PRA Clarifies Regulatory Treatment of COVID-19 Loan Scheme Under CRR
BoE announced changes to the Term Funding Scheme with additional incentives for SMEs (TFSME) to support the Bounce Back Loan Scheme of HM Treasury. Along with this announcement, PRA confirmed that banks subject to the UK leverage ratio will be able to exclude loans under the Bounce Back Loan scheme from the UK leverage ratio exposure measure. Later, PRA also published a statement on credit risk mitigation eligibility and leverage ratio treatment of loans under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.
HM Treasury recently launched the COVID-19 Bounce Back Loan scheme or BBLS. In its statement, PRA has set out observations on the risk-weighted treatment of exposures under this scheme, particularly eligibility for recognition as unfunded credit risk mitigation under the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) and a related change to the UK leverage ratio framework. PRA encourages firms to review relevant articles of the CRR and any relevant PRA rules and guidance, including expectations set out in the PRA Supervisory Statement SS17/13 titled "Credit risk mitigation." A guarantee is one form of unfunded credit protection which, where it meets the conditions in Articles 194 and 213-215 CRR, may allow a firm to adjust risk-weights and expected loss amounts. The Bounce Back Loan Scheme guarantee has been provided by the Secretary of State in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. PRA considers that the terms of the guarantee provided by the Secretary of State under the scheme do not contain features that would render these guarantees ineligible for recognition as unfunded credit risk protection and the effects of these guarantees would appear to justify such treatment.
PRA is offering a modification by consent for banks subject to the UK Leverage Ratio Part of the PRA Rulebook to exclude loans under this scheme from the leverage ratio total exposure measure, if they choose to do so. It also permits firms to exclude loans made pursuant to schemes of a similar character which are 100% guaranteed by a government or central bank of an European Economic Area state or the ECB, provided that such loans do not exceed EUR 60,000 per loan. PRA will consider further modifications for substantively similar European Economic Area schemes that do not meet these criteria on a case-by-case basis. PRA also published a Direction for modification by consent of the exclusion of loans under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme. The Direction addresses modifications to leverage ratio reporting and public disclosure rules that provide that the quarterly average figures, to be disclosed or reported for the quarter in which the modification first applied, shall reflect the modification as if it had applied on each day of the quarter.
The TFSME, which was modified to support the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, allows eligible banks and building societies to access four-year funding at rates very close to Bank Rate. The scheme is designed to incentivize eligible participants to provide credit to businesses and households to bridge through the period of economic disruption caused by the outbreak of COVID-19. The scheme includes additional incentives to provide credit to small and medium enterprises or SMEs.
Related Links
- Update on Term Funding Scheme
- Statement on Regulatory Treatment
- Modification of Consent on Leverage Ratio (PDF)
- Direction to Modification of Consent (PDF)
- Overview of Term Funding Scheme
Keywords: Europe, UK, Banking, Loan Guarantee, Leverage Ratio, CRR, Regulatory Capital, Credit Risk, BBLS, COVID-19, HM Treasury, PRA, BoE
Featured Experts
María Cañamero
Skilled market researcher; growth strategist; successful go-to-market campaign developer
Nicolas Degruson
Works with financial institutions, regulatory experts, business analysts, product managers, and software engineers to drive regulatory solutions across the globe.
Victor Calanog, Ph.D.
Leading economist; commercial real estate; performance forecasting, econometric infrastructure; data modeling; credit risk modeling; portfolio assessment; custom commercial real estate analysis; thought leader.
Related Articles
EU Amends CRD4 and CRD5 as Part of Capital Markets Recovery Package
EU published Directive 2021/338, which amends the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) II and the Capital Requirements Directives (CRD 4 and 5) to facilitate recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
EU Committee Recommends Systemic Risk Buffer of 4.5% in Norway
The Standing Committee of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) recommended that a systemic risk buffer level of 4.5% for domestic exposures can be considered appropriate for addressing the identified systemic risks to the stability of the financial system in Norway.
PRA Clarifies Approach to Onshoring of Credit Risk Rules for UK Banks
In a recent statement, PRA clarified its approach to the application of certain EU regulatory technical standards and EBA guidelines on standardized and internal ratings-based approaches to credit risk, following the end of the Brexit transition.
FSB Sets Out Work Priorities for 2021
In a recently published letter addressed to the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, the FSB Chair Randal K. Quarles has set out the key FSB priorities for 2021.
EU Publishes Corrigendum to Revised Capital Requirements Regulation
EU published, in the Official Journal of the European Union, a corrigendum to the revised Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR2 or Regulation 2019/876).
ESAs Issue Statement on Application of Sustainability Disclosures Rule
ESAs published a joint supervisory statement on the effective and consistent application and on national supervision of the regulation on sustainability-related disclosures in the financial services sector (SFDR).
EC Consults on Crisis Management and Deposit Insurance Frameworks
EC published a public consultation on the review of crisis management and deposit insurance frameworks in EU.
HKMA Enhances Loan Guarantee Scheme to Alleviate Pressure on SMEs
HKMA announced that enhancements will be made to the Special 100% Loan Guarantee of the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme (SFGS) and the application period will be extended to December 31, 2021.
EBA Proposes Standards for Supervisory Cooperation Under IFD
EBA launched consultations on the regulatory and implementing technical standards on cooperation and information exchange between competent authorities involved in prudential supervision of investment firms.
BoE Addresses Banks in Scope of First Resolvability Assessment
BoE issued a letter to the CEOs of eight major UK banks that are in scope of the first Resolvability Assessment Framework (RAF) reporting and disclosure cycle.
