Basel Committee On Banking Supervision: SCO Scope and Definitions
Basel Committee On Banking Supervision: SCO Scope and Definitions
Basel Committee On Banking Supervision: SCO Scope and Definitions
Banking Supervision
SCO
Scope and definitions
SCO50
Domestic systemically
important banks
Version effective as of
15 Dec 2019
First version in the format of the consolidated
framework.
Footnotes
1 HLA refers to higher loss absorbency relative to the Basel III
requirements for internationally active banks. For domestic banks that
are not internationally active, HLA is relative to requirements for
domestic banks.
Footnotes
2 While the application to branches of the principles regarding the
assessment of systemic importance should not pose any specific
problem, the range of policy responses that host authorities have
available to deal with systemic branches in their jurisdiction may be
more limited.
50.3 The additional requirements applied to global systemically important banks (G-
SIBs), which apply over and above the Basel requirements applying to all
internationally active banks, are intended to limit the cross-border negative
externalities on the global financial system and economy associated with the
most globally systemic banking institutions. Similar externalities can apply at a
domestic level. There are many banks that are not significant from an
international perspective, but nevertheless could have an important impact on
their domestic financial system and economy compared to non-systemic
institutions. Some of these banks may have cross-border externalities, even if the
effects are not global in nature.
(2) The second implication is that, because a D-SIB framework is still relevant for
reducing cross-border externalities due to spillovers at regional or bilateral
level, the effectiveness of local authorities in addressing risks posed by
individual banks is of interest to a wider group of countries. A D-SIB
framework, therefore, should establish a minimum set of principles, which
ensures that it is complementary with the G-SIB framework, addresses
adequately cross-border externalities and promotes a level playing field.
(2) The assessment methodology for a D-SIB should reflect the potential impact
of, or externality imposed by, a bank's failure.
(3) The reference system for assessing the impact of failure of a D-SIB should be
the domestic economy.
(4) Home authorities should assess banks for their degree of systemic
importance at the consolidated group level, while host authorities should
assess subsidiaries in their jurisdictions, consolidated to include any of their
own downstream subsidiaries, for their degree of systemic importance.
(a) size;
(b) interconnectedness;
(1) what is the reference system for the assessment of systemic impact; and
(2) what is the appropriate unit of analysis (ie the entity which is being
assessed)?
50.9 For the G-SIB framework, the appropriate reference system is the global
economy, given the focus on cross-border spillovers and the negative global
externalities that arise from the failure of a globally active bank. As such this
allowed for an assessment of the banks that are systemically important in a
global context. The unit of analysis was naturally set at the globally consolidated
level of a banking group (SCO40.5 states that “systemic importance is assessed
based on data that relate to the consolidated group”).
50.12 When it comes to the host authorities, the Committee is of the view that they
should assess foreign subsidiaries in their jurisdictions, also consolidated to
include any of their own downstream subsidiaries, some of which may be in other
jurisdictions. For example, for a cross-border financial group headquartered in
country X, the authorities in country Y would only consider subsidiaries of the
group in country Y plus the downstream subsidiaries, some of which may be in
country Z, and their impact on the economy Y. Thus, subsidiaries of foreign
banking groups would be considered from a local or sub-consolidated basis from
the level starting in country Y. The scope should be based on regulatory
consolidation as in the case of the G-SIB framework. Therefore, for the purposes
of assessing D-SIBs, insurance or other non-banking activities should only be
included insofar as they are included in the regulatory consolidation.
50.13 The assessment of foreign subsidiaries at the local consolidated level also
acknowledges the fact that the failure of global banking groups could impose
outsized externalities at the local (host) level when these subsidiaries are
significant elements in the local (host) banking system. This is important since
there exist several jurisdictions that are dominated by foreign subsidiaries of
internationally active banking groups.
50.16 In addition, national authorities may choose to also include some country-specific
factors. A good example is the size of a bank relative to domestic gross domestic
product (GDP). If the size of a bank is relatively large compared to the domestic
GDP, it would make sense for the national authority of the jurisdiction to identify
it as a D-SIB whereas a same-sized bank in another jurisdiction, which is smaller
relative to the GDP of that jurisdiction, may not be identified as a D-SIB.
50.17 National authorities should have national discretion as to the appropriate relative
weights they place on these factors depending on national circumstances.
50.19 It is also desirable that the interval of the assessments not be significantly longer
than that for G-SIBs (ie one year). For example, a systemically important bank
could be identified as a G-SIB but also a D-SIB in the same jurisdiction or in other
host jurisdictions. Alternatively, a G-SIB could drop from the G-SIB list and
become/continue to be a D-SIB. In order to keep a consistent approach in these
cases, it would be sensible to have a similar frequency of assessments for the two
frameworks.