CA-5.1.1

"Market risk" is defined as the risk of losses in on- and off-balance sheet positions arising from movements in market prices. The risks that are subject to the market risk capital requirement are:

³⁵ An equity position treated under "equity exposures in the banking book" is dealt with under the credit risk, as set out in Paragraphs CA-4.8.7 to CA-4.8.15.

CA-5.1.2

A trading book consists of positions in financial instruments, foreign exchange and commodities and inventories held either with trading intent or in order to hedge other elements of the trading book. To be eligible for trading book capital treatment, financial instruments must be free of any restrictions on their tradability. In addition, positions must be frequently and accurately valued, and the portfolio must be actively managed. Open equity stakes in Shari'a compliant hedge funds, private equity investments and real estate holdings do not meet the definition of the trading book, owing to significant constraints on the ability of banks to liquidate these positions and value them reliably on a daily basis. Such holdings must therefore be held in the Islamic bank licensee's banking book and treated as equity holding in corporates, except real estate which must be treated as per Paragraph CA-4.2.27 and Chapter CA-9 of this Module.

CA-5.1.3

A financial instrument is any contract that gives rise to both a financial asset of one entity and a financial liability or equity instrument of another entity. Financial instruments include both primary financial instruments (or cash instruments) and forward financial instruments.

CA-5.1.4

A financial asset is any asset that is cash, the right to receive cash or another financial asset; or the contractual right to exchange financial assets on potentially favourable terms, or an equity instrument. A financial liability is the contractual obligation to deliver cash or another financial asset or to exchange financial liabilities under conditions that are potentially unfavourable.

CA-5.1.5

Trading positions are defined as those positions of a bank that are held for short -term resale and/or with the intent of benefiting from actual or expected short-term price movements or to lock in arbitrage profits, and may include for example proprietary positions, positions arising from client servicing (e.g. matched principal broking) and market making. Islamic bank licensees must have clearly outlined policies and procedures for including or not including any position in the trading book for purposes of calculating their regulatory capital requirement, to ensure compliance with the criteria for trading book set forth in this section and taking into account the Islamic bank licensee's risk management capabilities and practices. Such policies must be commensurate with the Islamic bank licensee's capabilities and capacities for risk management. The Islamic bank licensee must have well-documented procedures to comply with stated policies, which must be fully documented and subject to periodic internal audit.

CA-5.1.6

Policies and procedures must, at a minimum, address the following:

The list above is not intended to provide a series of tests that a product or group of related products must pass to be eligible for inclusion in the trading book. Rather, the list provides a minimum set of key points that must be addressed by the policies and procedures for overall management of an Islamic bank licensee's trading book.

CA-5.1.7

The basic requirements for positions eligible to receive trading book capital treatment are:

CA-5.1.8

This Section provides Islamic bank licensees with guidance on prudent valuation for positions that are accounted for at fair value, whether they are in the trading book or in the banking book. This guidance is especially important for positions without actual market prices or observable inputs to valuation, as well as less liquid positions which, although they will not be excluded from the trading book solely on grounds of lesser liquidity, raise CBB's concerns about prudent valuation.

CA-5.1.8.A

Positions in the Islamic bank licensee's own eligible regulatory capital instruments are deducted from capital. Positions in other banks', securities firms', and other financial entities' eligible regulatory capital instruments, as well as intangible assets, are subject to the same treatment as that set down by the CBB for such assets held in the banking book (see Chapter CA-2 of this Module).

CA-5.1.9

The valuation guidance set forth below is not intended to require Islamic bank licensees to change valuation procedures for financial reporting purposes. The CBB will assess an Islamic bank licensee's valuation procedures for consistency with this guidance. One factor in the CBB's assessment of whether an Islamic bank licensee must take a valuation adjustment for regulatory purposes under Paragraphs CA-5.1.18.A to CA-5.1.20 is the degree of consistency between the Islamic bank licensee's valuation procedures and these guidelines.

CA-5.1.9A

A framework for prudent valuation practices must at a minimum include the requirements outlined in this Section.

CA-5.1.10

Islamic bank licensees must have robust systems and controls, with documented policies and procedures for the valuation process. These systems must be integrated with the Islamic bank licensees' enterprise risk management processes and must have the ability to give confidence to the CBB and management regarding the reliability of the valuations. These policies and procedures must include: (a) clearly defined responsibilities of the personnel and departments involved in the valuation; (b) sources of market information, and review of their reliability; (c) frequency of independent valuations; (d) timing of closing prices; (e) procedures for adjusting valuations between periods; (f) ad-hoc verification procedures; and (g) reporting lines for the valuation department that must be independent of the front office. Such policies and procedures must also take into consideration compliance with IFRS or AAOIFI accounting standards as applicable and CBB requirements.

Marking to Market

Marking to Model

CA-5.1.15

Independent price verification is distinct from daily mark-to-market. It is the process by which market prices or model inputs are regularly verified for accuracy. While daily marking-to-market may be performed by dealers, verification of market prices or model inputs must be performed by a unit independent of the dealing room, at least monthly (or, depending on the nature of the market/trading activity, more frequently). It need not be performed as frequently as daily mark-to-market, since the objective, i.e. independent, marking of positions, should reveal any error or bias in pricing, which should result in the elimination of inaccurate daily marks.

CA-5.1.16

Independent price verification entails a higher standard of accuracy in that the market prices or model inputs are used to determine profit and loss figures, whereas daily marks are used primarily for management reporting in between reporting dates. For independent price verification, where pricing sources are more subjective, e.g. only one available broker quote, prudent measures such as valuation adjustments may be appropriate.

CA-5.1.17

As part of their procedures for marking to market, Islamic bank licensees must establish and maintain procedures for considering valuation adjustments. Islamic bank licensees using third-party valuations must consider whether valuation adjustments are necessary. Such considerations are also necessary when marking to model.

CA-5.1.18

Islamic bank licensees must consider the following valuation adjustments/reserves at a minimum: unearned profit, close-out costs, operational risks, early termination, investing and funding costs, and future administrative costs and, where appropriate, model risk.

CA-5.1.18.A

Islamic bank licensees must establish and maintain procedures for judging the necessity of and calculating an adjustment to the current valuation of less liquid positions for regulatory capital purposes. This adjustment may be in addition to any changes to the value of the position required for financial reporting purposes and must be designed to reflect the illiquidity of the position. Islamic bank licensees must consider the need for an adjustment to a position's valuation to reflect current illiquidity whether the position is marked to market using market prices or observable inputs, third-party valuations or marked to model.

CA-5.1.19

Bearing in mind that the underlying 10-day assumptions made about liquidity in the market risk capital charge may not be consistent with the Islamic bank licensee's ability to sell or hedge out less liquid positions, where appropriate, Islamic bank licensees must take an adjustment to the current valuation of these positions, and review their continued appropriateness on an on-going basis. Reduced liquidity may have arisen from market events. Additionally, close-out prices for concentrated positions and/or stale positions must be considered in establishing the adjustments. Islamic bank licensees must consider all relevant factors when determining the appropriateness of the adjustments for less liquid positions. These factors may include, but are not limited to, the amount of time it would take to hedge out the position/risks within the position, the average volatility of bid/offer spreads, the availability of independent market quotes (number and identity of market makers), the average and volatility of trading volumes (including trading volumes during periods of market stress), market concentrations, the aging of positions, the extent to which valuation relies on marking-to-model, and the impact of other model risks not included in Paragraph CA-5.1.18.A.

CA-5.1.20

The adjustment to the current valuation of less liquid positions made under Paragraph CA-5.1.19 must impact Tier 1 regulatory capital and may exceed those valuation adjustments made under financial reporting standards and Paragraphs CA-5.1.17 and CA-5.1.18.

CA-5.3.1

The minimum capital requirement for equities is expressed in terms of two separately calculated charges, one relating to the "specific risk" of holding a long position in an individual equity, and the other to the "general market risk" of holding a long position in the market as a whole. Where the bank has invested in shares/units of equity funds on Mudaraba financing and the bank has direct exposures in the equities which are traded in a recognised stock exchange, the shares/units are considered to be subject to equity risk. The equity position would be considered to be the net asset value as at the reporting date.

CA-5.3.2

Specific risk is defined as the Islamic bank licensee's gross equity positions (i.e. the sum of all equity positions) and is calculated for each country or equity market. For each national market in which the Islamic bank licensee holds equities, it must sum the market values of its individual net positions irrespective of whether they are long or short positions, to produce the overall gross equity position for that market.

CA-5.3.3

The capital charge for specific risk is 8%.

CA-5.3.4

[This Paragraph was deleted in January 2012]

CA-5.3.5

The general market risk is calculated by first determining the difference between the sum of the long positions and the sum of the short positions (i.e. the overall net position) in each national equity market. In other words, to calculate the general market risk, the Islamic bank licensee must sum the market value of its individual net positions for each national market, taking into account whether the positions are long or short.

CA-5.3.6

The general market equity risk measure is 8% of the overall net position in each national market.

CA-5.4.2

The capital charge for specific risk covers the possibility of an adverse movement in the price of a Sukūk held for trading due to factors related to an individual issuer. Offsetting is restricted only to matched positions in the identical issues. No offsetting will be permitted between different issues even if the issuer is the same, since differences in features of Sukūk with respect to profit rates, liquidity and call features, etc. would imply that prices may diverge in the short run. In the case of Sukuk in the trading book, the specific risk charge must be provided on the RW of the issue and the term to maturity of the Sukuk, as follows:

CA-5.4.3

The general market risk must be provided on the residual term to maturity or to the next repricing date, using either a simplified form of the Maturity Method on the net positions in each time-band in accordance with the table below or the Duration Method shown in Paragraph CA-5.4.3A:

CA-5.4.3A

With the CBB's prior written approval, an Islamic bank licensee with the necessary capability may use the more accurate "duration" method. This method calculates the price sensitivity of each position of Sukuk held separately. This method must be used consistently by an Islamic bank licensee, unless a change is approved by the CBB. The steps involved in the calculation using this method are outlined in Paragraphs CA-5.4.3B to CA-5.4.3D.

CA-5.4.3B

Calculate the price sensitivity of each Sukuk position (called "weighted positions") in terms of a change in profit rates between 0.6 and 1 percentage points depending on the maturity of the Sukuk and subject to supervisory guidance. Slot the resulting sensitivity measures into a duration-based ladder with 13 time bands as set out in Table 1 below. Subject long positions in each time band to a 5% vertical disallowance on the smaller of offsetting positions (i.e. a matched position) in each time band.

Table 1 Duration Method: Time Bands and Assumed Changes in Yield

CA-5.4.3C

From the results of the above calculations, two sets of weighted positions — the net long position in each time band — are produced. The maturity ladder is then divided into three zones, as follows: zone 1, 0–1 year; zone 2, >1–4 years; and zone 3, >4 years. Islamic bank licensees are required to conduct two further rounds of offsetting: (i) between the net time band positions in each of the three zones; and (ii) between the net positions across the three different zones (i.e. between adjacent zones and non-adjacent zones). The residual net positions are then carried forward and offset against opposite positions in other zones when calculating net positions between zones 2 and 3, and 1 and 3. The offsetting is subject to a scale of disallowances (horizontal disallowances) expressed as a fraction of matched position, subject to a second set of disallowance factors (Table 2).

Table 2 Duration Method: Horizontal Disallowances

CA-5.4.3D

The general market risk capital charge is the aggregation of three charges: net position, vertical disallowances and horizontal disallowances (Table 3 below).

Table 3 General Risk Capital Charge Calculation

CA-5.4.4

In the case of equity investments made by means of a Musharakah or a Mudarabah contract where the underlying assets are commodities, the market risk provisions for commodities, as described in Sections CA-5.5, CA-3.6 (Musharakah) and CA-3.7 (Mudarabah) are applicable.

CA-5.5.1

This Section describes the standardised method for calculation of the Islamic bank licensee's foreign exchange risk, and the capital required against that risk. An Islamic bank licensee which holds net open positions (whether long or short) in foreign currencies is exposed to the risk that exchange rates may move against it.

CA-5.5.2

The measurement of the foreign exchange risk involves, as a first step, the calculation of the net open position in each individual currency including gold and silver using the closing mid-market spot rate and as a second step, the measurement of the risks inherent in the bank's mix of assets and liabilities positions in different currencies.

CA-5.5.3

An Islamic bank licensee that holds net open positions (whether assets or liabilities) in foreign currencies is exposed to the risk that exchange rates may move against it. The open positions may be either trading positions or, simply, exposures caused by the Islamic bank licensee's overall assets and liabilities.

CA-5.5.4

The open positions and the capital requirements are calculated at the closing mid-market spot rate with reference to the entire business (i.e. the banking and trading books).

CA-5.5.5

The open positions are calculated with reference to the Islamic bank licensee's base currency, which will be either Bahraini Dinars (BD) or United States dollars (USD).

CA-5.5.6

In addition to foreign exchange risk, positions in foreign currencies may be subject to counterparty credit risk which must be treated separately as shown in Appendix CA-2. For the purposes of calculating "Foreign Exchange Risk" only, positions in those GCC currencies which are pegged to US$, is treated as positions in US$.

CA-5.5.7

An Islamic bank licensee doing negligible business in foreign currencies and which does not take foreign exchange positions for its own account may, at the discretion of the CBB and as evidenced by the CBB's prior written approval, be exempted from calculating the capital requirements on these positions. The CBB is likely to be guided by the following criteria in deciding to grant exemption to any Islamic bank licensee:

CA-5.5.8

The criteria listed above are only intended to be guidelines, and a bank will not automatically qualify for exemptions upon meeting them. Islamic bank licensees doing negligible foreign currency business, which do not take foreign exchange positions for the Islamic bank licensee's own account, and wish to seek exemption from foreign exchange risk capital requirements, should submit an application to the CBB, in writing. The CBB will have the discretion to grant such exemptions. The CBB may also, at its discretion, fix a minimum capital requirement for an Islamic bank licensee that is exempted from calculating its foreign exchange risk capital requirement, to cover the risks inherent in its foreign currency business.

CA-5.5.9

The CBB may, at a future date, revoke an exemption granted to an Islamic bank licensee, if the CBB is convinced that the conditions on which the exemption was granted no longer exist.

CA-5.5.10

An Islamic bank licensee's exposure to foreign exchange risk in any currency is its net open position in that currency, which is calculated by summing the following items:

CA-5.5.11

For calculating the net open position in gold or silver, the Islamic bank licensee must first express the net position (spot plus forward) in terms of the standard unit of measurement (i.e. ounces or grams) and then convert it at the current spot rate into the reporting or base currency.

CA-5.5.12

Where gold or silver are part of a forward contract (i.e. quantity of gold or silver to be received or to be delivered), any foreign currency exposure from the other leg of the contract must be reported.

CA-5.5.13

Positions of a structural nature (i.e. non-trading), may be excluded from the calculation of the net open currency positions. These may include:

CA-5.5.14

The CBB will consider approving the exclusion of the above positions for the purpose of calculating the capital requirement, only if each of the following conditions is met:

CA-5.5.15

The net position in each currency is converted at the spot rate, into the reporting currency. The overall net open position must be measured by aggregating the following:

CA-5.5.16

Where the parent bank is assessing its foreign exchange on a consolidated basis, it may be technically impractical in the case of some marginal operations to include the currency positions of a foreign branch or subsidiary of the concerned bank. In such cases, the internal limit for that branch/subsidiary, in each currency, may be used as a proxy for the positions. The branch/subsidiary limits should be added, without regard to sign, to the net open position in each currency involved. When this simplified approach to the treatment of currencies with marginal operations is adopted, the Islamic bank licensee should adequately monitor the actual positions of the branch/subsidiary against the limits, and revise the limits, if necessary, based on the results of the ex-post monitoring.

CA-5.5.17

The capital charge is 8% of the overall net open foreign currency position as calculated in Paragraph CA-5.5.15.

CA-5.5.18

The table below illustrates the calculation of the overall net open foreign currency position and the capital charge:

Example of the calculation of the foreign exchange overall net open position and the capital charge

The capital charge is 8% of the higher of either the sum of the net long currency positions or the sum of the net short positions (i.e. 370) and of the net position in gold and/or silver (i.e. 50) = 420 @ 8% = 33.6

CA-5.6.1

This Section sets out the minimum capital requirements to cover the risk of holding or taking positions in commodities, including precious metals, but excluding gold and silver (which is treated as a foreign currency according to the methodology explained in section CA-5.5) as well as the inventory risk which results from a bank holding assets with a view to reselling or leasing them. A commodity is defined as a physical product which is and can be traded on a secondary market — for example, agricultural products, minerals (including oil) and precious metals. Inventory risk is defined as arising from holding items in inventory either for resale under a Murabahah contract, or with a view to leasing under an Ijara contract. In the case of inventory risk, the simplified approach described in Paragraph CA-5.6.13 is applied.

CA-5.6.2

The commodities position risk and the capital charges are calculated with reference to the entire business of a bank (i.e. the banking and trading books combined). Furthermore, the funding of commodities positions may well open an Islamic bank licensee to foreign exchange risk which should be captured within the measurement framework set out in Section CA-5.5.

CA-5.6.3

The price risk in commodities is often more complex and volatile than that associated with currencies. Banks need to guard against the risk that arises when a liability (i.e. in a Parallel Salam transaction) position falls due before the asset position (i.e. a failure associated with or delay in the Salam contract). Owing to a shortage of liquidity in some markets, it might be difficult to close the Parallel Salam position and the bank might be "squeezed by the market". All these commodity market characteristics can result in price transparency and the effective management of risk.

CA-5.6.4

All contracts (Salam, Musharakah, Mudarabah or Commodity Murabahah) involving commodities as defined in Sections CA-3.3, CA-3.6, CA-3.7 and CA-3.11 are subject to commodities risk and a capital charge as per the relevant provisions must be computed.

CA-5.6.5

Commodities risk can be measured using either the maturity ladder approach or the simplified approach for the purpose of calculating the capital charge for commodities risk. Islamic bank licensees must notify the CBB of which approach they propose to follow. This is for reporting purposes on the form PIR. An Islamic bank licensee which proposes to use the maturity ladder approach will not be allowed to revert to the simplified approach without the prior approval of the CBB.

CA-5.6.6

Under both approaches, Islamic bank licensees must first express each commodity position (e.g. Salam and Parallel Salam) in terms of the standard unit of measurement (i.e. barrels, kilograms, grams, etc.). Assets and liabilities positions in a commodity are reported on a net basis for the purpose of calculating the net open position in that commodity. For markets which have daily delivery dates, any contracts maturing within ten days of one another may be offset. The net position in each commodity is then converted, at spot rates, into the Islamic bank licensee's reporting currency.

CA-5.6.7

Positions in different commodities³⁶ cannot be offset for the purpose of calculating the open-positions as described in Paragraph CA-5.6.6 except in the following instances:

³⁶ Commodities can be grouped into clans, families, sub-groups and individual commodities; for example, a clan might be Energy Commodities, within which Hydro-carbons is a family, with Crude Oil being a subgroup, and West Texas Intermediate, Arabian Light and Brent being individual commodities.

CA-5.6.8

Islamic bank licensees, which wish to net positions based on correlation (in the manner discussed in Subparagraph CA-5.6.7(c)), must satisfy the CBB of the accuracy of the method which they propose to adopt.

CA-5.6.9

A worked example of the maturity ladder approach is set out in Appendix CA-13 and the table in Paragraph CA-5.6.10 illustrates the maturity time-bands of the maturity ladder for each commodity.

CA-5.6.10

The steps in the calculation of the commodities risk by the maturity ladder approach are:

³⁷ Instruments, where the maturity is on the boundary of two maturity time-bands, should be placed into the earlier maturity band. For example, instruments with a maturity of exactly one-year are placed into the 6 to 12 months time-band.

CA-5.6.11

After the two steps in Paragraph CA-5.6.10 are completed, the residual (or unmatched) net positions from nearer time-bands are then carried forward to offset opposite positions (i.e. asset against liability and vice versa) in time bands that are further out. However, a surcharge of 0.6% of the net position carried forward is added in respect of each time-band that the net position is carried forward, to recognise that such management of positions between different time-bands is imprecise. This surcharge is in addition to the capital charge calculated in Paragraph CA-5.6.10 for each matched amount created by carrying net positions forward.

CA-5.6.12

Any net position at the end of the carrying forward and offsetting processes described in Paragraphs CA-5.6.10 and CA-5.6.11 attract a capital charge of 15%.

CA-5.6.12A

Although there are differences in volatility between different commodities, only one uniform capital charge for open positions in all commodities applies in the interest of simplicity.

CA-5.6.13

Under the simplified approach as applied to commodities, the net position, long or short, in each commodity requires a capital charge of 15% to cater for directional risk plus an additional capital charge of 3% of the gross positions — that is, long plus short positions — to cater for basis risk. The capital charge of 15% applies to assets held by Islamic bank licensees in inventory with a view to resale or lease.

CA-5.6.14

For Istisna work-in-process (WIP), WIP inventory belonging to the Islamic bank licensee must attract a capital charge of 8% (equivalent to a 100% RW). In the case of the balance of unbilled WIP inventory under Istisna` without parallel Istisna`, in addition to the RW for credit risk a capital charge of 1.6% is applied (equivalent to a 20% RW) to cater for market risk exposure.

CA-5.6.15

The funding of a commodities position that exposes the Islamic bank licensee to foreign exchange exposure is also subject to a capital charge as measured under foreign exchange risk (refer to Section CA-5.5).