On 5 December 2019 at 12:01 pm, I received an email from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. The email announced some important decisions about the Bank’s capital review. As the email contained summary information only, I went to the RBNZ website to get the documents explaining the capital review decisions. Unfortunately, it was impossible… Read More The curious share price movements of four big Oz banks on 5 December 2019
“He is the problem.” the investment banker said on a sunny afternoon some weeks ago over a plate of Shed 5 fish & chips. I agreed, it’s the governance of the process, or the lack thereof, that puts the capital plans of the Reserve Bank at risk. The investment banker had spent the entire Christmas… Read More The Governance of the Reserve Bank Capital Plans
Just the other day, the Dutch government announced plans to end the favorable tax treatment of CoCo securities. From 1 January 2019 onward, the tax deductibility of the coupon paid on Additional Tier 1 capital instruments will end. [1] See a Google translation of the announcement here. Such a change in tax treatment likely constitutes a Tax… Read More European Commission slaps Dutch government on the wrist: the end of AT1 coupon tax deductibility?
In March 2009, the International Accounting Standards Board started an ambitious plan to make accounting for banks easier to understand. In no less than 97 pages, the IABS laid out its plan to reduce complexity in the reporting of financial instruments.* At the time, the IASB did the right thing. The standard in force was too complex.… Read More No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy
The RBNZ wants to redefine capital. My comments are below. In short: don’t let perfection be the enemy of the good. The RBNZ runs the risk of achieving just what it does not want by going it alone. A DIY-definition of capital makes the Reserve Bank vulnerable to structuring. Moreover, the problems signalled by the Reserve… Read More Comments on RBNZ’s second capital review paper: What should qualify as bank capital?
The EBA just published the results of the 2016 transparency exercise. Yay! The EBA decided to deliver on its promise to present more detailed data of individual banks. (I hope the EBA now forgives me for posting a critical note on their bank disclosure plans earlier this year.) I toyed a bit with the data… Read More Sovereign Holdings by EU Banks
My post on EU leverage ratios yesterday attracted some comments on twitter, which may haven been triggered by misunderstandings. The CRR offers a short and clear summary of the Leverage Ratio definition in Article 429.1: “The leverage ratio shall be calculated as an institution’s capital measure divided by that institution’s total exposure measure and shall… Read More FYI some documentation on the Leverage Ratio for EU banks
Uh oh, Jeroen Dijsselbloem form the Netherlands got into rough water this week: Dutch newspaper NRC had a nice scoop that showed how he relied on ING word smiths for writing a tax rule that renders bank capital instruments (CoCos) tax deductible, see full freedom of information documentation here. How bad is this? End 2013,… Read More Five years after the first Basel III coco issuance, the Netherlands “gets” CoCos.
Silvia Merler published a great post on the solvency of Greek banks. Though she focuses on CET1 ratios, I just realised that Article 92 of the CRR requires this: 1. Subject to Articles 93 and 94, institutions shall at all times satisfy the following own funds requirements: (a) a Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio… Read More Greek Banks and Article 92 CRR
This week, the EBA held a public hearing on the 4 May report on AT1 issuances, see my previous posts on this. Click here for the PowerPoint that the EBA prepared. Apparently no surprises. On the hot topic of Contingent Clauses, the EBA reports that it “confirms its previous reserves, and recommends disallowing contingent clauses”.… Read More UPDATE 2: The EBA’s laudable effort to tame Additional Tier 1 issuances
You must be logged in to post a comment.