12 CFR 1267.3 – Prohibited investments and prudential rules
(a) Prohibited investments. A Bank may not invest in:
Terms Used In 12 CFR 1267.3
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. Source: OCC
(1) Instruments that provide an ownership interest in an entity, except for investments described in § 1265.3(e) and (f) of this chapter;
(2) Instruments issued by non-United States entities, except United States branches and agency offices of foreign commercial banks;
(3) Debt instruments that are not investment quality, except:
(i) Investments described in § 1265.3(e) of this chapter; and
(ii) Debt instruments that a Bank determined became less than investment quality because of developments or events that occurred after acquisition of the instrument by the Bank;
(4) Whole mortgages or other whole loans, or interests in mortgages or loans, except:
(i) Acquired member assets;
(ii) Investments described in § 1265.3(e) of this chapter;
(iii) Marketable direct obligations of state, local, or Tribal government units or agencies, that are investment quality, where the purchase of such obligations by the Bank provides to the issuer the customized terms, necessary liquidity, or favorable pricing required to generate needed funding for housing or community lending;
(iv) Mortgage-backed securities, or asset-backed securities collateralized by manufactured housing loans or home equity loans, that meet the definition of the term “securities” under 15 U.S.C. § 77b(a)(1) and are not otherwise prohibited under paragraphs (a)(5) through (a)(7) of this section; and
(v) Loans held or acquired pursuant to section 12(b) of the Bank Act (12 U.S.C. § 1432(b)).
(5) Residual interest and interest accrual classes of securities;
(6) Interest-only and principal-only stripped securities; and
(7) Fixed rate mortgage-backed securities or eligible asset-backed securities or floating rate mortgage-backed securities or eligible asset-backed securities that on the trade date are at rates equal to their contractual cap, with average lives that vary more than six years under an assumed instantaneous interest rate change of 300 basis points, unless the instrument qualifies as an acquired member asset under part 955 of this title.
(b) Foreign currency or commodity positions prohibited. A Bank may not take a position in any commodity or foreign currency. The Banks may issue consolidated obligations denominated in a currency other than U.S. Dollars or linked to equity or commodity prices, provided that the Banks meet the requirements of § 1270.9(d) of this chapter, and all other applicable requirements related to issuing consolidated obligations.
(c) Limits on certain investments. (1) A purchase, otherwise authorized under this part, of mortgage-backed securities or asset-backed securities, may not cause the aggregate value of all such securities held by the Bank to exceed 300 percent of the Bank’s total capital. For purposes of this limitation, such aggregate value will be measured as of the transaction trade date for such purchase, and total capital will be the most recent amount reported by a Bank to FHFA. A Bank will not be required to divest securities solely to bring the level of its holdings into compliance with the limits of this paragraph, provided that the original purchase of the securities complied with the limits in this paragraph.
(2) A Bank’s purchase of any mortgage-backed or asset-backed security may not cause the value of its total holdings of mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, measured as of the transaction trade date for such purchase, to increase in any calendar quarter by more than 50 percent of its total capital as of the beginning of such quarter.
(3) For purposes of applying the limits under this paragraph (c), the value of relevant mortgage-backed or asset-backed securities shall be calculated based on amortized historical costs for securities classified as held-to-maturity or available-for-sale and on fair value for trading securities.