Fitch says the final version of the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) rules will make asset backed commercial paper (ABCP) programs more expensive for the companies that use them to manage receivables, but that the rules will not have an appreciable effect on the facilities credit.
Program sponsors have been modifying programs since last year in anticipation of the rules, leading to the minimal effect on credit.
On September 5, the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Commission approved final rules to implement the Basel Committee’s LCR. The rule continues to assume 100 percent funding of both liquidity and credit commitments to SPEs that issue, or have issued, commercial paper.
Fitch says that the final securitization rules are similar to the version of the regulation proposed in October 2013. “The LCR is calculated by dividing the amount of a bank’s high-quality liquid assets by total net cash outflows. While the rule will require most larger covered companies to calculate LCRs on each business day, this requirement will be phased in and the larger covered companies will be allowed to calculate the ratios on a monthly basis, during the first six months of the rule’s implementation.”
The rule will be implemented on Jan. 1, 2015 and covered companies will be required to maintain a minimum 80 percent LCR at that point. They will be required to maintain 90 percent and 100 percent in January 2016 and January 2017, respectively.