Total Asset-To-Capital Ratio - TAC

A leverage covenant placed on Canadian Institutions regulated by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI). The total asset to capital ratio is computed by taking the total assets divided by capital. It is not a risk-adjusted leverage measure and all Canadian banks are subject to a maximum TAC ratio of 23 times as of 2009.

Also referred to as the TAC Multiple.

TAC restrains the growth of banks because it restricts how many debt securities a bank can issue. Another way of looking at it is the amount of leverage a financial institution can take on.

An example of the TAC ratio would be that at a TAC ratio of 20-times, you can borrow $1900 and put in $100 to have $2000 in assets. The lower the ratio the more risk you can handle. If you have a high TAC ratio and the assets drop in value, there can be substantial losses as witnessed by American financial institutions during the late 2000s credit crisis with TAC ratios well over 40 in some cases.