BOARD OF GOVERNORS

OF THE

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20551

DIVISION OF BANKING

SUPERVISION AND

REGULATION

December 17, 2007

Jeffrey D. Landau

The Bank of New York Mellon

One Wall Street

New York, New York 10286

Dear Mr. Landau:

This is in response to your letter dated November 13, 2007 (the "request"),

regarding the regulatory capital treatment of the Regulation T margin debits ("Reg. T

margin loans") of the registered U.S. broker-dealer subsidiary of The Bank of New York

Mellon Corporation ("BNY Mellon"), Pershing LLC. You ask that BNY Mellon be

granted an exception from the Board's risk-based capital adequacy guidelines for bank

holding companies (the "guidelines") (12 CFR part 225, App. A), which require a 100

percent risk weight for Reg. T margin loans. Specifically, you ask for an exception from

the guidelines to permit BNY Mellon to assign a 10percent risk weight to its Reg. T

margin loans, consistent with the capital treatment that the Board approved for Citigroup

Inc. in a letter dated June 15,2007.

In the request, you contend that the risk-based capital requirement for such loans

is excessive and represent that BNY Mellon has a de minimis internal economic capital

charge for credit risk on Reg. T margin loans.

A margin account at a broker-dealer registered with the Securities and Exchange

Commission ("SEC") is a leveraged account, through which securities can be purchased,

sold short, carried, or traded using a loan from the broker-dealer and a deposit of cash or

securities by the customer. The amount ofleverage available to a customer is limited by

the Board's Regulation T (12 CFR part 220), the margin-maintenance rules of the

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (NYSE Rule 431 and NASD Rule 2520), and

the lender's internal margin-maintenance requirements. The request also explainsthat

BNY Mellon generally applies internal margin-maintenance requirements that exceed

those in Regulation T, NYSE Rule 431, and NASD Rule 2520.

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As noted above, Reg. T margin loans held by U.S. bank holding companies

("BRCs") currently are assigned to the 100 percent risk weight category under the

guidelines, resulting in a risk-based capital requirement of 8 percent. In contrast, other

domestic and foreign firms, including foreign banking organizations that own U.S.

broker-dealers, as well as U.S. broker-dealers and consolidated supervised entities

("CSEs") regulated by the SEC, are currently required to hold either no or de minimis

regulatory capital against Reg. T margin loans.

After carefully considering the request, and subject to the conditions listed below,

the Board has approved an exception to the guidelines that permits BNY Mellon to treat

Reg. T margin loans in a manner that differs from that set forth in the guidelines.

Specifically, the Board will allow BNY Mellon to apply a 10 percent risk weight to its

Reg. T margin loans. The Board has approved this exception under the reservation-of-.

authority provision contained in the guidelines (12 CFR part 225, App. A, § III.A). This

provision permits the Board, on a case-by-case basis, to determine the appropriate risk

weight for any asset or off-ba1ance-sheetitem that imposes risks on a BRC that are

incommensurate with the risk weight otherwise specified in the guidelines.

To qualify for the capital treatment outlined above, BNY Mellon's Reg. T margin

loans must meet the following conditions:

1. The securities collateral for the Reg. T margin loans is liquid and readily

marketable;

2. The Reg. T margin loans and associated collateral are marked to market each

business day;

3. The Reg. T margin loans are subject to initial margin requirements under

Regulation T and daily margin-maintenance requirements under NYSE Rule 431

or NASD Rule 2520; and

4. BNY Mellon has a reasonable basis for concluding that it would be able to

liquidate the collateral for the Reg. T margin loans without undue delay, even in

the case of bankruptcy or insolvency of the borrower.

The Board believes that the capital treatment approved above for BNY Mellon's Reg.

T margin loans provides a more risk-sensitive treatment for these transactions than their

treatment under the guidelines. The combination of initial margin requirements under

Regulation T, ongoing margin-maintenance requirements under NYSE Rule 431 or

NASD Rule 2520, generally higher ongoing margin-maintenance requirements under

BNY Mellon's internal policies, BNY Mellon's daily mark-to-market and margin-call

policies, the high liquidity of the collateral, BNY Mellon's typical right to terminate the

loan at any time, and BNY Mellon's general protection from the automatic stay in

bankruptcy makes these loans a 10w-credit-riskproduct that warrants a 10percent risk

weight.

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This exception accommodates BNY Mellon's broker-dealer activities in a risksensitive manner, helps remove an artificial and anachronistic constraint on certain of

BNY Mellon's securities-based lending operations, and brings BNY Mellon's risk-based

capital requirement for Reg. T margin loans more in accord with the capital requirement

for such loans that the SEC imposes on broker-dealers and CSEs. BNY Mellon should be

aware; however, that the Board may in the future impose a regulatory capital treatment

for Reg. T margin loans that differs from the treatment described in the request,

depending in part on the outcome of the current efforts to implement the Basel II Capital

Accord in the United States.

This determination is conditioned on BNY Mellon's compliance with all the

commitments and representations it has made to the Board in connection with the request.

These commitments and representations are deemed to be conditions imposed in writing

by the Board in connection with granting the request and, as such, may be enforced in

proceedings under applicable law. Further, this determination is based on the specific

facts and circumstances described in the request and in your discussions with Federal

Reserve staff. Any material change in those facts and circumstances or any failure by

BNY Mellon to observe any of its commitments or representations may result in a

different view or in a revocation of the regulatory capital treatment permitted under this

determination.

The capital treatment set forth in this letter for Reg. T margin loans will be made

available to similarly situated institutions that request and receive Board approval for

such treatment.

If you have any questions with regard to this letter, please direct them to Norah

Barger, Associate Director, at (202) 452-2402, or Juan C. Climent, Supervisory Financial

Analyst, at (202) 872-7526, in the Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation; or

Mark E. Van Der Weide, Senior Counsel, at (202) 452-2263, or April Snyder, Counsel, at

(202) 452-3099, in the Legal Division.

Sincerely yours,

/J_-- ~~I;

i'~T.CO1e

Director

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