Tighter norms for NBFC off-balance sheet exposure

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revised capital adequacy norms for non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), to improve their capacity and help manage off-balance sheet exposure.

NBFCs would now have to set aside capital (for off-balance credit exposures) by calculating the risk-weighted amount of both market-related and non-market related items.

The regulatory framework is being expanded to have greater granularity in the risk weights and credit conversion factors for different types of off-balance sheet items. Off-balance sheet exposures of NBFCs have grown with increased participation in designated currency options and futures and interest rate futures, as clients take to hedging their underlying exposures.

RBI has said NBFCs could participate in the credit default swaps (CDS) market only as users. As users, these can buy credit protection to hedge credit risks on the corporate bonds they hold. These are barred from selling protection and, hence, not permitted to enter short positions in CDS contracts.

These are allo-wed to exit their CDS positions by unwinding these with the original counterparty or by assigning these in favour of the buyer of the underlying bonds.

RBI said asset liability management for NBFCs had become complex and large, requiring strategic management with a greater use of derivatives.

In the normal course of their business, NBFCs are exposed to credit and market risks due to asset-liability transformation, given Indian markets are now more integrated with global ones.