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  • Warren urges Fed to finalize capital requirements for large banks

    Federal Issues

    On August 29, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) sent a letter to the Fed regarding its recent notice of proposed rulemaking, urging them to “finalize the rules as quickly as possible.” In July, the Fed announced amendments to the regulatory capital requirements for large banking organizations that would implement the final components of the Basel III agreement (previously covered by InfoBytes here). Warren noted that she is concerned about the Fed’s intent to seek potential modifications as it could result in weakening the proposed rule. Warren also warned that big bank lobbyists has been “engaging in a full-court press to fend off higher capital requirements” before the release of the proposed rule, and that big banks lobbying expenditures were up 20 percent compared to the same period of time in the previous year, indicating a “clear effort to fend off stronger rules” following recent bank failures. The senator finally noted that the capital bank requirements are a threat to bank’s “massive payouts for executives and shareholders.”

    Federal Issues Federal Reserve U.S. Senate Basel Committee Compliance Capital Requirements

  • Agencies propose new capital requirements for biggest banks

    On July 27, the FDIC’s Board of Directors unveiled proposed interagency amendments to the regulatory capital requirements for the largest and most complex banks in the United States. The notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), issued jointly by the FDIC, OCC, and the Federal Reserve Board (and passed by an FDIC Board vote of 3-2 and a Fed vote of 4-2), would revise capital requirements for large banking organizations with at least $100 billion in assets, as well as certain banking organizations with significant trading activity. (See also FDIC fact sheet here.) The proposed changes would implement the final components of the Basel III agreement—recent changes made to international capital standards issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision—as well as modifications made in response to recent bank failures in March, the agencies said.

    Specifically, the NPRM would implement standardized approaches for market risk and credit valuation adjustment risk by amending the way banks calculate their risk-weighted assets. According to FDIC FIL-38-2023, the new “expanded risk-based approach” would incorporate a standardized approach for credit risk and operational risk, a revised internal models-based approach, a new standardized measure for market risk, and a new revised approach for credit valuation adjustment. Banks subject to Category III and IV standards would also be required “to calculate their regulatory capital in the same manner as banking organizations subject to Category I and II standards, including the treatment of accumulated other comprehensive income, capital deductions, and rules for minority interest.” Additionally, the supplementary leverage ratio and the countercyclical capital buffer would be applied to banks subject to Category IV standards.

    The agencies said the proposed modifications are intended to:

    • Better reflect banks’ underlying risks;
    • Increase transparency and consistency by revising the capital framework in four main areas: credit, market, operational, and credit valuation adjustment risk;
    • Strengthen the banking system, by applying consistent capital requirements across large banks by requiring institutions to (i) include unrealized gains and losses from certain securities in capital ratios; (ii) comply with the supplementary leverage ratio requirement; and (iii) comply with the countercyclical capital buffer, if activated.

    The agencies predict that these changes will “result in an aggregate 16 percent increase in common equity tier 1 capital requirements for affected bank holding companies, with the increase principally affecting the largest and most complex banks.” The impact would vary by bank based on activities and risk profiles, the agencies stated, noting that most banks currently have enough capital to meet the proposed requirements. The NPRM would not amend capital requirements for smaller, less complex banks or for community banks. The agencies propose a three-year phased-in transition process beginning July 1, 2025, to provide banks sufficient time to accommodate the changes and minimize potentially adverse impacts. The changes would be fully phased in on July 1, 2028.

    Separately, the Fed also issued an NPRM on a proposal that would modify certain provisions relating to the calculation of the capital surcharge for the largest and most complex banks in order to “better align the surcharge to each bank’s systemic risk profile. . .by measuring a bank’s systemic importance averaged over the entire year, instead of only at the year-end value.”

    Comments on both NPRMs are due November 30.

    FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg stressed that “[e]nhanced resilience of the banking sector supports more stable lending through the economic cycle and diminishes the likelihood of financial crises and their associated costs.” Also voting in favor of the NPRM was CFPB Chairman and FDIC Board Member Rohit Chopra who expressed interest in feedback from the public on ways to simplify the methodologies used to calculate the requirements. Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael also voted in favor and encouraged commenters “to include assumptions about capital distributions and competition from banks and other financial institutions in their analyses of the impacts of the proposal on lending and economic growth.”

    Voting against the new standards, FDIC Vice Chairman Travis Hill argued that while he supports strong capital requirements, he has several “concerns with the impact of excessive gold plating of international standards.” He stressed that the “proposal rejects the notion of capital neutrality and takes a starkly different path, ‘gold plating’ the new Basel standard in a number of ways and dramatically increasing capital requirements for banks with certain business models.”

    Bank Regulatory Agency Rule-Making & Guidance Federal Issues Federal Reserve FDIC OCC Capital Requirements Compliance Basel Committee

  • Fed announces individual capital requirements for all large banks

    On August 4, the Federal Reserve Board announced the individual capital requirements for all large banks, which are in part determined by the Board’s stress test results that provide a risk-sensitive and forward-looking assessment of capital needs. According to the Fed, the total common equity tier 1 (CETI) capital requirement for each bank is made up of several components, including a minimum CET1 capital requirement for all banks of 4.5 percent; a stress capital buffer that is determined from the supervisory stress test results and is at least 2.5 percent; and, if applicable, a capital surcharge for global systemically important banks (G-SIB) of at least 1 percent. The requirements are effective October 1.

    Bank Regulatory Federal Issues Federal Reserve Capital Requirements

  • FHFA seeks comments on regulatory capital framework

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On September 15, FHFA issued a notice requesting public comment on a proposed rule that would amend the regulatory capital framework for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (collectively, “GSEs”). The proposed rule would amend the prescribed leverage buffer amount (PLBA) and the capital treatment of credit risk transfers (CRT) to encourage more distribution of credit risk between the GSEs and private investors. Specifically, FHFA is proposing to: (i) change the fixed PLBA equal to 1.5 percent of a GSE’s adjusted total assets to a dynamic PLBA of 50 percent of the GSE’s stability capital buffer; (ii) “replace the prudential floor of 10 percent on the risk weight assigned to any retained CRT exposure with a prudential floor of 5 percent on the risk weight assigned to any retained CRT exposure”; and (iii) eliminate the requirement that a GSE is required to apply an overall effectiveness adjustment to its retained CRT exposures in line with the framework’s securitization framework. Comments on the proposal must be submitted within 60 days of publication in the Federal Register.

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance FHFA Fannie Mae Freddie Mac GSE Capital Requirements Federal Register

  • FHFA tries again on GSE capital framework

    Federal Issues

    On May 20, the FHFA announced the re-proposal of a notice of proposed rulemaking that would establish a new regulatory capital framework for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSEs). In June 2018, the FHFA issued a proposed rulemaking that would implement a regulatory capital framework for the GSEs including (i) a new framework for risk-based capital requirements; and (ii) two alternative approaches to setting minimum leverage capital requirements. (Covered by InfoBytes here.) The FHFA states that while the 2018 proposal remains the foundation of the re-proposal, including the mortgage risk-sensitive framework, the re-proposal “increas[es] the quantity and quality of the [GSEs]’ regulatory capital and reduc[es] the pro-cyclicality of the aggregate capital requirements.”

    According to a factsheet released in conjunction with the re-proposal, the purpose is to ensure that the GSEs operate in a safe and sound manner and are positioned, particularly during times of financial stress, to “fulfill [their] statutory mission to provide stability and ongoing assistance to the secondary mortgage market across the economic cycle.” Specifically, the re-proposal changes include, among other things (i) supplemental capital requirements; (ii) quality of capital changes, such as a risk weight floor and capital buffers; (iii) measures to address pro-cyclicality; and (iv) requirements for the GSEs to assess their own credit, market, and operational risk. Comments on the proposal must be submitted within 60 days of publication in the Federal Register.

    Federal Issues Fannie Mae Freddie Mac GSE Capital Requirements FHFA Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

  • Fed changes supplementary leverage ratio rule to increase credit flow

    Federal Issues

    On April 1, the Federal Reserve (Fed) released an interim final rule, which provides a short-term change to the calculation of the supplementary leverage ratio for holding companies (banks). This change temporarily allows banks to exclude their Treasury securities and Federal Reserve Bank deposits from the computation of the banks’ total assets, thus reducing the amount of capital the banks must maintain. The Fed suggested that the move will reduce the banks’ tier 1 capital requirements by around two percent, allowing them to take on more debt, resulting in an increase in available credit to households and businesses. The Fed stressed that it made this change to allow the banks to increase the flow of credit, and not to increase the banks’ capital distributions. The temporary change is effective immediately and will automatically revert on March 31, 2021. Comments on the rule must be submitted within 45 days of the announcement.

    Federal Issues Covid-19 Federal Reserve Capital Requirements Bank Holding Companies Federal Reserve System Capital Securities Deposits

  • FHFA extends comment deadline for proposed rule on capital requirements for Freddie and Fannie

    Federal Issues

    On July 31, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced a 60-day extension on the public comment period for a proposed rule that would implement a new regulatory capital framework for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Among other things, the proposed rule would implement: (i) a new framework for risk-based capital requirements; and (ii) two alternative approaches to setting minimum leverage capital requirements. (Previously covered by InfoBytes here). The previous deadline for comments was September 17, and the deadline is now November 16.

    Federal Issues FHFA Fannie Mae Freddie Mac GSE Capital Requirements

  • FHFA proposes rule on capital requirements for Freddie and Fannie

    Federal Issues

    On June 12, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced a proposed rulemaking, which implements a regulatory capital framework for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae (the Enterprises) including (i) a new framework for risk-based capital requirements; and (ii) two alternative approaches to setting minimum leverage capital requirements. Regulatory capital requirements for the Enterprises have been suspended since the Enterprises were placed in conservatorship in September 2008, and these new requirements would continue to be suspended while the Enterprises remain under conservatorship. FHFA stated that the purpose of the rulemaking effort is to develop a risk measurement framework to better evaluate each Enterprise’s business decisions while in conservatorship. As a result, the proposed risk-based capital requirements would “provide a granular assessment of credit risk specific to different mortgage loan categories, as well as market risk, operational risk, and going-concern buffer components.” The two options for minimal leverage capital requirements include (i) requiring the Enterprises to hold capital equal to 2.5 percent of total assets and off-balance sheet guarantees related to securitization activities; and (ii) requiring the Enterprises to hold capital equal to 1.5 percent of trust assets and 4 percent of non-trust assets. Comments on the proposed rulemaking must be submitted within 60 days of publication in the Federal Register.

    Federal Issues FHFA Fannie Mae Freddie Mac GSE Capital Requirements

  • Federal Reserve proposes changes to simplify capital rules for large banks

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On April 10, the Federal Reserve Board (Board) announced proposed changes intended to simplify the capital regime applicable to bank holding companies with $50 billion or more in total consolidated assets by integrating the Board’s regulatory capital rule (capital rule) and Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR) and stress test rules. The proposal introduces a “stress capital buffer” (SCB) requirement which will replace the existing fixed capital conservation buffer requirement. Under the proposal, the size of the SCB will be based on the annual stress test and will be added to the bank’s capital requirements for the coming year. For globally systemically important banks (GSIB), a GSIB surcharge will be added to the determined SCB amount. According to the Board’s announcement, the amount of capital required for GSIBs will generally stay the same or somewhat increase, while non-GSIBs will generally see a modest decrease. Overall, the Board states that the changes would reduce the number of capital-related requirements from 24 to 14. Comments on the proposal are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance Stress Test CCAR Capital Requirements Federal Reserve Federal Register

  • Treasury Report Calls for Extensive Regulatory Relief to Capital Markets

    Federal Issues

    On October 6, the U.S. Treasury Department published a report that focuses on capital market oversight and outlines challenges and recommendations to reduce regulatory burdens. The report, “A Financial System That Creates Economic Opportunities: Capital Markets,” is the second in a series of four the Treasury plans to issue in response to President Trump’s Executive Order 13772, which mandated a review of financial regulations for inconsistencies with promoted “Core Principles.” (See Buckley Sandler Special Alert here.) The report notes that while certain capital market regulatory framework elements function well, there remain significant challenges. Specifically, the report recommends—among other things—reducing fragmentation, overlap, and duplication in the U.S. regulatory structure. This includes focusing on effecting changes to promote efficiency and more clearly defining regulatory mandates that would allow agencies to issue joint rulemaking and foster coordination. 

    Treasury’s recommendations focus primarily on market regulations but also build upon themes identified in the first report published in June 2017, which primarily focused on solutions for providing relief to banks and credit unions. The second report identifies recommendations, actions, and associated “Core Principles” within the following categories:

    • “promoting access to capital for all types of companies, including small and growing businesses, through reduction of regulatory burden and improved market access to investment opportunities”;
    • “fostering robust secondary markets in equity and debt”;
    • “appropriately tailoring regulations on securitized products to encourage lending and risk transfer”;
    • “recalibrating derivatives regulations to promote market efficiency and effective risk mitigation”;
    • “ensuring proper risk management for [central counterparties] and other financial market utilities because of the critical role they play in the financial system”;
    • “rationalizing and modernizing the U.S. capital markets regulatory structure and process”; and
    • “advancing U.S. interests by promoting a level playing field internationally.”

    A fact sheet accompanying the report further highlights Treasury’s recommendations to streamline regulations.

    Federal Issues Department of Treasury Securities Capital Requirements Risk Management

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