After completing a public consultation process, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) is releasing an updated final version of Guideline B-5: Asset Securitization, the regulator announced Monday.
The guideline for federally-regulated insures has been updated to reflect the effects of the global financial crisis and the Basel capital rules on the securitization market, OSFI says in a letter to insurance companies.
OSFI’s objective with the revised guideline is to “ensure that the guideline remains up-to-date, relevant and applicable to asset securitization transactions that insurers might realistically be expected to enter into,” the regulator says in its guideline impact analysis statement.
Revisions “incorporate operational and qualitative requirements” issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision with the development of the latest capital adequacy framework for banks, known as Basel III. “They also update the capital treatment applicable to insurers that invest in securitizations (for example by revising the capital treatment of certain unrated senior tranches), and that sponsor securitizations (for example by specifying the treatment of gains on sale).”
The draft guideline was issued for public consultation in September 2018, which prompted some changes. It takes effect on Jan. 1, 2019.