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Supervisory Policy and Guidance Topics
Capital Guidelines and Adequacy
Related Topics
The primary function of capital is to support the bank's operations, act as a cushion to absorb unanticipated losses and declines in asset values that could otherwise cause a bank to fail, and provide protection to uninsured depositors and debt holders in the event of liquidation. Capital regulation is particularly important because deposit insurance and other elements of the federal safety net provide banks with an incentive to increase their leverage beyond what the market--in the absence of depositor protection--would permit. The types and quantity of risk inherent in an institution's activities will determine the extent to which it may be necessary to maintain capital at levels above required regulatory minimums to properly reflect the potentially adverse consequences that these risks may have on the institution's capital.
Sections on this page:
Policy Letters
Basel Capital Accords
- SR 13-4
- Advanced Approaches Risk-Based Capital Rule Examination Guidance on the Board's Public Website
- SR 11-8
- Supervisory Guidance on Implementation Issues Related to the Advanced Measurement Approaches for Operational Risk
- SR 08-4
- Qualification Process for Advanced Approaches Risk-Based Capital Framework Implementation
Risk Management and Capital
- SR 12-7
- Supervisory Guidance on Stress Testing for Banking Organizations with More Than $10 Billion in Total Consolidated Assets
- SR 11-13
- Guidance Regarding Prior Notices with Respect to Dividend Declarations by Savings Association Subsidiaries of Savings and Loan Holding Companies
- SR 11-1
- Impact of High-Cost Credit Protection Transactions on the Assessment of Capital Adequacy
- SR 09-4
- Applying Supervisory Guidance and Regulations on the Payment of Dividends, Stock Redemptions, and Stock Repurchases at Bank Holding Companies
- SR 01-1 (SUP)
- Application of the Board's Capital Adequacy Guidelines to Bank Holding Companies owned by Foreign Banking Organizations
- SR 99-18 (SUP)
- Assessing Capital Adequacy in Relation to Risk at Large Banking Organizations and Others with Complex Risk Profiles
- SR 98-25 (SUP)
- Sound Credit Risk Management and the Use of Internal Credit Risk Ratings at Large Banking Organizations
- SR 97-21 (SUP)
- Risk Management and Capital Adequacy of Exposures Arising from Secondary Market Credit Activities
Securitization
- SR 05-13
- Interagency Guidance on the Eligibility of Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Program Liquidity Facilities and the Resulting Risk-Based Capital Treatment
- SR 05-6
- Risk-Based Capital Treatment for Unrated Direct Credit Substitutes Extended to Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Programs
- SR 02-16
- Questions and Answers on the Capital Treatment of Recourse, Direct Credit Substitutes, and Residual Interests in Asset Securitizations
- SR 02-15
- Implicit Recourse Provided to Asset Securitizations
- SR 02-14
- Covenants in Securitization Documents Linked to Supervisory Actions or Thresholds
- SR 02-12
- Regulatory Capital Treatment of Accrued Interest Receivables Related to Credit Card Securitizations
- SR 99-37 (SUP)
- Risk Management and Valuation of Retained Interests Arising from Securitization Activities
- SR 99-32 (SUP)
- Capital Treatment for Synthetic Collateralized Loan Obligations
- SR 97-21 (SUP)
- Risk Management and Capital Adequacy of Exposures Arising from Secondary Market Credit Activities
- SR 96-30 (SUP)
- Risk-Based Capital Treatment for Spread Accounts that Provide Credit Enhancement for Securitized Receivables
- SR 92-11
- Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Programs
- SR 90-16
- Implementation of Examination Guidelines for the Review of Asset Securitization Activities
Risk Weighted Assets
- SR 11-7
- Guidance on Model Risk Management
- SR 10-4
- Clarification of the Risk Weight for Claims on or Guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
- SR 09-1
- Application of the Market Risk Rule in Bank Holding Companies and State Member Banks
- SR 97-18 (GEN)
- Application of Market Risk Capital Requirements to Credit Derivatives
- SR 96-17 (GEN)
- Supervisory Guidance for Credit Derivatives
- SR 95-20 (SUP)
- Financial Standby Letters of Credit and Performance Standby Letters of Credit
- SR 90-23
- Questions and Interpretations Relating to the Implementation of the Risk-Based Capital Framework
Regulatory Capital
- SR 11-8
- Supervisory Guidance on Implementation Issues Related to the Advanced Measurement Approaches for Operational Risk
- SR 09-4
- Applying Supervisory Guidance and Regulations on the Payment of Dividends, Stock Redemptions, and Stock Repurchases at Bank Holding Companies
- SR 02-10
- Derivative Contracts Hedging Trust Preferred Stock
- SR 02-4
- Final Capital Rules for Nonfinancial Equity Investments
- SR 01-27
- The Use of Forward Equity Transactions by Banking Organizations
- SR 93-72 (FIS)
- Guidance on the Capital Treatment and Other Issues Relating to the Financial Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 115, "Accounting for Certain Investments in Debt and Equity Securities"
- SR 92-37
- Clarification of August 28, 1992 Interpretation on Subordinated Debt
Additional Resources
- The Board's Capital Adequacy Guidelines
- Basel Capital Accords, Initiatives, and Other Basel-Related Matters
- Bank of International Settlements
- Supervisory Capital Assessment Program
Manual References
-
Bank Holding Company Supervision Manual
- Section 2128.02, "Asset Securitization (Risk Management and Internal Controls)"
- Section 2129.0, "Credit Derivatives (Risk Management and Internal Controls)"
- Section 4060.3, "Consolidated Capital (Examiners’ Guidelines for Assessing the Capital Adequacy of BHCs)"
- Section 4060.4, "Consolidated Capital (Leverage Measure)"
- Section 4060.7, "Consolidated Capital (Assessing Capital Adequacy and Risk at Large Banking Organizations and Others with Complex Risk Profiles)"
- Section 4060.8, "Consolidated Risk-Based Capital—Direct-Credit Substitutes Extended to ABCP Programs"
- Section 4060.9, "Consolidated Capital Planning Processes (Payment of Dividends, Stock Redemptions, and Stock Repurchases at Bank Holding Companies)"
- Section 4061.0, "Consolidated Capital (Capital Planning)"
-
Commercial Bank Examination Manual
- Section 3020.1, "Assessment of Capital Adequacy"
- Section 3030.1, "Assessing Risk-Based Capital—Direct-Credit Substitutes Extended to ABCP Programs"
- Section 4070.1, "Dividends"
- Section 4133.1, "Prompt Corrective Action"
Last update:
March 22, 2013