Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

[X1 Section 4 U.K. Internal model for incremental default and migration risk

Article 372 U.K. Requirement to have an internal IRC model

An institution that uses an internal model for calculating own funds requirements for specific risk of traded debt instruments shall also have an internal incremental default and migration risk (IRC) model in place to capture the default and migration risks of its trading book positions that are incremental to the risks captured by the value-at-risk measure as specified in Article 365(1). The institution shall demonstrate that its internal model meets the following standards under the assumption of a constant level of risk, and adjusted where appropriate to reflect the impact of liquidity, concentrations, hedging and optionality:

(a)

the internal model provides a meaningful differentiation of risk and accurate and consistent estimates of incremental default and migration risk;

(b)

the internal model's estimates for potential losses play an essential role in the risk management of the institution;

(c)

the market and position data used for the internal model are up-to-date and subject to an appropriate quality assessment;

(d)

the requirements in Article 367(3), Article 368, Article 369(1) and points (b), (c), (e) and (f) of Article 370 are met.

EBA shall issue guidelines on the requirements in Articles 373 to 376.

Article 373 U.K. Scope of the internal IRC model

The internal IRC model shall cover all positions subject to an own funds requirement for specific interest rate risk, including those subject to a 0 % specific risk capital charge under Article 336, but shall not cover securitisation positions and n-th-to-default credit derivatives.

The institution may, subject to permission by the competent authorities, choose to consistently include all listed equity positions and derivatives positions based on listed equities. The permission shall be granted if such inclusion is consistent with how the institution internally measures and manages risk.

Article 374 U.K. Parameters of the internal IRC model

1. Institutions shall use the internal model to calculate a number which measures losses due to default and internal or external ratings migration at the 99,9 % confidence interval over a time horizon of one year. Institutions shall calculate this number at least weekly.

2. Correlation assumptions shall be supported by analysis of objective data in a conceptually sound framework. The internal model shall appropriately reflect issuer concentrations. Concentrations that can arise within and across product classes under stressed conditions shall also be reflected.

3. The internal IRC model shall reflect the impact of correlations between default and migration events. The impact of diversification between, on the one hand, default and migration events and, on the other hand, other risk factors shall not be reflected.

4. The internal model shall be based on the assumption of a constant level of risk over the one-year time horizon, implying that given individual trading book positions or sets of positions that have experienced default or migration over their liquidity horizon are re-balanced at the end of their liquidity horizon to attain the initial level of risk. Alternatively, an institution may choose to consistently use a one-year constant position assumption.

5. The liquidity horizons shall be set according to the time required to sell the position or to hedge all material relevant price risks in a stressed market, having particular regard to the size of the position. Liquidity horizons shall reflect actual practice and experience during periods of both systematic and idiosyncratic stresses. The liquidity horizon shall be measured under conservative assumptions and shall be sufficiently long that the act of selling or hedging, in itself, would not materially affect the price at which the selling or hedging would be executed.

6. The determination of the appropriate liquidity horizon for a position or set of positions is subject to a floor of three months.

7. The determination of the appropriate liquidity horizon for a position or set of positions shall take into account an institution's internal policies relating to valuation adjustments and the management of stale positions. When an institution determines liquidity horizons for sets of positions rather than for individual positions, the criteria for defining sets of positions shall be defined in a way that meaningfully reflects differences in liquidity. The liquidity horizons shall be greater for positions that are concentrated, reflecting the longer period needed to liquidate such positions. The liquidity horizon for a securitisation warehouse shall reflect the time to build, sell and securitise the assets, or to hedge the material risk factors, under stressed market conditions.

Article 375 U.K. Recognition of hedges in the internal IRC model

1. Hedges may be incorporated into an institution's internal model to capture the incremental default and migration risks. Positions may be netted when long and short positions refer to the same financial instrument. Hedging or diversification effects associated with long and short positions involving different instruments or different securities of the same obligor, as well as long and short positions in different issuers, may only be recognised by explicitly modelling gross long and short positions in the different instruments. Institutions shall reflect the impact of material risks that could occur during the interval between the hedge's maturity and the liquidity horizon as well as the potential for significant basis risks in hedging strategies by product, seniority in the capital structure, internal or external rating, maturity, vintage and other differences in the instruments. An institution shall reflect a hedge only to the extent that it can be maintained even as the obligor approaches a credit or other event.

2. For positions that are hedged via dynamic hedging strategies, a rebalancing of the hedge within the liquidity horizon of the hedged position may be recognised provided that the institution:

(a) chooses to model rebalancing of the hedge consistently over the relevant set of trading book positions;

(b) demonstrates that the inclusion of rebalancing results in a better risk measurement;

(c) demonstrates that the markets for the instruments serving as hedges are liquid enough to allow for such rebalancing even during periods of stress. Any residual risks resulting from dynamic hedging strategies shall be reflected in the own funds requirement.

Article 376 U.K. Particular requirements for the internal IRC model

1. The internal model to capture the incremental default and migration risks shall reflect the nonlinear impact of options, structured credit derivatives and other positions with material nonlinear behaviour with respect to price changes. The institution shall also have due regard to the amount of model risk inherent in the valuation and estimation of price risks associated with such products.

2. The internal model shall be based on data that are objective and up-to-date.

3. As part of the independent review and validation of their internal models used for purposes of this Chapter, inclusively for purposes of the risk measurement system, an institution shall in particular do all of the following:

(a) validate that its modelling approach for correlations and price changes is appropriate for its portfolio, including the choice and weights of its systematic risk factors;

(b) perform a variety of stress tests, including sensitivity analysis and scenario analysis, to assess the qualitative and quantitative reasonableness of the internal model, particularly with regard to the treatment of concentrations. Such tests shall not be limited to the range of events experienced historically;

(c) apply appropriate quantitative validation including relevant internal modelling benchmarks.

4. The internal model shall be consistent with the institution's internal risk management methodologies for identifying, measuring, and managing trading risks.

5. Institutions shall document their internal models so that its correlation and other modelling assumptions are transparent to the competent authorities.

6. The internal model shall conservatively assess the risk arising from less liquid positions and positions with limited price transparency under realistic market scenarios. In addition, the internal model shall meet minimum data standards. Proxies shall be appropriately conservative and may be used only where available data is insufficient or is not reflective of the true volatility of a position or portfolio.]

Editorial Information

X1 Substituted by Corrigendum to Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms and amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 (OJ L 176, 27.6.2013, p. 1).