To comply with the requirement of Pillar II of the Basel Accord, BBVA carries out the internal capital adequacy assessment process in accordance with the supervisor’s guidelines.
The Group’s budgeting process is where it makes the calculations both for economic capital at risk allocated by the different business areas and for the regulatory capital base.
Economic capital is calculated by internal models that collect the historical data existing in the Group and calculate the capital necessary for pursuit of the activity adjusted for risks inherent to it. These calculations include additional risks to those contemplated in regulatory Pillar I.
The following points are assessed within the internal capital adequacy assessment process:
- Systems of risk governance, management and control: Review of the corporate risk management culture, Internal Audit and capital governance. The BBVA Group has developed a system of corporate governance that is in line with the best international practices and adapted it to the requirements of the regulators in the country in which its different units operate.
- The Group’s risk profile: Measurement of the risks (including credit, operational, market, liquidity and other asset and liability risks) and quantification of the capital necessary to cover them. The analysis and valuation of the Bank’s risk profile is supported by a description of the current situation and projections by type of risk described. The valuation is supported by both quantitative data and qualitative factors.
- Capital resources target: Capital distribution between the Group’s companies and the targets set for it. The capital management policies designed to comply with these objectives include: regular estimates of capital needs; continuous management of the capital structure; and concentration of the capital surpluses in the Group’s parent.
- Capital planning: A projection is made of the Group’s capital base and that of the parent company and its main subsidiaries for the next three years and capital sufficiency is analyzed in accordance with the regulatory requirements and objectives set by the Bank at the end of the period.
Furthermore, a stress test is performed using a scenario in which macroeconomic values are estimated for an environment of greater economic downturn than the one budgeted, as determined by BBVA Research, and the consequences of this on the Group’s activity (increased NPA, lower activity levels, higher volatility in the financial markets, falls in the stock market, operating losses, liquidity crises, etc.) and its impact on the capital base (earnings, reserves, capacity to issue equity instruments, allowances, risk-weighted assets, etc.).
Estimations are also made on the possible cyclical nature of the models used. The stress scenarios cover recession situations in sufficiently long periods (20-30 years). Finally, backtesting is carried out on the data presented for the previous year.
- Future action program: If the conclusions of the report so require, corrective actions are programmed that enable the Bank’s equity situation to be optimized in view of the risks analyzed. The main programs for future action are focused on models of: credit risk, operational risk, market risk, real-estate risk and integration in management.
This process concludes with a document which is made available to the supervisor every year, for supervision of the targets and the action plan presented, enabling a dialog to be set up between the Supervisor and the Group concerning capital and solvency.