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Liquidity swaps are designed to help hard-pressed lenders improve their funding base and the quality of assets on their balance sheets as they look to wean themselves off the liquidity support created by central banks during the crisis.
Insurers, pension funds or other asset managers will lend the bank a large portfolio of gilts or other highly liquid bonds for typically between three and 10 years. The loan of these gilts is secured with a larger pool of collateral that can include mortgage-backed bonds, infrastructure debt or other less liquid assets.
The FSA has serious concerns about the potential effects on financial stability if such trades become common place and so add significantly to the interconnections between banks and insurers in particular, meaning another financial crisis would create greater dangers for insurers more closely tied to banks. The FSA is also concerned about insurers’ ability to manage the more complex collateral, which is leading some asset managers to look at becoming third-party advisers on such deals.
The BBA in its submission to the FSA’s consultation said liquidity swaps had real benefits to the economy and that existing management and governance procedures were sufficient to mitigate the relevant risks. The BBA also said that a UK-only limit on such deals could put domestic banks at a competitive disadvantage to non-UK banks.
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