#capital rules – Federal Financial Analytics

27 03, 2024

DAILY032724

Eliza Allen2024-03-27T16:47:24-04:00March 27th, 2024|2- Daily Briefing|

FRB-Cleveland Study: Banks Beat Capital-Rule Reaper

One of the major complaints banks have raised with the pending end-game capital rules is that the proposed transition period for final implementation does not soften the blow as the agencies argue.

Treasury Points to AI Fraud, Cyber Risk; Presses for New Rules, Best Practices

Adhering to the President’s AI executive order (see Client Report AI3), Treasury today assessed AI risk in the financial sector, concluding that further work is required to address AI-related fraud and cybersecurity risks.

FRB-NY: Mid-Size Regionals Show Deposit/Asset Recovery

A new report from Federal Reserve Bank of New York staff finds that the 2023 failures had little lasting impact on bank deposit costs and funding practices save for banks between the $50 to $250 billion level the study dubs “super-regionals.”

KC Fed: Core-System Providers May Have Undue Market Power

A new report from Kansas City Fed staff finds that three core-system providers dominate this critical sector, making it difficult for depository institutions and especially smaller banks to obtain better service levels.

Daily032724.pdf…

15 02, 2024

STRESS32

Eliza Allen2024-02-15T15:42:00-05:00February 15th, 2024|5- Client Report|

FedFin Assessment: New Fed Stress Tests are a lot Like the Old Fed Stress Tests

In this report, we assess the strategic and policy implications of the Fed’s new stress-test regime. Released today, it incorporates new “exploratory” scenarios previewed by Vice Chair Barr as a response to the significant stress-test omissions laid bare in the March banking crisis. However, these exploratory tests will not directly factor into the SCB, which will also be calibrated to current capital rules since the banking agencies are now most unlikely to finalize these in time for SCB calculations later this year. We nonetheless expect bank supervisors to run bank results against internal models premised on new capital requirements, using supervisory discretion to address any capital shortfalls they feel warrant distribution restrictions regardless of formal test results. Similarly, we think supervisors will take near-term action if any of the exploratory scenarios points to near-term risk.

STRESS32.pdf…

31 01, 2024

GSE-013124a

Eliza Allen2024-01-31T12:41:24-05:00January 31st, 2024|4- GSE Activity Report|

Would a Trump Victory Set the GSEs Free?

Common-stock investors clearly think so, but they’re a notably speculative lot and more than likely wrong. In this report, we lay out why we think the limbo in which the GSEs have languished since 2008 is now a permanent quasi-vegetative state.

GSE-013124a.pdf…

25 01, 2024

DAILY012524

Shane Smith2024-01-25T16:50:12-05:00January 25th, 2024|2- Daily Briefing|

Fed Surprisingly Slams the BTFP’s Doors

At an unusual time and on a day that does not comport with the usual timelines for Fed action, the Board last night unanimously announced it will shutter the Bank Term Funding Program as scheduled on March 11.

Basel Head Backs U.S. Regulators

In response to waves of recent letters pushing back on the Basel III capital rules, Basel Committee Secretary General Esho defended Basel III, arguing that there is little evidence that Basel III implementation will have a detrimental effect on banking and economic growth

FTC Tackles AI Inter-Connections, Concentration

Following remarks by FTC Chair Khan making clear that there is no “AI exception” to lawful behavior, the FTC announced that it has issued orders to Alphabet, Amazon, Anthropic, Microsoft, and OpenAI requiring them to provide their recent investment and partnership information involving gen-AI companies and major CSPs.

CFTC Kicks Off Financial-Agency AI Assessment

Just as it did years ago with climate risk (see Client Report GREEN4), the CFTC took the lead among U.S. financial regulators with respect to AI.

Daily012524.pdf…

8 12, 2023

Al121123

Eliza Allen2023-12-08T16:55:05-05:00December 8th, 2023|3- This Week|

Another Book Report?

At a recent hearing (see Client Report CONSUMER54), CFPB Director Chopra wasn’t shy in his critique of the Financial Stability Oversight Council. He called it a “book report club,” a moniker Karen Petrou last week suggested was not wholly untrue when it comes to emerging risks such as private credit. FSOC’s meeting this Thursday is likely to show the Council at its bookwormy best given that the agenda consists largely of ritual release of yet another FSOC report. We’ve dutifully catalogued these year-in, year-out as hundreds of FSOC blessed pages spew forth about what the Council did, how many facts its staff gathered about whom in the past year, and what it thinks might go wrong where in concert with little indication of what the Council might then do to prevent the worst from happening.

Al121123.pdf…

4 12, 2023

DAILY120423

Eliza Allen2023-12-04T16:41:17-05:00December 4th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

HFSC GOP to Press Regulatory-Agency Financial Innovation

Tuesday’s HFSC Digital Assets Subcommittee hearing will focus on regulatory-agency offices focused on financial innovation, a session sure to give GOP Members an opportunity to closely question the OCC’s witnesses about her agency’s hiring offer to a person heading this activity who turned out to have a fraudulent resume.

HFSC GOP Lays Out “Market-Based” Affordable Housing Approach

The HFSC majority-staff memo for Wednesday’s Housing Subcommittee hearing emphasizes GOP goals with regard to “market-based” solutions addressing affordable housing. In this context, Fannie, Freddie, and FHA come in for criticism with regard to driving out private capital, but the memo makes no specific recommendations about how to address this or, indeed, many of the zoning, supply-chain, and other challenges it identifies.

FSB Toolkit Focuses on Critical Interdependencies

Following its initial consultation, the FSB today published its final report on enhancing third-party risk management, now laying out a flexible and nonbinding toolkit focused on incident reporting, identification of critical dependencies, interjurisdictional comparability and interoperability, and systemic risk management. In addition to a list of terms and definitions, the report provides tools to help financial institutions and supervisors identify critical third-party services and manage their risks.

Daily120423.pdf…

4 12, 2023

M120423

Eliza Allen2023-12-04T11:03:03-05:00December 4th, 2023|6- Client Memo|

Why Curbing Banks Won’t Curtail Private Credit

Last Wednesday, Sens. Brown and Reed wrote to the banking agencies pressing them to cut the cords they believe unduly bind big banks to private-credit companies. The IMF and Bank of England have also pointed to systemic-risk worries in this sector, as have I. Still, FSOC is certainly silent and perhaps even sanguine. This is likely because FSOC is all too often nothing more than the “book-report club” Rohit Chopra described, but it’s also because it plans to use its new systemic-risk standards to govern nonbanks outside the regulatory perimeter by way of cutting the banking-system connections pressed by the senators. Nice thought, but the combination of pending capital rules and the limits of FSOC’s reach means it’s likely to be just thought, not the action needed ahead of the private-credit sector’s fast-rising systemic risk.

m120423.pdf

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4 12, 2023

Karen Petrou: Why Curbing Banks Won’t Curtail Private Credit

Eliza Allen2023-12-04T11:03:15-05:00December 4th, 2023|The Vault|

Last Wednesday, Sens. Brown and Reed wrote to the banking agencies pressing them to cut the cords they believe unduly bind big banks to private-credit companies. The IMF and Bank of England have also pointed to systemic-risk worries in this sector, as have I. Still, FSOC is certainly silent and perhaps even sanguine. This is likely because FSOC is all too often nothing more than the “book-report club” Rohit Chopra described, but it’s also because it plans to use its new systemic-risk standards to govern nonbanks outside the regulatory perimeter by way of cutting the banking-system connections pressed by the senators. Nice thought, but the combination of pending capital rules and the limits of FSOC’s reach means it’s likely to be just thought, not the action needed ahead of the private-credit sector’s fast-rising systemic risk.

One might think that banks would do all they can to curtail private-credit competitors rather than enable them as the senators allege and much recent data substantiate. But big banks back private capital because big banks will do the business they can even when regulators block them from doing the business they want. Jamie Dimon for one isn’t worried that JPMorgan will find itself out in the cold.

Of course, sometimes banks should be forced out of high-risk businesses. There is some business banks shouldn’t do because it’s far too risky for entities with direct and implicit taxpayer backstops. This is surely the case with some of the wildly-leveraged loans private-credit companies …

1 12, 2023

Al120423

Eliza Allen2023-12-01T16:41:48-05:00December 1st, 2023|3- This Week|

Capital Conundrum

Early signals indicate that GSIB CEOs summoned this week before Senate Banking will do their best to use the session to solidify Congressional calls for substantive changes in pending capital rules based on a far more transparent, systematic CB analysis. Signals such as the Brown/Reed letter last week also make it clear that Democrats will push hard for tougher GSIB-specific standards to offset increasingly-likely changes to the capital rules. Democratic advocates of specific changes – i.e., with regard to LMI mortgages and small-business credit – will also use the session to navigate a path between helping regional banks on key points while looking tough on the overall question of big-bank capital. Again, sticking it to GSIBs may be their tactic. Republicans won’t let up against the capital rules, but we suspect they’ll also focus on borrowers and regional banks, side-stepping GSIB surcharges and other top-tier questions wherever possible.

Al120423.pdf…

30 11, 2023

DAILY113023

Eliza Allen2023-11-30T17:02:53-05:00November 30th, 2023|2- Daily Briefing|

FRB-Cleveland Head Calls for Reg Redesign

The head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Loretta Mester, yesterday argued for higher bank capital requirements, including counter-cyclical imposition of a capital buffer during low-risk periods so it can be released under stress based on credit growth under a formula ensuring that the CCyB in fact moves quickly to ease stress.

Brown, Colleagues Stand Behind GSIB Surcharge

Ahead of next week’s hearing with GSIB CEOs, Senate Banking Chairman Brown (D-OH) was joined today by Sens. Warren (D-MA), Fetterman (D-PA), and Reed (D-RI) in a letter to FRB Vice Chair Barr voicing their strong support for the Board’s GSIB surcharge proposal (see FSM Report GSIB22).

IMF: Future of AI’s Impact on Banking Unpredictable

The IMF today released an article focused on AI, concluding that banking has the potential to be the biggest beneficiaries of AI, but also may have the most to lose. The article considers the unpredictable future of AI technology through optimistic and pessimistic scenarios, concluding that AI could better protect assets and markets, but also could be put to various nefarious uses.

Daily113023.pdf…