Capital adequacy
Capital buffers edge lower at systemic US banks in 2019
CET1 excess above institution-specific amounts slid 228bp at median G-Sib
Sliding rates crimp Allianz’s Solvency II ratio
Solvency II ratio down 17 percentage points year-on-year
Systemic US banks shed $70bn of repo exposure in Q4
Goldman Sachs lowered repo exposures 13% quarter-on-quarter
De-risking efforts yet to boost profits at Lloyds
Commercial banking entity saw RWAs fall -11% in 2019
HSBC to reallocate $100bn of RWAs in shake-up
Global banking and markets division to take brunt of cuts
Systemic EU banks’ bail-in requirements vary
One G-Sib resolution group has an MREL requirement of 32.8% of RWAs
Tax windfall at Crédit Agricole to fund capital shake-up
Relief for Emporiki sale bolstered CET1 capital ratio +40bp
RBS takes axe to NatWest Markets
Bank plans to slim trading operation to 10% of total RWAs
Barclays to shrink capital buffer
Bank targets excess capital over regulatory minimum of 100 basis points by year-end
Model flaws continue to dog ABN Amro
Trim added €10 billion of risk-weighted assets in 2019
Credit risk – The bank data challenge in frontier markets
As the regulatory net tightens, banks working in and across frontier regions are under pressure to source and maintain more accurate data in the assessment of counterparty credit risk, but some are investing in tools to tackle the problem
CCAR more severe than EU stress tests
Real GDP decline greater for US banks under Fed tests than for EU firms grilled by the EBA
Lower risk-weights for real estate free up Nordea’s capital
ECB cut risk-weights for Swedish and Norwegian commercial real estate to 50% at year-end
Fed’s stress tests to gauge banks’ leveraged loan risks
CLOs to suffer “severe corrections” under 2020 scenario
Model review adds €13bn to ING’s RWAs
Trim effects projected to raise CET1 requirement by at least €600m
SocGen squeezes investment bank in RWA purge
Global banking division sees RWAs fall –17% in 2019
Corporate defaults push Danske Bank’s NPLs up 16%
Single-name exposures caused bulk of Q4 impairments
Six EU banks need to fix market risk models – EBA
Nineteen firms underestimated capital requirements versus benchmarks
Some EU banks can’t explain lowball credit model outputs
Negative unjustified deviations in capital requirements most widespread for corporate portfolios
EU’s 2020 stress tests are toughest to date
Real GDP projected to contract –4.3% over three-year scenario horizon
At US banks, CECL effects differ wildly
Truist bank sees reserves leap +150%; average increase is +50%
Deutsche shrinks ‘bad bank’ 30% in 2019
Efforts to crush operational RWAs bore fruit last year
Defying headwinds, Santander posts record capital gains
CET1 ratio hits 11.65% at end-2019
On share buybacks, BofA leads US banks with $28bn splurge
In total, US G-Sibs spend 28% more on own shares in 2019 than previous year