U.S. banking regulators have announced a proposed rule change they say would limit interconnectedness of large banking institutions and reduce the impact of a failure of a large organization on the financial system.
Under current rules, the largest, most complex lenders are labeled “GSIBs,” or global systemically important bank holding companies, and have to issue debt under the Federal Reserve’s “total loss-absorbing capacity,” or TLAC rule. The new rule would limit these banks from purchasing large amounts of TLAC debt issued by other banks, and it would require such banking organizations to hold additional capital against substantial holdings of TLAC debt.
“This would reduce interconnectedness between large banking organizations and, if a GSIB were to fail, reduce the impact on the financial system from that failure,” the Federal Reserve said in a statement.
The rule is being proposed by the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Regulators are also proposing that banking organizations that are subject to the minimum TLAC requirements and long-term debt requirements should have to publicly disclose their TLAC and LTD issuances.
The Federal Reserve introduced the TLAC proposal for the largest domestic and foreign banking organizations operating in the United States in October 2015, and it issued a final rule in December 2016.
“The agencies expect that the proposal will have the benefit of improving the resiliency and enhancing resolvability of [large, internationally active banks] in the event that an entity required to issue LTD or TLAC fails or encounters material financial distress.”
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today called on the federal government to recalibrate financial regulation, with Tom Quaadman, executive vice president of the chamber’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness, saying banking regulations and capital requirements were harming the ability of businesses to access financing.
Comments are on the rule are due 60 days following publication in the Federal Register.