§ 252.34 Liquidity risk-management requirements.
(a) Responsibilities of the board of directors —
(1) Liquidity risk tolerance. The board of directors of a bank holding company that is subject to this subpart must:
(i) Approve the acceptable level of liquidity risk that the bank holding company may assume in connection with its operating strategies (liquidity risk tolerance) at least annually, taking into account the bank holding company's capital structure, risk profile, complexity, activities, and size; and
(ii) Receive and review at least semi-annually information provided by senior management to determine whether the bank holding company is operating in accordance with its established liquidity risk tolerance.
(2) Liquidity risk-management strategies, policies, and procedures. The board of directors must approve and periodically review the liquidity risk-management strategies, policies, and procedures established by senior management pursuant to paragraph (c)(1) of this section.
(b) Responsibilities of the risk committee. The risk committee (or a designated subcommittee of such committee composed of members of the board of directors) must approve the contingency funding plan described in paragraph (f) of this section at least annually, and must approve any material revisions to the plan prior to the implementation of such revisions.
(c) Responsibilities of senior management —
(1) Liquidity risk.
(i) Senior management of a bank holding company subject to this subpart must establish and implement strategies, policies, and procedures designed to effectively manage the risk that the bank holding company's financial condition or safety and soundness would be adversely affected by its inability or the market's perception of its inability to meet its cash and collateral obligations (liquidity risk). The board of directors must approve the strategies, policies, and procedures pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of this section.
(ii) Senior management must oversee the development and implementation of liquidity risk measurement and reporting systems, including those required by this section and § 252.35.
(iii) Senior management must determine at least quarterly whether the bank holding company is operating in accordance with such policies and procedures and whether the bank holding company is in compliance with this section and § 252.35 (or more often, if changes in market conditions or the liquidity position, risk profile, or financial condition warrant), and establish procedures regarding the preparation of such information.
(2) Liquidity risk tolerance. Senior management must report to the board of directors or the risk committee regarding the bank holding company's liquidity risk profile and liquidity risk tolerance at least quarterly (or more often, if changes in market conditions or the liquidity position, risk profile, or financial condition of the company warrant).
(3) Business lines or products.
(i) Senior management must approve new products and business lines and evaluate the liquidity costs, benefits, and risks of each new business line and each new product that could have a significant effect on the company's liquidity risk profile. The approval is required before the company implements the business line or offers the product. In determining whether to approve the new business line or product, senior management must consider whether the liquidity risk of the new business line or product (under both current and stressed conditions) is within the company's established liquidity risk tolerance.
(ii) Senior management must review at least annually significant business lines and products to determine whether any line or product creates or has created any unanticipated liquidity risk, and to determine whether the liquidity risk of each strategy or product is within the company's established liquidity risk tolerance.
(4) Cash-flow projections. Senior management must review the cash-flow projections produced under paragraph (e) of this section at least quarterly (or more often, if changes in market conditions or the liquidity position, risk profile, or financial condition of the bank holding company warrant) to ensure that the liquidity risk is within the established liquidity risk tolerance.
(5) Liquidity risk limits. Senior management must establish liquidity risk limits as set forth in paragraph (g) of this section and review the company's compliance with those limits at least quarterly (or more often, if changes in market conditions or the liquidity position, risk profile, or financial condition of the company warrant).
(6) Liquidity stress testing. Senior management must:
(i) Approve the liquidity stress testing practices, methodologies, and assumptions required in § 252.35(a) at least quarterly, and whenever the bank holding company materially revises its liquidity stress testing practices, methodologies or assumptions;
(ii) Review the liquidity stress testing results produced under § 252.35(a) at least quarterly;
(iii) Review the independent review of the liquidity stress tests under § 252.34(d) periodically; and
(iv) Approve the size and composition of the liquidity buffer established under § 252.35(b) at least quarterly.
(d) Independent review function.
(1) A bank holding company subject to this subpart must establish and maintain a review function that is independent of management functions that execute funding to evaluate its liquidity risk management.
(2) The independent review function must:
(i) Regularly, but no less frequently than annually, review and evaluate the adequacy and effectiveness of the company's liquidity risk-management processes, including its liquidity stress test processes and assumptions;
(ii) Assess whether the company's liquidity risk-management function complies with applicable laws and regulations, and sound business practices; and
(iii) Report material liquidity risk-management issues to the board of directors or the risk committee in writing for corrective action, to the extent permitted by applicable law.
(e) Cash-flow projections.
(1) A bank holding company subject to this subpart must produce comprehensive cash-flow projections that project cash flows arising from assets, liabilities, and off-balance sheet exposures over, at a minimum, short- and long-term time horizons. The bank holding company must update short-term cash-flow projections daily and must update longer-term cash-flow projections at least monthly.
(2) The bank holding company must establish a methodology for making cash-flow projections that results in projections that:
(i) Include cash flows arising from contractual maturities, intercompany transactions, new business, funding renewals, customer options, and other potential events that may impact liquidity;
(ii) Include reasonable assumptions regarding the future behavior of assets, liabilities, and off-balance sheet exposures;
(iii) Identify and quantify discrete and cumulative cash flow mismatches over these time periods; and
(iv) Include sufficient detail to reflect the capital structure, risk profile, complexity, currency exposure, activities, and size of the bank holding company and include analyses by business line, currency, or legal entity as appropriate.
(3) The bank holding company must adequately document its methodology for making cash flow projections and the included assumptions and submit such documentation to the risk committee.
(f) Contingency funding plan —
(1) General. A bank holding company subject to this subpart must establish and maintain a contingency funding plan that sets out the company's strategies for addressing liquidity needs during liquidity stress events. The contingency funding plan must be commensurate with the company's capital structure, risk profile, complexity, activities, size, and established liquidity risk tolerance. The company must update the contingency funding plan at least annually, and when changes to market and idiosyncratic conditions warrant.
(2) Components of the contingency funding plan —
(i) Quantitative assessment. The contingency funding plan must:
(A) Identify liquidity stress events that could have a significant impact on the bank holding company's liquidity;
(B) Assess the level and nature of the impact on the bank holding company's liquidity that may occur during identified liquidity stress events;
(C) Identify the circ*mstances in which the bank holding company would implement its action plan described in paragraph (f)(2)(ii)(A) of this section, which circ*mstances must include failure to meet any minimum liquidity requirement imposed by the Board;
(D) Assess available funding sources and needs during the identified liquidity stress events;
(E) Identify alternative funding sources that may be used during the identified liquidity stress events; and
(F) Incorporate information generated by the liquidity stress testing required under § 252.35(a).
(ii) Liquidity event management process. The contingency funding plan must include an event management process that sets out the bank holding company's procedures for managing liquidity during identified liquidity stress events. The liquidity event management process must:
(A) Include an action plan that clearly describes the strategies the company will use to respond to liquidity shortfalls for identified liquidity stress events, including the methods that the company will use to access alternative funding sources;
(B) Identify a liquidity stress event management team that would execute the action plan described in paragraph (f)(2)(ii)(A) of this section;
(C) Specify the process, responsibilities, and triggers for invoking the contingency funding plan, describe the decision-making process during the identified liquidity stress events, and describe the process for executing contingency measures identified in the action plan; and
(D) Provide a mechanism that ensures effective reporting and communication within the bank holding company and with outside parties, including the Board and other relevant supervisors, counterparties, and other stakeholders.
(iii) Monitoring. The contingency funding plan must include procedures for monitoring emerging liquidity stress events. The procedures must identify early warning indicators that are tailored to the company's capital structure, risk profile, complexity, activities, and size.
(iv) Testing. The bank holding company must periodically test:
(A) The components of the contingency funding plan to assess the plan's reliability during liquidity stress events;
(B) The operational elements of the contingency funding plan, including operational simulations to test communications, coordination, and decision-making by relevant management; and
(C) The methods the bank holding company will use to access alternative funding sources to determine whether these funding sources will be readily available when needed.
(g) Liquidity risk limits —
(1) General. A bank holding company must monitor sources of liquidity risk and establish limits on liquidity risk that are consistent with the company's established liquidity risk tolerance and that reflect the company's capital structure, risk profile, complexity, activities, and size.
(2) Liquidity risk limits established by a global systemically important BHC, Category II bank holding company, or Category III bank holding company. If the bank holding company is a global systemically important BHC, Category II bank holding company, or Category III bank holding company, liquidity risk limits established under paragraph (g)(1) of this section must include limits on:
(i) Concentrations in sources of funding by instrument type, single counterparty, counterparty type, secured and unsecured funding, and as applicable, other forms of liquidity risk;
(ii) The amount of liabilities that mature within various time horizons; and
(iii) Off-balance sheet exposures and other exposures that could create funding needs during liquidity stress events.
(h) Collateral, legal entity, and intraday liquidity risk monitoring. A bank holding company subject to this subpart must establish and maintain procedures for monitoring liquidity risk as set forth in this paragraph.
(1) Collateral. The bank holding company must establish and maintain policies and procedures to monitor assets that have been, or are available to be, pledged as collateral in connection with transactions to which it or its affiliates are counterparties. These policies and procedures must provide that the bank holding company:
(i) Calculates all of its collateral positions according to the frequency specified in paragraph (h)(1)(i)(A) or (B) of this section, or as directed by the Board, specifying the value of pledged assets relative to the amount of security required under the relevant contracts and the value of unencumbered assets available to be pledged;
(A) If the bank holding company is not a Category IV bank holding company, on at least a weekly basis; or
(B) If the bank holding company is a Category IV bank holding company, on at least a monthly basis;
(ii) Monitors the levels of unencumbered assets available to be pledged by legal entity, jurisdiction, and currency exposure;
(iii) Monitors shifts in the bank holding company's funding patterns, such as shifts between intraday, overnight, and term pledging of collateral; and
(iv) Tracks operational and timing requirements associated with accessing collateral at its physical location (for example, the custodian or securities settlement system that holds the collateral).
(2) Legal entities, currencies, and business lines. The bank holding company must establish and maintain procedures for monitoring and controlling liquidity risk exposures and funding needs within and across significant legal entities, currencies, and business lines, taking into account legal and regulatory restrictions on the transfer of liquidity between legal entities.
(3) Intraday exposures. The bank holding company must establish and maintain procedures for monitoring intraday liquidity risk exposures that are consistent with the bank holding company's capital structure, risk profile, complexity, activities, and size. If the bank holding company is a global systemically important BHC, Category II bank holding company, or a Category III bank holding company, these procedures must address how the management of the bank holding company will:
(i) Monitor and measure expected daily gross liquidity inflows and outflows;
(ii) Manage and transfer collateral to obtain intraday credit;
(iii) Identify and prioritize time-specific obligations so that the bank holding company can meet these obligations as expected and settle less critical obligations as soon as possible;
(iv) Manage the issuance of credit to customers where necessary; and
(v) Consider the amounts of collateral and liquidity needed to meet payment systems obligations when assessing the bank holding company's overall liquidity needs.
[Reg. YY, 79 FR 17317, Mar. 27, 2014, as amended at 84 FR 59103, Nov. 1, 2019]
