Title 12--Banks and Banking

CHAPTER II--FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

PART 206--LIMITATIONS ON INTERBANK LIABILITIES (REGULATION F)

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Sec. 206.1 Authority, scope and purpose.
    

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    (a) Authority and purpose. This part (Regulation F, 12 CFR part 206) 
is issued by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 
(Board) to implement section 308 of the Federal Deposit Insurance 
Corporation Improvements Act of 1991 (Act), 12 U.S.C. 371b-2. The 
purpose of this part is to limit the risks that the failure of a 
depository institution would pose to insured depository institutions.
    (b) Scope. This part applies to all depository institutions insured 
by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Sec. 206.2 Definitions.
     

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As used in this part, unless the context requires otherwise:
    (a) Bank means an insured depository institution, as defined in 
section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813), and 
includes an insured national bank, state bank, District bank, or savings 
association, and an insured branch of a foreign bank.
    (b) Commonly-controlled correspondent means a correspondent that is 
commonly controlled with the bank and for which the bank is subject to 
liability under section 5(e) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act. A 
correspondent is considered to be commonly controlled with the bank if:
    (1) 25 percent or more of any class of voting securities of the bank 
and the correspondent are owned, directly or indirectly, by the same 
depository institution or company; or
    (2) Either the bank or the correspondent owns 25 percent or more of 
any class of voting securities of the other.
    (c) Correspondent means a U.S. depository institution or a foreign 
bank, as defined in this part, to which a bank has exposure, but does 
not include a commonly controlled correspondent.
    (d) Exposure means the potential that an obligation will not be paid 
in a timely manner or in full. ``Exposure'' includes credit and 
liquidity risks, including operational risks, related to intraday and 
interday transactions.
    (e) Foreign bank means an institution that: (1) Is organized under 
the laws of a country other than the United States;
    (2) Engages in the business of banking;
    (3) Is recognized as a bank by the bank supervisory or monetary 
authorities of the country of the bank's organization;
    (4) Receives deposits to a substantial extent in the regular course 
of business; and
    (5) Has the power to accept demand deposits.
    (f) Primary federal supervisor has the same meaning as the term 
``appropriate Federal banking agency'' in section 3(q) of the Federal 
Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(q)).
    (g) Total capital means the total of a bank's Tier 1 and Tier 2 
capital under the risk-based capital guidelines provided by the bank's 
primary federal supervisor. For an insured branch of a foreign bank 
organized under the laws of a country that subscribes to the principles 
of the Basle Capital Accord, ``total capital'' means total Tier 1 and 
Tier 2 capital as calculated under the standards of that country. For an 
insured branch of a foreign bank organized under the laws of a country 
that does not subscribe to the principles of the Basle Capital Accord, 
``total capital'' means total Tier 1 and Tier 2 capital as calculated 
under the provisions of the Accord.

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    (h) U.S. depository institution means a bank, as defined in 
Sec. 206.2(a) of this part, other than an insured branch of a foreign 
bank.

Sec. 206.3 Prudential standards.
     

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    (a) General. A bank shall establish and maintain written policies 
and procedures to prevent excessive exposure to any individual 
correspondent in relation to the condition of the correspondent.
    (b) Standards for selecting correspondents. (1) A bank shall 
establish policies and procedures that take into account credit and 
liquidity risks, including operational risks, in selecting 
correspondents and terminating those relationships.
    (2) Where exposure to a correspondent is significant, the policies 
and procedures shall require periodic reviews of the financial condition 
of the correspondent and shall take into account any deterioration in 
the correspondent's financial condition. Factors bearing on the 
financial condition of the correspondent include the capital level of 
the correspondent, level of nonaccrual and past due loans and leases, 
level of earnings, and other factors affecting the financial condition 
of the correspondent. Where public information on the financial 
condition of the correspondent is available, a bank may base its review 
of the financial condition of a correspondent on such information, and 
is not required to obtain non-public information for its review. 
However, for those foreign banks for which there is no public source of 
financial information, a bank will be required to obtain information for 
its review.
    (3) A bank may rely on another party, such as a bank rating agency 
or the bank's holding company, to assess the financial condition of or 
select a correspondent, provided that the bank's board of directors has 
reviewed and approved the general assessment or selection criteria used 
by that party.
    (c) Internal limits on exposure. (1) Where the financial condition 
of the correspondent and the form of maturity of the exposure create a 
significant risk that payments will not be made in full or in a timely 
manner, a bank's policies and procedures shall limit the bank's exposure 
to the correspondent, either by the establishment of internal limits or 
by other means. Limits shall be consistent with the risk undertaken, 
considering the financial condition and the form and maturity of 
exposure to the correspondent. Limits may be fixed as to amount of 
flexible, based on such factors as the monitoring of exposure and the 
financial condition of the correspondent. Different limits may be set 
for different forms of exposure, different products, and different 
maturities.
    (2) A bank shall structure transactions with a correspondent or 
monitor exposure to a correspondent, directly or through another party, 
to ensure that its exposure ordinarily does not exceed the bank's 
internal limits, including limits established for credit exposure, 
except for occasional excesses resulting from unusual market 
disturbances, market movements favorable to the bank, increases in 
activity, operational problems, or other unusual circumstances. 
Generally, monitoring may be done on a retrospective basis. The level of 
monitoring required depends on:
    (i) The extent to which exposure approaches the bank's internal 
limits;
    (ii) The volatility of the exposure; and
    (iii) The financial condition of the correspondent.
    (3) A bank shall establish appropriate procedures to address 
excesses over its internal limits.
    (d) Review by board of directors. The policies and procedures 
established under this section shall be reviewed and approved by the 
bank's board of directors at least annually.

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    (a) Limits on credit exposure. (1) The policies and procedures on 
exposure established by a bank under Sec. 206.3(c) of this part shall 
limit a bank's interday credit exposure to an individual correspondent 
to not more than 25 percent of the bank's total capital, unless the bank 
can demonstrate that its correspondent is at least adequately 
capitalized, as defined in Sec. 206.5(a) of this part.

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    (2) Where a bank is no longer able to demonstrate that a 
correspondent is at least adequately capitalized for the purposes of 
Sec. 206.4(a) of this part, including where the bank cannot obtain 
adequate information concerning the capital ratios of the correspondent, 
the bank shall reduce its credit exposure to comply with the 
requirements of Sec. 206.4(a)(1) of this part within 120 days after the 
date when the current Report of Condition and Income or other relevant 
report normally would be available.
    (b) Calculation of credit exposure. Except as provided in 
Secs. 206.4 (c) and (d) of this part, the credit exposure of a bank to a 
correspondent shall consist of the bank's assets and off-balance sheet 
items that are subject to capital requirements under the capital 
adequacy guidelines of the bank's primary federal supervisor, and that 
involve claims on the correspondent or capital instruments issued by the 
correspondent. For this purpose, off-balance sheet items shall be valued 
on the basis of current exposure. The term ``credit exposure'' does not 
include exposure related to the settlement of transactions, intraday 
exposure, transactions in an agency or similar capacity where losses 
will be passed back to the principal of other party, or other sources of 
exposure that are not covered by the capital adequacy guidelines.
    (c) Netting. Transactions covered by netting agreements that are 
valid and enforceable under all applicable laws may be netted in 
calculating credit exposure.
    (d) Exclusions. A bank may exclude the following from the 
calculation of credit exposure to a correspondent:
    (1) Transactions, including reverse repurchase agreements, to the 
extent that the transactions are secured by government securities or 
readily marketable collateral, as defined in paragraph (f) of this 
section, based on the current market value of the collateral;
    (2) The proceeds of checks and other cash items deposited in an 
account at a correspondent that are not yet available for withdrawal;
    (3) Quality assets, as defined in paragraph (f) of this section, on 
which the correspondent is secondarily liable, or obligations of the 
correspondent on which a creditworthy obligor in addition to the 
correspondent is available, including but not limited to:
    (i) Loans to third parties secured by stock or debt obligations of 
the correspondent;
    (ii) Loans to third parties purchased from the correspondent with 
recourse;
    (iii) Loans or obligations of third parties backed by stand-by 
letters of credit issued by the correspondent; or
    (iv) Obligations of the correspondent backed by stand-by letters of 
credit issued by a creditworthy third party;
    (4) exposure that results from the merger with or acquisition of 
another bank for one year after that merger or acquisition is 
consummated; and
    (5) The portion of the bank's exposure to the correspondent that is 
covered by federal deposit insurance.
    (e) Credit exposure of subsidiaries. In calculating credit exposure 
to a correspondent under this part, a bank shall include credit exposure 
to the correspondent of any entity that the bank is required to 
consolidate on its Report of Condition and Income or Thrift Financial 
Report.
    (f) Definitions. As used in this section:
    (1) Government securities means obligations of, or obligations fully 
guaranteed as to principal and interest by, the United States government 
or any department, agency, bureau, board, commission, or establishment 
of the United States, or any corporation wholly owned, directly or 
indirectly, by the United States.
    (2) Readily marketable collateral means financial instruments or 
bullion that may be sold in ordinary circumstances with reasonable 
promptness at a fair market value determined by quotations based on 
actual transactions on an auction or a similarly available daily bid- 
ask-price market.
    (3)(i) Quality asset means an asset:
    (A) That is not in a nonaccrual status;
    (B) On which principal or interest is not more than thirty days past 
due; and
    (C) Whose terms have not been renegotiated or compromised due to the 
deteriorating financial conditions of the additional obligor.

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    (ii) An asset is not considered a ``quality asset'' if any other 
loans to the primary obligor on the asset have been classified as 
``substandard,'' ``doubtful,'' or ``loss,'' or treated as ``other loans 
specially mentioned'' in the most recent report of examination or 
inspection of the bank or an affiliate prepared by either a federal or a 
state supervisory agency.

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    (a) Adequately capitalized correspondents.\1\ For the purpose of 
this part, a correspondent is considered adequately capitalized if the 
correspondent has:
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    \1\ As used in this part, the term ``adequately capitalized'' is 
similar but not identical to the definition of that term as used for the 
purposes of the prompt corrective action standards. See, e.g. 12 CFR 
part 208, subpart B.
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    (1) A total risk-based capital ratio, as defined in paragraph (e)(1) 
of this section, of 8.0 percent or greater;
    (2) A Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio, as defined in paragraph 
(e)(2) of this section, of 4.0 percent or greater; and
    (3) A leverage ratio, as defined in paragraph (e)(3) of this 
section, of 4.0 percent or greater.
    (b) Frequency of monitoring capital levels. A bank shall obtain 
information to demonstrate that a correspondent is at least adequately 
capitalized on a quarterly basis, either from the most recently 
available Report of Condition and Income, Thrift Financial Report, 
financial statement, or bank rating report for the correspondent. For a 
foreign bank correspondent for which quarterly financial statements or 
reports are not available, a bank shall obtain such information on as 
frequent a basis as such information is available. Information obtained 
directly from a correspondent for the purpose of this section should be 
based on the most recently available Report of Condition and Income, 
Thrift Financial Report, or financial statement of the correspondent.
    (c) Foreign banks. A correspondent that is a foreign bank may be 
considered adequately capitalized under this section without regard to 
the minimum leverage ratio required under paragraph (a)(3) of this 
section.
    (d) Reliance on information. A bank may rely on information as to 
the capital levels of a correspondent obtained from the correspondent, a 
bank rating agency, or other party that it reasonably believes to be 
accurate.
    (e) Definitions. For the purposes of this section:
    (1) Total risk-based capital ratio means the ratio of qualifying 
total capital to weighted risk assets.
    (2) Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio means the ratio of Tier 1 
capital to weighted risk assets.
    (3) Leverage ratio means the ratio of Tier 1 capital to average 
total consolidated assets, as calculated in accordance with the capital 
adequacy guidelines of the correspondent's primary federal supervisor.
    (f) Calculation of capital ratios. (i) For a correspondent that is a 
U.S. depository institution, the ratios shall be calculated in 
accordance with the capital adequacy guidelines of the correspondent's 
primary federal supervisor.
    (ii) For a correspondent that is a foreign bank organized in a 
country that has adopted the risk-based framework of the Basle Capital 
Accord, the ratios shall be calculated in accordance with the capital 
adequacy guidelines of the appropriate supervisory authority of the 
country in which the correspondent is chartered.
    (iii) For a correspondent that is a foreign bank organized in a 
country that has not adopted the risk-based framework of the Basle 
Capital Accord, the ratios shall be calculated in accordance with the 
provisions of the Basle Capital Accord.

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    The Board may waive the application of Sec. 206.4(a) of this part to 
a bank if the primary Federal supervisor of the bank advises the Board 
that the bank is not reasonably able to obtain necessary services, 
including payment-related services and placement of funds, without 
incurring exposure to a correspondent in excess of the otherwise 
applicable limit.

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    (a) Beginning on June 19, 1993, a bank shall comply with the 
prudential

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standards prescribed under Sec. 206.3 of this part.
    (b) Beginning on June 19, 1994, a bank shall comply with the limit 
on credit exposure to an individual correspondent required under 
Sec. 206.4(a) of this part, but for a period of one year after this date 
the limit shall be 50 percent of the bank's total capital.

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