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    CCaR - Capital-at-Risk

    Valuation and Methodology

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    Any clearing organization is required to have financial resources as a consequence of the risks assumed in the clearing activities. This section describes CCaR, a proprietary methodology and system developed by Nasdaq Clearing to determine the required clearing capital.

    Any clearing organization is required to have financial resources as a consequence of the risks assumed in the clearing activities. This section describes CCaR, a proprietary methodology and system developed by Nasdaq Clearing to determine the required clearing capital.

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    Nasdaq Clearing relies on a proprietary capital-at-risk calculation model and system, CCaR (Clearing Capital at Risk), as the main driver for establishing an appropriate level of clearing capital. The methodology is approved by the Swedish FSA and complies with the relevant global principles (PFMIs) and EU regulation (EMIR).

    Nasdaq Clearing relies on a proprietary capital-at-risk calculation model and system, CCaR (Clearing Capital at Risk), as the main driver for establishing an appropriate level of clearing capital. The methodology is approved by the Swedish FSA and complies with the relevant global principles (PFMIs) and EU regulation (EMIR).

    A clearing house has counterparty risk in each position that it clears. In order to cover that risk, the clearing house requires that all counterparties post margins. The purpose of the CCaR measure is to estimate the risk that posted collateral may be insufficient to cover the costs of closing out the positions of a defaulted counterparty. The system generates implied loss given default calculations based on assumptions on extreme price movements and levels of simultaneously defaulting counterparties. The two main differences between the assumptions in CCaR and the ones applied in the margining methodology are the following.

    A clearing house has counterparty risk in each position that it clears. In order to cover that risk, the clearing house requires that all counterparties post margins. The purpose of the CCaR measure is to estimate the risk that posted collateral may be insufficient to cover the costs of closing out the positions of a defaulted counterparty. The system generates implied loss given default calculations based on assumptions on extreme price movements and levels of simultaneously defaulting counterparties. The two main differences between the assumptions in CCaR and the ones applied in the margining methodology are the following.

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    • Market movements in margin calculations are described as "sufficient to cover a majority of normal trading days". In contrast, the movements applied in CCaR are designed to be "extreme but plausible" to comply with the global principles and EU regulation mentioned above.
    • Margins are applied to all accounts, but the CCaR value is calculated as the aggregated loss for a predefined number of simultaneously defaulting accounts in the worst extreme scenario applicable that day.
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    For each individual account and extreme scenario, a stressed market value is calculated and compared to the margin requirement applied to the corresponding account. The difference between the greatest stressed market value and the margin requirement is the CCaR value for that account. The CCaR value would reflect the amount of Nasdaq Clearing’s capital at risk for that scenario if that counterparty were to default.

    For each individual account and extreme scenario, a stressed market value is calculated and compared to the margin requirement applied to the corresponding account. The difference between the greatest stressed market value and the margin requirement is the CCaR value for that account. The CCaR value would reflect the amount of Nasdaq Clearing’s capital at risk for that scenario if that counterparty were to default.

    Calculating CCaR Parameters

    The CCaR parameters are used to calculate the stressed market values on each product set, and these are used to size the clearing capital. Nasdaq Clearing follows a systematic and homogeneous procedure to calculate CCaR parameters for each product line and asset class. The purpose of following an objective methodology is to measure capital contributions fairly, such that stress levels neither penalize nor favor any particular market or product. The extreme but plausible scenarios generated by these CCaR parameters are based on the long-term historical tail risk of each product and asset class with 99.9% confidence. The stressed market values for each product set are entirely independent (i.e. fully decoupled) from the level of margins.

    The CCaR parameters are used to calculate the stressed market values on each product set, and these are used to size the clearing capital. Nasdaq Clearing follows a systematic and homogeneous procedure to calculate CCaR parameters for each product line and asset class. The purpose of following an objective methodology is to measure capital contributions fairly, such that stress levels neither penalize nor favor any particular market or product. The extreme but plausible scenarios generated by these CCaR parameters are based on the long-term historical tail risk of each product and asset class with 99.9% confidence. The stressed market values for each product set are entirely independent (i.e. fully decoupled) from the level of margins.

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