(a) Liquidity policy -
(1) Board responsibility. The board of each Farm Credit bank must adopt a written liquidity policy. The liquidity policy must be compatible with the investment management policies that the bank's board adopts pursuant to § 615.5133 of this part. At least once every year, the bank's board must review its liquidity policy, assess the sufficiency of its liquidity policy, and make any revisions it deems necessary. The board of each Farm Credit bank must ensure that adequate internal controls are in place so that management complies with and carries out this liquidity policy.
(2) Policy content. At a minimum, the liquidity policy of each Farm Credit bank must address:
(i) The purpose and objectives of the liquidity reserve;
(ii) Diversification requirements for the liquidity reserve portfolio;
(iii) The target amount of days of liquidity that the bank needs based on its business model and risk profile;
(iv) Delegations of authority pertaining to the liquidity reserve; and
(v) Reporting requirements, which at a minimum must require management to report to the board at least once every quarter about compliance with the bank's liquidity policy and the performance of the liquidity reserve portfolio. However, management must report any deviation from the bank's liquidity policy, or failure to meet the board's liquidity targets to the board before the end of the quarter if such deviation or failure has the potential to cause material loss to the bank.
(b) Liquidity reserve requirement. Each Farm Credit bank must maintain at all times a liquidity reserve sufficient to fund at least 90 days of the principal portion of maturing obligations and other borrowings of the bank. At a minimum, each Farm Credit Bank must hold instruments in its liquidity reserve listed and discounted in the Table below that are sufficient to cover:
(1) Days 1 through 15 only with Level 1 instruments;
(2) Days 16 through 30 only with Level 1 and Level 2 instruments; and
(3) Days 31 through 90 with Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 instruments.
| Liquidity level | Instruments | Discount (multiply by) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | • Cash, including cash due from traded but not yet settled debt | 100 percent | |
| • Overnight money market investment | 100 percent | ||
| • Obligations of U.S. Government agencies with a final remaining maturity of 3 years or less | 97 percent | ||
| • GSE senior debt securities that mature within 60 days, excluding securities issued by the Farm Credit System | 95 percent | ||
| • Diversified investment funds comprised exclusively of Level 1 instruments | 95 percent | ||
| Level 2 | • Obligations of U.S. Government agencies with a final remaining maturity of more than 3 years | 97 percent | |
| • MBS that are fully guaranteed by a U.S. Government agency as to the timely repayment of principal and interest | 95 percent | ||
| • Diversified investment funds comprised exclusively of Levels 1 and 2 instruments | 95 percent | ||
| Level 3 | • GSE senior debt securities with maturities exceeding 60 days, excluding senior debt securities of the Farm Credit System | 93 percent for all Level 3 instruments | |
| • MBS that are fully guaranteed by a GSE as to the timely repayment of principal and interest | |||
| • Money market instruments maturing within 90 days | |||
| • Diversified investment funds comprised exclusively of levels 1, 2, and 3 instruments |
(c) Unencumbered. All investments that a Farm Credit bank holds in its liquidity reserve and supplemental liquidity buffer in accordance with this section must be unencumbered. For the purpose of this section, an investment is unencumbered if it is free of lien, and it is not explicitly or implicitly pledged to secure, collateralize, or enhance the credit of any transaction. Additionally, an unencumbered investment held in the liquidity reserve cannot be used as a hedge against interest rate risk if liquidation of that particular investment would expose the bank to a material risk of loss.
(d) Marketable. All investments that a Farm Credit bank holds in its liquidity reserve in accordance with this section must be readily marketable. For the purposes of this section, an investment is marketable if it:
(1) Can be easily and quickly converted into cash with little or no loss in value;
(2) Exhibits low credit and market risks;
(3) Has ease and certainty of valuation; and
(4) Except for money market instruments, can be easily bought and sold in active and sizeable markets without significantly affecting prices.
(e) Supplemental liquidity buffer. Each Farm Credit bank must hold supplemental liquid assets in excess of the 90-day minimum liquidity reserve. The supplemental liquidity buffer must be comprised of cash and qualified eligible investments authorized by § 615.5140 of this part. A Farm Credit bank must be able to liquidate any qualified eligible investment in its supplemental liquidity buffer within the liquidity policy timeframe established in the bank's liquidity policy at no less than 80 percent of its book value. A Farm Credit bank must remove from its supplemental liquidity buffer any investment that has, at any time, a market value that is less than 80 percent of its book value. Each investment in the supplemental liquidity buffer that has a market value of at least 80 percent of its book value, but does not qualify for Levels 1, 2, or 3 of the liquidity reserve, must be discounted to (multiplied by) 90 percent of its market value. The amount of supplemental liquidity that each Farm Credit bank holds, at minimum, must meet the requirements of its board's liquidity policy, provide excess liquidity beyond the days covered by the liquidity reserve, and satisfy the applicable portions of the bank's CFP in accordance with paragraph (f).
(f) Contingency Funding Plan (CFP). The board of each Farm Credit bank must adopt a CFP to ensure sources of liquidity are sufficient to fund normal operations under a variety of stress events. Such stress events include, but are not limited to market disruptions, rapid increase in loan demand, unexpected draws on unfunded commitments, difficulties in renewing or replacing funding with desired terms and structures, requirements to pledge collateral with counterparties, and reduced market access. Each Farm Credit bank must maintain an adequate level of unencumbered and marketable assets in its liquidity reserve that can be converted into cash to meet its net liquidity needs for 30 days based on estimated cash inflows and outflows under an acute stress scenario. The board of directors must review and approve the CFP at least once every year and make adjustments to reflect changes in the bank's risk profile and market conditions. The CFP must:
(1) Be customized to the financial condition and liquidity risk profile of the bank and the board's liquidity risk tolerance policy.
(2) Identify funding alternatives that the Farm Credit bank can implement whenever access to funding is impeded, which must include, at a minimum, arrangements for pledging collateral to secure funding and possible initiatives to raise additional capital.
(3) Require periodic stress testing that analyzes the possible effects on the bank's cash inflows and outflows, liquidity position, profitability and solvency under a variety of stress scenarios.
(4) Establish a process for managing events that imperil the bank's liquidity, and assign appropriate personnel and implement executable action plans that carry out the CFP.
[78 FR 23455, Apr. 18, 2013; 78 FR 26701, May 8, 2013, as amended at 83 FR 27501, June 12, 2018]