Capital
Fed’s Powell looks for ways to reduce ‘unnecessary burden’ of regulation
Fed governor tells senators he sees room in some aspects of post-crisis reforms to ease the burden on banks, though he stresses the need for “vigilance” against new risks
IMF urges ‘no favour, no obstacle’ approach to Islamic banking
Report urges countries to adopt more consistent prudential standards for Islamic banks and strengthen liquidity management frameworks
National Bank of Denmark warns banks on stress test results
Some systemic banks came close to breaching threshold requirements in latest round of stress tests, central bank says
US Treasury proposals seek to water down Basel III
Proposals include axing parts of liquidity rules, reducing the use of stress testing and the possibility of allowing banks to opt out of the Volcker rule
Australia’s bank levy could squeeze TLAC drive
Issuing Tier 2 and senior unsecured debt will become more expensive for the top four banks in the country
RBI looks to ease credit conditions as inflation projection falls
Rates on hold, but central bank is seeking to give banks more room to lend by easing capital and liquidity requirements; committee fends off possible government meddling
Surprise RMB strengthening prompts unwinds
"A lot of long [US$] positions were unsustainable and had to be re-evaluated," says forex structuring head
Model risk falls under the CCAR microscope
Fed using qualitative reviews to test the quality of model risk governance
BIS’s Coen warns of danger in delays as output floors remain stuck
Long phase-in periods increase risk of “dilution or backtracking”, says BCBS secretary-general; remains vague on timetable for Basel III completion
Risk weightings should reflect borrowing constraints, paper argues
Finnish paper criticises principle behind regulations on capital requirements
Kohn worried about weight of expectations on Federal Reserve
The weight of expectations on the US Fed may be too high; the US is not as well placed as the UK to tackle another major crisis, says the former Fed vice-chair
Banks mull dedicated IFRS 9 capital buffers
Volatility of loan-loss provisioning from new accounting standard demands additional own-funds protection, say banks
Let the market regulate banks – FDIC’s Hoenig
Vice-chairman offers proposal that would take an axe to risk-based capital, stress testing and parts of the Volcker rule
Ukraine’s Gontareva on one of the toughest jobs in central banking
The outgoing National Bank of Ukraine governor speaks about transforming the central bank while engaging in wartime deficit funding and overhauling the banking sector
Capital deepening ‘virtually absent’ in US and eurozone – ECB
US and eurozone have seen major falls in net investment, an ECB article says
Volcker fights back as prop-trading ban comes under attack
Former Fed chair tells Risk.net that calls for total overhaul of eponymous rule are misplaced
Research finds ways to tame FRTB’s biases in forex charges
New paper shows ways to reduce influence of reporting currency
Central banks could intervene on repo market function – BIS study
Markets still in a “state of transition” but some central banks might want to take action to mitigate adverse effects, CGFS report says
Lebanese banking sector holding up, despite Syria crisis – central bank
The banking sector remains liquid and well capitalised despite a “strained” Lebanese economy, the central bank says; new compliance unit formed
Congress urged to curb Fed’s regulatory powers
House hearing revives the debate on consolidating US regulatory agencies
Esma calls for greater powers over national supervisors
Supervisor also wants the authority to pause the application of some rules
Tarullo admits Volcker rule may be ‘too complicated’
Outgoing Fed governor says Volcker rule probably needs adjustment, though he warns against any measures that would weaken the capital regime
Fed paper searches for optimal bank capital
Study weighs higher cost of equity against the reduction in costly financial crises implied by higher capital, estimating an optimal figure
Basel Committee outlines enhanced disclosure framework
Revised Pillar 3 standard adds “dashboard” of banks’ key prudential metrics and consolidates all existing Basel Committee disclosure requirements