Basel III
BoE and Vickers clash on capital rules
Both central bank and ring-fencing committee chair claim to have recommended higher capital requirements than the other – but a look at the proposals suggests the differences are slim
‘No Basel IV’, Draghi tells European Parliament
Banks will not face significantly higher capital requirements, Mario Draghi tells the Econ committee; UK agreement with rest of EU should be “clear”
Revised Basel III better reflects bank risk, research finds
Study says 2013 capital rules more in line with actual risk, but can be easily gamed
Technology provider of the year: BearingPoint
BearingPoint's Abacus/Regulator system is helping central banks cope with the vast volumes of data that come with new regulatory reporting requirements
Spanish paper finds issues with Basel III approach to calculating risk-weighted assets
The approach to calculating banks’ risk-weighted assets introduced by Basel III may create incentives for ‘regulatory arbitrage’, a Bank of Spain paper argues
Leverage ratio as high as 5% could yield net benefits, BIS economists say
Authors say there is ‘considerable room for manoeuvre’ when it comes to setting a leverage ratio above the current Basel III minimum of 3%
BoE plans capital framework redesign
The central bank hopes the realignment of capital requirements from individual banks to a system-wide buffer will simplify the framework and allow the FPC to respond to threats earlier
Banks should do more to meet Basel disclosures, EBA says
Many banks in the EBA sample are falling short of disclosure rules in the Capital Requirements Regulation, with institutions struggling in particular with reporting their modelling
Banks face higher capital requirement under Basel trading book review
Basel Committee impact study on the fundamental review of the trading book implies minimum capital allocated to market risk will rise substantially for some banks
Bank of Israel approves first issue of loss-absorbing bonds
Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot allowed to issue contingent convertible bonds that will count as part of regulatory capital, with other banks expected to follow suit
Asia’s Basel III woes
New bank capital rules are bridling Association of Southeast Asian Nations banks with regulations tailored to European and American risk profiles, and may be contributing to a slowdown in growth
Basel Committee proposes lighter capital for ‘STC’ securitisations
Simple, transparent and comparable securitisations might not need as much regulatory capital as they do under the current framework, proposals suggest
Czech governor casts doubt on Basel III
Miroslav Singer says he is ‘very sceptical’ about the shift from the second Basel accord to the third in an interview with the Central Banking Journal
European banks ‘lagging behind’ in re-thinking strategies, Bundesbank board member says
European commercial banks have been too slow in adapting to a changed regulatory environment and low interest rates, says Andreas Dombret of the Bundesbank
Sarb ready to deploy countercyclical buffer from January
South African Reserve Bank says countercyclical capital buffer is ready but not yet needed, in latest financial stability report
BoE may impose extra liquidity charges, says regulator
BoE will impose Basel III add-ons if banks’ risks are not fully captured by LCR, says prudential policy head
Basel Committee considers limiting bank modelling choices
Study of internal models of counterparty credit risk finds ‘considerable’ variation between banks, raising the possibility of the Basel Committee takings steps to increase consistency
Market liquidity drained by regulations, says DBS chief
Volcker, Basel III and Dodd-Frank have combined to drain liquidity, CEO says – particularly in times of market stress
Consistent implementation key to Basel III success, research notes
Boston Fed policy perspective highlights importance of consistent implementation of liquidity regulation across G20 jurisdictions
CME guaranty fund cut could lure new clearing members
Regional banks and prop shops are eyeing direct membership, but the lower minimum guaranty fund contribution does little for existing FCMs
RBI official defends going beyond Basel III
Vishwanathan singles out aspects of Indian financial system that make higher capital requirements appropriate, including short ratings history and population of unrated borrowers
RBI designates two banks ‘systemically important’
Reserve Bank of India lists State Bank of India and ICICI Bank as ‘domestic systemically important banks’ and details additional capital requirements
Hungary aims to implement LCR ahead of schedule
Announced timetable is quicker than the minimum outlined in Basel III and the accelerated timetable agreed under the capital requirements directive
Banks attack proposed risk weights for specialised loans in Europe
EU lenders say both of the EBA’s suggested methods for risk-weighting real estate and other specialised loans would distort regulatory capital