Basel II's New Standardized Approach: Possible Effects of Implementation
Basel II’s New Standardized Approach: Possible Effects of Implementation Katherine Wyatt New York State Banking Department Abstract The New York State Banking Department surveyed 33 institutions in 2001 and 2002 for a study of the possible effects of the Standardized Approach of the proposed New Capital Accord. Previously, the BIS Quantitative Impact Studies have focused on internationally active banks; this study provides information on the possible impact of the New Accord on domestic banks with asset size between $1 billion and $40 billion. These institutions are often grouped with community banks. The Department found that implementation of the most recent version of the Standardized Approach could lead to an average decrease of 7% in required capital for credit risk, but adding the proposed operational risk charge could bring the total capital charge on average to an increase of 12%. In addition, the estimated impact of the New Standardized Approach varies widely across institutions in the study: the change in minimum capital required for credit risk ranges from a decrease of 23% to an increase of 6%. The Basic Indicator charge for operational risk ranges from 5% of minimum regulatory capital for one savings bank to 83% of minimum required capital for a specialty bank. In this paper, we present a breakdown of the effects of the various elements of the proposed Standardized Approach, and consider a modified approach. We also analyze Call Report data for the survey banks to determine their “complexity profile” and review possible changes to their capital ratios.
CP3's Standardized Approach for Credit Risk and Current Capital Requirements
This paper reports estimated risk-weighted assets at 27 New York banks after applying the provisions of the Standardized Approach, both singly and in combination. The provisions that lead to estimated decreases in risk-weighted assets had greater impact than provisions that lead to estimated increases. This finding implies that using Standardized Approach elements to make capital requirements more risk-sensitive will lead to lower levels of required capital, unless regulators also impose a capital charge for operational risk. The effect of the different provisions varied across the 27 institutions, but the results, on average, are consistent with those reported in the third Quantitative Impact Study.
Capital Requirements, Business Loans, and Business Cycles: An Empirical Analysis of the Standardized Approach in the New Basel Capital Accord
In the current regulatory framework, capital requirements are based on risk-weighted assets, but all business loans carry a uniform risk weight, irrespective of variations in credit risk. The proposed new Capital Accord of the Bank for International Settlements provides for a greater sensitivity of capital requirements to credit risk, raising the question of whether, and to what extent, the new capital standards will intensify business cycles. In this paper, we evaluate the potential cyclical effects of the "standardized approach" to risk evaluation in the new Accord, which involves the ratings of external agencies. We combine Moody's data on changes in U.S. borrowers' credit ratings since 1970 with estimates of the risk profile of business loans at commercial banks from the Survey of Terms of Business Lending, and also a risk profile estimated by Treacy and Carey (1998). We find that the level of required capital against business loans would be noticeably lower under the new Accord compared with the current regime. We do not find evidence of any substantial additional cyclicality in required capital levels under the standardized approach of the new Accord relative to the current regime.