New rules for calculating professional market participants’ capital adequacy ratio
From 1 October 2025, the Bank of Russia plans to introduce new requirements for the procedure applied by professional securities market participants to calculate the capital adequacy ratio (CAR).
Specifically, the regulator will adjust the methodology for assessing credit risk in relation to brokerage clients’ positions. In particular, this indicator was previously calculated only for investors with a special risk level, whereas the updated rules require its calculation for clients with an initial, standard or elevated risk level. This will help professional market participants assess their clients’ risks more accurately.
The Bank of Russia will also set additional requirements for the calculation of professional market participants’ credit risk. Namely, it will be prohibited to use a debtor’s securities and assets of persons related to the debtor as collateral for obligations. In addition, the new rules establish a limit on using increased credit ratings.
It is proposed to classify digital rights as a separate asset taken into account in the CAR calculation.
Furthermore, to reduce the operational burden on professional market participants, the Bank of Russia will simplify the rules for setting credit risk rates in relation to counterparties and brokerage clients.