Article 325l

1. For all general interest rate risk factors, including inflation risk and cross-currency basis risk, there shall be one bucket per currency, each containing different types of risk factor.

The delta general interest rate risk factors applicable to interest rate-sensitive instruments shall be the relevant risk-free rates per currency and per each of the following maturities: 0,25 years, 0,5 years, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, 30 years. Institutions shall assign risk factors to the specified vertices by linear interpolation or by using a method that is most consistent with the pricing functions used by the independent risk control function of the institution to report market risk or profits and losses to senior management.

2. Institutions shall obtain the risk-free rates per currency from money market instruments held in the trading book of the institution that have the lowest credit risk, such as overnight index swaps.

3. Where institutions cannot apply the approach referred to in paragraph 2, the risk-free rates shall be based on one or more market-implied swap curves used by the institution to mark positions to market, such as the interbank offered rate swap curves.

Where the data on market-implied swap curves described in paragraph 2 and the first subparagraph of this paragraph are insufficient, the risk-free rates may be derived from the most appropriate sovereign bond curve for a given currency.

Where institutions use the general interest rate risk factors derived in accordance with the procedure set out in the second subparagraph of this paragraph for sovereign debt instruments, the sovereign debt instrument shall not be exempted from the own funds requirements for credit spread risk. In those cases, where it is not possible to disentangle the risk-free rate from the credit spread component, the sensitivity to the risk factor shall be allocated both to the general interest rate risk and to credit spread risk classes.

4. In the case of general interest rate risk factors, each currency shall constitute a separate bucket. Institutions shall assign risk factors within the same bucket, but with different maturities, a different risk weight, in accordance with Section 6.
Institutions shall apply additional risk factors for inflation risk to debt instruments whose cash flows are functionally dependent on inflation rates. Those additional risk factors shall consist of one vector of market-implied inflation rates of different maturities per currency. For each instrument, the vector shall contain as many components as there are inflation rates used as variables by the institution's pricing model for that instrument.

5. Institutions shall calculate the sensitivity of the instrument to the additional risk factor for inflation risk referred to in paragraph 4 as the change in the value of the instrument, according to its pricing model, as a result of a 1 basis point shift in each of the components of the vector. Each currency shall constitute a separate bucket. Within each bucket, institutions shall treat inflation as a single risk factor, regardless of the number of components of each vector. Institutions shall offset all sensitivities to inflation within a bucket, calculated as described in this paragraph, in order to give rise to a single net sensitivity per bucket.

6. Debt instruments that involve payments in different currencies shall also be subject to cross-currency basis risk between those currencies. For the purposes of the sensitivities-based method, the risk factors to be applied by institutions shall be the cross-currency basis risk of each currency over either US dollar or euro. Institutions shall compute cross currency bases that do not relate to either basis over US dollar or basis over euro either on ‘basis over US dollar’ or ‘basis over euro’.

Each cross-currency basis risk factor shall consist of one vector of cross-currency basis of different maturities per currency. For each debt instrument, the vector shall contain as many components as there are cross-currency bases used as variables by the institution's pricing model for that instrument. Each currency shall constitute a different bucket.

Institutions shall calculate the sensitivity of the instrument to the cross-currency basis risk factor as the change in the value of the instrument, according to its pricing model, as a result of a 1 basis point shift in each of the components of the vector. Each currency shall constitute a separate bucket. Within each bucket there shall be two possible distinct risk factors: basis over euro and basis over US dollar, regardless of the number of components there are in each cross-currency basis vector. The maximum number of net sensitivities per bucket shall be two.

7. The vega general interest rate risk factors applicable to options with underlyings that are sensitive to general interest rate shall be the implied volatilities of the relevant risk-free rates as described in paragraphs 2 and 3, which shall be assigned to buckets depending on the currency and mapped to the following maturities within each bucket: 0,5 years, 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years. There shall be one bucket per currency.

For netting purposes, institutions shall consider implied volatilities linked to the same risk-free rates and mapped to the same maturities to constitute the same risk factor.

Where institutions map implied volatilities to the maturities as referred to in this paragraph, the following requirements shall apply:

(a) where the maturity of the option is aligned with the maturity of the underlying, a single risk factor shall be considered, which shall be mapped to that maturity;

(b) where the maturity of the option is shorter than the maturity of the underlying, the following risk factors shall be considered as follows:

(i) the first risk factor shall be mapped to the maturity of the option;

(ii) the second risk factor shall be mapped to the residual maturity of the underlying of the option at the expiry date of the option.

8. The curvature general interest rate risk factors to be applied by institutions shall consist of one vector of risk-free rates, representing a specific risk-free yield curve, per currency. Each currency shall constitute a different bucket. For each instrument, the vector shall contain as many components as there are different maturities of risk-free rates used as variables by the institution's pricing model for that instrument.

9. Institutions shall calculate the sensitivity of the instrument to each risk factor used in the curvature risk formula in accordance with Article 325g. For the purposes of the curvature risk, institutions shall consider vectors corresponding to different yield curves and with a different number of components as the same risk factor, provided that those vectors correspond to the same currency. Institutions shall offset sensitivities to the same risk factor. There shall be only one net sensitivity per bucket.

There shall be no curvature risk own funds requirements for inflation and cross currency basis risks.