Tier 2 capital

Tier 2 capital is a measure of a bank's financial strength with regard to the second most reliable form of financial capital from a regulatory point of view. The forms of banking capital were largely standardized in the Basel I accord, issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and left untouched by the Basel II accord. National regulators of most countries around the world have implemented these standards in local legislation.

Tier 1 capital is considered the more reliable form of capital.

There are several classifications of tier 2 capital. In the Basel I Accord, tier 2 capital is composed of supplementary capital, which is categorised as undisclosed reserves, revaluation reserves, general provisions, hybrid instruments and subordinated term debt. Supplementary capital can be considered tier 2 capital up to an amount equal to that of the core capital

Undisclosed Reserves
Undisclosed reserves are not common, but are accepted by some regulators where a bank has made a profit but this has not appeared in normal retained profits or in general reserves of the bank.

Revaluation Reserves
A revaluation reserve is a reserve created when a company has an asset revalued and an increase in value is brought to account. A simple example may be where a bank owns the land and building of its head-offices and bought them for $100 a century ago. A current revaluation is very likely to show a large increase in value. The increase would be added to a revaluation reserve.

General Provisions
A general provision is created when a company is aware that a loss may have occurred but is not sure of the exact nature of that loss. Under pre-IFRS accounting standards, general provisions were commonly created to provide for losses that were expected in the future. As these did not represent incurred losses, regulators tended to allow them to be counted as capital.

Hybrid Instruments
Hybrids are instruments that have some characteristics of both debt and shareholders' equity. Provided these are close to equity in nature, in that they are able to take losses on the face value without triggering a liquidation of the bank, they may be counted as capital. Preferred stocks are hybrid instruments.

Subordinated Term Debt
Subordinated debt is debt that ranks lower than ordinary depositors of the bank.
 

See also

Tier 1 capital

Tier 2 capital
Basel Committee Accords

List of SWIFT Codes Worldwide

List of correspondent Banks networks worldwide with SWIFT CODE