To: All Member Banks and Others Concerned in the Third Federal Reserve District
Attention: Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer
Subject: CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ASSET-BACKED COMMERCIAL PAPER PROGRAMS: FINAL RULE
Summary:
The Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the other
federal financial institutions supervisory agencies
have issued a final rule amending their risk-based capital
standards. The rule permits sponsoring banks, bank holding
companies, and thrifts (banking organizations) to continue
to exclude from their risk-weighted asset base for purposes
of calculating the risk-based capital ratios asset-backed
commercial paper (ABCP) program assets that are consolidated
onto sponsoring banking organizations’ balance
sheets as a result of Financial Accounting Standards
Board Interpretation No. 46, Consolidation of Variable
Interest Entities, as revised (FIN 46-R). This provision
of the final rule will make permanent an existing interim
final rule.
The final rule also requires banking organizations to
hold risk-based capital against eligible ABCP liquidity
facilities with an original maturity of one year or
less that provide liquidity support to ABCP by imposing
a 10 percent credit conversion factor on such facilities.
Eligible ABCP liquidity facilities with an original
maturity exceeding one year remain subject to the current
50 percent credit conversion factor. Ineligible liquidity
facilities are treated as direct credit substitutes
or recourse obligations and are subject to a 100 percent
credit conversion factor. The resulting credit equivalent
amount is then risk weighted according to the underlying
assets, after consideration of any collateral, guarantees,
or external ratings, if applicable. All liquidity facilities
that provide liquidity support to ABCP will be treated
as eligible liquidity facilities for a one-year transition
period.
The Federal Register notice, published July 28,
2004, is available here (579 KB, 51 pages).
Date: The rule will become effective on September 30, 2004.
For Further Information: Thomas R. Boemio, Senior Project Manager, Policy, (202) 452-2982, David Kerns, Supervisory Financial Analyst, (202) 452-2428, Barbara Bouchard, Deputy Associate Director, (202) 452-3072, Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation; or Mark E. Van Der Weide, Senior Counsel, (202) 452-2263, Legal Division. For users of Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (“TDD”) only, contact (202) 263-4869.