Regulations last checked for updates: Nov 23, 2024

Title 12 - Banks and Banking last revised: Nov 20, 2024
§ 211.12 - Lending limits and capital requirements.

(a) Acceptances of Edge corporations. (1) Limitations. An Edge corporation shall be and remain fully secured for acceptances of the types described in section 13(7) of the FRA (12 U.S.C. 372), as follows:

(i) All acceptances outstanding in excess of 200 percent of its tier 1 capital; and

(ii) All acceptances outstanding for any one person in excess of 10 percent of its tier 1 capital.

(2) Exceptions. These limitations do not apply if the excess represents the international shipment of goods, and the Edge corporation is:

(i) Fully covered by primary obligations to reimburse it that are guaranteed by banks or bankers; or

(ii) Covered by participation agreements from other banks, as described in 12 CFR 250.165.

(b) Loans and extensions of credit to one person—(1) Loans and extensions of credit defined. Loans and extensions of credit has the meaning set forth in § 211.2(q) of this part 8 and, for purposes of this paragraph (b), also include:

8 In the case of a foreign government, these includes loans and extensions of credit to the foreign government's departments or agencies deriving their current funds principally from general tax revenues. In the case of a partnership or firm, these include loans and extensions of credit to its members and, in the case of a corporation, these include loans and extensions of credit to the corporation's affiliates, where the affiliate incurs the liability for the benefit of the corporation.

(i) Acceptances outstanding that are not of the types described in section 13(7) of the FRA (12 U.S.C. 372);

(ii) Any liability of the lender to advance funds to or on behalf of a person pursuant to a guarantee, standby letter of credit, or similar agreements;

(iii) Investments in the securities of another organization other than a subsidiary; and

(iv) Any underwriting commitments to an issuer of securities, where no binding commitments have been secured from subunderwriters or other purchasers.

(2) Limitations. Except as the Board may otherwise specify:

(i) The total loans and extensions of credit outstanding to any person by an Edge corporation engaged in banking, and its direct or indirect subsidiaries, may not exceed 15 percent of the Edge corporation's tier 1 capital; 9 and

9 For purposes of this paragraph (b), subsidiaries includes subsidiaries controlled by the Edge corporation, but does not include companies otherwise controlled by affiliates of the Edge corporation.

(ii) The total loans and extensions of credit to any person by a foreign bank or Edge corporation subsidiary of a member bank, and by majority-owned subsidiaries of a foreign bank or Edge corporation, when combined with the total loans and extensions of credit to the same person by the member bank and its majority-owned subsidiaries, may not exceed the member bank's limitation on loans and extensions of credit to one person.

(3) Exceptions. The limitations of paragraph (b)(2) of this section do not apply to:

(i) Deposits with banks and federal funds sold;

(ii) Bills or drafts drawn in good faith against actual goods and on which two or more unrelated parties are liable;

(iii) Any banker's acceptance, of the kind described in section 13(7) of the FRA (12 U.S.C. 372), that is issued and outstanding;

(iv) Obligations to the extent secured by cash collateral or by bonds, notes, certificates of indebtedness, or Treasury bills of the United States;

(v) Loans and extensions of credit that are covered by bona fide participation agreements; and

(vi) Obligations to the extent supported by the full faith and credit of the following:

(A) The United States or any of its departments, agencies, establishments, or wholly owned corporations (including obligations, to the extent insured against foreign political and credit risks by the Export-Import Bank of the United States or the Foreign Credit Insurance Association), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation, the International Development Association, the Inter-American Development Bank, the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, or the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development;

(B) Any organization, if at least 25 percent of such an obligation or of the total credit is also supported by the full faith and credit of, or participated in by, any institution designated in paragraph (b)(3)(vi)(A) of this section in such manner that default to the lender would necessarily include default to that entity. The total loans and extensions of credit under this paragraph (b)(3)(vi)(B) to any person shall at no time exceed 100 percent of the tier 1 capital of the Edge corporation.

(c) Capitalization. (1) An Edge corporation shall at all times be capitalized in an amount that is adequate in relation to the scope and character of its activities.

(2) In the case of an Edge corporation engaged in banking, the minimum ratio of qualifying total capital to risk-weighted assets, as determined under the capital rule, shall not be less than 10 percent, of which at least 50 percent shall consist of tier 1 capital.

(3) For purposes of this paragraph (c), no limitation shall apply on the inclusion of subordinated debt that qualifies as tier 2 capital under the capital rule.

[Reg. K, 66 FR 54374, Oct. 26, 2001, as amended at 84 FR 61797, Nov. 13, 2019]
authority: 12 U.S.C. 221
cite as: 12 CFR 211.12