RBI amends capital recognition rules

"The RBI has made some amendments to the treatment of certain balance sheet items for the purposes of determining banks' regulatory capital. The review was carried out with a view to further aligning the definition of regulatory capital with the internationally adopted Basel III capital standards," it said in a press release on 1st March 2016.

In a bid to ease those fundraising pressures, the RBI said lenders can now apply gains from revaluation of property to core capital requirements under certain conditions. 

The RBI also said conversions of foreign currency in financial statements can now more easily be considered common equity capital, while also easing rules on counting deferred tax assets. 

Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said in January the central bank was working on identifying undervalued assets and other types of capital that could be counted as capital under Basel III requirements.

The Reserve Bank of India  eased rules on what lenders can count towards their core capital requirements under upcoming Basel III rules, in moves intended to ease pressure on the cash-constrained sector. 

The changes introduced today include recognition of revaluation reserves arising from change in the carrying amount of a bank's property consequent upon its revaluation as common equity tier-I capital instead of the earlier tier 2 capital, it said, adding that these would continue to be reckoned at a discount of 55 per cent. 

In a new addition, the RBI said banks can recognise foreign currency translation reserves arising due to translation of financial statements of a bank's foreign operations to the reporting currency as CET1 capital. RBI said that these will also be reckoned at a discount of 25 per cent. 

Deferred tax assets arising due to timing differences may be recognised as CET1 capital up to 10 per cent of a bank's CET1 capital, it added. 

These relaxations will free approximately Rs 30,000-35,000 crore for the state-run banks and over Rs 5,000 crore for the private sector ones, going by the December 2015 numbers. 

The unlocking of additional capital will be of help to lenders who witnessed huge jump in bad assets in the December quarter on account of the asset quality review, where RBI gave them a list of accounts to be classified as NPAs and make provisions for those accordingly. 

Enclosed here is the Master Circular issued by RBI

Master Circular – Basel III Capital Regulations - Revision

RBI/2015-16/331 DBR.No.BP.BC.83/21.06.201/2015-16 March 1, 2016 All Scheduled Commercial Banks (Excluding Local Area Banks and Regional Rural Banks) Madam / Sir, Master Circular – Basel III Capital Regulations - Revision Please refer to Master Circular DBR.No.BP.BC.1/21.06.201/2015-16 dated July 1, 2015 on ‘Basel III Capital Regulations’. The treatment of certain balance sheet items, as per the extant regulations on banks’ capital, differs from what is prescribed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS). It has also been represented to the Reserve Bank that the current framework places on the banks in India the need to raise more capital than would be required had the Basel rules been applied as they are. The Reserve Bank has reviewed the position in this regard and it has been decided to align, to some extent, the current regulations on treatment of these balance sheet items, for the purpose of regulatory capital, with the BCBS guidelines. Accordingly it has been decided as detailed herein below: 2.1 Treatment of revaluation reserves Revaluation reserves arising out of change in the carrying amount of a bank’s property consequent upon its revaluation may, at the discretion of banks, be reckoned as CET1 capital at a discount of 55%, instead of as Tier 2 capital under extant regulations, subject to meeting the following conditions: bank is able to sell the property readily at its own will and there is no legal impediment in selling the property; the revaluation reserves are shown under Schedule 2: Reserves & Surplus in the Balance Sheet of the bank; revaluations are realistic, in accordance with Indian Accounting Standards. valuations are obtained, from two independent valuers, at least once in every 3 years; where the value of the property has been substantially impaired by any event, these are to be immediately revalued and appropriately factored into capital adequacy computations; the external auditors of the bank have not expressed a qualified opinion on the revaluation of the property; the instructions on valuation of properties and other specific requirements as mentioned in the circular DBOD.BP.BC.No.50/21.04.018/2006-07 January 4, 2007 on ‘Valuation of Properties - Empanelment of Valuers’ are strictly adhered to. 2.2 Treatment of foreign currency translation reserve (FCTR) Banks may, at their discretion, reckon foreign currency translation reserve arising due to translation of financial statements of their foreign operations in terms of Accounting Standard (AS) 11 as CET1 capital at a discount of 25% subject to meeting the following conditions: the FCTR are shown under Schedule 2: Reserves & Surplus in the Balance Sheet of the bank; the external auditors of the bank have not expressed a qualified opinion on the FCTR. 2.3 Treatment of deferred tax assets (DTAs) (i) Deferred tax assets (DTAs) associated with accumulated losses and other such assets should be deducted in full from CET1 capital. (ii) DTAs which relate to timing differences (other than those related to accumulated losses) may, instead of full deduction from CET1 capital, be recognised in the CET1 capital up to 10% of a bank’s CET1 capital, at the discretion of banks [after the application of all regulatory adjustments mentioned from paragraphs 4.4.1 to 4.4.9(C)(ii) of the Master Circular]. (iii) Further, the limited recognition of DTAs as at (ii) above along with limited recognition of significant investments in the common shares of unconsolidated financial (i.e. banking, financial and insurance) entities in terms of paragraph 4.4.9.2(C) (iii) of the Master Circular taken together must not exceed 15% of the CET1 capital, calculated after all regulatory adjustments set out from paragraphs 4.4.1 to 4.4.9 of the Master Circular. Please refer to the Annex of this circular clarifying this applicable limited recognition. However, banks shall ensure that the CET1 capital arrived at after application of 15% limit should in no case result in recognising any item more than the 10% limit applicable individually. (iv) The amount of DTAs which are to be deducted from CET1 capital may be netted with associated deferred tax liabilities (DTLs) provided that: both the DTAs and DTLs relate to taxes levied by the same taxation authority and offsetting is permitted by the relevant taxation authority; the DTLs permitted to be netted against DTAs must exclude amounts that have been netted against the deduction of goodwill, intangibles and defined benefit pension assets; and the DTLs must be allocated on a pro rata basis between DTAs subject to deduction from CET1 capital as at (i) and (ii) above. (v) The amount of DTAs which is not deducted from CET1 capital (in terms of para (ii) above) will be risk weighted at 250% as in the case of significant investments in common shares not deducted from bank’s CET1 capital as indicated in paragraph 4.4.9 (C)(iii) of the Master Circular. 3. These instructions are applicable with immediate effect. Yours faithfully, (Sudarshan Sen) Principal Chief General Manager Annex Calculation of 15% of common equity limit on items