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AI Summary of Article 328 Interest rate futures and forwards

This document outlines the treatment of interest-rate futures, forward-rate agreements (FRAs), and forward commitments relating to debt instruments for regulatory compliance. Long positions in interest-rate futures are characterised as a combination of borrowing and holding an underlying asset, while sold FRAs are viewed as both a long and short position based on contractual settlement dates. Forward commitments to purchase debt instruments are similarly structured, involving borrowing and a long position in the debt instrument.

The definitions are clear: a 'long position' denotes a fixed interest rate to be received in the future, whereas a 'short position' indicates a fixed interest rate payable at a future date. These positions are crucial for calculating specific risk capital requirements.

Version status: Applicable | Document consolidation status: Updated to reflect all known changes
Version date: 1 January 2014 - onwards
Version 4 of 4

Article 328 Interest rate futures and forwards

1. Interest-rate futures, forward-rate agreements (FRAs) and forward commitments to buy or sell debt instruments shall be treated as combinations of long and short positions. Thus a long interest-rate futures position shall be treated as a combination of a borrowing maturing on the delivery date of the futures contract and a holding of an asset with maturity date equal to that of the instrument or notional position underlying the futures contract in question. Similarly a sold FRA will be treated as a long position with a maturity date equal to the settlement date plus the contract period, and a short position with maturity equal to the settlement date. Both the borrowing and the asset holding shall be included in the first category set out in Table 1 in Article 336 in order to calculate the own funds requirement for specific risk for interest-rate futures and FRAs. A forward commitment to buy a debt instrument shall be treated as a combination of a borrowing maturing on the delivery date and a long (spot) position in the debt instrument itself. The borrowing shall be included in the first category set out in Table 1 in Article 336 for purposes of specific risk, and the debt instrument under whichever column is appropriate for it in the same table.