New rules on how banks should measure interest-rate risk are expected to enhance the consistency and transparency of these assessments, says a new report from Fitch Ratings.
Last week, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision issued its final standards on how banks should measure and control interest-rate risk in the banking book. These rules “will improve consistency and make it easier for investors to compare data across banks and banking systems,” the Fitch report says.
Among other things, the new rules will narrow, and increasingly standardize, the assumptions that banks use in their modelling for these risks. Additionally, banks will have to disclose their rate-driven capital requirements under the new enhanced standards starting in January 2018.
These changes will introduce a more level playing field across banks, the Fitch report says, and the enhanced disclosure requirements will provide greater transparency.
The detailed guidance for regulators in the new standards “could lead to higher common minimum standards,” the report adds.