Fitch: Large Brazilian Banks Hold Good Liquidity to Meet LCR

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Liquid holdings for Brazil's top banks are well positioned to meet the requirements of liquidity coverage ratios (LCRs), says Fitch Ratings. All banks in Brazil with assets of BRL100 billion or higher will begin reporting their LCRs with year-end 2015 results.

As of June 2015, 10 eligible banks are required to report their LCRs. They include three government-owned banks (Banco do Brasil, Caixa Economica Federal, and BNDES), three large retail banks (Itau Unibanco, Banco Bradesco and Banco Santander Brasil), two wholesale funded banks (Banco Safra and Banco Votorantim), Banco BTG Pactual and HSBC Bank Brasil (recently acquired by Banco Bradesco). The minimum requirements for the LCR, a ratio of high-quality liquid assets to liquidity needs for a 30-day stress scenario, will be phased in by 10% every year from the starting level of 60%, until the 100% requirement is reached in 2019. Fitch believes that each of these banks will meet the 100% coverage requirement in the first year of the rule's implementation. Each bank is also highly diversified, financially stable and, with the exception of BNDES, primarily retail-deposit funded. In addition, each benefits from having ample access to both international and domestic capital markets.

One key measure supporting Fitch's view of the strong liquidity in the system is the ratio of cash plus other liquid assets over customer deposits. For the banks that must meet this requirement, the ratio improved to 182% in June 2015, up from 147% a year ago. A challenging operating environment has forced banks to adopt a more conservative stance toward borrowers, thus resulting in slowing loan growth while more than offsetting outflows of savings, time and demand deposits. We expect Brazilian banks to continue accepting weaker loan growth in favor of greater excess liquidity at least for the near term, while economic conditions likely remain sluggish.

After several liquidity shortfalls at small and midsize banks from 2008 to 2010, Brazil's central bank (BCB) made concerted efforts to improve banks' access to funding sources through time deposits covered by the Credit Guarantor Fund's insurance scheme (DPGE I and DPGE II), letras financeiras, letras de credito imobiliarias and letras de credito do agronegocio. The successful development of a market for these instruments has allowed banks to lengthen the tenor of their funding bases to add more excess liquidity to their financial profiles. The instruments are an important component for preventing reoccurrences of previous shortfalls. Their growth is another contributor to the top Brazilian banks' solid liquidity positions as 2016 approaches.

The LCR requirement is in line with the BCB agenda of complying with international Basel III standards. LCR disclosures will increase transparency between large Brazilian banks and banks in other systems. Other Latin American peers are also aligned with the new recommendation. Argentina's central bank began enforcing the LCR for large institutions in 2015. And Mexico began applying LCR rules to large banks in June 2015, though small Mexican banks have until January 2016 to begin compliance.

The above article originally appeared as a post on the Fitch Wire credit market commentary page. The original article can be accessed at www.fitchratings.com. All opinions expressed are those of Fitch Ratings.

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View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151118005966/en/

Fitch Ratings
Raphael Nascimento
Associate Director
Financial Institutions
Sao Paulo, Brazil
+55 11 3957 3664
or
Matthew Noll, CFA
Senior Director
Financial Institutions Fitch Wire
New York
+1 212 908 0652
or
Media Relations:
Alyssa Castelli, New York, +1 212-908-0540
Email: [email protected]

Source: Fitch Ratings

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