Banking (prudential standard) determination No. 7 of 2011
Prudential standard APS 120 Securitisation
Banking Act 1959
I, Charles Littrell, delegate of APRA:
- under subsection 11AF(3) of the Banking Act 1959 (the Act), REVOKE Prudential Standard APS 120 Securitisation made by Banking (prudential standard) determination No. 4 of 2011; and
- under subsection 11AF(1) of the Act, DETERMINE Prudential Standard APS 120 Securitisation in the form set out in the Schedule, which applies to all ADIs) and authorised NOHCs.
This instrument takes effect on 1 January 2012.
Dated: 9 December 2011
[Signed]
Charles Littrell
Executive General Manager
Policy, Research and Statistics Division
Interpretation
In this Determination:
ADI is short for authorised deposit-taking institution which has the meaning given in section 5 of the Act.
APRA means the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.
authorised NOHC has the meaning given in section 5 of the Act.
Note 1 An ADI or authorised NOHC that does not comply with a standard may be issued with directions by APRA under paragraph 11CA(1)(a) of the Act. Non-compliance with a direction is an offence attracting a penalty of up to 250 penalty units for a body corporate (currently $27,500) for each day that the offence continues. Officers of the ADI or authorised NOHC may also be criminally liable (see section 11CG).
Schedule
Prudential Standard APS 120 Securitisation comprises the 51 pages commencing on the following page.
Table of contents
Prudential Standard
Authority
Application
Scope
Definitions
Key principles
Significant credit risk transfer
Board and senior management responsibilities
Self-assessment
Implicit support and other risks
Attachment A
Disclosure and separation requirements
Disclosure
Separation requirements between an ADI and SPV
Requirements for an SPV
Attachment B
General capital adequacy requirements
Operational requirements for regulatory capital relief
Maturity mismatches in synthetic securitisations
Operational requirements for the use of external credit assessments
Information on underlying collateral necessary to permit exposures to be risk-weighted rather than deducted
Calculation of risk-weighted assets and regulatory capital for securitisation exposures
Treatment of credit risk mitigation for securitisation exposures
Spread accounts and similar surplus income arrangements
Maximum capital amount
Shared collateral
Redraws and other additional exposures funded by the ADI
Attachment C
Standardised approach
Risk-weights
Exceptions to the general treatment of unrated securitisation exposures
Treatment of most senior unrated securitisation exposures
Treatment of exposures in a second loss, or better, position in an asset-backed commercial paper securitisation
Treatment of unrated eligible facilities
Treatment of eligible servicer cash advance
Treatment of credit risk mitigation for securitisation exposures
APRA’s discretion where capital requirement uncertain
Attachment D
Internal ratings-based approach
Hierarchy of IRB approaches
Gain on sale
Ratings-based approach
Inferred ratings
Internal assessment approach
Mapping of ratings grades for Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch
Supervisory formula
Capital charge under the supervisory formula
Eligible facilities
Eligible servicer cash advance
Treatment of credit risk mitigation for securitisation exposures
APRA’s discretion where capital requirement uncertain
Attachment E
Facilities and services
Eligible facilities
Underwriting facilities
Funding facilities
Derivative transactions
Eligible servicer cash advance facilities
Lending to investors
Services
Cash collateral arrangements
Representations and warranties
Attachment F
Acquisition of exposures out of a pool and acquisition of securities by originating ADIs
Acquisition of exposures out of a pool held by an SPV by an originating ADI
Acquisition by an originating ADI of securities issued by the SPV
Attachment G
Revolving structures and early amortisation clauses
General
Calculation of risk-weighted asset amounts and regulatory capital
Calculation of credit conversion factors for controlled and non-controlled early amortisation features
- This Prudential Standard is made under section 11AF of the Banking Act 1959 (Banking Act).
- An authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI), other than a foreign ADI, must comply with all of the provisions of this Prudential Standard. A foreign ADI must comply with the provisions in this Prudential Standard relating to disclosure and separation (including paragraphs 10 to 13 inclusive, and Attachment A), self assessment (paragraph 20) and Board of directors (Board) and senior management responsibilities (paragraph 19), in relation to its securitisation business in Australia.
- A reference to an ADI in this Prudential Standard is a reference to:
- an ADI on a Level 1 basis; and
- a group of which an ADI is a member on a Level 2 basis.
Level 1 and Level 2 have the meaning in Prudential Standard APS 110 Capital Adequacy (APS 110).
Where an ADI to which this Prudential Standard applies is a subsidiary of an authorised non-operating holding company (authorised NOHC), the authorised NOHC must ensure that the requirements in this Prudential Standard are met on a Level 2 basis, where applicable.
- Except where otherwise provided, this Prudential Standard applies to all roles undertaken by, and investments of, an ADI in a securitisation.This includes, but is not limited to, where the ADI is an originating ADI or provides a facility in relation to a securitisation. This Prudential Standard also applies to securitisations where the ADI, either itself or by using a third party, originates exposures directly into a special purpose vehicle (SPV), without those exposures having appeared on the ADI’s balance sheet (indirect origination).
- An ADI must apply this Prudential Standard to securitisation exposures in its banking book. Securitisation exposures that are held in an ADI’s trading book are subject to the requirements of Prudential Standard APS 116 Capital Adequacy: Market Risk (APS 116) for capital purposes, except that securitisation exposures required to be deducted from the ADI’s capital if they were held in an ADI’s banking book must also be deducted from capital if they are held in the trading book. Where relevant, securitisation exposures that are held in an ADI’s banking book are also subject to the requirements of Prudential Standard APS 117 Capital Adequacy: Interest Rate Risk in the Banking Book (Advanced ADIs).
- This Prudential Standard applies to traditional securitisations, synthetic securitisations and securitisations that have features of both. APRA may determine, in writing, that this Prudential Standard applies to a particular transaction or structure as if it were a securitisation if APRA considers that it has similar features to a securitisation and gives rise to similar prudential risks.
- A covered bond (as defined in the Banking Act) is not a securitisation for the purposes of this Prudential Standard.
- (a) An ADI must notify APRA prior to entering into a funding arrangement (other than a covered bond issued consistent with Division 3A of Part II of the Banking Act or a securitisation that complies with all the provisions of this Prudential Standard including the operational requirements for regulatory capital relief in Attachment B to this standard and for which the ADI is seeking capital relief) that involves providing an interest in, or over, assets originated by the ADI, to the funding provider. The ADI must assess the proposal in detail and must establish, to APRA's reasonable satisfaction, that the arrangement:
(i) complies with this Prudential Standard and that the ADI is seeking to treat it as an on-balance sheet arrangement; or
(ii) does not give the funding provider, even in limited or unlikely circumstances, effective recourse to both the ADI and the pool of assets for repayment (unless it is a covered bond issued or originated by an overseas Level 2 entity in accordance with the requirements of its regulator); or
(iii) does not reduce the protection available to depositors of the ADI on either a going-concern or default basis.
(b) Where an ADI wishes to enter into an arrangement described in paragraph 8(a) and cannot meet any of the tests in subparagraphs 8(a)(i) to 8(a)(iii), it must apply to APRA for approval to enter into the arrangement. APRA may, if there are exceptional circumstances, approve the arrangement and if it does so, may impose an appropriate regulatory capital treatment for the transaction.
(c) Where an ADI has entered into a structure prior to 1 January 2012 that does not meet any of the tests in subparagraphs 8(a)(i) to 8(a)(iii), it must apply to APRA for approval of this arrangement. APRA may, if there are exceptional circumstances, approve the arrangement and, if it does so, may impose an appropriate regulatory capital treatment for the transaction.
- The expressions below used in this Prudential Standard have the following meanings:
- asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) securitisation - a securitisation where the securities issued are predominantly commercial paper with an original maturity of one year or less;
- basis swap - an interest rate swap aimed at limiting basis risk. For the purposes of this Prudential Standard, a basis swap includes a payment stream on one leg of the swap based on an observable market rate or index, and a payment stream on the other leg based on rates set by a party to the swap;
- clean-up call - in the case of a traditional securitisation, an option that permits the originating ADI to call the exposures in a pool before they have been fully repaid for the purpose of winding up the securitisation. This is often accomplished by repurchasing the remaining exposures of a pool once the outstanding balance of the pool has fallen below a specified level. In the case of a synthetic securitisation, a clean-up call may take the form of a clause that extinguishes the credit protection;
- credit enhancement - an arrangement in which an ADI holds a securitisation exposure that is able to absorb losses in the pool and thereby provides credit protection to investors or other parties to the securitisation. A first loss credit enhancement is available to absorb losses in the first instance. A second loss credit enhancement is available to absorb losses after significant first loss credit enhancements have been exhausted;
- credit rating grades - grades of credit ratings to which external credit assessment institution (ECAI) ratings are mapped, and that correspond to relevant risk weights;
- early amortisation clause - a contractual clause that, when triggered, will result in security holders in a securitisation being paid out, in full or in part, prior to the originally stated maturity of the issued securities. Such clauses are generally included in the securitisation of revolving exposures;
- eligible facility - has the meaning in Attachment E;
- eligible servicer cash advance - has the meaning in Attachment E;
- ECAI - an entity that assigns credit ratings designed to measure the creditworthiness of a counterparty or certain types of debt obligations of a counterparty;
- facility - a facility provided by an ADI to a securitisation, including but not limited to:
- a liquidity facility;
- a funding facility;
- an underwriting facility; and
- a derivative transaction with an SPV;
- funding facility - a facility provided by an ADI to an SPV for the purchase of exposures for a pool;
- gain on sale - an increase in an ADI’s equity capital or assets as a result of originating exposures into a securitisation, such as recognition of capitalised expected future margin or servicing income, a profit on the sale of exposures or purchase of a residual income unit;
- implicit support - has the meaning in paragraph 13;
- liquidity facility - a facility provided by an ADI to an SPV for the primary purpose of funding any timing mismatches between receipts of funds on underlying exposures and payments on securities issued by the SPV, or to cover the inability of the SPV to roll-over securities due to market disruption;
- managing ADI - an ADI that manages a securitisation. This may include undertaking responsibility for the day-to-day administration of the issuing SPV, allocation of collections, calculation of payments and preparation of investor reports. A managing ADI may also manage swaps, liquidity and other facilities and events such as the issuance, refinancing or calling of securities;
- originating ADI - with respect to a securitisation, an ADI that:
- directly or indirectly originates underlying exposures in the pool;
- is the managing ADI for the securitisation; or
- provides a facility (other than derivatives) to an ABCP securitisation;
- pool - the underlying exposure or exposures that are securitised by way of assignment or the transfer of rights and obligations to an SPV. The pool may consist of, but need not be limited to, loans, bonds or equities;
- resecuritisation exposure – a resecuritisation exposure is a securitisation exposure in which the risk associated with an underlying pool of exposures is tranched and at least one of the underlying exposures is a securitisation exposure. In addition, an exposure to one or more resecuritisation exposures is a resecuritisation exposure;
- revolving exposures - exposures arising from revolving (that is, redrawable) facilities, other than exposures in the nature of redrawable home loans where the amounts likely to be redrawn in any collection period are expected to be immaterial relative to the size of the pool;
- securitisation - a structure where the cash flow from a pool is used to service obligations to at least two different tranches or classes of creditors (typically holders of debt securities), with each class or tranche reflecting a different degree of credit risk (i.e. one class of creditors is entitled to receive payments from the pool before another class of creditors). A warehouse SPV is a securitisation even if it does not have at least two different tranches of creditors or securities;
- securitisation exposures - on-balance sheet and off-balance sheet risk positions held by an ADI arising from a securitisation including, but not limited to:
- investments by the ADI in securities issued by an SPV, including retention of a subordinated tranche of securities issued by an SPV;
- other credit enhancements, such as guarantees provided by the ADI;
- drawn and undrawn funding, underwriting, liquidity and other facilities provided by an ADI to a securitisation; and
- exposures arising from swaps and other derivative transactions with an SPV;
- service provider - an ADI that provides a service to an SPV, including as manager or servicing ADI, or by providing a trustee or security trustee. The provision of a facility by an ADI does not, of itself, constitute the provision of a service;
- servicing ADI - a service provider that administers a pool for an SPV. This may include calculating account balances in relation to securitised loans as well as preparing borrowers’ statements, collecting payments and calculating write-offs in relation to such loans;
- SPV - a financing vehicle that typically purchases and holds the pool for the purposes of a securitisation. The SPV’s payment for the pool is typically funded by debt, including through the issue of units or securities by the SPV;
- synthetic securitisation - a securitisation whereby only the credit risk, or part of the credit risk, of a pool is transferred to a third party, which need not necessarily be an SPV;
- traditional securitisation - a securitisation where the pool is transferred or assigned to, and held by, an SPV;
- underwriting facility - a facility under which an ADI agrees to buy securities from the SPV to facilitate their distribution to the market; and
- warehouse SPV - an SPV that accumulates exposures until a sufficiently large pool is available for issuance of securities to the market in a securitisation.
- An ADI must deal with an SPV and its investors on an arm’s-length basis and on market terms and conditions.
- The nature and limitations of an ADI’s involvement in a securitisation must be clearly disclosed to investors (refer to Attachment A).
- An ADI’s involvement in a securitisation must be set out in legal documentation and be limited as to time and amount.
- An ADI must not provide, or knowingly create or encourage a perception that it will provide, support to a securitisation that is in excess of the ADI’s explicit contractual obligations. To do so will be to provide implicit support.
- An originating ADI of a traditional securitisation may exclude the underlying exposures in the pool from exposures used in the calculation of its regulatory capital for credit risk under Prudential Standard APS 112 Capital Adequacy: Standardised Approach to Credit Risk (APS 112) or Prudential Standard APS 113 Capital Adequacy: Internal Ratings-based Approach to Credit Risk (APS 113) and, where applicable, expected losses, if the credit risk associated with that pool has been transferred to third parties and the transfer complies with the relevant requirements in Attachment B.
- An originating ADI may recognise certain credit risk mitigation (CRM) techniques in a synthetic securitisation if the synthetic securitisation complies with the relevant requirements in Attachment B.
- An ADI must hold regulatory capital for credit risk (as detailed in Attachments C, D and G of this Prudential Standard) against its securitisation exposures.
- An ADI may provide facilities and services to a securitisation, provided this does not result in implicit support. An ADI must hold regulatory capital for credit risk (as detailed in Attachments C and D) against a securitisation exposure arising from a facility, and the facility must comply with Attachment E.
- In order for an originating ADI to exclude the underlying exposures in the pool from the exposures used in calculation of its regulatory capital for credit risk, calculated in accordance with APS 112 or APS 113, the ADI must ensure that significant credit risk associated with the exposures has been transferred to third parties.
- The Board and senior management of an ADI must establish policies and procedures relating to its securitisation business and must ensure that these policies and procedures are implemented. These policies and procedures must include:
- appropriate risk management systems to identify, measure, monitor and manage the risks arising from the ADI’s involvement in securitisation;
- how the ADI will monitor the effects of securitisation on its risk profile, including credit quality, and how it has aligned its risk management practices; and
- how the ADI will ensure that it is not providing implicit support for a securitisation.
- An ADI must assess, in writing, each securitisation in which it participates and the assessment must demonstrate compliance with this Prudential Standard, including the applicable credit risk regulatory capital treatment. The ADI must provide to APRA, upon request, a copy of that assessment.
- If APRA considers that an ADI is providing implicit support to a securitisation, or otherwise is not complying or is unable to comply with this Prudential Standard, including the operational requirements for regulatory capital relief contained in Attachment B to this standard, APRA may, in writing, increase the ADI’s capital requirement in an amount specified by APRA. The amount will be commensurate with the risks arising from the provision of the implicit support, or other breach of this Prudential Standard. Where an ADI provides implicit support to a securitisation, APRA may increase the capital charge on all of the ADI’s securitisation business. Capital requirements will not exceed the amount of regulatory capital that the ADI would be required to hold in respect of credit risk under APS 112 or APS 113, as appropriate, against all of its securitisation business based on:
- the relevant pools, as if the exposures in the pools were held by the ADI. In calculating the regulatory capital requirement, the ADI must still have regard to the actual transaction structures in place. In particular, an ADI that uses the standardised approach to credit risk must consider whether the interposed structures would prevent the assignment of a risk- weight of less than 100 per cent to claims secured by residential mortgages under Attachment C to APS 112; or
- the full value of all securities issued by the relevant SPV(s), as if the securities were held by the ADI.
- If APRA considers that an ADI is providing implicit support to a securitisation, APRA may, in writing, require the ADI to disclose publicly the implicit support.
- If APRA considers that the risks arising out of securitisation are not adequately managed by holding additional regulatory capital, APRA may, in writing, impose limits (both quantitative and qualitative) on the extent to which additional exposures may be securitised by an ADI or additional securitisation exposures (including those arising from providing facilities or services) are acquired by an ADI.
- An ADI that has received approval from APRA to use the internal-ratings based (IRB) approach under APS 113 to calculate regulatory capital for credit risk for the type of exposures in the pool must use this Attachment to calculate its regulatory capital for credit risk in respect of securitisation exposures, except as otherwise agreed by APRA in writing.
- Under the IRB approach, there is a hierarchy of approaches that an ADI must follow to calculate the regulatory capital for credit risk in respect of securitisation exposures, as follows:
- where a securitisation exposure is externally rated, or where an external rating can be inferred, the ADI must use the ratings-based approach (RBA) as detailed in paragraphs 4 to 11 of this Attachment;
- for facilities (such as liquidity facilities and credit enhancements) that the ADI extends to:
- an ABCP securitisation, where the RBA cannot be used; or
- another kind of securitisation, where the RBA cannot be used, and the supervisory formula (SF) cannot be used because the exposures in the pool, or a material proportion of them, were not originated by the ADI
the ADI may, subject to APRA’s approval, use the internal assessment approach (IAA). In addition, the ADI must ensure that all the conditions detailed in paragraphs 12 to 15 of this Attachment are satisfied;
- for facilities where the ADI cannot use the RBA or IAA and all other securitisation exposures where the RBA approach cannot be used, the SF, as detailed in paragraphs 18 to 39 of this Attachment, may be applied (unless the ADI cannot use the SF because the ADI is unable to reliably calculate KIRB);
- for an eligible facility to which none of the approaches detailed in paragraphs 2(a) to 2(c) of this Attachment can be applied, the ADI may apply, subject to written approval from APRA, the approach detailed in paragraph 40 of this Attachment; and
- for a securitisation exposure to which none of the approaches detailed in paragraphs 2(a) to 2(d) of this Attachment can be applied, the exposure must be deducted from the ADI’s regulatory capital.
- Irrespective of the approach applied under paragraph 2 of this Attachment, an ADI must deduct any gain on sale from its Tier 1 capital.
- As detailed in Attachment B, the risk-weighted asset amount of a securitisation or resecuritisation exposure must be calculated by multiplying the exposure value or, in the case of an off-balance sheet exposure, the credit equivalent amount, by the relevant risk-weight.
- The relevant risk-weight under the RBA depends upon:
- the credit rating grade assigned to the securitisation exposure by an ECAI, or an inferred rating (as detailed in paragraphs 10 and 11 of this Attachment);
- whether the rating (external or inferred) represents a long-term or short-term rating;
- the granularity of the pool (as detailed in paragraph 8 of this Attachment); and
- the seniority of the securitisation exposure.
- Subject to paragraph 5 of this Attachment, an ADI must apply the risk-weights in Table 5:
- an external credit assessment exists in the form of a long-term rating;
- an inferred rating based on an external long-term rating is available; or
- an internal assessment has been mapped to an external long-term rating as detailed in paragraph 12 of this Attachment.
Table 5: External credit assessment risk-weights
| Securitisation Exposures | Resecuritisation Exposures |
Credit rating grade | Risk-weights for the senior positions and eligible senior IAA exposures Column A | Base risk-weights Column B | Risk-weights for tranches backed by non-granular pools Column C | Senior Column D | Non-senior
Column E |
1 | 7% | 12% | 20% | 20% | 30% |
2 | 8% | 15% | 25% | 25% | 40% |
3 | 10% | 18% | 35% | 35% | 50% |
4 | 12% | 20% | 35% | 40% | 65% |
5 | 20% | 35% | 35% | 60% | 100% |
6 | 35% | 50% | 50% | 100% | 150% |
7 | 60% | 75% | 75% | 150% | 225% |
8 | 100% | 100% | 100% | 200% | 350% |
9 | 250% | 250% | 250% | 300% | 500% |
10 | 425% | 425% | 425% | 500% | 650% |
11 | 650% | 650% | 650% | 750% | 850% |
12 | Deduction from capital | Deduction from capital | Deduction from capital | Deduction from capital | Deduction from capital |
- Subject to paragraph 5 of this Attachment, an ADI must apply the risk-weights in Table 6 when:
- an external credit assessment exists in the form of a short-term rating; or
- an inferred rating based on an external short-term rating is available.
Table 6: Short-term rating and risk-weights
| Securitisation Exposures | Resecuritisation Exposures |
Credit rating grade | Risk-weights for senior positions Column A | Base risk-weights Column B | Risk-weights for tranches backed by non-granular pools Column C | Senior
Column D | Non-Senior
Column E |
1 | 7% | 12% | 20% | 20% | 30% |
2 | 12% | 20% | 35% | 40% | 65% |
3 | 60% | 75% | 75% | 150% | 225% |
4/unrated | Deduction from capital | Deduction from capital | Deduction from capital | Deduction from capital | Deduction from capital |
- For securitisation exposures, an ADI must apply the risk-weights in paragraphs 6 and 7 of this Attachment based on the effective number of underlying exposures (N, as defined in paragraphs 27 to 29 of this Attachment) in a pool as follows:
- if the effective number of underlying exposures is six or more and the position is a senior exposure in the securitisation, the ADI may apply the appropriate risk-weights detailed in column A;
- if the effective number of underlying exposures is less than six, the ADI must apply the appropriate risk-weights detailed in column C; and
- in all other cases, the ADI must apply the appropriate risk-weights in column B.
- In applying the risk-weights in paragraphs 6 and 7 of this Attachment to resecuritisation exposures, an ADI may treat the exposure as senior and apply the appropriate risk-weight in column D where:
- the position is a senior exposure in the securitisation; and
- none of the underlying exposures is itself a resecuritisation exposure.
- Where the operational requirements detailed in paragraph 11 of this Attachment are met, an ADI may attribute an inferred rating to an unrated securitisation exposure. When assigning an inferred rating, the unrated exposure must be senior in all respects to an externally rated securitisation exposure, called the reference securitisation exposure.
- The following operational requirements must be satisfied for an ADI to recognise an inferred rating under the RBA:
- the reference securitisation exposure must be a securitisation exposure from the same securitisation and be subordinate in all respects to the unrated securitisation exposure. Credit enhancements, if any, must be taken into account when assessing the relative subordination of the unrated securitisation exposure and the reference securitisation exposure;
- the maturity of the reference securitisation exposure must be equal to or longer than that of the unrated exposure;
- an inferred rating must be continuously updated to reflect any changes in the external credit assessment of the reference securitisation exposure; and
- the external credit assessment of the reference securitisation exposure must satisfy the operational requirements for such assessments as detailed in Attachment B.
- Subject to written approval from APRA, an ADI may map its internal assessment of the credit quality of liquidity facilities, credit enhancements or other facilities that it has extended to:
- an ABCP securitisation, where the RBA cannot be used; or
- another kind of securitisation, where the RBA cannot be used, and the SF cannot be used because the exposures in the pool, or a material portion of them, were not originated by the ADI
to equivalent external ratings of an ECAI. The mapped ratings may then be used to calculate the relevant risk-weight for the exposure under the RBA as detailed in paragraphs 5 to 9 of this Attachment.
- Prior to using the IAA to calculate the relevant risk-weight for a securitisation exposure, an ADI must ensure that:
- the securitisation is (or its securities are) externally rated by an ECAI;
- the internal assessment of the credit quality of a securitisation exposure to a securitisation is based on the rating criteria of an ECAI for the exposure type in the pool and is at least grade 8or above when initially assigned to the exposure;
- if there are changes in the methodology of one of the ECAIs that adversely affect the external credit assessment of the securitisation, the revised rating methodology must be considered when revising the internal assessments;
- the internal assessment is used in the ADI’s internal risk management process, including management information and economic capital calculations, and meets all relevant requirements of APS 113;
- the internal assessment methodology used by the ADI is fully documented and reflects the publicly available methodologies of all ECAIs that rate securitisations for the securitised exposure type. If publicly available, the stress factors for calculating credit enhancement requirements must be at least as conservative as the rating criteria of those ECAIs;
- internal or external auditors, the ECAI or the ADI’s risk management area perform annual reviews of the internal assessment process and assess the validity of the internal assessments. The party performing the reviews of the internal assessment process must be independent from the business line and underlying customer relationships within the ADI; and
- the performance of internal assessments is monitored and reviewed on a regular basis to evaluate the performance of the assigned internal assessments. Adjustments to the assessment process must be made when the performance of the exposures diverges from the assigned internal assessments.
- In order to use the IAA, an ADI must ensure that the securitisation:
- has underwriting standards in the form of credit and investment guidelines and performs a comprehensive credit analysis of the exposure risk profile;
- has underwriting standards that establish minimum asset eligibility criteria that:
- exclude the purchase of exposures that are significantly past due or defaulted;
- limit excess concentration to an individual obligor or geographic area; and
- limit the tenor of the exposures to be purchased;
- has collections policies and processes that take account of the operational capability and credit quality of the servicing ADI or other servicer;
- takes into account all sources of potential risk when calculating the aggregate estimate of loss on the pool the securitisation is considering purchasing;
- incorporates structural features into the purchase of exposures in order to mitigate potential credit deterioration of the underlying portfolio; and
- performs a comprehensive credit analysis of the originator’s risk profile.
- Where an ADI’s internal assessment process no longer satisfies the requirements of paragraphs 13 and 14 of this Attachment, APRA may, in writing, prohibit the ADI from applying the IAA to its exposures, both existing and newly originated, for the purpose of calculating the appropriate regulatory capital treatment.
- For the purposes of Table 5 of this Attachment, where the ECAI is Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s or Fitch, ratings are to be mapped as shown in Table 7 below.
Table 7: Recognised long-term ratings and equivalent credit rating grade
Credit rating grade | Standard & Poor’s Corporation | Moody’s Investor Services | Fitch Ratings |
1 | AAA AA+ | Aaa Aa1 | AAA AA+ |
2 | AA AA- | Aa2 Aa3 | AA AA- |
3 | A+ | A1 | A+ |
4 | A | A2 | A |
5 | A- | A3 | A- |
6 | BBB+ | Baa1 | BBB+ |
7 | BBB | Baa2 | BBB |
8 | BBB- | Baa3 | BBB- |
9 | BB+ | Ba1 | BB+ |
10 | BB | Ba2 | BB |
11 | BB- | Ba3 | BB- |
12 | Below BB- and unrated | Below Ba3 and unrated | Below BB- and unrated |
- For the purposes of Table 6 of this Attachment, where the ECAI is Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s or Fitch, ratings are to be mapped as shown in Table 8 below.
Table 8: Recognised short-term ratings and equivalent credit rating grades
Credit rating grade | Standard & Poor’s Corporation | Moody’s Investor Services | Fitch Ratings |
1 | A-1 | P-1 | F-1 |
2 | A-2 | P-2 | F-2 |
3 | A-3 | P-3 | F-3 |
4 | Others | Others | Others |
- When using the SF, the regulatory capital for credit risk in respect of a securitisation exposure depends upon the following ADI-supplied inputs:
- the IRB capital requirement had the pool not been securitised (KIRB);
- the credit enhancement level (L);
- the thickness (T);
- the effective number of exposures in the pool (N); and
- the pool’s exposure-weighted average loss given default (LGD).
Definition of KIRB
- KIRB is the ratio (in decimal form) of:
- the IRB capital requirement, including the expected loss portion, for the pool; to
- the exposure amount of the pool, i.e. the sum of drawn amounts plus the estimated exposure at default of undrawn commitments.
- The amount in paragraph 19(a) of this Attachment must be calculated in accordance with the applicable minimum IRB standards (as detailed in APS 113) as if the exposures in the pool were held directly by the ADI. This calculation may reflect the effects of any CRM that is applied on the underlying exposures in the pool (either individually or to the entire pool).
- For structures involving an SPV, all the assets of the SPV that are related to the securitisation must be treated as exposures in the pool for the purposes of paragraph 19 of this Attachment, including assets in which the SPV may have invested a reserve account.
Definition of the credit enhancement level
- Credit enhancement level (L) is measured as the ratio (in decimal form) of:
- the outstanding amount of all securitisation exposures subordinate to the tranche in question; to
- the sum of the exposure values of the exposures that have been securitised.
- An ADI must calculate L before considering the effects of any tranche-specific credit enhancements that benefit only a single tranche. Any gain on sale associated with the securitisation must not be included in the measurement of L. The size of interest rate or currency swaps that are more junior than the tranche may be measured at their current mark-to-market value (i.e. excluding the amount estimated for potential future exposure) when calculating L. If the mark-to-market value cannot be measured, the derivative instrument must be ignored in the calculation of L.
- Unfunded reserve accounts must not be included in the calculation of L if they are to be funded from future receipts from the underlying exposures. If there is any reserve account that has already been funded by accumulated cash flows from the underlying exposures that is more junior than the tranche in question, it may be included in the calculation of L.
Definition of the thickness of exposure
- Thickness of exposure (T) is measured as the ratio (in decimal form) of:
- the nominal size of the securitisation exposure or tranche; to
- the sum of the exposure values of the exposures in the pool.
- Where an exposure arises from an interest rate or currency swap, an ADI must incorporate the potential future exposure of the swap in the measurement of the nominal size of the securitisation exposure in paragraph 25(a) of this Attachment. If the mark-to-market value of the derivative instrument is positive, the exposure size must be measured by the current exposure method as detailed in Attachment B to APS 112. If the mark-to-market value of the derivative instrument is negative, the exposure must be measured by using the potential future exposure only.
Definition of the effective number of exposures
- Effective number of exposures (N) is calculated as:
where exposure at default (EADi) represents the exposure at default associated with the ith exposure in the pool.
- Multiple exposures to the same obligor must be consolidated when calculating the effective number of exposures in paragraph 27 of this Attachment.
- In the case a resecuritisation exposure, the formula in paragraph 27 of this Attachment applies to the number of securitisation exposures in the pool and not the number of underlying exposures in the original pools. If the portfolio share associated with the largest exposure (C1) is available, an ADI may compute N as 1/C1.
Definition of the exposure-weighted average loss given default
- LGD is calculated as follows:

where LGDi represents the average LGD associated with all exposures to the ith obligor.
- In the case of resecuritisation, an LGD of 100 per cent must be assumed for the underlying securitised exposures. When default and dilution risks for purchased receivables are treated in an aggregate manner within a securitisation, the LGD input must be constructed as a weighted average of the LGD for default risk and 100 per cent LGD for dilution risk. The weights to be used in this calculation are the stand-alone IRB risk-weights for default risk and dilution risk, respectively (as assessed under APS 113).
- The capital charge under the SF is calculated as the value of exposures that have been securitised multiplied by the greater of:
- for securitisation exposures:
- 0.0056 × T; and
- (S [L+T] – S [L]); and
- for resecuritisation exposures:
- 0.016 × T; and
- (S [L+T] – S [L])
where the function S[.] (the supervisory formula) is defined in paragraph 34 of this Attachment.
- When the ADI holds only a proportional interest in the securitisation exposure, that position’s capital charge equals the pro rated share of the regulatory capital required in respect of the entire securitisation exposure.
- The supervisory formula is given by the following expression:


Beta [L; a, b] refers to the cumulative beta distribution with parameters a and b evaluated at L.
- Risk-weighted asset amounts generated through the use of the SF are calculated by multiplying the capital requirement (as calculated under paragraph 34 of this Attachment) by 12.5. If the risk-weight resulting from the SF is 1250 per cent or greater, an ADI must deduct the securitisation exposure from its capital.
- In the case where an ADI has set aside a specific provision or has a non-refundable purchase price discount on an exposure in the pool, KIRB and L must be calculated using the gross amount of the exposure, without taking into account the specific provision and/or non-refundable purchase price discount. In this case, the amount of the non-refundable purchase price discount on a defaulted asset or the specific provision can be used to reduce the amount of any deduction from capital associated with the securitisation exposure.
Simplified method for calculating the effective number of exposures and the exposure-weighted average loss given default
- Subject to written approval from APRA, an ADI that has a securitisation involving retail exposures (refer to APS 113) may use a simplified method for calculating the effective number of exposures (N in the expression in paragraph 34 of this Attachment) and the exposure-weighted average LGD (LGD in the expression in paragraph 31) whereby the SF may be implemented using the simplifications h = 0 and v = 0.
- Under the simplified method, if the portfolio share associated with the largest exposure (C1) is no more than three per cent of the underlying pool, for purposes of the SF an ADI may set LGD equal to 50 per cent and N equal to the following amount:
where Cm denotes the share of the securitised asset pool corresponding to the sum of the largest m exposures. The level of m is decided by the ADI.
- Alternatively, if only C1 is available and this amount is no more than three per cent, then the ADI may set LGD equal to 50 per cent and N=1/ C1.
- Where an ADI is not able to reliably calculate KIRB and hence cannot use the SF to calculate the regulatory capital for eligible facilities, the ADI may, subject to written approval from APRA (which may specify the period during which the approval applies), calculate the regulatory capital for the amount of such facilities as follows:
- in calculating the credit equivalent amount of an undrawn facility, use a 100 per cent CCF; and
- risk-weight the credit equivalent amount of an undrawn facility, and risk-weight any drawn amount, using the highest risk-weight (as assessed under APS 112) applicable to any individual exposure in the pool covered by the facility.
- An ADI may apply a zero per cent CCF to an undrawn eligible servicer cash advance that meets the requirements of Attachment E.
- Under the RBA and when using the SF, an ADI may apply the CRM techniques as detailed in the foundation IRB approach (refer to APS 113). The ADI may proportionately reduce the regulatory capital for a securitisation exposure when the CRM covers first losses or losses on a proportional basis. For all other cases, the ADI must assume that the CRM covers the most senior portion of the securitisation exposure.
- If the nature of a particular securitisation exposure is such that it is uncertain whether or how much regulatory capital is to be held in relation to it under this Attachment, APRA may, in writing, agree the amount of regulatory capital, or a method for calculating it, having regard to the nature of the exposure and the general approach taken to similar exposures under this Prudential Standard.