Directive 2006/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 on the capital adequacy of investment firms and credit institutions (recast) (repealed)
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This is the original version (as it was originally adopted).
PART BSystems and Controls
1.Institutions shall establish and maintain systems and controls sufficient to provide prudent and reliable valuation estimates.
2.Systems and controls shall include at least the following elements:
(a)
documented policies and procedures for the process of valuation. This includes clearly defined responsibilities of the various areas involved in the determination of the valuation, sources of market information and review of their appropriateness, frequency of independent valuation, timing of closing prices, procedures for adjusting valuations, month end and ad‐hoc verification procedures; and
(b)
reporting lines for the department accountable for the valuation process that are clear and independent of the front office.
The reporting line shall ultimately be to a main board executive director.
Prudent Valuation Methods
3.Marking to market is the at least daily valuation of positions at readily available close out prices that are sourced independently. Examples include exchange prices, screen prices, or quotes from several independent reputable brokers.
4.When marking to market, the more prudent side of bid/offer shall be used unless the institution is a significant market maker in the particular type of financial instrument or commodity in question and it can close out at mid market.
5.Where marking to market is not possible, institutions must mark to model their positions/portfolios before applying trading book capital treatment. Marking to model is defined as any valuation which has to be benchmarked, extrapolated or otherwise calculated from a market input.
6.The following requirements must be complied with when marking to model:
(a)
senior management shall be aware of the elements of the trading book which are subject to mark to model and shall understand the materiality of the uncertainty this creates in the reporting of the risk/performance of the business;
(b)
market inputs shall be sourced, where possible, in line with market prices, and the appropriateness of the market inputs of the particular position being valued and the parameters of the model shall be assessed on a frequent basis;
(c)
where available, valuation methodologies which are accepted market practice for particular financial instruments or commodities shall be used;
(d)
where the model is developed by the institution itself, it shall be based on appropriate assumptions, which have been assessed and challenged by suitably qualified parties independent of the development process;
(e)
there shall be formal change control procedures in place and a secure copy of the model shall be held and periodically used to check valuations;
(f)
risk management shall be aware of the weaknesses of the models used and how best to reflect those in the valuation output; and
(g)
the model shall be subject to periodic review to determine the accuracy of its performance (e.g. assessing the continued appropriateness of assumptions, analysis of profit and loss versus risk factors, comparison of actual close out values to model outputs).
For the purposes of point (d), the model shall be developed or approved independently of the front office and shall be independently tested, including validation of the mathematics, assumptions and software implementation.
7.Independent price verification should be performed in addition to daily marking to market or marking to model. This is the process by which market prices or model inputs are regularly verified for accuracy and independence. While daily marking to market may be performed by dealers, verification of market prices and model inputs should be performed by a unit independent of the dealing room, at least monthly (or, depending on the nature of the market/trading activity, more frequently). Where independent pricing sources are not available or pricing sources are more subjective, prudent measures such as valuation adjustments may be appropriate.
Valuation adjustments or reserves
8.Institutions shall establish and maintain procedures for considering valuation adjustments/reserves.
General standards
9.The competent authorities shall require the following valuation adjustments/reserves to be formally considered: unearned credit spreads, close‐out costs, operational risks, early termination, investing and funding costs, future administrative costs and, where relevant, model risk.
Standards for less liquid positions
10.Less liquid positions could arise from both market events and institution‐related situations e.g. concentrated positions and/or stale positions.
11.Institutions shall consider several factors when determining whether a valuation reserve is necessary for less liquid positions. These factors include the amount of time it would take to hedge out the position/risks within the position, the volatility and average of bid/offer spreads, the availability of market quotes (number and identity of market makers) and the volatility and average of trading volumes, market concentrations, the aging of positions, the extent to which valuation relies on marking-to-model, and the impact of other model risks.
12.When using third party valuations or marking to model, institutions shall consider whether to apply a valuation adjustment. In addition, institutions shall consider the need for establishing reserves for less liquid positions and on an ongoing basis review their continued suitability.
13.When valuation adjustments/reserves give rise to material losses of the current financial year, these shall be deducted from an institution's original own funds according to point (k) of Article 57 of Directive 2006/48/EC
14.Other profits/losses originating from valuation adjustments/reserves shall be included in the calculation of ‘net trading book profits’ mentioned in point (b) of Article 13(2) and be added to/deducted from the additional own funds eligible to cover market risk requirements according to such provisions.
15.Valuation adjustments/reserves which exceed those made under the accounting framework to which the institution is subject shall be treated in accordance with point 13 if they give rise to material losses, or point 14 otherwise.
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