By Maya Jackson Randall
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- U.S. federal regulators on Tuesday agreed to relax capital rules for companies purchasing banking operations through a rule that would allow firms to use intangible assets to boost their capital levels.
The final rule was approved by the Federal Reserve Board, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Office of Thrift Supervision, according to a Federal Reserve news release.
The rule would allow so-called goodwill - which refers to the intangible assets that emerge in a merger or acquisition - to be counted toward meeting regulatory capital requirements. Goodwill refers to the difference between the market value of a firm and the actual purchase price - a premium that reflects the intrinsic value of a firm.
More technically, under the rule, the regulatory capital deduction for goodwill would be equal to the maximum capital reduction that could occur as a result of a complete write-off of the goodwill under generally accepted accounting principals, or GAAP, the Fed release said.
The rule will be effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
However, banking organizations may adopt its provisions for purposes of regulatory capital reporting for the period ending Dec. 31, 2008, the Fed said.
-By Maya Jackson Randall, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9255, maya.jackson-randall@dowjones.com
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Publié le 16 Décembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones