FHFA Proposes New Federal Home Loan Bank Capital Requirements
July 14, 2017
The Federal Housing Finance Agency, although late to the game, is proposing new capital requirements for the Federal Home Loan Banks to comply with the Dodd-Frank Act. Other regulators have already implemented the Dodd-Frank Act provisions that shift capital requirements away from ratings. This proposed rule would carry over most of the existing regulation without any major change, but it would revise the credit risk component of the risk-based capital requirement, along with limitations on extensions of unsecured credit. Currently banks calculate credit risk capital charges and unsecured credit limits based on ratings issued by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization. But the proposed rule would require the banks to use their own internal rating methodology.