InfoBytes Blog
Fed Proposes Restrictions on Financial Holding Companies' Physical Commodities Activities
On September 23, the Federal Reserve released a proposed rule outlining new risk-based capital and other regulatory requirements for banks that transact in physical commodities. Among other things, the proposed rule would require financial holding companies to retain additional capital if the company is engaged in activities involving commodities for which existing laws impose certain environmental liability. The rule also looks to accomplish the following: (i) to restrict the amount of physical commodity trading activity firms may conduct; (ii) to rescind authorizations that allow firms to engage in physical commodity activities involving power plants; (iii) to remove copper from the list of precious metals that all bank holding companies are permitted to own and store; and (iv) to establish reporting requirements on the nature and extent of firms' physical commodity holdings and activities. In the memo discussing the proposal, the Fed indicated that it was addressing circumstances where “damages can exceed the market value of the physical commodity involved in the catastrophic events, and can exceed the committed capital and insurance policies of the organization.” The deadline to submit comments is set at December 22.