Several banking industry groups, including the American Bankers Association, made recommendations to federal regulators on a proposal to establish a new way to calculate the amount of risk in derivative contracts.
The banking groups generally support the idea of moving from the current exposure method to a more risk-based measure. However, the proposed approach, called the standardized approach for counterparty credit risk, or SA-CCR, could result in a higher capital charge. This, in turn, could restrict the ability of commercial end users to hedge risk, they said.
“The proposed rulemaking could have a significant negative impact on liquidity in the derivatives market and hinder the development of capital markets,” the groups wrote in a comment letter to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. “Any requirements that constrain the use of derivatives may affect the ability of commercial users to hedge their funding, currency, commercial and day-to-day risks, which would in turn weaken their balance sheets and make them less attractive from an investment perspective.”
The letter was signed by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, American Bankers Association, Bank Policy Institute, Securities Industry Financial Markets Association, and Futures Industry Association.
They made several recommendations for improving SA-CCR, including calling on the agencies to recalibrate the proposal’s supervisory factors. If recalibration is not feasible, they groups said it should revert back to the supervisory factors for commodity derivatives set by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.