sophisticated or high net worth individuals, deposits where the internet is integral to the design, marketing and use of the account (on-line accounts) and deposits with promotional interest rates (i.e. that are heavily rate-driven).
81. Cash outflows related to retail term deposits with a residual maturity or withdrawal notice period of greater than 30 days should be excluded from total expected cash outflows only if the depositor has no legal right to withdraw deposits within the 30-day period of the LCR, or if early withdrawal results in a significant penalty that is materially greater than the loss of interest. If a Bank allows a depositor to withdraw such deposits despite a clause that says the depositor has no legal right to withdraw, the entire category of these funds should be treated as demand deposits.
82. Unsecured wholesale funding should consist of liabilities and general obligations raised from non- natural persons (i.e. legal entities, including sole proprietorships and partnerships) and not collateralised by legal rights to specifically designated assets owned by the Bank accepting the deposit in the case of bankruptcy, insolvency, liquidation or resolution. Obligations related to derivative contracts should be excluded from this category.
83. Unsecured wholesale funding provided by non-financial corporates and sovereigns, central banks, MDBs, and public sector enterprises comprises all deposits and other extensions of unsecured funding (other than those specifically for operational purposes) from:
(a) non-financial corporate customers (except small business customers); and
(b) domestic and foreign customers that are sovereigns, central banks, MDBs and public sector enterprises.
84. Unsecured wholesale funding provided by other legal entity customers consists of deposits and other funding (other than operational deposits) which do not qualify as Operational Deposits as defined in this Chapter, such as funding provided by:
(a) another financial institution; or
(b) a related party of the Bank.
85. All debt securities issued by the Bank are to be treated as unsecured wholesale funding provided by other legal entity customers regardless of the holder. However, securities that are sold exclusively in the retail market and held in retail accounts (or small business customer accounts) may be treated in the appropriate retail or small business customer deposit category. For securities to be treated in that way, there must be limitations preventing them being bought and held other than by retail or small business customers.
86. The wholesale funding included in the LCR should consist of all funding that is callable within the LCR’s period of 30 days or that has its earliest possible contractual maturity date within this period (such as maturing term deposits and unsecured debt securities), as well as funding with an undetermined maturity. This should include all funding with options that are exercisable at the investor’s discretion within the 30-day period.
87. Wholesale funding that is callable by the funds provider subject to a contractually defined and binding notice period longer than the 30-day period should not be included. Unsecured wholesale funding provided by small and medium-sized enterprise customers should be treated as deposits from individuals where:
(a) the deposits and other extensions of funds made by non-financial small and medium- sized enterprise customers are managed as retail accounts and are generally considered as having similar Liquidity Risk characteristics to retail accounts; and
(b) the total aggregated funding raised from a small and medium-sized enterprise customer is less than USD 1 million (on a consolidated basis where applicable).
Operational deposits
88. Operational deposits should consist of those deposits where customers place, or leave, deposits with a Bank to facilitate their access and ability to use payment and settlement systems and otherwise make payments. Balances can be included only if the customer has a substantive dependency on the Bank and the deposit is required for such activities. This condition would not be met if the Bank is aware that the customer has adequate back-up arrangements.
89. Qualifying activities in this context refer to clearing, custody or cash management activities where the customer is reliant on the Bank to perform these services as an independent third-party intermediary in order to fulfil its normal banking activities over the next 30 days. These services should be provided to institutional customers under a legally binding agreement and the termination of such agreements should be subject either to a notice period of at least 30 days or to significant switching costs to be borne by the customer if the operational deposits are moved before 30 days.
90. Qualifying operational deposits generated by such an activity should consist of deposits which are:
(a) by-products of the underlying services provided by the Bank;
(b) not offered by the Bank in the wholesale market in the sole interest of offering interest income; and
(c) held in specifically designated accounts and priced without giving an economic incentive to the customer to leave excess funds on these accounts.
91. Any excess balances that could be withdrawn without jeopardising these clearing, custody or cash management activities should not qualify as operational deposits. The Bank must determine how to identify such excess balances. If the Bank is unable to identify how much of a deposit is an excess balance, the Bank must assume that the entire deposit is excess and therefore not
operational.
92. The identification should be sufficiently granular to adequately assess the risk of withdrawal in an idiosyncratic stress situation. The method should take into account relevant factors such as the likelihood that wholesale customers have above-average balances in advance of specific payment needs, and should consider appropriate indicators (for example, ratios of account balances to payment or settlement volumes or to assets under custody) to identify customers that are not actively managing account balances efficiently.
93. The following paragraphs provide some guidance on the type of services that may give rise to operational deposits.
94. Clearing is a service that enables customers to transfer funds (or securities) indirectly through direct participants in domestic settlement systems to final recipients. Such services are limited to the following activities:
(a) transmission, reconciliation and confirmation of payment orders
(b) daylight overdraft, overnight financing and maintenance of post-settlement balances
(c) determination of intra-day and final settlement positions.
95. Custody is the provision of safekeeping, reporting and processing of assets, or the facilitation of the operational and administrative elements of related activities on behalf of customers in the process of their transacting and retaining financial assets. Such services are limited to the settlement of securities transactions, the transfer of contractual payments, the processing of collateral, and the provision of custody-related cash management services. Custody also includes the receipt of dividends and other income and client subscriptions and redemptions, and extends to asset and corporate trust servicing, treasury, escrow, funds transfer, stock transfer and agency services, (including payment and settlement services, but not correspondent banking), and depository receipts.
96. Cash management is the provision of cash management and related services to customers—that is, services provided to a customer to manage its cash flows, assets and liabilities, and conduct financial transactions necessary to its operations. Such services are limited to payment remittance, collection and aggregation of funds, payroll administration, and control over the disbursement of funds.
97. Correspondent banking is an arrangement under which a bank holds deposits owned by other banks, and provides payment and other services to settle foreign currency transactions. A deposit that arises out of correspondent banking, or from the provision of prime brokerage services, should not be treated as an operational deposit. Prime brokerage services is a package of services offered to large active investors, particularly institutional hedge funds. The services usually include:
● clearing, settlement and custody
● consolidated reporting
● financing (margin, repo or synthetic)
● securities lending
● capital introduction
● risk analytics.
98. Customers’ cash balances arising from the provision of prime brokerage services must be treated as separate from any balances required to be segregated under a statutory client protection regime, and must not be netted against other customer exposures. Such offsetting balances held in segregated accounts are to be treated as inflows and must not be counted as HQLA. Any part of an operational deposit that is fully covered by deposit insurance may be treated as a stable retail deposit.
99. An institutional network of cooperative banks is a group of legally separate banks with a statutory framework of cooperation with a common strategic focus and brand, in which certain functions are performed by a central institution or a specialised service provider. A qualifying deposit is a deposit by a member institution with the central institution or specialised central service provider:
(a) because of statutory minimum deposit requirements; or
(b) in the context of common task-sharing and legal, statutory or contractual arrangements (but only if both the depositor and the bank that receives the deposit participate in the network’s scheme of mutual protection against illiquidity and insolvency).
100. The following are not qualifying deposits:
(a) deposits resulting from correspondent banking activities;
(b) deposits placed at the central institution or a specialised service provider for any reason other than those defined as eligibility requirements for Qualifying Deposits in paragraph 57 above;
(c) deposits for the operational purposes of clearing, custody, or cash management.
Liquidity facilities
101. A liquidity facility should consist of any committed, undrawn back-up facility that would be used to refinance the debt obligations of a customer in situations where such a customer is unable to roll over that debt in financial markets. The amount of any commitment to be treated as a liquidity facility should consist of the amount of the outstanding debt issued by the customer (or proportionate share of a syndicated facility) maturing within a 30-day period that is backstopped by the facility. Any additional capacity of the facility should be treated as a committed credit facility. General working capital facilities for corporate entities (e.g. revolving credit facilities in place for general corporate or working capital purposes) should not be classified as liquidity facilities, but as credit facilities.
102. Notwithstanding paragraph 44 above, any facilities provided to hedge funds, money market funds and special purpose funding vehicles, or other vehicles used to finance a Bank’s own assets, should be captured in their entirety as a liquidity facility to a financial institution.
Treatment of deposits pledged as security
103. If a deposit is pledged as security for a credit facility:
(a) the facility will not mature or be settled within the relevant 30-calendar-day period; and
(b) the pledge is subject to a legally enforceable contract under which the deposit cannot be withdrawn before the facility is fully settled or repaid.
104. If no part of the facility has been drawn, the runoff rate is the higher of:
(a) the rate specified in Table 9A, that would apply to secured or unsecured funding, as the case maybe; and
(b) a rate equal to the rate applicable to Undrawn committed credit and liquidity facilities specified in Table 9 A.
105. However, if some part of the facility has been drawn, only that part of the deposit in excess of the outstanding balance of the facility is to be counted. The applicable runoff rate is the rate that applies to secured or unsecured funding, as the case maybe.
Treatment of maturing secured funding
106. The runoff rates for secured funding that matures within the relevant 30-calendar-day period are as set out in table 9A. Secured funding is a Bank’s liabilities and general obligations collateralised by the grant of legal rights to specific assets owned by the Bank. This scenario assumes that the Bank has lost its secured funding on short-term financing transactions. In this scenario, the Bank could continue to transact securities financing transactions only if the transactions were backed by HQLA or were with the Bank’s domestic sovereign, public sector enterprise or central bank.
107. Collateral swaps, and any other transactions of a similar form, are to be treated as repo or reverse repo agreements. Collateral lent to the Bank’s customers to effect short positions is to be treated as secured funding. The Bank must apply the factors to all outstanding secured funding transactions with maturities within 30 calendar days, including customer short positions that do not have a specified contractual maturity. The amount of outflow is the amount of funds raised through the transaction, and not the value of the underlying collateral.
Treatment of net derivative cash outflows
108. As specified in Table 9A, the runoff rate for net derivative cash outflows is 100%. The Bank must calculate those outflows in accordance with its usual valuation methods. The outflows may be calculated on a net basis by counterparty (that is, inflows offsetting outflows) only if a valid master netting agreement exists. From the calculation, the Bank must exclude liquidity needs that would result from increased collateral needs because of falls in the value of collateral lodged or market value movements. The Bank must assume that an option will be exercised if it is in the money.
109. If derivative payments are collateralised by HQLA, the cash outflows are to be calculated net of any corresponding cash or collateral inflows that would result, all other things being equal, from contractual obligations to lodge cash or collateral with the Bank. However, this condition applies only if, after the collateral were received, the Bank would be legally entitled and operationally able to re- hypothecate it.
110. The runoff rate for increased liquidity needs related to market valuation changes on derivative instruments is 100% of the largest absolute net collateral flow (based on both realised outflows and inflows) in a 30-calendar-day period during the previous 24 months. Market practice requires collateralisation of mark-to-market exposures on derivative instruments. Banks face potentially substantial Liquidity Risk exposures to changes in the market valuation of such instruments. Inflows and outflows of transactions executed under the same master netting agreement may be treated on a net basis.
Elevated liquidity needs related to downgrade triggers
111. The runoff rate for increased liquidity needs related to downgrade triggers in financing transactions, derivatives and other contracts is 100% of the amount of collateral that the Bank would be required to lodge for, or the contractual cash outflow associated with, any downgrade up to and including a 3-notch downgrade. A downgrade trigger is a contractual condition that requires a Bank to lodge additional collateral, draw down a contingent facility or repay existing liabilities early if an ECRA downgrades the Bank. Contracts governing derivatives and other transactions often have such conditions. The scenario therefore requires a Bank to assume that for each contract that contains downgrade triggers, 100% of the additional collateral or cash outflow will have to be lodged for a downgrade up to and including a 3-notch downgrade of the Bank’s long-term credit rating. The Bank must assume that a downgrade trigger linked to the Bank’s short-term rating will be triggered at the corresponding long-term rating.
Increased liquidity needs related to collateral
112. The runoff rate for increased liquidity needs related to possible valuation changes on collateral lodged by a Bank to secure derivatives and other transactions is 20% of the value of any lodged collateral that is not level 1 HQLA (net of collateral received on a counterparty basis, if the collateral received is not subject to restrictions on re-use or re-hypothecation). Most counterparties to derivative transactions are required to secure the mark-to- market valuation of their positions. If level 1 HQLA are lodged as collateral, no additional stock of HQLA need be maintained for possible valuation changes. However, if the Bank secures such an exposure with other collateral, 20% of the value of such lodged collateral will be added to the Bank’s required stock of HQLA to cover the possible loss of market value on the collateral.
113. The runoff rate for increased liquidity needs related to excess non- segregated collateral that is held by a Bank, and could contractually be recalled at any time by a counterparty, is 100% of the value of the excess collateral.
114. The runoff rate for increased liquidity needs related to contractually- required collateral, due from a Bank on transactions for which the counterparty has not yet demanded that the collateral be lodged, is 100% of the value of the collateral that is contractually due. This run-off rate applies to the following kinds of transaction:
(a) transactions where:
(i) a Bank holds HQLA collateral;
(ii) the counterparty has the right to substitute non-HQLA collateral for some or all of the HQLA collateral without the Bank’s consent; and
(iii) the collateral is not segregated;
(b) transactions where:
(i) a Bank has the right to receive HQLA collateral;
(ii) the counterparty has the right to deliver non-HQLA collateral instead of some or all of the HQLA collateral without the Bank’s consent; and
(iii) the collateral is not segregated.
115. The runoff rate for increased liquidity needs related to such a transaction is 100% of the value of HQLA collateral for which non-HQLA collateral can be substituted or delivered, as the case requires.
Treatment of loss of funding on structured finance transactions
1.The runoff rate for loss of funding on asset-backed securities and other structured financing instruments that mature within the relevant 30- calendar-day period is 100% of the maturing amount. The scenario assumes that there is no refinancing market for the maturing instruments.
2.The runoff rate for loss of funding on asset-backed commercial paper, conduits, structured investment vehicles and other similar financing arrangements that mature within the relevant 30- calendar-day period is 100% of the total of:
(a)the maturing amount;
(b)if the arrangement allows assets to be returnedwithin that period—the value of the returnable assets; and
(c)if under the arrangement the Bank could be obliged to provide liquidity within that period— the total amount of liquidity that the Bank could be obliged to provide.
3.Banks that use asset-backed commercial paper, conduits,structured investment vehiclesand other similar financing arrangements should fully consider the associated LiquidityRisk. The risks include being unable to refinance maturing debt or derivatives or derivative-like components that would allow the returnof assets, or require the Bank to provide liquidity, within the 30-calendar-day period.
4.If the Bank’s structured financing activities are carried out through a special purpose entity (such as a conduit or structured investment vehicle), the Bank should, in determining its HQLA requirements, look through to the maturity of the debt instruments issued by the entity and any embedded options in financing arrangements that could trigger the return of assets or the need for liquidity, regardless of whether the entity is consolidated.
Committed credit and liquidity facilities
120. The runoff rates for drawdowns on committed credit and liquidity facilities are set out in table 9A. A credit facility is a contractual agreement or obligation to extend funds in the future to a retail or wholesale counterparty. For this Rule, a facility that is unconditionally revocable is not a credit facility. Unconditionally revocable facilities (in particular, those without a precondition of a material change in the borrower’s credit condition) are included in Contingent funding obligations. A liquidity facility is an irrevocable, undrawn credit facility that would be used to refinance the debt obligations of a customer if the customer were unable to roll over the obligations in financial markets. General working capital facilities for corporate borrowers (for example, revolving credit facilities for general corporate or working capital purposes) are to be treated as credit facilities.
121. For a facility, the relevant runoff rate is to be applied to the undrawn part of it. The undrawn portion of a credit or liquidity facility is to be calculated net of any HQLA lodged or to be lodged as collateral if:
(a) the HQLA have already been lodged, or the counterparty is contractually required to lodge them when drawing down the facility;
(b) the Bank is legally entitled and operationally able to re-hypothecate the collateral in new cash- raising transactions once the facility is drawn down; and
(c) there is no undue correlation between the probability of drawing down the facility and the market value of the collateral.
122. The Bank may net the collateral against the outstanding amount of the facility to the extent that the collateral is not already counted in the Bank’s HQLA portfolio. The amount of a liquidity facility is to be taken as the amount of outstanding debt issued by the customer concerned (or a proportionate share of a syndicated facility) that matures within the relevant 30-calendar-day period and is backstopped by the facility. Any additional capacity of the facility is to be treated as a committed credit facility. The Bank must treat a facility provided to a hedge fund, money market fund or special purpose entity, or an entity used to finance the Bank’s own assets, in its entirety as a liquidity facility to a financial institution.
Other contractual obligations to extend funds within 30 calendar days
123. The runoff rate for other contractual obligations to extend funds within 30 calendar days is 100%. Other contractual obligations to extend funds within 30 calendar days covers all contractual obligations to extend funds within 30 calendar days that do not fall within any of the categories referred above in this section or in Table A. The runoff rate of 100% is to be applied to:
(a) for obligations owed to financial institutions—the whole amount of such obligations; and
(b) for obligations owed to customers that are not financial institutions—the difference between:
(i) the total amount of the obligations; and
(ii) 50% of the contractual inflows from those customers over the relevant 30-calendar- day period.
124. The runoff rates for other contingent funding obligations are as set out in table 9A. Contingent funding obligations covers obligations arising from guarantees, letters of credit, unconditionally revocable credit and liquidity facilities, outstanding debt securities with remaining maturity of more than 30 calendar days, and trade finance (see subRule (3)). It also covers non-contractual obligations, including obligations arising from any of the following:
(a) potential liquidity draws from joint ventures or minority investments in entities;
(b) debt-buy-back requests (including related conduits);
(c) structured products;
(d) managed funds;
(e) the use of customers’ collateral to cover other customers’ short positions.
125. Trade finance means trade-related obligations directly related to the movement of goods or the provision of services, such as the following:
(a) documentary trade letters of credit, documentary collection and clean collection, import bills, and export bills;
(b) guarantees directly related to trade finance obligations, such as shipping guarantees.
126. However, lending commitments, such as direct import or export financing for non-financial corporate entities, are to be treated as committed credit facilities. The runoff rate to be applied to other contractual cash outflows is 100%. Other contractual cash outflows includes outflows to cover unsecured collateral borrowings and uncovered short positions, and outflows to cover dividends and contractual interest payments, but does not include outflows related to operating costs.
Cash Inflows
127. When considering its available cash inflows, a Bank may include contractual inflows from outstanding exposures only if they are fully performing and there is no reasonable basis to expect a default within the 30-day period. Contingent inflows are not included in total net cash inflows. Where a Bank is overly reliant on cash inflows from one or a limited number of wholesale counterparties, the AFSA may set an alternative limit on the level of cash inflows that can be included in the LCR.
128. The AFSA may allow a Bank to recognise as cash inflow, access to a parent entity’s funds via a committed funding facility if the Bank is a subsidiary of a foreign bank. In such instances, the committed funding facility from the parent entity must meet both of the following criteria:
(a) the facility must be an irrevocable commitment and must be appropriately documented; and
(b) the facility must be quantified.
129. A committed funding facility from a parent entity referred to in (1) can be recognised as a cash inflow only from day 16 of the LCR scenario. The cash inflow from a parent entity can be sufficient in size to cover only net cash outflows against items with a maturity or next call date between days 16 and 30 of the LCR.
130. Total expected cash inflow over a period is calculated by, for each contractual cash inflow over the period, multiplying it by the applicable rate of inflows (giving the adjusted inflow), and then taking the total of all the adjusted inflows over the period. The following table 9B specifies, for each of the various categories and types of contractual receivables, the rates at which they are expected to flow in for the purpose of the calculation of the LCR:
Table 9 B Cash Inflows | |
Item | Factor |
Maturing secured lending (incl. reverse repos and securities borrowing), backed by the following as collateral: | |
● Level 1 HQLA | 0% |
● Level 2A HQLA | 15% |
● Level 2B HQLA - eligible RMBS | 25% |
● Level 2B HQLA - Otherassets | 50% |
● Margin lending backed by all other collateral | 50% |
● All other assets | 100% |
● Credit or liquidity facilities provided to the reporting Bank | 0% |
● Operational deposits held at other financial institutions (including deposits held at centralised institution of network of co-operative banks) | 0 % |
Other inflows by counterparty | |
● Amounts receivable from retail counterparties | 50% |
● Amounts receivable from non-financial wholesale counterparties, from transactions other than those listed in the above inflow categories | 50% |
● Amounts receivable from financial institutions and central banks, from transactions other than those listed in the above inflow categories | 100% |
● Net derivative receivables | 100% |
● Other contractual cashinflows | 100% |
131. The inflow rates provided in table 9B do not represent an assumption about the risk of a default— instead, it represents the likelihood that the relevant obligation will be rolled over (so that the Bank does not actually receive the cash) or that no cash will be received for some other reason. Inflows for which an inflow rate of 0% is specified are effectively treated as not being receivable.
132. A Bank calculating its cash inflows may include a contractual inflow from an exposure only if it is classified as performing or as “special mention” under BBR Rules, and there is no reason to expect a default within the relevant period. The Bank must not include any contingent inflows or any inflow that would be received from an asset in the Bank’s HQLA portfolio.
133. In a stressed situation, the assets in the Bank’s HQLA portfolio would already have been monetised. That is the purpose of those assets—to be monetised to provide liquidity. Consequently, in a scenario of liquidity stress, the contracted cash inflows from them would no longer be available to the Bank. The Bank may include, in cash inflows during a period, interest payments that it expects to receive during the period.
134. If the collateral backing a secured credit, including margin lending transactions, has been rehypothecated, then the applicable inflow rate would be 0%, for all categories of secured credit and not the rate mentioned in Table 9B.
135. The inflow rate for credit facilities and liquidity facilities provided to the Bank is 0%.
136. The inflow rate for operational deposits held by the Bank with other financial institutions or banks is 0%. Operational deposits for this purpose would have the same meaning as used in calculation of net cash outflows.
137. The inflow rate for net derivative cash inflows is 100%. The Bank must calculate those inflows in accordance with its usual valuation methods. The inflows may be calculated on a net basis by counterparty (that is, inflows offset outflows) only if a valid master netting agreement exists. From the calculation, the Bank must exclude liquidity needs that would result from increased collateral needs because of market value movements or falls in the value of collateral lodged.
138. The Bank must assume that an option will be exercised if it is in the money to the buyer. If derivative cash inflows are collateralised by HQLA, the inflows are to be calculated net of any corresponding cash or collateral outflows that would result from contractual obligations for the Bank to lodge cash or collateral. However, this condition applies only if, after the collateral were received, the Bank would be legally entitled and operationally able to re- hypothecate it.
Maturing secured lending, including reverse repos and securities borrowing
139. A Bank should assume that maturing reverse repurchase or securities borrowing agreements secured by Level 1 HQLA will be rolled over and will not give rise to any cash inflows (zero %). Maturing reverse repurchase or securities borrowing agreements secured by Level 2 HQLA should be modelled as cash inflows, equivalent to the relevant haircut for the specific assets. A Bank is assumed not to roll-over maturing reserve repurchase or securities borrowing agreements secured by non-HQLA assets and can assume it will receive 100% of the cash related to those agreements. Collateralised loans extended to customers for the purpose of taking leveraged trading positions, i.e. margin loans, should be modelled with a 50% cash inflow from contractual inflows made against non-HQLA collateral.
140. An exception to paragraph 50 above is the situation where, if the collateral obtained through reverse repo, securities borrowing or collateral swaps, which matures within the 30-day period, is re-used (i.e. rehypothecated) and is tied up for 30 days or longer to cover short positions. A Bank should then assume that such reverse repo or securities borrowing arrangements will be rolled over and will not give rise to any cash inflows (zero %), reflecting its need to continue to cover the short position or to repurchase the relevant securities.
141. A Bank should manage its collateral so that it is able to fulfil obligations to return collateral whenever the counterparty decides not to roll-over any reverse repo or securities lending transaction. This is especially the case for non-HQLA collateral, since such outflows are not captured in the LCR framework.
142. Lines of credit, liquidity facilities and other contingent funding facilities that a Bank holds at other institutions for its own purposes should be assumed to be able to be drawn and so such facilities should receive a 0 % inflow rate.
143. All inflows should be taken only at the latest possible date, based on the contractual rights available to counterparties. Inflows from loans that have no specific maturity should not be included, with the exception of minimum payments of principal, fee or interest associated with an open maturity loan.
144. Other contractual cash inflows should be included under this category. Cash inflows related to non- financial revenues should not be taken into account in the calculation of the net cash outflows for the purposes of the LCR. These items should receive an inflow rate of 100%.
145. The Bank must assume that inflows will be received at the latest possible date, based on the contractual rights available to counterparties. The following inflows are not to be included:
(a) inflows (except for minimum payments of principal, fee or interest) from loans that have no specific maturity;
(b) inflows related to non-financial revenues.
Other requirements for LCR
146. A Bank active in multiple currencies should:
(a) maintain HQLA consistent with the distribution of its liquidity needs by currency;
(b) assess its aggregate foreign currency liquidity needs and determine an acceptable level of currency mismatches; and
(c) undertake a separate analysis of its strategy for each currency in which it has material activities, considering potential constraints in times of stress.
147. In respect of the obligation to notify the AFSA about a real or potential breach of its LCR requirement, a Bank in its notification should clearly explain:
(a) the reasons for not meeting the limits;
(b) measures that have been taken and will be taken to ensure it meets its LCR Requirement; and
(c) its expectations regarding the potential duration of the situation.
148. The Bank should discuss with the AFSA what, if any, further steps it should take to deal with the situation, prior to making that notification.
Liquid assets buffer
149. A Bank must, except during periods when it experiences liquidity stress, maintain a buffer of HQLA over the minimum level of LCR required according to BBR Rule 9.12. The size of the HQLA buffer must be appropriate to the nature, scale and complexity of its operations and must also be in determined considering the Bank’s Liquidity Risk tolerance and the results of its liquidity stress tests. A Bank should conduct such liquidity stress tests to assess the level of liquidity it should hold beyond the minimum required under this section, and construct its own scenarios that could cause difficulties for its specific business activities. Such internal stress tests should incorporate longer periods than the ones required under Chapter 9 of the BBR. Banks are expected to share the results of these additional stress tests with the AFSA. The AFSA may require a Bank to maintain an additional buffer of liquid assets in cases where the AFSA assesses that the Bank has failed to carry out stress tests effectively.
H. Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR)
150. The requirement for a Bank to maintain a net stable funding ratio is one of the Basel Committee’s key reforms to promote a more resilient banking sector. The requirement will oblige Banks to maintain a stable funding profile in relation to the composition of their assets and off-balance-sheet activities. A stable funding profile is intended to reduce the likelihood that disruptions to a Bank’s regular sources of funding will erode its liquidity position in a way that would increase the risk of its failure, and might lead to broader systemic stress. The requirement is intended to limit Banks’ reliance on short-term wholesale funding, promote funding stability, and encourage better assessment of funding risk on and off Banks’ balance-sheets.
151. In respect of this Section H, the following are the key definitions:
(a) ASF is defined as the amount of its available stable funding, calculated in accordance with this Section H.
(b) carrying value of a capital instrument, liability or asset is the value given for the instrument, liability or asset in the prudential returns of the Bank concerned.
(c) Net Stable Funding Ratio is defined in BRR Rule 9.19 (4).
(d) NSFR means net stable funding ratio.
(e) RSF is defined as the amount of its required stable funding, calculated in accordance with this Section H.
Application to a Financial Group
152. For calculating a consolidated NSFR for a Financial Group, assets held to meet a Bank’s NSFR may be included in the parent entity’s stable funding only so far as the related liabilities are reflected in the parent entity’s NSFR. Any surplus of assets held at the Bank may be treated as forming part of the parent entity’s stable funding only if those assets would be freely available to the parent entity during a period of stress.
153. When calculating its NSFR on a consolidated basis, a cross-border banking group must apply the Rules of its home jurisdiction to all the legal entities being consolidated, except for the treatment of retail and small business deposits. Such deposits for a consolidated entity must be treated according to the Rules in the jurisdiction in which the entity operates. A cross-border banking group must not take excess stable funding into account in calculating its consolidated NSFR if there is reasonable doubt about whether the funding would be available during a period of stress.
154. Asset transfer restrictions (for example, ring-fencing measures, non-convertibility of local currency, foreign exchange controls) in jurisdictions in which a banking group operates would affect the availability of liquidity by restricting the transfer of assets and funding within the group. The consolidated NSFR should reflect the restrictions consistently with this Part. For example, assets held to meet a local NSFR requirement by a subsidiary that is being consolidated can be included in the consolidated NSFR to the extent that the assets are used to cover the funding requirements of that subsidiary, even if the assets are subject to restrictions on transfer. If the assets held in excess of the total funding requirements are not transferable, the Bank should not count that funding.
Determining maturity of liabilities
155. When a Bank is determining the maturity of an equity or liability instrument, it must assume that a call option will be exercised at the earliest possible date. In particular, if the market expects a liability to be exercised before its legal final maturity date, the Bank must assign the liability to the category that is consistent with the market expectation.
156. For long-dated liabilities, the Bank may treat only the part of cash flows falling at or beyond the 6- month and 1-year time horizons as having an effective residual maturity of 6 months or more and 1 year or more, respectively.
157. A Bank must calculate the value of a derivative liability based on the replacement cost for the derivative contract (obtained by marking to market) if the contract has a negative value. If there is a netting agreement with the counterparty that meets both of the conditions for the netting agreement and the other conditions referred in this and the following paragraph, the replacement cost for the set of exposures covered by the agreement is taken to be the net replacement cost. The conditions for the netting agreement are as follows:
(a) the Bank should have a claim to receive, or an obligation to pay, only the net amount of the mark-to-market values of the transactions if the counterparty were to fail to perform; and
(b) the agreement does not contain a walkaway clause.
158. The other conditions are as follows:
(a) the Bank holds a written, reasoned legal opinion that the relevant courts and administrative authorities would find the Bank’s exposure to be the net amount referred to in paragraph (8)
(a) above, under each of the following laws:
(i) the law of the jurisdiction in which the counterparty is established;
(ii) if a foreign branch of the counterparty is involved, the law of the jurisdiction in which the branch is located;
(iii) the law that governs the individual transactions;
(iv) the law that governs the netting agreement (and any other agreement necessary to effect the netting);
(a) the Bank has procedures to ensure that netting arrangements are kept under review in the light of possible changes in the relevant law;
(b) the AFSA is satisfied that the netting agreement is enforceable under all of the laws referred to in paragraph (a).
159. Collateral lodged in the form of variation margin in connection with derivative contracts, regardless of the asset type, must be deducted from the negative replacement cost amount.
160. When determining the maturity of an asset, a Bank must assume that any option to extend that maturity will be exercised. In particular, if the market expects the maturity of an asset to be extended, the Bank must assign the asset to the category that is consistent with the market expectation. For an amortising loan, the Bank may treat the part that comes due within 1 year as having residual maturity of less than 1 year.
Inclusion of assets in RSF calculation
161. When determining its RSF, a Bank:
(a) must include financial instruments, foreign currencies and commodities for which a purchase order has been executed; but
(b) must not include financial instruments, foreign currencies and commodities for which a sales order has been executed;
even if the transactions have not been reflected in the Bank’s balance- sheet under a settlement- date accounting model. This condition applies only if:
(a) the relevant transactions are not reflected as derivatives or secured financing transactions in the Bank’s balance-sheet; and
(b) the effects of the transactions will be reflected in the Bank’s balance-sheet when settled.
Treatment of securities financing transactions
162. When determining its RSF, a Bank must not include securities that the Bank has borrowed in securities financing transactions (such as reverse repos and collateral swaps) if the Bank does not have beneficial ownership. However, the Bank must include securities that it has lent in securities financing transactions if it retains beneficial ownership of them.
163. In addition, the Bank must not include securities that it has received through collateral swaps if those securities do not appear on the Bank’s balance- sheet. The Bank must include securities that it has encumbered in repos or other securities financing transactions, if the Bank has retained beneficial ownership of the securities and they remain on the Bank’s balance-sheet.
Netting of securities financing transactions with a single counterparty
164. When determining its RSF, a Bank may net securities financing transactions with a single counterparty only if all of the following conditions are met:
(a) the transactions have the same explicit final settlement date;
(b) the right to set off the amount owed to the counterparty with the amount owed by the counterparty is legally enforceable both currently in the normal course of business and in the event of default, insolvency or bankruptcy; and
(c) one of the following applies:
(i) the counterparties intend to settle net;
(ii) the counterparties intend to settle simultaneously;
(iii) the transactions are subject to a settlement mechanism that results in the functional equivalent of net settlement.
165. Functional equivalent of net settlement means that the cash flows of the transactions are equivalent to a single net amount on the settlement date. To achieve that equivalence, both transactions are settled through the same settlement system and the settlement arrangements are supported by cash or intraday credit facilities intended to ensure that settlement of both transactions will occur by the end of the business day and that the linkages to collateral flows do not result in the unwinding of net cash settlement.
Calculating derivative assets
166. When determining its RSF, a Bank must calculate the value of a derivative asset first based on the replacement cost for the contract (obtained by marking to market) if the contract has a positive value. If there is a netting agreement with the counterparty that satisfies all the conditions in paragraphs 8 & 9 above, the replacement cost for the set of exposures covered by the agreement is taken to be the net replacement cost.
167. Collateral received in connection with a derivative contract does not offset the positive replacement cost amount, regardless of whether or not netting is permitted under the bank’s accounting or risk- based framework, unless the collateral is received in the form of cash variation margin, and all of the following conditions are met:
(a) either:
(i) the trades are cleared through a qualifying central counterparty; or
(ii) the cash received by the counterparty is not segregated;
(b) the variation margin is calculated and exchanged every day, based on mark-to-market valuation of the relevant positions;
(c) the variation margin is received in the same currency as the currency of settlement of the contract;
(d) the variation margin exchanged is the full amount that would be necessary to fully extinguish the mark-to-market exposure of the contract subject to the threshold and minimum transfer amounts applicable to the counterparty;
(e) derivative transactions and variation margins are covered by a single master netting agreement (MNA) between the counterparties;
(f) the MNA explicitly stipulates that the counterparties agree to settle net any payment obligations covered by the agreement, taking into account any variation margin received or provided if a credit event occurs involving either counterparty;
(g) the MNA is legally enforceable and effective in all the relevant jurisdictions, including in the event of default, bankruptcy or insolvency.
168. Any remaining balance-sheet liability associated with initial margin received or variation margin received that does not meet all of the conditions in the (a) to (g) of the previous paragraph, does not offset derivative assets and receives a 0% ASF factor.
169. For the purposes of this section, a qualifying central counterparty is an entity that is licensed to operate as a central counterparty in relation to the instruments concerned and the financial regulator that is responsible for its prudential supervision:
(a) has established Rules and regulations for central counterparties that are consistent with Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures, published by the International Organization of Securities Commissions in July 2011; and
(b) has publicly indicated that it applies those Rules and regulations to the entity on an ongoing basis.
Calculating ASF
170. The amount of a Bank’s ASF is calculated using the following steps:
(c) assign each of the Bank’s capital items and liabilities to 1 of the 5 categories set out in the following paragraphs 171 to 175;
(d) next, for each category add up the carrying values of all the capital items and liabilities assigned to the category;
(e) next, for each category multiply the total carrying values of the capital items and liabilities assigned to the category by the category’s ASF factor (also set out in paragraphs 171 to 175), giving the weighted amounts; and
(f) add up the weighted amounts.
171. The Category 1 liabilities and capital that receive a 100% ASF factor include:
(a) the total amount of the Bank’s regulatory capital (as set out BBR Chapter 3), excluding any Tier 2 instrument with residual maturity of less than 1 year, before the application of capital deductions;
(b) any other capital instrument that has an effective residual maturity of 1 year or more (except any instrument with an explicit or embedded option that, if exercised, would reduce the expected maturity to less than 1 year);
(c) the total amount of secured and unsecured borrowings and liabilities (including term deposits) with effective residual maturities of 1 year or more.
For (c) above, cash flows falling within the 1-year horizon but arising from liabilities with final maturity of more than 1 year do not qualify for the 100% ASF factor.
172. The Category 2 liabilities that receive 95% ASF factor include stable deposits (as defined in Section H of this Chapter 9 of BPG), with residual maturities of less than 1 year provided by retail and small- business customers.
173. The Category 3 liabilities that receive 90% ASF factor are the liabilities that receive a 90% ASF factor are less stable deposits (as defined in Section D of this Chapter 9 of BPG) with residual maturities of less than 1 year provided by retail and small-business customers.
174. The Category 4 liabilities that receive 50% ASF factor include the following:
(a) funding (secured and unsecured) with residual maturity of less than 1 year, from corporate customers that are not financial institutions;
(b) operational deposits (as defined in Section D of this Chapter 9 of BPG);
(c) funding with residual maturity of less than 1 year from sovereigns, public sector entities, MDBs and national development banks;
(d) other funding (secured or unsecured) not falling within the previous paragraphs (a) to (c), with residual maturity of between 6 months and 1 year, including funding from central banks and financial institutions.
175. The Category 5 liabilities that receive 0% ASF factor include the following:
(a) capital not included in Category 1 for this calculation;
(b) liabilities not included in Category 1 to 4 for this calculation;
(c) other liabilities without a stated maturity, except that:
(i) a deferred tax liability must be categorised according to the nearest possible date on which it could be realised; and
(ii) minority interest must be treated according to the term of the instrument, usually in perpetuity.
Funding from central banks and financial institutions with residual maturity of less than 6 months would fall within paragraph (b) above.
(d) NSFR derivative liabilities net of NSFR derivative assets, if NSFR derivative liabilities are greater than NSFR derivative assets;
Note For how to calculate NSFR derivative liabilities, please refer paragraphs 157 to 159 of this Chapter of the BPG. For how to calculate NSFR derivative assets, please refer paragraphs 167 to 169 of this Chapter of the BPG.
(e) trade-date payables arising from purchases of financial instruments, foreign currencies and commodities that:
(i) are expected to settle within the standard settlement cycle or period that is customary for the relevant exchange or type of transaction; or
(ii) have failed to settle, but are still expected to do so.
176. Other liabilities without a stated maturity could include short positions, positions with open maturity and deferred tax liabilities. A liability referred to in paragraph 26 (c) above would receive either a 100% ASF factor if its effective maturity were 1 year or more, or a 50% ASF factor if its effective maturity were between 6 months and 1 year.
Calculating RSF
177. A Bank’s RSF is calculated following these steps, in the same sequence as they are listed below:
(a) assign each of the Bank’s assets to 1 of the 8 categories set out in paragraphs 178 to 185 of this Chapter of the BPG ;
(b) then, for each category add up the carrying values of all the assets assigned to the category;
(c) following that, for each category multiply the total carrying values of the assets assigned to the category by the category’s RSF factor (also set out in paragraphs 178 to 185), giving the weighted amounts;
(d) next, multiply the amounts of each of the Bank’s off-balance-sheet exposures by the exposure’s RSF factor (set out in paragraph 187), giving the OBS weighted amounts;
(e) finally, add the weighted amounts and the OBS weighted amounts.
178. The Category 1 assets that receive 0% RSF factor include the following, subject to the paragraphs
186 & 187, which pertain to certain encumbered assets:
(a) currency notes and coins immediately available to meet obligations;
(b) central bank reserves (including required reserves and excess reserves);
(c) claims on central banks with residual maturities of less than 6 months;
(d) trade-date receivables arising from sales of financial instruments, foreign currencies and commodities that:
(i) are expected to settle within the standard settlement cycle or period that is customary for the relevant exchange or type of transaction; or
(ii) have failed to settle, but are still expected to do so.
179. The Category 2 assets that receive 5% RSF factor include the assets that receive a 5% RSF factor are unencumbered level 1 HQLA (except assets that receive a 0% RSF factor under paragraph 178.
180. The Category 3 assets that receive 10% RSF factor include unencumbered loans to financial institutions, with residual maturities of less than 6 months, that are secured against level 1 HQLA that the Bank can freely re- hypothecate during the loans’ life.
181. The Category 4 assets that receive 15% RSF factor include unencumbered level 2A HQLA and unencumbered loans to financial institutions, with residual maturities of less than 6 months, that do not fall within Category 3 assets as defined in paragraph 180.
182. The Category 5 assets that receive 50% RSF factor include the following:
(a) unencumbered level 2B HQLA;
(b) HQLA that are encumbered for between 6 months and 1 year;
(c) loans, with residual maturity of between 6 months and 1 year, to financial institutions and central banks;
(d) operational deposits (as defined in paragraphs 88 to 100 of the Chapter 9 of this BPG) at other financial institutions;
(e) all other non-HQLA with residual maturity of less than 1 year, including loans to non-financial corporate clients, loans to retail customers and small business customers, and loans to sovereigns and public sector entities.
183. The Category 6 assets that receive 65% RSF factor include unencumbered residential mortgages, with residual maturity of 1 year or more, that qualify for a risk weight of 35% or lower (according to Rules in Chapter 5 of BBR) and other unencumbered loans (except loans to financial institutions), with residual maturity of 1 year or more, that qualify for a risk weight of 35% or lower (according to Rules in Chapter 5 of BBR).
184. The Category 7 assets that receive 85% RSF factor include the following types of assets, subject to the paragraphs 186 & 187, which pertain to certain encumbered assets:
(a) cash, securities or other assets lodged as initial margin for derivative contracts, and cash or other assets provided to contribute to the default fund of a central counterparty;
(b) unencumbered performing loans (except loans to financial institutions), with residual maturity of 1 year or more, that do not qualify for a risk weight of 35% or lower, under Rules in Chapter 5 of BBR;
(c) unencumbered securities with residual maturity of 1 year or more;
(d) exchange-traded equities that are not in default and do not qualify as HQLA;
(e) physical traded commodities, including gold.
Despite (a) above, if securities or other assets lodged as initial margin for derivative contracts would otherwise receive a higher RSF factor than 85%, they retain that higher factor.
185. The Category 8 assets that receive 100% RSF factor include the following:
(a) assets that are encumbered for 1 year or more;
(b) NSFR derivative assets, net of NSFR derivative liabilities, if NSFR derivative assets are greater than NSFR derivative liabilities;
(c) all other assets not falling within categories 1 to 7 (including non- performing loans, loans to financial institutions with residual maturity of 1 year or more, non-exchange-traded equities, fixed assets, items deducted from regulatory capital, retained interest, insurance assets, subsidiary interests and defaulted securities);
(d) 20% of derivative liabilities as calculated in accordance with this section E of BPG.
Treatment of encumbered assets
186. Assets encumbered for between 6 months and 1 year that would, if unencumbered, receive an RSF factor of 50% or lower receive a 50% RSF factor. Assets encumbered for between 6 months and 1 year that would, if unencumbered, receive an RSF factor higher than 50% receive that higher RSF factor. Assets encumbered for less than 6 months receive the same RSF factor as an unencumbered asset of the same kind.
187. The AFSA may direct a Bank that, for the purposes of calculating the Bank’s NSFR, assets that are encumbered for exceptional central bank liquidity operations receive a specified lower RSF factor than would otherwise apply. In general, exceptional central bank liquidity operations are considered to be non- standard, temporary operations conducted by a central bank to achieve its mandate at a time of market-wide financial stress or exceptional macroeconomic challenges. The RSF factors for off-balance-sheet exposures are as follows:
(a) irrevocable and conditionally revocable credit and liquidity facilities—5% of the undrawn portion;
(b) contingent funding obligations—as set out in table 9C.
Contingent funding obligations—RSF factors
Item | Kind of obligation | RSF factor (%) |
1 | Irrevocable or conditionally revocable liquidity facilities | 5 |
2 | Irrevocable or conditionally revocable credit facilities | 5 |
3 | Unconditionally revocable liquidity facilities | 0 |
4 | Unconditionally revocable credit facilities | 0 |
5 | Trade-finance-related obligations (including guarantees and letters of credit) | 3 |
6 | Guarantees and letters of credit unrelated to trade finance obligations | 5 |
7 | Other non-contractual obligations, including: | |
●potential requests related to structured investment vehicles and other similar financing arrangements | 0 | |
●structured products where customers anticipate ready marketability (such as adjustable-rate notes and variable- rate demand notes) | 0 | |
●managed funds that are marketed with the objective of maintaining a stable value | 0 |
I. Maturity Mismatch Approach
Including inflows (assets) and outflows (liabilities) in the timebands
188. Outflows (liabilities) must be included in the Maturity Ladder according to their earliest contractual maturity. Contingent liabilities may be excluded from the Maturity Ladder only if there is a likelihood that the conditions necessary to trigger them will not be fulfilled.
189. Inflows (assets) must be included in the Maturity Ladder according to their latest contractual maturity, except that:
(a) undrawn committed standby facilities provided by other banks are included at sight;
(b) marketable assets are included at sight, at a discount, and
(c) assets which have been pledged as Collateral are excluded from the Maturity Ladder.
Including marketable assets in the Maturity Ladder
190. Assets which are readily marketable are included in the Maturity Ladder in the sight - 8 days time band, generally at a discount to their recorded value calculated in accordance with the table below. An asset is regarded as readily marketable if:
(d) prices are regularly quoted for the asset;
(e) the asset is regularly traded;
(f) the asset may readily be sold, including by repurchase agreement, either on an exchange, or in a deep and liquid market for payment in cash; and
(g) settlement is according to a prescribed timetable rather than a negotiated
timetable.
191. The AFSA may allow, on a case by case basis, a Bank to include a longer term asset which is relatively easy to liquidate in the sight - 8 days time band. The discount factor to be applied to types of marketable assets must be determined by reference to the following table:
Benchmark discount | |
Central government debt, Local Authority paper and eligible bank bills (Credit Quality Grade of 1, 2 or 3) | |
Central government and central government- guaranteed marketable Securities with twelve or fewer months’ residual maturity, including treasury bills; and eligible local authority paper and eligible bank bills. | 0% |
Other central government, central government- guaranteed and local authority marketable debt with five or fewer years’ residual maturityor at variable rates. | 5% |
Other central government, central government- guaranteed and local authority marketable debt with over five years’ residual maturity. | 10% |
Other Securities denominated in freely tradable currencies (Credit Quality Grade of 1, 2 or 3) | |
Non-government debt Securities which are Investment Grade, and which have six or fewer months’ residual maturity. | 5% |
Non-government debt Securities which are Investment Grade, and which have five or fewer years’ residual maturity. | 10% |
Non-government debt Securities which are Investment Grade, and which have more than five years’ residual maturity. | 15% |
Equities which qualify for a specific Risk weight no higher than 4%. | 20% |
Other central government debt | |
Where such debt is actively traded. | 20% |
Exposures to a central government or a Central Bank where such Exposures are actively traded | 20% |
Where the issueris a central government or a CentralBank and the issue is actively traded but the credit Exposure is not to the Issuer | 40% |
Non-government, actively-traded Exposures, which are Investment Grade | 60% |
192. The AFSA may vary the discounts to reflect the conditions of a particular market or institution.