IRRBB in a Low Interest Rate Environment

Abstract: Financial institutions are exposed to several different types of risk. One of the risks that can have a significant impact is the interest rate risk in the bank book (IRRBB). In 2018, the European Banking Authority (EBA) released a regulation on IRRBB to ensure that institutions make adequate risk calculations. This article proposes an IRRBB model that follows EBA's regulations. Among other things, this framework contains a deterministic stress test of the risk-free yield curve, in addition to this, two different types of stochastic stress tests of the yield curve were made. The results show that the deterministic stress tests give the highest risk, but that the outcomes are considered less likely to occur compared to the outcomes generated by the stochastic models. It is also demonstrated that EBA's proposal for a stress model could be better adapted to the low interest rate environment that we experience now. Furthermore, a discussion is held on the need for a more standardized framework to clarify, both for the institutions themselves and the supervisory authorities, the risks that institutes are exposed to.