Calculating Risk Weighted Assets
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Calculating Risk Weighted Assets
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In this example, the bank has a number of different types of assets, including residential and commercial mortgages, US treasuries, Apple and Tesla corporate bonds, and cash on deposit with the Central Bank. The value of the assets on the balance sheet of this bank is 800. The RWAs take into account the riskiness of the assets. The risk weightings shown here are only by way of an example. So for the residential mortgages, typically repayment mortgages with a large form of collateral in the form of a house, they're deemed to be a lower risk loan, so only have a risk weighting of 35%. Commercial mortgages are more risky, since they typically have a large redemption payment at the end of the loan. These have a higher risk weighting of 100%. US Treasuries are seen as low-risk investments with limited chance of the US government defaulting, as indicated by their AAA credit rating, meaning these attract a risk weighting of 0%. This means that the RWA or asset against which the bank has to hold regulatory capital is zero in relation to the government bonds they hold. Apple, a large, established company with a strong AA credit rating, attracts a 20% weighting, giving an RWA of 10 from the 50 million bond held, while Tesla has a higher RWA of 25, driven by a 100% risk weighting due to the BB-minus credit rating. So even though the size of the Tesla bond is lower than the Apple corporate bond, the RWA of the Tesla position is higher due to the higher riskiness. Cash or Central Bank Reserves always attracts a 0% RWA. This leaves a total RWA of 422.5 based on 800 of total assets.