Filter furore: EU countries set to shield banks from bond volatility

It was the toughest part of Basel III for the US to swallow – a requirement that unrealised gains and losses on some bonds would hit bank capital calculations. In Europe, legislators provided an opt-out – and some countries have already chosen to use it, in breach of the Basel text. Lukas Becker reports

euro-umbrella-ml

During 2012, Allied Irish Banks (AIB) saw €553 million wiped from the value of government bonds it was holding – a loss equivalent to just more than 5% of its Tier I capital. Happily for the bank, it did not have to take the hit because the bonds were held in its available-for-sale (AFS) portfolio, and Basel II filters AFS volatility out of regulatory capital numbers. Even more happily, while this filter is removed in Basel III, the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) plans to ignore that for the next

Only users who have a paid subscription or are part of a corporate subscription are able to print or copy content.

To access these options, along with all other subscription benefits, please contact info@risk.net or view our subscription options here: http://subscriptions.risk.net/subscribe

You are currently unable to copy this content. Please contact info@risk.net to find out more.

Sorry, our subscription options are not loading right now

Please try again later. Get in touch with our customer services team if this issue persists.

New to Risk.net? View our subscription options

Most read articles loading...

You need to sign in to use this feature. If you don’t have a Risk.net account, please register for a trial.

Sign in
You are currently on corporate access.

To use this feature you will need an individual account. If you have one already please sign in.

Sign in.

Alternatively you can request an individual account here