56.4. Market risk (interest rate risk in the trading book and currency risk)

The operations of BNP Paribas Bank Polska S.A. are recorded in the trading and in the banking book. In relation to market risk, covering interest risk in the trading book and the currency risk, the Bank is sensitive for changes in market interest rates, foreign exchange rates, security prices and implied volatility of option instruments leading to changes in the result on measurement of the financial instruments present value. The risk of adverse changes in the value, driven by the aforesaid factors, is recognised by the Bank as market risk. The risk is monitored and managed with the use of the defined and specially designed tools and measures.

In order to reflect the characteristics of financial market transactions appropriately, i.e. the intentions of the parties entering into the transactions, the major risks and the accounting treatment, the Bank allocates all on- and off-balance sheet items to the banking or trading book. Detailed allocation criteria are established in the documents (“policies” and “methodologies”) adopted by resolutions of the Management Board of the Bank and defining the purpose of keeping each book, the profile and types of risks assumed by the Bank, the measurement and mitigation methods as well as the authorizations and place of each organisational unit of the Bank in the risk generation, measurement, mitigation and reporting process.

The process of concluding transactions and their recording, as well as risk level supervision and adoption of risk limits is performed by independent units. In line with the long-term strategy adopted by the Bank, as well as with its financial plan, the Supervisory Board determines the Bank’s risk tolerance, i.e. an acceptable risk level and profile, which is subsequently allocated by the Risk Management Committee. The Financial Markets Division takes responsibility for daily operational management of the risk inherent in trading book in line with the defined market risk limits, including limits related to interest rate in the trading book and the currency risk, which is managed at a centralised level for the entire Bank. The Financial and Counterparty Risk Department are in charge of measuring and reporting risk and limit overrides. Additionally, the Financial and Counterparty Risk Department ensures that financial instruments are measured properly. The management result is calculated by the Financial Market Transactions Monitoring Unit, while transactions are recorded and settled by the Financial Market Transactions Processing Department. The system of limit override acceptance is hierarchical. It depends on the period of such override and its scale, and is managed by the Division head or Members of the Bank’s Management Board exercising supervision of the Risk Function and the function responsible for the risk override. Irrespective of the process, all limit overrides are reported immediately after they occur and discussed at monthly Risk Management Committee meetings.

The Bank’s trading activities are supplementary, as they support sales of financial products to corporate customers, non-banking financial customers (directly) and retail customers (through structured products, which are officially classified into the banking book). The Bank opens its own positions, thus generating income on short-term changes in price parameters (foreign currency rates or interest rates), while maintaining the exposure within the adopted risk limits. The Bank offers commodity instruments but does not maintain open position in commodity market.

As part of the interest rate risk exposure, which is the key exposure in the trading portfolio, the Bank could enter into IRS, OIS, CIRS, FRA and basis swap transactions and purchase and sale of foreign currency options on interest options. The interest rate risk was also determined by positions resulting from FX swap and FX Forward transactions. In 2020, as part of internal risk limits, the Bank maintained an open option position in order to optimise the result, i.e. generate additional benefits due to the lack of immediate closing of customer positions by reverse transactions on the interbank market. The priority of the Bank is to hedge the interest rate risk and currency risk.

Sensitivity of items to shifts in the yield curve and VaR are the key measures of the interest rate risk in the trading portfolio. Additionally, the Bank conducts sensitivity analyses, where the changes in interest rates are more considerable than those typically observed (stress tests).

In 2020, the interest rate risk for PLN items, measured by sensitivity to shifts in the yield curve in the trading portfolio, was higher (PLN 54 thousand on average) than in 2019 (PLN 35 thousand).

The following table presents the interest rate risk in the trading book based on BPV (Basis Point Value, in PLN ‘000):

Market risk exposure in the trading book measured by sensitivity to a 1 basis point movement in interest rate curves and currency risk in the fourth quarter of 2020 was maintained at a relatively low level as a result of the post-crisis situation triggered by COVID-19 pandemic and increasing uncertainty about future market behaviour. In contrast, VaR-measured exposure decreased slightly compared to the previous quarter and averaged 25% of the VaR limit (compared to 26% a quarter earlier). The risk was mainly due to the open interest rate position, with an average utilisation of the VaR IR limit at the level of 25%. Currency risk was kept at a low level, i.e. around 14% of the available limits utilisation and, similarly as in the previous quarter, did not contribute significantly to the overall risk level. The Bank maintained a slight open position in FX options to ensure servicing of customer transactions.

The Bank’s currency risk is measured using Value at Risk (VaR), which is a measure of the change in the market value of an asset or an asset portfolio with specific assumptions concerning the market parameters, at a specific time and with defined probability. For purposes of currency risk monitoring, it is assumed that VaR is determined with a 99% confidence level and that a position is maintained for one day. The VaR methodology is validated on a quarterly basis by means of an analysis which involves a comparison of the forecast figures and those determined on the basis of actual changes in foreign exchange rates, assuming that the currency position is maintained (back-testing). The comparative period covers the last 250 business days. The VaR model was back-tested in 2020 and the verification results indicate that there is no necessity to make any adjustments.

Foreign currency transactions used for management of the Bank’s currency position were characterised by a stable exposure and a low risk. The risk resulting from foreign currency transactions with customers was offset immediately. Therefore, also the intraday foreign currency exposure remained at a low level.

The following table presents currency risk of the Bank expressed as FX VaR (in PLN ’000):

The table below presents the currency structure of assets and liabilities in their balance sheet value expressed in PLN ‘000: