Honduras’ National Banking and Insurance Commission (CNBS) has issued revised rules for the evaluation, risk classification and impairment provisioning of credit portfolios across supervised institutions that conduct lending, aligning the framework with the government’s extraordinary measures aimed at supporting productive credit and housing. The reforms replace earlier CNBS resolutions on the same subject and introduce updated delinquency bands and minimum provisioning rates by loan type and collateral. The revised norms set out classification and provisioning tables for large and small commercial borrowers, microcredit (including a total indebtedness cap of HNL 720,000, excluding housing balances), financial leasing, consumer lending (including credit cards), and housing loans. Provisioning is differentiated by collateral type, with a zero-percent requirement in specified early-arrears bands for exposures secured by mortgages on real estate and by pledged deposits, reciprocal guarantees, or counter-guarantees from first-order financial institutions, while unsecured or other-collateral exposures generally retain a positive minimum provision in the same bands. The rules also codify portfolio management and supervisory mechanics, including single-category treatment for borrowers with multiple exposures, cross-institution “alignment” reclassification triggers, requirements and minimum outcomes for refinancing classifications, a minimum coverage ratio of 110% over delinquent loans, and write-off and reporting expectations. The reforms take effect upon publication in the Official Gazette La Gaceta. CNBS set the first Credit Information Centre (CIC) reporting under the new rules to be based on month-end January 2025 figures, and it requires institutions to submit, through the last quarter of 2025, three complete sets of portfolio templates separating (i) exposures affected by COVID-19 and Tropical Storms ETA/IOTA, (ii) exposures not affected, and (iii) a consolidated total; CNBS also signalled ongoing monitoring that could lead to further amendments.
Comisión Nacional de Bancos y Seguros de Honduras 2025-01-10
Honduras National Banking and Insurance Commission reforms loan classification and provisioning rules to ease treatment of some productive and housing loans with short-term arrears
Honduras’ National Banking and Insurance Commission (CNBS) revised rules for credit portfolio evaluation, risk classification, and impairment provisioning, aligning with government measures to support productive credit and housing. The reforms introduce updated delinquency bands, minimum provisioning rates by loan type and collateral, and codify portfolio management and supervisory mechanics. The rules take effect upon publication, with initial Credit Information Centre reporting based on January 2025 figures.