New Collateral Margins Table

June 29, 2016

The Federal Reserve is announcing new collateral margins for discount window lending and payment system risk purposes, effective August 1, 2016. These changes stem from the most recent review of margins and valuation practices that the Federal Reserve periodically conducts, as well as the incorporation of updated market data. The new collateral margins table can be viewed on the Discount Window & Payment System Risk website.

 

Collateral management is a central element of the Federal Reserve’s credit risk management practices. Accordingly, the Federal Reserve periodically conducts reviews of its margins and valuation practices, making adjustments as needed. The new collateral margins table announced today continues that practice.

 

There are no changes to the key principles underlying the Federal Reserve’s collateral management practices: frequent revaluation of assets, use of margins to mitigate Reserve Bank exposure to market and credit risk, use of the best available data, and periodic reassessments of model assumptions. Likewise, there are no changes to the range of assets accepted as collateral.

 

Accompanying this announcement are frequently asked questions. In addition, a high-level summary of the valuing and margining approach for discount window and payment system risk collateral is available in the Federal Reserve Collateral Guidelines.