Article 346
Allowance for hedges by credit derivatives
1.
An allowance shall be given for hedges provided by credit derivatives, in accordance with the principles set out in paragraphs 2 to 6.
2.
Institutions shall treat the position in the credit derivative as one ‘leg’ and the hedged position that has the same nominal, or, where applicable, notional amount, as the other ‘leg’.
3.
Full allowance shall be given when the values of the two legs always move in the opposite direction and broadly to the same extent. This will be the case in the following situations:
(a)
the two legs consist of completely identical instruments;
(b)
a long cash position is hedged by a total rate of return swap (or vice versa) and there is an exact match between the reference obligation and the underlying exposure (i.e., the cash position). The maturity of the swap itself may be different from that of the underlying exposure.
In these situations, a specific risk own funds requirement shall not be applied to either side of the position.
4.
An 80 % offset will be applied when the values of the two legs always move in the opposite direction and where there is an exact match in terms of the reference obligation, the maturity of both the reference obligation and the credit derivative, and the currency of the underlying exposure. In addition, key features of the credit derivative contract shall not cause the price movement of the credit derivative to materially deviate from the price movements of the cash position. To the extent that the transaction transfers risk, an 80 % specific risk offset will be applied to the side of the transaction with the higher own funds requirement, while the specific risk requirements on the other side shall be zero.
5.
Partial allowance shall be given, absent the situations in paragraphs 3 and 4, in the following situations:
(a)
the position falls under paragraph 3(b) but there is an asset mismatch between the reference obligation and the underlying exposure. However, the positions meet the following requirements:
(i)
the reference obligation ranks pari passu with or is junior to the underlying obligation;
(ii)
the underlying obligation and reference obligation share the same obligor and have legally enforceable cross-default or cross-acceleration clauses;
(b)
the position falls under paragraph 3(a) or paragraph 4 but there is a currency or maturity mismatch between the credit protection and the underlying asset. Such currency mismatch shall be included in the own funds requirement for foreign exchange risk;
(c)
the position falls under paragraph 4 but there is an asset mismatch between the cash position and the credit derivative. However, the underlying asset is included in the (deliverable) obligations in the credit derivative documentation.
In order to give partial allowance, rather than adding the specific risk own funds requirements for each side of the transaction, only the higher of the two own funds requirements shall apply.
6.
In all situations not falling under paragraphs 3 to 5, an own funds requirement for specific risk shall be calculated for both sides of the positions separately.