Summary

On December 17, 2012, the staff of the Federal Reserve issued a Supervision and Regulation (“SR”) letter describing the Federal Reserve’s new framework for consolidated supervision of large financial institutions. SR letters address significant policy and procedural matters related to the Federal Reserve’s supervisory responsibilities.

Under the new framework, the Federal Reserve’s primary supervisory objectives for large financial institutions will be (1) to enhance resiliency of an institution to lower the probability of its failure or its becoming unable to serve as a financial intermediary, and (2) to reduce the impact on the financial system and the broader economy of an institution’s failure or material weakness. These objectives are meant to conform to key provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, such as enhanced prudential standards for large financial institutions. Although the Federal Reserve has not previously stated these objectives as its primary supervisory objectives, and the new framework formally integrates areas such as corporate governance and compensation that Federal Reserve staff has been focused on since the financial crisis, changes in specific supervisory expectations are limited. Changes include greater emphasis on recovery planning in the case of financial or operational weakness, and on orderly resolution planning, as required by the Dodd-Frank Act. The Federal Reserve will also engage in greater “macroprudential” supervision to detect systemic risks.

The new framework applies to the largest and most complex financial institutions subject to consolidated Federal Reserve supervision, including nonbank financial companies designated by the Financial Stability Oversight Council for supervision by the Federal Reserve; other domestic bank and savings and loan holding companies with consolidated assets of $50 billion or more; and other foreign banking organizations with combined assets of U.S. operations of $50 billion or more.

…continue reading: Federal Reserve Updates Consolidated Supervision Framework for Large Financial Institutions

On November 9, 2012, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve”) issued instructions and guidance for:

• the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review program for 2013 (“CCAR 2013”) applicable to the 19 bank holding companies (“BHCs”) with total assets of $50 billion or more that were previously subject to CCAR and the Supervisory Capital Assessment Program (“SCAP”); and
• the Capital Plan Review program for 2013 (“CapPR 2013”) applicable to an additional 11 BHCs with total assets of $50 billion or more that were not subject to prior CCARs or SCAP, but were subject to CapPR in 2012.

CCAR 2013 and CapPR 2013 are both being conducted under the Federal Reserve’s previously adopted Capital Plan Rule. In addition, elements of CCAR 2013 are being implemented in conjunction with the Federal Reserve’s newly finalized Stress Test Rules adopted pursuant to the separate stress test requirements of sections 165(i)(1) and (2) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”). The following is an outline of certain notable aspects of the CCAR 2013, CapPR 2013 and their respective instructions.

In certain instances, the instructions and guidance for CCAR 2013 and CapPR 2013 contain new provisions, while in others, the new instructions are largely congruous with procedures for previous CCAR and CapPR iterations. Important aspects of CCAR 2013 instructions include:

…continue reading: Capital Plans and Stress Test Rules

The Federal banking agencies have recently issued three notices of proposed rulemaking (and applicable related guidance) in connection with the implementation of Section 939A of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”). Section 939A generally requires that all Federal agencies remove from their regulations references to and requirements of reliance on credit ratings and replace them with appropriate alternatives for evaluating creditworthiness.

Market Risk Capital NPR:

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve”) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC” and, together with the Federal Reserve and the OCC, the “agencies”) issued a joint notice of proposed rulemaking (the “Market Risk Capital NPR”) concerning their market risk capital rules applicable to certain U.S. banking organizations with significant trading operations by proposing standards of creditworthiness to be used in place of credit ratings when calculating the specific risk capital requirements for covered debt and securitization positions, including the following:

…continue reading: Proposed Federal Rules Regarding Alternatives to Credit Ratings