Consolidated Supervision: Managing the Risks in a Diversified Financial Services Industry Barbara Baldwin June 2001
Dec 28, 2015
Consolidated Supervision: Managing the Risks in a Diversified
Financial Services Industry
Barbara Baldwin
June 2001
Banking Groups
Two or more legal entities Linked through common ownership
or control Providing financial services (e.g.,
banking, securities, insurance) Including at least one bank Cross-Sector and/or Cross-Border
Prudential Concerns
Contagion (within and between groups)– Intra-group transactions and exposures
(e.g. cross shareholdings, inter-affiliate lending)
– Loss of Confidence– Extension of official safety net to
nonbank group affiliates may lead to moral hazard
Prudential Concerns Transparency and Regulatory Arbitrage
– Complex corporate structures: Complicate a supervisor’s assessment of group
risk exposure May be used to circumvent regulatory
requirements or to facilitate fraudulent activities May be used to exploit differences in regulatory
requirements across sectors and/or jurisdictions
Conflicts of Interest
Supervisory Implications “Solo” approach of supervising
individual group entities, absent contact with other financial sector supervisors, is no longer adequate
“Solo supervision” must be complemented with “consolidated supervision”
Consolidated Supervision The Components:
– Consolidation of Accounts– Consolidated Regulation (Quantitative)– Consolidated Supervision (Qualitative)
Based on qualitative and quantitative information about the group
Allows financial sector supervisors to:– Understand the relationships among the legal entities– Assess and monitor how effectively the group identifies, manages
and controls risks– Recognize insipient problems
Consolidated Supervision Objectives and Principles
– Promotion of systemic financial soundness– Capture all members of the financial group in
the supervisory program Formally Informally
– Making consolidated supervision operational in practice
Consolidated Supervision
Preconditions for Effective CS– The legal framework– Independence of the supervisory
agency– Degree of commitment to the process
Consolidated Accounting
What is it?
Why do it?
Which accounting standards apply?
What is the scope of consolidation?
Consolidated Accounting
Methods of Consolidation– Full line-by-line– Equity method– Proportional Consolidation
Relevant IAS– IAS 27: Subsidiaries– IAS 28: Associates– IAS 31: Joint Ventures– IAS 25: Investments– The impact of IAS 39: Financial Instruments
Quantitative Consolidated Supervision
Prudential Requirements– Capital Adequacy, Large Exposures,Connected
Lending
Many potential risks cannot be quantified in financial ratios
Determination of how group relationships may impact any regulated entities
Quantitative Consolidated Supervision
Takes wider account of the risks posed by group entities, should they have a material impact on the reputation or financial soundness of a bank
Qualitative Consolidated Supervision
Focuses on:– Group-wide business plans and
strategies– Consolidated internal controls and risk
management– Management and organizational
structure– Degree of operational, legal, strategic
and reputational risks
Qualitative Consolidated Supervision
Requires:– Availability of significant information
about the consolidated group on a routine basis
– Frequent communications between supervisors and group management
Supervisors must understand how the group is managed in practice, not just on paper
Designing the CS program Large groups will require continual
supervision from a systemic risk perspective
An analyst or group of analysts should be appointed to oversee each financial group
An annual supervisory program should be designed for each group
Supervisory resources should be allocated based upon the relative risk profiles
Supervisory Cooperation and Coordination
Basic principles for cross-border supervision:– No foreign establishment should escape
supervision– Supervision should be adequate
Minimum Standards
All international banking groups should be supervised by a home country authority that capably performs consolidated supervision
The creation of a cross-border establishment should receive the prior consent of both host and home country supervisors
Minimum Standards
The home country supervisor should possess the right to gather information from the cross-border establishments of the banking groups they supervise
If these minimum standards are not met, the host country could impose restrictive measures necessary to satisfy its prudential concerns (including denial of an application)
Cooperation Between Home and Host Supervisors
Allows them to discharge their supervisory responsibilities
Ensures that the supervisory strategy for the group is comprehensive
Facilitates detection and deterrence of cross-border misconduct
Authorization Stage Considerations for Host Supervisor
– assess the home supervisor’s ability to “capably” perform CS
– If CS is inadequate, or the parent is not a regulated entity in the home country: Insist that certain conditions be fulfilled, or Refuse the application
Considerations for Home Supervisor– Assess the host’s supervisory standards– If inadequate, or impediments to information transfer exist:
Insist that certain conditions be fulfilled, or Refuse consent for the banking group to establish foreign
operations
Authorization StageEstablishing a Strategy for Ongoing Supervision
Home and host supervisors become familiar with each other’s objectives and approaches
Allocation of responsibilities for supervision of foreign establishment agreed
Information needs established
Information sharing mechanisms agreed
Formal information sharing mechanisms do not ensure, and should not be viewed as a prerequisite for, supervisory cooperation
Supervisory Cooperation
Establishing Effective Supervisory Cooperation– The freedom to exchange prudential
information is a prerequisite for effective supervisory cooperation
– National bank secrecy legislation is a major impediment for effective cross-border supervision
– National bank secrecy laws should be modified to ensure adequate supervisory information sharing
Supervisory Cooperation
Safeguards for Information Exchange– Recipient should use the information
only for supervisory purposes– Recipient should ensure confidentiality
of information received– Provider should not limit recipient’s use
of information in carrying out supervisory duties
Conclusions
Diversified financial groups are becoming the dominant institutional structure in the financial services industry
Effective consolidated supervision is integral to the maintenance of systemic financial stability
Conclusions
Making it work will require an unprecedented level of supervisory cooperation
Supervisory agencies will encounter a number of policy and practical issues in developing an effective framework for consolidated supervision