Question 981 margin loan, Basel accord, credit conversion factor
Margin loans secured by listed stock have a Basel III risk weight of 20%.
For margin loans that cannot be immediately cancelled by banks and asked to be repaid, the credit conversion factor (CCF) is 20%.
Suppose you have a stock portfolio worth $500,000, financed by:
- $300,000 of your own money; and
- $200,000 of the bank’s funds in the form of a margin loan which can only be cancelled by the bank after 5 days notice. The margin loan’s maximum LVR is 70%.
How much regulatory capital must the bank hold due to your margin loan? Assume that the bank wishes to pay dividends to its shareholders, so include the 2.5% capital conservation buffer in your calculations.