Title 12

SECTION 234.3

234.3 Standards for payment systems.

§ 234.3 Standards for payment systems.

(a) A designated financial market utility must implement rules, procedures, or operations designed to ensure that it meets or exceeds the following risk-management standards with respect to its payment, clearing, and settlement activities.

(1) Legal basis. The designated financial market utility has a well-founded, clear, transparent, and enforceable legal basis for each material aspect of its activities in all relevant jurisdictions.

(2) Governance. The designated financial market utility has governance arrangements that -

(i) Are clear, transparent, and documented;

(ii) Promote the safety and efficiency of the designated financial market utility;

(iii) Support the stability of the broader financial system, other relevant public interest considerations such as fostering fair and efficient markets, and the legitimate interests of relevant stakeholders, including the designated financial market utility's owners, participants, and participants' customers; and

(iv) Are designed to ensure -

(A) Lines of responsibility and accountability are clear and direct;

(B) The roles and responsibilities of the board of directors and senior management are clearly specified;

(D) The board of directors includes a majority of individuals who are not executives, officers, or employees of the designated financial market utility or an affiliate of the designated financial market utility;

(E) The board of directors establishes policies and procedures to identify, address, and manage potential conflicts of interest of board members and to review its performance and the performance of individual board members on a regular basis;

(F) The board of directors establishes a clear, documented risk-management framework that includes the designated financial market utility's risk-tolerance policy, assigns responsibilities and accountability for risk decisions, and addresses decisionmaking in crises and emergencies;

(G) Senior management has the appropriate experience, skills, and integrity necessary to discharge operational and risk-management responsibilities;

(H) The risk-management function has sufficient authority, resources, and independence from other operations of the designated financial market utility, and has a direct reporting line to and is overseen by a committee of the board of directors;

(I) The internal audit function has sufficient authority, resources, and independence from management, and has a direct reporting line to and is overseen by a committee of the board of directors; and

(J) Major decisions of the board of directors are clearly disclosed to relevant stakeholders, including the designated financial market utility's owners, participants, and participants' customers, and, where there is a broad market impact, the public.

(3) Framework for the comprehensive management of risks. The designated financial market utility has a sound risk-management framework for comprehensively managing legal, credit, liquidity, operational, general business, custody, investment, and other risks that arise in or are borne by the designated financial market utility. This framework is subject to periodic review and includes -

(i) Risk-management policies, procedures, and systems that enable the designated financial market utility to identify, measure, monitor, and manage the risks that arise in or are borne by the designated financial market utility, including those posed by other entities as a result of interdependencies;

(ii) Risk-management policies, procedures, and systems that enable the designated financial market utility to identify, measure, monitor, and manage the material risks that it poses to other entities, such as other financial market utilities, settlement banks, liquidity providers, or service providers, as a result of interdependencies; and

(iii) Integrated plans for the designated financial market utility's recovery and orderly wind-down that -

(A) Identify the designated financial market utility's critical operations and services related to payment, clearing, and settlement;

(B) Identify scenarios that may potentially prevent it from being able to provide its critical operations and services as a going concern, including uncovered credit losses (as described in paragraph (a)(4)(vi)(A) of this section), uncovered liquidity shortfalls (as described in paragraph (a)(7)(viii)(A) of this section), and general business losses (as described in paragraph (a)(15) of this section);

(D) Include rules, procedures, policies, and any other tools the designated financial market utility would use in a recovery or orderly wind-down to address the scenarios identified under paragraph (a)(3)(iii)(B) of this section;

(E) Include procedures to ensure timely implementation of the recovery and orderly wind-down plans in the scenarios identified under paragraph (a)(3)(iii)(B) of this section;

(F) Include procedures for informing the Board, as soon as practicable, if the designated financial market utility is considering initiating recovery or orderly wind-down; and

(G) Are reviewed the earlier of every two years or following changes to the system or the environment in which the designated financial market utility operates that would significantly affect the viability or execution of the plans.

(4) Credit risk. The designated financial market utility effectively measures, monitors, and manages its credit exposures to participants and those arising from its payment, clearing, and settlement processes. In this regard, the designated financial market utility maintains sufficient financial resources to cover its credit exposure to each participant fully with a high degree of confidence. In addition, the designated financial market utility -

(i) If it operates as a central counterparty, maintains additional prefunded financial resources that are sufficient to cover its credit exposure under a wide range of significantly different stress scenarios that includes the default of the participant and its affiliates that would potentially cause the largest aggregate credit exposure to the designated financial market utility in extreme but plausible market conditions;

(ii) If it operates as a central counterparty, may be directed by the Board to maintain additional prefunded financial resources that are sufficient to cover its credit exposure under a wide range of significantly different stress scenarios that includes the default of the two participants and their affiliates that would potentially cause the largest aggregate credit exposure to the designated financial market utility in extreme but plausible market conditions. The Board may consider such a direction if the central counterparty -

(A) Is involved in activities with a more-complex risk profile, such as clearing financial instruments characterized by discrete jump-to-default price changes or that are highly correlated with potential participant defaults, or

(B) Has been determined by another jurisdiction to be systemically important in that jurisdiction;

(iii) If it operates as a central counterparty, determines the amount and regularly tests the sufficiency of the total financial resources available to meet the requirements of this paragraph by -

(A) On a daily basis, conducting a stress test of its total financial resources using standard and predetermined stress scenarios, parameters, and assumptions;

(B) On at least a monthly basis, and more frequently when the products cleared or markets served experience high volatility or become less liquid, or when the size or concentration of positions held by the central counterparty's participants increases significantly, conducting a comprehensive and thorough analysis of the existing stress scenarios, models, and underlying parameters and assumptions such that the designated financial market utility meets its required level of default protection in light of current and evolving market conditions; and

(C) Having clear procedures to report the results of its stress tests to decisionmakers at the central counterparty and using these results to evaluate the adequacy of and adjust its total financial resources;

(iv) If it operates as a central counterparty, excludes assessments for additional default or guaranty fund contributions (that is, default or guaranty fund contributions that are not prefunded) in its calculation of financial resources available to meet the total financial resource requirement under this paragraph;

(v) At least annually, provides for a validation of the designated financial market utility's risk-management models used to determine the sufficiency of its total financial resources that -

(A) Includes the designated financial market utility's models used to comply with the collateral provisions under paragraph (a)(5) of this section and models used to determine initial margin under paragraph (a)(6) of this section; and

(B) Is performed by a qualified person who does not perform functions associated with the model (except as part of the annual model validation), does not report to such a person, and does not have a financial interest in whether the model is determined to be valid; and

(vi) Establishes rules and procedures that explicitly -

(A) Address allocation of credit losses the designated financial market utility may face if its collateral and other financial resources are insufficient to cover fully its credit exposures, including the repayment of any funds a designated financial market utility may borrow from liquidity providers; and

(B) Describe the designated financial market utility's process to replenish any financial resources that the designated financial market utility may employ during a stress event, including a participant default.

(5) Collateral. If it requires collateral to manage its or its participants' credit exposure, the designated financial market utility accepts collateral with low credit, liquidity, and market risks and sets and enforces conservative haircuts and concentration limits, in order to ensure the value of the collateral in the event of liquidation and that the collateral can be used in a timely manner. In this regard, the designated financial market utility -

(i) Establishes prudent valuation practices and develops haircuts that are tested regularly and take into account stressed market conditions;

(ii) Establishes haircuts that are calibrated to include relevant periods of stressed market conditions to reduce the need for procyclical adjustments;

(iii) Provides for annual validation of its haircut procedures, as part of its risk-management model validation under paragraph (a)(4)(v) of this section;

(iv) Avoids concentrated holdings of any particular type of asset where the concentration could significantly impair the ability to liquidate such assets quickly without significant adverse price effects;

(v) Uses a collateral management system that is well-designed and operationally flexible such that it, among other things, -

(A) Accommodates changes in the ongoing monitoring and management of collateral; and

(B) Allows for the timely valuation of collateral and execution of any collateral or margin calls.

(6) Margin. If it operates as a central counterparty, the designated financial market utility covers its credit exposures to its participants for all products by establishing a risk-based margin system that -

(i) Is conceptually and methodologically sound for the risks and particular attributes of each product, portfolio, and markets it serves, as demonstrated by documented and empirical evidence supporting design choices, methods used, variables selected, theoretical bases, key assumptions, and limitations;

(ii) Establishes margin levels commensurate with the risks and particular attributes of each product, portfolio, and market it serves;

(iii) Has a reliable source of timely price data;

(iv) Has procedures and sound valuation models for addressing circumstances in which pricing data are not readily available or reliable;

(v) Marks participant positions to market and collects variation margin at least daily and has the operational capacity to make intraday margin calls and payments, both scheduled and unscheduled, to participants;

(vi) Generates initial margin requirements sufficient to cover potential changes in the value of each participant's position during the interval between the last margin collection and the closeout of positions following a participant default by -

(A) Ensuring that initial margin meets an established single-tailed confidence level of at least 99 percent with respect to the estimated distribution of future exposure; and

(B) Using a conservative estimate of the time horizons for the effective hedging or closeout of the particular types of products cleared, including in stressed market conditions; and

(vii) Is monitored on an ongoing basis and regularly reviewed, tested, and verified through -

(A) Daily backtests;

(B) Monthly sensitivity analyses, performed more frequently during stressed market conditions or significant fluctuations in participant positions, with this analysis taking into account a wide range of parameters and assumptions that reflect possible market conditions that captures a variety of historical and hypothetical conditions, including the most volatile periods that have been experienced by the markets the designated financial market utility serves; and

(C) Annual model validations of the designated financial market utility's margin models and related parameters and assumptions, as part of its risk-management model validation under paragraph (a)(4)(v) of this section.

(7) Liquidity risk. The designated financial market utility effectively measures, monitors, and manages the liquidity risk that arises in or is borne by the designated financial market utility. In this regard, the designated financial market utility -

(i) Has effective operational and analytical tools to identify, measure, and monitor its settlement and funding flows on an ongoing and timely basis, including its use of intraday liquidity;

(ii) Maintains sufficient liquid resources in all relevant currencies to effect same-day and, where applicable, intraday and multiday settlement of payment obligations with a high degree of confidence under a wide range of significantly different potential stress scenarios that includes the default of the participant and its affiliates that would generate the largest aggregate liquidity obligation for the designated financial market utility in extreme but plausible market conditions;

(iii) Holds, for purposes of meeting the minimum liquid resource requirement under paragraph (a)(7)(ii) of this section, -

(A) cash in each relevant currency at the central bank of issue or creditworthy commercial banks;

(B) assets that are readily available and convertible into cash, through committed arrangements without material adverse change conditions, such as collateralized lines of credit, foreign exchange swaps, and repurchase agreements; or

(C) subject to the determination of the Board, highly marketable collateral and investments that are readily available and convertible into cash with prearranged and highly reliable funding arrangements, even in extreme but plausible market conditions;

(iv) Evaluates and confirms, at least annually, whether each provider of the arrangements as described in paragraphs (a)(7)(iii)(B) and (C) of this section has sufficient information to understand and manage that provider's associated liquidity risks, and whether the provider has the capacity to perform;

(v) Maintains and tests its procedures and operational capacity for accessing each type of liquid resource required under this paragraph at least annually;

(vi) Determines the amount and regularly tests the sufficiency of the liquid resources necessary to meet the minimum liquid resource requirement under this paragraph by -

(A) On a daily basis, conducting a stress test of its liquid resources using standard and predetermined stress scenarios, parameters, and assumptions;

(B) On at least a monthly basis, and more frequently when products cleared or markets served experience high volatility or become less liquid, or when the size or concentration of positions held by the designated financial market utility's participants increases significantly, conducting a comprehensive and thorough analysis of the existing stress scenarios, models, and underlying parameters and assumptions such that the designated financial market utility meets its identified liquidity needs and resources in light of current and evolving market conditions; and

(C) Having clear procedures to report the results of its stress tests to decisionmakers at the designated financial market utility and using these results to evaluate the adequacy of and make adjustments to its liquidity risk-management framework;

(vii) At least annually, provides for a validation of its liquidity risk-management model by a qualified person who does not perform functions associated with the model (except as part of the annual model validation), does not report to such a person, and does not have a financial interest in whether the model is determined to be valid; and

(viii) Establishes rules and procedures that explicitly -

(A) Address potential liquidity shortfalls that would not be covered by the designated financial market utility's liquid resources and avoid unwinding, revoking, or delaying the same-day settlement of payment obligations; and

(B) Describe the designated financial market utility's process to replenish any liquid resources that it may employ during a stress event, including a participant default.

(8) Settlement finality. The designated financial market utility provides clear and certain final settlement intraday or in real time as appropriate, and at a minimum, by the end of the value date. The designated financial market utility clearly defines the point at which settlement is final and the point after which unsettled payments, transfer instructions, or other settlement instructions may not be revoked by a participant.

(9) Money settlements. The designated financial market utility conducts its money settlements in central bank money where practical and available. If central bank money is not used, the designated financial market utility minimizes and strictly controls the credit and liquidity risks arising from conducting its money settlements in commercial bank money, including settlement on its own books. If it conducts its money settlements at a commercial bank, the designated financial market utility -

(i) Establishes and monitors adherence to criteria based on high standards for its settlement banks that take account of, among other things, their applicable regulatory and supervisory frameworks, creditworthiness, capitalization, access to liquidity, and operational reliability;

(ii) Monitors and manages the concentration of credit and liquidity exposures to its commercial settlement banks; and

(iii) Ensures that its legal agreements with its settlement banks state clearly -

(A) When transfers on the books of individual settlement banks are expected to occur;

(B) That transfers are final when funds are credited to the recipient's account; and

(10) Physical deliveries. A designated financial market utility that operates as a central counterparty, securities settlement system, or central securities depository clearly states its obligations with respect to the delivery of physical instruments or commodities and identifies, monitors, and manages the risks associated with such physical deliveries.

(11) Central securities depositories. A designated financial market utility that operates as a central securities depository has appropriate rules and procedures to help ensure the integrity of securities issues and minimizes and manages the risks associated with the safekeeping and transfer of securities. In this regard, the designated financial market utility maintains securities in an immobilized or dematerialized form for their transfer by book entry.

(12) Exchange-of-value settlement systems. If it settles transactions that involve the settlement of two linked obligations, such as a transfer of securities against payment or the exchange of one currency for another, the designated financial market utility eliminates principal risk by conditioning the final settlement of one obligation upon the final settlement of the other.

(13) Participant-default rules and procedures. The designated financial market utility has effective and clearly defined rules and procedures to manage a participant default that are designed to ensure that the designated financial market utility can take timely action to contain losses and liquidity pressures so that it can continue to meet its obligations. In this regard, the designated financial market utility tests and reviews its default procedures, including any closeout procedures, at least annually or following material changes to these rules and procedures.

(14) Segregation and portability. A designated financial market utility that operates as a central counterparty has rules and procedures that enable the segregation and portability of positions of a participant's customers and the collateral provided to the designated financial market utility with respect to those positions.

(15) General business risk. The designated financial market utility identifies, monitors, and manages its general business risk, which is the risk of losses that may arise from its administration and operation as a business enterprise (including losses from execution of business strategy, negative cash flows, or unexpected and excessively large operating expenses) that are neither related to participant default nor separately covered by financial resources maintained for credit or liquidity risk. In this regard, in addition to holding financial resources required to manage credit risk (paragraph (a)(4) of this section) and liquidity risk (paragraph (a)(7) of this section), the designated financial market utility -

(i) Maintains liquid net assets funded by equity that are at all times sufficient to ensure a recovery or orderly wind-down of critical operations and services such that it -

(A) Holds unencumbered liquid financial assets, such as cash or highly liquid securities, that are sufficient to cover the greater of -

(1) The cost to implement the plans to address general business losses as required under paragraph (a)(3)(iii) of this section and

(2) Six months of current operating expenses or as otherwise determined by the Board; and

(B) Holds equity, such as common stock, disclosed reserves, and other retained earnings, that is at all times greater than or equal to the amount of unencumbered liquid financial assets that are required to be held under paragraph (a)(15)(i)(A) of this section; and

(ii) Maintains a viable plan, approved by the board of directors, for raising additional equity should the designated financial market utility's equity fall below the amount required under paragraph (a)(15)(i) of this section, and updates the plan the earlier of every two years or following changes to the designated financial market utility or the environment in which it operates that would significantly affect the viability or execution of the plan.

(16) Custody and investment risks. The designated financial market utility -

(i) Safeguards its own and its participants' assets and minimizes the risk of loss on and delay in access to these assets by -

(A) Holding its own and its participants' assets at supervised and regulated entities that have accounting practices, safekeeping procedures, and internal controls that fully protect these assets; and

(B) Evaluating its exposures to its custodian banks, taking into account the full scope of its relationships with each; and

(ii) Invests its own and its participants' assets -

(A) In instruments with minimal credit, market, and liquidity risks, such as investments that are secured by, or are claims on, high-quality obligors and investments that allow for timely liquidation with little, if any, adverse price effect; and

(B) Using an investment strategy that is consistent with its overall risk-management strategy and fully disclosed to its participants.

(17) Operational risk. The designated financial market utility manages its operational risks by establishing a robust operational risk-management framework that is approved by the board of directors. In this regard, the designated financial market utility -

(i) Identifies the plausible sources of operational risk, both internal and external, and mitigates their impact through the use of appropriate systems, policies, procedures, and controls that are reviewed, audited, and tested periodically and after major changes;

(ii) Identifies, monitors, and manages the risks its operations might pose to other financial market utilities and trade repositories, if any;

(iii) Has policies and systems that are designed to achieve clearly defined objectives to ensure a high degree of security and operational reliability;

(iv) Has systems that have adequate, scalable capacity to handle increasing stress volumes and achieve the designated financial market utility's service-level objectives;

(v) Has comprehensive physical, information, and cyber security policies, procedures, and controls that address potential and evolving vulnerabilities and threats;

(vi) Has business continuity management that provides for rapid recovery and timely resumption of critical operations and fulfillment of its obligations, including in the event of a wide-scale disruption or a major disruption; and

(vii) Has a business continuity plan that -

(A) Incorporates the use of a secondary site that is located at a sufficient geographical distance from the primary site to have a distinct risk profile;

(B) Is designed to enable critical systems, including information technology systems, to recover and resume operations no later than two hours following disruptive events;

(C) Is designed to enable it to complete settlement by the end of the day of the disruption, even in case of extreme circumstances; and

(D) Is tested at least annually.

(18) Access and participation requirements. The designated financial market utility has objective, risk-based, and publicly disclosed criteria for participation, which permit fair and open access. The designated financial market utility -

(i) Monitors compliance with its participation requirements on an ongoing basis and has the authority to impose more-stringent restrictions or other risk controls on a participant in situations where the designated financial market utility determines the participant poses heightened risk to the designated financial market utility; and

(ii) Has clearly defined and publicly disclosed procedures for facilitating the suspension and orderly exit of a participant that fails to meet the participation requirements.

(19) Tiered participation arrangements. The designated financial market utility identifies, monitors, and manages the material risks arising from arrangements in which firms that are not direct participants in the designated financial market utility rely on the services provided by direct participants to access the designated financial market utility's payment, clearing, or settlement facilities, whether the risks are borne by the designated financial market utility or by its participants as a result of their participation. The designated financial market utility -

(i) Conducts an analysis to determine whether material risks arise from tiered participation arrangements;

(ii) Where material risks are identified, mitigates or manages such risks; and

(iii) Reviews and updates the analysis conducted under paragraph (a)(19)(i) of this section the earlier of every two years or following material changes to the system design or operations or the environment in which the designated financial market utility operates if those changes could affect the analysis conducted under paragraph (a)(19)(i) of this section.

(20) Links. If it operates as a central counterparty, securities settlement system, or central securities depository and establishes a link with one or more of these types of financial market utilities or trade repositories, the designated financial market utility identifies, monitors, and manages risks related to this link. In this regard, each central counterparty in a link arrangement with another central counterparty covers, at least on a daily basis, its current and potential future exposures to the linked central counterparty and its participants, if any, fully with a high degree of confidence without reducing the central counterparty's ability to fulfill its obligations to its own participants.

(21) Efficiency and effectiveness. The designated financial market utility -

(i) Is efficient and effective in meeting the requirements of its participants and the markets it serves, in particular, with regard to its -

(A) Clearing and settlement arrangement;

(B) Risk-management policies, procedures, and systems;

(D) Use of technology and communication procedures;

(ii) Has clearly defined goals and objectives that are measurable and achievable, such as minimum service levels, risk-management expectations, and business priorities; and

(iii) Has policies and procedures for the regular review of its efficiency and effectiveness.

(22) Communication procedures and standards. The designated financial market utility uses, or at a minimum accommodates, relevant internationally accepted communication procedures and standards in order to facilitate efficient payment, clearing, and settlement.

(23) Disclosure of rules, key procedures, and market data. The designated financial market utility -

(i) Has clear and comprehensive rules and procedures;

(ii) Publicly discloses all rules and key procedures, including key aspects of its default rules and procedures;

(iii) Provides sufficient information to enable participants to have an accurate understanding of the risks, fees, and other material costs they incur by participating in the designated financial market utility;

(iv) Provides a comprehensive public disclosure of its legal, governance, risk management, and operating framework, that includes -

(A) Executive summary. An executive summary of the key points from paragraphs (a)(23)(iv)(B) through (D) of this section;

(B) Summary of major changes since the last update of the disclosure. A summary of the major changes since the last update of paragraph (a)(23)(iv)(C), (D), or (E) of this section;

(1) The designated financial market utility's function and the markets it serves,

(2) Basic data and performance statistics on its services and operations, such as basic volume and value statistics by product type, average aggregate intraday exposures to its participants, and statistics on the designated financial market utility's operational reliability, and

(3) The designated financial market utility's general organization, legal and regulatory framework, and system design and operations;

(D) Standard-by-standard summary narrative. A comprehensive narrative disclosure for each applicable standard set forth in this paragraph (a) with sufficient detail and context to enable a reader to understand the designated financial market utility's approach to controlling the risks and addressing the requirements in each standard; and

(E) List of publicly available resources. A list of publicly available resources, including those referenced in the disclosure, that may help a reader understand how the designated financial market utility controls its risks and addresses the requirements set forth in this paragraph (a); and

(v) Updates the public disclosure under paragraph (a)(23)(iv) of this section the earlier of every two years or following changes to its system or the environment in which it operates that would significantly change the accuracy of the statements provided under paragraph (a)(23)(iv) of this section.

(b) The Board, by order, may apply heightened risk-management standards to a particular designated financial market utility in accordance with the risks presented by that designated financial market utility. The Board, by order, may waive the application of a standard or standards to a particular designated financial market utility where the risks presented by or the design of that designated financial market utility would make the application of the standard or standards inappropriate.

[77 FR 45919, Aug. 2, 2012, as amended at 79 FR 65558, Nov. 5, 2014]