Regulatory Capital and Other Regulatory Matters

As a BHC, we and our wholly-owned state-chartered banking subsidiary, Ally Bank, are subject to capital requirements issued by U.S. banking regulators that require us to maintain risk-based and leverage capital ratios above minimum levels. A risk-based capital ratio is a ratio of a banking organization’s regulatory capital to its risk-weighted assets. A leverage capital ratio is a ratio of a banking organization’s regulatory capital to a measure of assets or exposures that is not risk-weighted. As of January 1, 2015, Ally and Ally Bank became subject to the rules implementing the 2010 Basel III capital framework in the United States (U.S. Basel III), which reflect new and higher capital requirements, capital buffers, and new regulatory capital definitions, deductions and adjustments. Certain aspects of U.S. Basel III, including the new capital buffers and regulatory capital deductions, will be phased in over several years.

Failure to meet minimum capital requirements can initiate certain mandatory and possibly additional discretionary action by regulators that, if undertaken, could have a direct material effect on the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements or the results of operations and financial condition of Ally and Ally Bank. Under capital adequacy guidelines and the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action, we must meet specific capital guidelines that involve quantitative measures of our capital, assets and certain off-balance sheet items. These measures and related classifications, which are used in our risk-based and leverage capital ratios, are also subject to qualitative judgments by the regulators about the components of capital, the risk-weightings of our assets and other exposures, and other factors. The U.S. banking regulators also use these ratios and guidelines as part of the capital planning and stress testing processes. In addition, in order for Ally to maintain its status as a FHC, Ally and its bank subsidiary, Ally Bank, must remain “well-capitalized” and “well-managed,” as defined under applicable law. Effective January 1, 2015, the “well-capitalized” standard for insured depository institutions, such as Ally Bank, was revised to reflect the new and higher capital requirements under U.S. Basel III.

Under U.S. Basel III, Ally must maintain a minimum Common Equity Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 4.5%, a minimum Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 6%, and a minimum Total risk-based capital ratio of 8%. In addition to these minimum requirements, Ally will also be subject to a Common Equity Tier 1 capital conservation buffer of more than 2.5%, subject to a phase-in period from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2018. Failure to maintain the full amount of the buffer will result in restrictions on Ally’s ability to make capital distributions, including dividend payment and stock repurchases and redemptions, and to pay discretionary bonuses to executive officers. In addition to these new risk-based capital standards, U.S. Basel III subjects all U.S. banking organizations, including Ally, to a minimum Tier 1 leverage ratio of 4%, the denominator of which takes into account only on-balance sheet assets.

In addition to introducing new capital ratios, U.S. Basel III revises the eligibility criteria for regulatory capital instruments and provides for the phase-out of existing capital instruments that do not satisfy the new criteria. Subject to certain exceptions (e.g., for certain debt or equity issued to the U.S. government under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act), trust preferred and other “hybrid” securities will be phased out from a banking organization’s Tier 1 capital by January 1, 2016. Also, subject to a phase-in schedule, certain new items will be deducted from Common Equity Tier 1 capital, and certain other deductions from regulatory capital will be modified. Among other things, U.S. Basel III requires significant investments in the common shares of unconsolidated financial institutions, mortgage servicing rights, and certain deferred tax assets that exceed specified individual and aggregate thresholds to be deducted from Common Equity Tier 1 capital. U.S. Basel III also revises the standardized approach for calculating risk-weighted assets by, among other things, modifying certain risk weights and introducing new methods for calculating risk-weighted assets for certain types of assets and exposures.

Ally is subject to the U.S. Basel III standardized approach for counterparty credit risk. It is not subject to the U.S. Basel III advanced approaches for counterparty credit risk. Ally is currently not subject to the U.S. market risk capital rule, which applies only to banking organizations with significant trading assets and liabilities.

During 2010, Ally, IB Finance Holding Company, LLC (IB Finance), Ally Bank, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) entered into a Capital and Liquidity Maintenance Agreement (CLMA). The effective date of the CLMA was August 24, 2010. The CLMA requires capital at Ally Bank to be maintained at a level such that Ally Bank's leverage ratio is at least 15%. For this purpose, the leverage ratio is determined in accordance with the FDIC's regulations related to capital maintenance.

The following table summarizes our capital ratios under the U.S. Basel III capital framework.



	Under Basel III				Under Basel I
	March 31, 2015 (a)				December 31, 2014 (b)				Required minimum			Well-capitalized minimum
($ in millions)	Amount		Ratio		Amount		Ratio		Required minimum			Well-capitalized minimum
Risk-based capital
Common Equity Tier 1 (to risk-weighted assets) (c)
Ally Financial Inc.	$	14,240	10.94	%	$	12,588	9.64	%	4.50	%		(d)
Ally Bank	16,185		17.49		16,022		16.89		4.50			6.50	%
Tier 1 (to risk-weighted assets)
Ally Financial Inc.	$	17,131	13.16	%	$	16,389	12.55	%	6.00	%		(d)
Ally Bank	16,185		17.49		16,022		16.89		6.00			8.00	%
Total (to risk-weighted assets)
Ally Financial Inc.	$	18,365	14.11	%	$	17,294	13.24	%	8.00	%		(d)
Ally Bank	16,574		17.91		16,468		17.36		8.00			10.00	%
Tier 1 leverage (to adjusted quarterly average assets) (e)
Ally Financial Inc.	$	17,131	11.43	%	$	16,389	10.94	%	4.00	%		(d)
Ally Bank	16,185		15.61		16,022		15.44		15.00		(f)	5.00	%


(a)	U.S. Basel III became effective for us on January 1, 2015, subject to transitional provisions primarily related to deductions and adjustments impacting Common Equity Tier 1 capital and Tier 1 capital.


(b)	Capital ratios as of December 31, 2014 are presented under the U.S. Basel I capital framework.


(c)	Previously referred to as Tier 1 Common Equity under the U.S. Basel I capital framework.


(d)	U.S. Basel III does not establish standards for determining whether a BHC is "well-capitalized."


(e)	Federal regulatory reporting guidelines require the calculation of adjusted quarterly average assets using a daily average methodology.


(f)	Ally Bank, in accordance with the CLMA, is required to maintain a Tier 1 leverage ratio of at least 15%.

At March 31, 2015, Ally and Ally Bank were “well-capitalized” and met all capital requirements to which each was subject.

Capital Planning and Stress Tests

As a BHC with $50 billion or more of consolidated assets, Ally is required to conduct periodic internal stress tests, is subject to an annual supervisory stress test conducted by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), and must submit an annual capital plan to the FRB. Ally’s capital plan must include a description of all planned capital actions over a nine-quarter planning horizon. The capital plan must also include a discussion of how Ally will maintain capital above the minimum regulatory capital ratios and above a Tier 1 common equity-to-total risk-weighted assets ratio of 5% under baseline, adverse, and severely adverse economic scenarios, and serve as a source of strength to Ally Bank. The FRB must approve Ally's capital plan before Ally may take any capital action. Even with an approved capital plan, Ally must seek the approval of the FRB before making a capital distribution if, among other factors, Ally would not meet its regulatory capital requirements after making the proposed capital distribution.

On January 5, 2015, Ally Financial Inc. submitted the results of its semi-annual stress test and its proposed capital actions to the FRB, and Ally Bank submitted the results of its annual company-run stress test to the FDIC. On March 6, 2015, Ally Financial Inc. and Ally Bank publicly disclosed summary results of the stress test under the most severe scenario in accordance with regulatory requirements. On March 11, 2015, Ally received a non-objection to its capital plan from the FRB, including the proposed capital actions contained in its submission. As a result, we redeemed $1.3 billion in Series G preferred securities in April 2015, and announced a tender offer to purchase up to 13 million shares of our outstanding Series A preferred securities for $26.65 per share.