A new report finds that there has been progress towards the adoption of a new capital regime for banks in many countries, but that some will be challenged to meet their deadlines, and to ensure consistency between local rules and the global standards.
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision published a status report on the implementation of its banking standards across its member countries Monday, in advance of the next G20 summit in Mexico on June 18-19. The report notes that, while there has been significant progress in many countries, some have already missed certain globally agreed implementation deadlines, or haven’t made sufficient progress towards the new Basel III regime, so the Basel III implementation deadline may be a challenge.
It says that draft Basel III regulations have not yet been issued by seven countries: Argentina, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Russia, Turkey and the US (although this does not include the draft regulations issued by US regulators on June 7). “The majority of these jurisdictions believe they can issue final regulations in time to implement by the deadline of January 2013. However, for others, depending on their domestic rule-making process, meeting the deadline could be a significant challenge,” the report says.
The report also notes that of the 29 global systemically important banks, which were identified in November 2011, nine are headquartered in jurisdictions that have not yet fully implemented Basel II and/or Basel 2.5.
Preliminary assessments of the domestic rules in the European Union, Japan and the United States have also identified areas of divergence between domestic regulations and the Basel standards, it notes.
“The interim findings are subject to further detailed analysis, but this report highlights key areas where domestic implementation may be weaker than the globally agreed standards,” said Stefan Ingves, chairman of the Committee and governor of the Sveriges Riksbank.
Another round of assessments, analysing the consistency of risk-weighted assets (RWAs) in the banking book and trading book across banks and jurisdictions, is at the exploratory stage, the report notes. And the Committee indicates this could eventually lead to policy recommendations to deal with potential inconsistencies. Initial assessments of RWAs are due by the end of 2012.
The Basel Committee stresses that “full, timely and consistent implementation of Basel III among its members is essential for restoring confidence in the regulatory framework for banks and to help ensure a safe and stable global banking system.” It will provide an updated progress report to G20 finance ministers and central bank governors at their meeting in November 2012, it says.