20 November 2017

EBA publishes final Guidelines on the estimation of risk parameters under the IRB Approach

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published its final Guidelines on the estimation of risk parameters for non-defaulted exposures - namely of the probability of default (PD) and the loss given default (LGD), and on the treatment of defaulted exposures under the advanced IRB Approach, including estimation of parameters such as ELBE and LGD in-default.   

The Guidelines provide clarification on the estimation of risk parameters under the IRB Approach, with focus on PD and LGD parameters, as well as on selected aspects of the application of these risk parameters and on the regular reviews of estimates. The clarifications focus on the main concepts and definitions underlying the calibration of risk parameters, as these are the basis for the calculation of capital requirements and, therefore, have to be identified in an objective manner. The Guidelines allow for sufficient flexibility in model development to ensure appropriate risk differentiation and to preserve the risk sensitivity of models.

The specific clarifications included in the Guidelines cover, among other items, the discounting factor used to calculate realised LGD on historical observations. To ensure comparability of LGD estimates, the EBA decided to introduce a simplified concept of discounting factor where the discounting rate is specified as Euribor or an equivalent interbank rate for currencies other than euro plus a fixed add-on of 5%, which will have to be applied by institutions. While the proposed level of the add-on provides an adequate balance between the currently used discounting rates across the EU, the adequacy of the level of the add-on will be further analysed and, if necessary, reviewed before the application of these Guidelines. The EBA is also planning to publish a list of equivalent interest rates for exposures in currencies other than euro to be used in the LGD estimation.

The Guidelines are complemented by a Report on the results of the EBA qualitative survey carried out across the EU banks using the IRB Approach. The Report includes an overview of the current practices in IRB modelling and provides as a detailed impact assessment of the Guidelines. Changes are expected to apply to the majority of existing models in order to ensure compliance with these Guidelines.

Press release

Guidelines

Report

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