This story appeared in Bank Digest.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Vice Chairman Thomas M. Hoenig has issued a statement on the semiannual update of the Global Capital Index. The statement said the updated GCI shows that the largest U.S. banks reported higher capital ratios at year-end 2017 and that the U.S. global systemically important banks' average International Financial Reporting Standards tangible leverage ratio estimate (a measure of tangible equity funding a bank's assets) increased to 6.92 percent, up from 6.62 percent in June 2017.
According to Hoenig, these results reflect two important events occurring in 2017: (1) the adoption by the largest banks of the clearinghouses' settle-to-market rule change for certain centrally cleared derivatives transactions that treats the exchange of variation margin as a settlement rather than collateral; and (2) the distribution by the largest U.S. GSIBs of 125 percent of earnings to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks for the full year 2017.