1. This document presents one of the Basel Committee’s¹ key reforms to develop a more resilient banking sector: the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR). The objective of the LCR is to promote the short-term resilience of the liquidity risk profile of banks. It does this by ensuring that banks have an adequate stock of unencumbered high-quality liquid assets (HQLA) that can be converted easily and immediately in private markets into cash to meet their liquidity needs for a 30 calendar day liquidity stress scenario. The LCR will improve the banking sector’s ability to absorb shocks arising from financial and economic stress, whatever the source, thus reducing the risk of spillover from the financial sector to the real economy. This document sets out the LCR standard and timelines for its implementation.

2. During the early “liquidity phase” of the financial crisis that began in 2007, many banks – despite adequate capital levels – still experienced difficulties because they did not manage their liquidity in a prudent manner. The crisis drove home the importance of liquidity to the proper functioning of financial markets and the banking sector. Prior to the crisis, asset markets were buoyant and funding was readily available at low cost. The rapid reversal in market conditions illustrated how quickly liquidity can evaporate, and that illiquidity can last for an extended period of time. The banking system came under severe stress, which necessitated central bank action to support both the functioning of money markets and, in some cases, individual institutions.

3. The difficulties experienced by some banks were due to lapses in basic principles of liquidity risk management. In response, as the foundation of its liquidity framework, the Committee in 2008 published Principles for Sound Liquidity Risk Management and Supervision (“Sound Principles”).² The Sound Principles provide detailed guidance on the risk management and supervision of funding liquidity risk and should help promote better risk management in this critical area, but only if there is full implementation by banks and supervisors. As such, the Committee will continue to monitor the implementation by supervisors to ensure that banks adhere to these fundamental principles.

4. To complement these principles, the Committee has further strengthened its liquidity framework by developing two minimum standards for funding liquidity. These standards have been developed to achieve two separate but complementary objectives. The first objective is to promote short-term resilience of a bank’s liquidity risk profile by ensuring that it has sufficient HQLA to survive a significant stress scenario lasting for one month. The Committee developed the LCR to achieve this objective. The second objective is to promote resilience over a longer time horizon by creating additional incentives for banks to fund their activities with more stable sources of funding on an ongoing basis. The Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR), which is not covered by this document, supplements the LCR and has a time horizon of one year. It has been developed to provide a sustainable maturity structure of assets and liabilities.

5. These two standards are comprised mainly of specific parameters which are internationally “harmonised” with prescribed values. Certain parameters, however, contain elements of national discretion to reflect jurisdiction-specific conditions. In these cases, the parameters should be transparent and clearly outlined in the regulations of each jurisdiction to provide clarity both within the jurisdiction and internationally.

6. It should be stressed that the LCR standard establishes a minimum level of liquidity for internationally active banks. Banks are expected to meet this standard as well as adhere to the Sound Principles. Consistent with the Committee’s capital adequacy standards, national authorities may require higher minimum levels of liquidity. In particular, supervisors should be mindful that the assumptions within the LCR may not capture all market conditions or all periods of stress. Supervisors are therefore free to require additional levels of liquidity to be held, if they deem the LCR does not adequately reflect the liquidity risks that their banks face.

7. Given that the LCR is, on its own, insufficient to measure all dimensions of a bank’s liquidity profile, the Committee has also developed a set of monitoring tools to further strengthen and promote global consistency in liquidity risk supervision. These tools are supplementary to the LCR and are to be used for ongoing monitoring of the liquidity risk exposures of banks, and in communicating these exposures among home and host supervisors.

8. The Committee is introducing phase-in arrangements to implement the LCR to help ensure that the banking sector can meet the standard through reasonable measures, while still supporting lending to the economy.

9. The Committee remains firmly of the view that the LCR is an essential component of the set of reforms introduced by Basel III and, when implemented, will help deliver a more robust and resilient banking system. However, the Committee has also been mindful of the implications of the standard for financial markets, credit extension and economic growth, and of introducing the LCR at a time of ongoing strains in some banking systems. It has therefore decided to provide for a phased introduction of the LCR, in a manner similar to that of the Basel III capital adequacy requirements.

10. Specifically, the LCR will be introduced as planned on 1 January 2015, but the minimum requirement will be set at 60% and rise in equal annual steps to reach 100% on 1 January 2019. This graduated approach, coupled with the revisions made to the 2010 publication of the liquidity standards,³ are designed to ensure that the LCR can be introduced without material disruption to the orderly strengthening of banking systems or the ongoing financing of economic activity.

11. The Committee also reaffirms its view that, during periods of stress, it would be entirely appropriate for banks to use their stock of HQLA, thereby falling below the minimum. Supervisors will subsequently assess this situation and will give guidance on usability according to circumstances. Furthermore, individual countries that are receiving financial support for macroeconomic and structural reform purposes may choose a different implementation schedule for their national banking systems, consistent with the design of their broader economic restructuring programme.

12. The Committee is currently reviewing the NSFR, which continues to be subject to an observation period and remains subject to review to address any unintended consequences. It remains the Committee’s intention that the NSFR, including any revisions, will become a minimum standard by 1 January 2018.

13. This document is organised as follows:

¹ The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision consists of senior representatives of bank supervisory authorities and central banks from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. It usually meets at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland, where its permanent Secretariat is located.
² The Sound Principles are available at The BIS Website.
³ The 2010 publication is available at The BIS Website.