
Glossary
Acceptances
A bill of exchange or negotiable instrument
drawn by the borrower for payment at
maturity and accepted by a bank. The
acceptance constitutes a guarantee of
payment by the bank and can be traded in the
money market. The bank earns a “stamping
fee” for providing this guarantee.
Allowance for credit losses (ACL)
The amount deemed adequate by
management to absorb expected credit losses
as at the balance sheet date. The allowance is
established for all financial assets subject to
impairment assessment, including certain
loans, debt securities, customers’ liability
under acceptances, financial guarantees, and
undrawn loan commitments. The allowance is
changed by the amount of provision for credit
losses recorded, which is charged to income,
and decreased by the amount of write-offs net
of recoveries in the period.
Asset-backed securities (ABS)
Securities created through the securitization
of a pool of assets, for example auto loans or
credit card loans.
Assets under administration (AUA)
Assets administered by us, which are
beneficially owned by clients, unless otherwise
noted. Services provided in respect of assets
under administration are of an administrative
nature, including safekeeping, collecting
investment income, settling purchase and sale
transactions, and record keeping.
Assets under management (AUM)
Assets managed by us, which are beneficially
owned by clients, unless otherwise noted.
Services provided in respect of assets under
management include the selection of
investments and the provision of investment
advice. We have assets under management
that are also administered by us and included
in assets under administration.
Attributed capital
Attributed capital is based on the Basel III
regulatory capital requirements and economic
capital.
Auction rate securities (ARS)
Debt securities whose interest rates are
regularly reset through an auction process.
Average earning assets, net
Average earning assets include interest-
bearing deposits with other banks, securities,
net of applicable allowance, assets purchased
under reverse repurchase agreements and
securities borrowed, loans, net of allowance,
cash collateral and margin deposits. Insurance
assets, and all other assets not specified are
excluded. The averages are based on the daily
balances for the period.
Basis point (bp)
One one-hundredth of a percentage point
(.01%).
Collateral
Assets pledged as security for a loan or other
obligation. Collateral can take many forms,
such as cash, highly rated securities, property,
inventory, equipment and receivables.
Collateralized debt obligation (CDO)
Securities with multiple tranches that are
issued by structured entities and
collateralized by debt obligations including
bonds and loans. Each tranche offers a varying
degree of risk and return so as to meet
investor demand.
Commercial mortgage-backed securities
(CMBS)
Securities created through the securitization
of commercial mortgages.
Commitments to extend credit
Unutilized amount of credit facilities available
to clients either in the form of loans, bankers’
acceptances and other on-balance sheet
financing, or through off-balance sheet
products such as guarantees and letters of
credit.
Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital
A regulatory Basel III capital measure
comprised mainly of common shareholders’
equity less regulatory deductions and
adjustments for goodwill and intangibles,
defined benefit pension fund assets, shortfall
in allowances and other specified items.
Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio
A risk-based capital measure calculated as
CET1 capital divided by risk-weighted assets.
Covered bonds
Full recourse on-balance sheet obligations
issued by banks and credit institutions that
are fully collateralized by assets over which
investors enjoy a priority claim in the event of
an issuer’s insolvency.
Credit default swaps (CDS)
A derivative contract that provides the
purchaser with a one-time payment should the
referenced entity/entities default (or a similar
triggering event occur).
Derivative
A contract between two parties, which
requires little or no initial investment and
where payments between the parties are
dependent upon the movements in price of an
underlying instrument, index or financial rate.
Examples of derivatives include swaps,
options, forward rate agreements and futures.
The notional amount of the derivative is the
contract amount used as a reference point to
calculate the payments to be exchanged
between the two parties, and the notional
amount itself is generally not exchanged by
the parties.
Dividend payout ratio
Common dividends as a percentage of net
income available to common shareholders.
Dividend yield
Dividends per common share divided by the
average of the high and low share price in the
relevant period.
Earnings per share (EPS), basic
Calculated as net income available to common
shareholders divided by the average number
of shares outstanding.
Earnings per share (EPS), diluted
Calculated as net income available to common
shareholders divided by the average number
of shares outstanding adjusted for the dilutive
effects of stock options and other convertible
securities.
Efficiency Ratio
Non-interest expense as a percentage of total
revenue.
Expected credit losses
The difference between the contractual cash
flows due to us in accordance with the
relevant contractual terms and the cash flows
that we expect to receive, discounted to the
balance sheet date.
Fair value
Fair value of a financial instrument is the price
that would be received to sell an asset or paid
to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction
between market participants at the
measurement date.
Funding Valuation Adjustment
Funding valuation adjustments are calculated
to incorporate cost and benefit of funding in
the valuation of uncollateralized and under-
collateralized OTC derivatives. Future
expected cash flows of these derivatives are
discounted to reflect the cost and benefit of
funding the derivatives by using a funding
curve, implied volatilities and correlations as
inputs.
Guarantees and standby letters of credit
These primarily represent irrevocable
assurances that a bank will make payments in
the event that its client cannot meet its
financial obligations to third parties. Certain
other guarantees, such as bid and
performance bonds, represent non-financial
undertakings.
Hedge
A risk management technique used to mitigate
exposure from market, interest rate or foreign
currency exchange risk arising from normal
banking operations. The elimination or
reduction of such exposure is accomplished by
establishing offsetting positions. For example,
assets denominated in foreign currencies can
be offset with liabilities in the same currencies
or through the use of foreign exchange
hedging instruments such as futures, options
or foreign exchange contracts.
Hedge funds
A type of investment fund, marketed to
accredited high net worth investors, that is
subject to limited regulation and restrictions
on its investments compared to retail mutual
funds, and that often utilize aggressive
strategies such as selling short, leverage,
program trading, swaps, arbitrage and
derivatives.
High-quality liquid assets (HQLA)
Assets are considered to be HQLA if they can
be easily and immediately converted into cash
at little or no loss of value during a time of
stress.
Impaired loans
Loans are classified as impaired when there
has been a deterioration of credit quality to
the extent that management no longer has
reasonable assurance of timely collection of
the full amount of principal and interest in
accordance with the contractual terms of the
loan agreement. Credit card balances are not
classified as impaired as they are directly
written off after payments are 180 days past
due.
International Financial Reporting Standards
(IFRS)
IFRS are principles-based standards,
interpretations and the framework adopted by
the International Accounting Standards Board.
Leverage Ratio
A Basel III regulatory measure, the ratio
divides Tier 1 capital by the sum of total assets
plus specified off-balance sheet items.
Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR)
The Liquidity Coverage Ratio is a Basel III
metric that measures the sufficiency of HQLA
available to meet net short-term financial
obligations over a thirty day period in an acute
stress scenario.
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Royal Bank of Canada: Annual Report 2022
Management’s Discussion and Analysis