Basel II

INTERNATIONAL CONVERGENCE OF CAPITAL MEASUREMENT AND CAPITAL STANDARDS:

A REVISED FRAMEWORK - COMPREHENSIVE VERSION: JUNE 2006

BASEL COMMITTEE ON BANKING SUPERVISION

Part 4: The Third Pillar – Market Discipline

I. General considerations

A. Disclosure requirements

808. The Committee believes that the rationale for Pillar 3 is sufficiently strong to warrant the introduction of disclosure requirements for banks using the Framework. Supervisors have an array of measures that they can use to require banks to make such disclosures. Some of these disclosures will be qualifying criteria for the use of particular methodologies or the recognition of particular instruments and transactions.

B. Guiding principles

809. The purpose of Pillar 3 ─ market discipline is to complement the minimum capital requirements (Pillar 1) and the supervisory review process (Pillar 2). The Committee aims to encourage market discipline by developing a set of disclosure requirements which will allow market participants to assess key pieces of information on the scope of application, capital, risk exposures, risk assessment processes, and hence the capital adequacy of the institution. The Committee believes that such disclosures have particular relevance under the Framework, where reliance on internal methodologies gives banks more discretion in assessing capital requirements.

810. In principle, banks’ disclosures should be consistent with how senior management and the board of directors assess and manage the risks of the bank. Under Pillar 1, banks use specified approaches/methodologies for measuring the various risks they face and the resulting capital requirements. The Committee believes that providing disclosures that are based on this common framework is an effective means of informing the market about a bank’s exposure to those risks and provides a consistent and understandable disclosure framework that enhances comparability.

C. Achieving appropriate disclosure

811. The Committee is aware that supervisors have different powers available to them to achieve the disclosure requirements. Market discipline can contribute to a safe and sound banking environment, and supervisors require firms to operate in a safe and sound manner. Under safety and soundness grounds, supervisors could require banks to disclose information. Alternatively, supervisors have the authority to require banks to provide information in regulatory reports. Some supervisors could make some or all of the information in these reports publicly available. Further, there are a number of existing mechanisms by which supervisors may enforce requirements. These vary from country to country and range from “moral suasion” through dialogue with the bank’s management (in order to change the latter’s behaviour), to reprimands or financial penalties. The nature of the exact measures used will depend on the legal powers of the supervisor and the seriousness of the disclosure deficiency. However, it is not intended that direct additional capital requirements would be a response to non-disclosure, except as indicated below.

812. In addition to the general intervention measures outlined above, this Framework also anticipates a role for specific measures. Where disclosure is a qualifying criterion under Pillar 1 to obtain lower risk weightings and/or to apply specific methodologies, there would be a direct sanction (not being allowed to apply the lower weighting or the specific methodology).

D. Interaction with accounting disclosures

813. The Committee recognises the need for a Pillar 3 disclosure framework that does not conflict with requirements under accounting standards, which are broader in scope. The Committee has made a considerable effort to see that the narrower focus of Pillar 3, which is aimed at disclosure of bank capital adequacy, does not conflict with the broader accounting requirements. Going forward, the Committee intends to maintain an ongoing relationship with the accounting authorities, given that their continuing work may have implications for the disclosures required in Pillar 3. The Committee will consider future modifications to Pillar 3 as necessary in light of its ongoing monitoring of this area and industry developments.

814. Management should use its discretion in determining the appropriate medium and location of the disclosure. In situations where the disclosures are made under accounting requirements or are made to satisfy listing requirements promulgated by securities regulators, banks may rely on them to fulfil the applicable Pillar 3 expectations. In these situations, banks should explain material differences between the accounting or other disclosure and the supervisory basis of disclosure. This explanation does not have to take the form of a line by line reconciliation.

815. For those disclosures that are not mandatory under accounting or other requirements, management may choose to provide the Pillar 3 information through other means (such as on a publicly accessible internet website or in public regulatory reports filed with bank supervisors), consistent with requirements of national supervisory authorities. However, institutions are encouraged to provide all related information in one location to the degree feasible. In addition, if information is not provided with the accounting disclosure, institutions should indicate where the additional information can be found.

816. The recognition of accounting or other mandated disclosure in this manner is also expected to help clarify the requirements for validation of disclosures. For example, information in the annual financial statements would generally be audited and additional material published with such statements must be consistent with the audited statements. In addition, supplementary material (such as Management’s Discussion and Analysis) that is published to satisfy other disclosure regimes (e.g. listing requirements promulgated by securities regulators) is generally subject to sufficient scrutiny (e.g. internal control assessments, etc.) to satisfy the validation issue. If material is not published under a validation regime, for instance in a stand alone report or as a section on a website, then management should ensure that appropriate verification of the information takes place, in accordance with the general disclosure principle set out below. Accordingly, Pillar 3 disclosures will not be required to be audited by an external auditor, unless otherwise required by accounting standards setters, securities regulators or other authorities.

E. Materiality

817. A bank should decide which disclosures are relevant for it based on the materiality concept. Information would be regarded as material if its omission or misstatement could change or influence the assessment or decision of a user relying on that information for the purpose of making economic decisions. This definition is consistent with International Accounting Standards and with many national accounting frameworks. The Committee recognises the need for a qualitative judgement of whether, in light of the particular circumstances, a user of financial information would consider the item to be material (user test). The Committee is not setting specific thresholds for disclosure as these can be open to manipulation and are difficult to determine, and it believes that the user test is a useful benchmark for achieving sufficient disclosure.

F. Frequency

818. The disclosures set out in Pillar 3 should be made on a semi-annual basis, subject to the following exceptions. Qualitative disclosures that provide a general summary of a bank’s risk management objectives and policies, reporting system and definitions may be published on an annual basis. In recognition of the increased risk sensitivity of the Framework and the general trend towards more frequent reporting in capital markets, large internationally active banks and other significant banks (and their significant bank subsidiaries) must disclose their Tier 1 and total capital adequacy ratios, and their components,¹⁷⁴ on a quarterly basis. Furthermore, if information on risk exposure or other items is prone to rapid change, then banks should also disclose information on a quarterly basis. In all cases, banks should publish material information as soon as practicable and not later than deadlines set by like requirements in national laws.¹⁷⁵

¹⁷⁴ These components include Tier 1 capital, total capital and total required capital.

¹⁷⁵ For some small banks with stable risk profiles, annual reporting may be acceptable. Where a bank publishes information on only an annual basis, it should state clearly why this is appropriate.

G. Proprietary and confidential information

819. Proprietary information encompasses information (for example on products or systems), that if shared with competitors would render a bank’s investment in these products/systems less valuable, and hence would undermine its competitive position. Information about customers is often confidential, in that it is provided under the terms of a legal agreement or counterparty relationship. This has an impact on what banks should reveal in terms of information about their customer base, as well as details on their internal arrangements, for instance methodologies used, parameter estimates, data etc. The Committee believes that the requirements set out below strike an appropriate balance between the need for meaningful disclosure and the protection of proprietary and confidential information. In exceptional cases, disclosure of certain items of information required by Pillar 3 may prejudice seriously the position of the bank by making public information that is either proprietary or confidential in nature. In such cases, a bank need not disclose those specific items, but must disclose more general information about the subject matter of the requirement, together with the fact that, and the reason why, the specific items of information have not been disclosed. This limited exemption is not intended to conflict with the disclosure requirements under the accounting standards.