Global Risk Regulator http://www.prmia.org/Weblogs/Regulation/GRR/ A weblog by David Keefe and Simon Turmaine 2006-08-15T16:38:23+00:00 Basel II NPR could ask for comment on simpler methods; FDIC's Bair hopes for agency agreement before Congressional hearings http://www.prmia.org/Weblogs/Regulation/GRR/2006/08/basel_ii_npr_co.html WASHINGTON, August 15 – A top US banking regulator hopes that federal agencies will ask for comment on the possibility of allowing US banks the option of using simpler approaches to risk measurement in forthcoming proposals on implementing the controversial Basel II global bank safety rules in America.


"I think everybody can show some flexibility because we aren't making the decision at this point," Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) chairman Sheila Bair said in an interview with the Dow Jones Newswires service which was published yesterday. There will be a four-month period for comment by lawmakers, bankers and other interested parties when the proposals are published as a final version of a notice of proposed rulemaking, or NPR. After the comment period, the agencies will decide on their final version of the rules, which are intended to come into operation in January, 2009.

]]> Basel II sturmaine 2006-08-15T16:38:23+00:00 Washington regulators unite to win backing for Basel II in the US http://www.prmia.org/Weblogs/Regulation/GRR/2006/06/washington_regu.html LONDON, June 12 -- Top Washington bank regulators have begun pitching hard to win public support for the adoption of the new Basel capital adequacy rules in the US. John Dugan, the new head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), an agency that has often been critical of the internationally-negotiated new rules to bolster bank safety (Basel II), gave strong backing to US implementation at a dinner for bankers in London on Wednesday evening.
Describing the Basel II capital accord as “one of the most significant recent developments in the financial sector,” Comptroller Dugan said he “strongly” agreed with the thrust of the new rules. His comments follow similarly strong backing for Basel II from Ben Bernanke, the new chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, in Chicago in mid-May. The chairman said it was time to move forward to the next stage of implementing Basel II. “This framework will modernize bank supervision and bring supervisory practice into line with best industry practice. Substantial benefits will ensue -- most importantly, a safer and sounder banking system,” Bernanke said.

]]> Basel II sturmaine 2006-06-12T10:17:29+00:00 US lawmakers reiterate concerns about Basel II http://www.prmia.org/Weblogs/Regulation/GRR/2006/06/us_lawmakers_re.html WASHINGTON, June 9 – US lawmakers yesterday reiterated their concerns about the controversial Basel II bank safety rules at Senate hearings on White House nominations for key banking supervision posts.

Members of the Senate’s banking committee urged again that the new capital adequacy rules for banks should not to result in reductions in the amounts of capital banks need to absorb shock losses, while worrying that the latest US proposals for implementing Basel II could make it harder for US banks to compete abroad.

The committee held the hearings on President George W Bush’s nominations to four regulatory posts, including that of Federal Reserve Board governor Donald Kohn to the vice chairmanship of the Fed, and of Sheila Bair to the chairmanship of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the agency that insures customer deposits. Governor Kohn is a veteran of the US central banking system who was tapped by Bush for the job following the resignation of Roger Ferguson as Fed vice chairman.

]]> sturmaine 2006-06-09T14:20:34+00:00 US hearings this week could take Basel II temperature http://www.prmia.org/Weblogs/Regulation/GRR/2006/06/us_hearings_thi.html WASHINGTON, June 6 – US Senate hearings scheduled this week on President George W Bush’s nominations for important posts in the nation’s banking supervision system could test the political temperature following the latest US proposals for implementing the controversial Basel II bank safety rules.

On Thursday, June 8, the Senate’s banking committee will hold hearings on Bush’s nomination of Donald Kohn as vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, which oversees the US central banking system, and of Sheila Bair as chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Board (FDIC), which insures customer deposits at US banks.

]]> Basel II sturmaine 2006-06-06T17:06:59+00:00 Regulators leave Basel II scaling factor unchanged on QIS5 results http://www.prmia.org/Weblogs/Regulation/GRR/2006/05/regulators_leav.html BERLIN, May 24 – Global banking regulators have decided to leave the current calibration factor for the Basel II capital rules unchanged after reviewing the results of the most recent test of the complex rules.

The current calibration – a 1.06 scaling factor for credit risk-weighted assets – will be maintained, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the body of top banking supervisors from North America, Europe and Japan that in effect regulates international banking, said today.

]]> Basel II sturmaine 2006-05-24T14:13:34+00:00 Netherlands Bank’s Wellink is next Basel Committee chairman http://www.prmia.org/Weblogs/Regulation/GRR/2006/05/netherlands_ban.html BASEL, Switzerland, May 19 (Global Risk Regulator) – Netherlands Bank president Nout Wellink will be the new chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, succeeding current chairman Jaime Caruana from July 1.

Caruana relinquishes the chairmanship of the Basel Committee, the body of top banking supervisors from North America, Europe and Japan that in effect regulates international banking, on the conclusion of his term as governor of the Bank of Spain.

]]> Basel II sturmaine 2006-05-19T19:00:01+00:00 US Basel II safeguards ‘highly appropriate’, says FDIC head http://www.prmia.org/Weblogs/Regulation/GRR/2006/05/us_basel_ii_saf.html WASHINGTON, May 19 – Safeguards placed on the US implementation of the Basel II bank safety rules are highly appropriate, given the uncertainty about the final outcome in terms of bank capital levels, a top US federal banking supervisor said today.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) acting chairman Martin Gruenberg said “some may question the prudential safeguards that the (federal banking supervisory) agencies have put in place for the proposed implementation of Basel II as unduly restrictive.” The FDIC insures customer deposits held by US banks.

]]> Basel II sturmaine 2006-05-19T18:58:33+00:00 Bernanke says more effort needed on challenge to global consistency of Basel II http://www.prmia.org/Weblogs/Regulation/GRR/2006/05/bernanke_says_m.html WASHINGTON, May 18 – Achieving international consistency in the implementation of the Basel II bank safety rules will be a challenge – something that all bank regulators recognise, US Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke said today.

“We recognise that some international implementation issues will be more complex than those we currently face,” Bernanke said in remarks prepared for delivery at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s annual conference on bank structure.

“Inconsistency in international standards of implementation and enforcement, it is sometimes said, will put internationally active US banks at a competitive disadvantage and may also hurt purely domestic US banks vis-à-vis the US subsidiaries of foreign banks.”

]]> sturmaine 2006-05-19T18:56:56+00:00 UK regulators expect political tussles as key Solvency II test begins http://www.prmia.org/Weblogs/Regulation/GRR/2006/05/uk_regulators_e_1.html LONDON, May 3 – With a key second test starting this week of Europe’s Solvency II proposals for making insurance firms safer, Britain’s regulators confirm they expect political wrangles over the treatment of technical provisions under the regime.

“There will be political problems, but we’re hoping they will be resolved satisfactorily,” said Peter Hinton, actuary with the prudential standards division of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the UK’s integrated financial sector watchdog.

]]> Solvency II sturmaine 2006-05-03T14:35:43+00:00 Basel IA must weigh sensitivity against burden, says Fed’s Bies http://www.prmia.org/Weblogs/Regulation/GRR/2006/04/basel_ia_must_w.html NAPLES, Florida, April 11 – As US regulators develop new rules for the thousands of US banks that won’t be adopting the complex Basel II safety regime, they will analyse carefully the trade-off between risk sensitivity and the greater burden placed on banks, a top supervisor said yesterday.

“As you are aware, this is not necessarily the easiest balance to find,” US Federal Reserve Board governor Susan Schmidt Bies told a Naples, Florida risk management forum organised by America’s Community Bankers, a leading trade body representing smaller US banks.

]]> Basel II sturmaine 2006-04-11T13:06:37+00:00 International bankers urge quicker Basel II pace http://www.prmia.org/Weblogs/Regulation/GRR/2006/03/international_b.html ZURICH, Switzerland, March 30 – International banking industry leaders, fearing the impact of different implementation timetables, stressed today the vital need to quicken the tempo for resolving all outstanding issues in the Basel II bank safety rules.

“There is now a need for all involved in this process, including political leaders on both sides of the Atlantic, to work very closely together to meet the current Basel II implementation challenges,” Institute of International Finance (IIF) vice chairman Cees Maas said. The Washington-based IIF represents nearly 350 leading international financial institutions from more than 60 countries.

]]> Basel II sturmaine 2006-03-30T15:30:06+00:00 Fed’s Bies urges comment on today’s Basel II NPR http://www.prmia.org/Weblogs/Regulation/GRR/2006/03/fedas_bies_urge.html NEW YORK, March 29 (Global Risk Regulator) – Bankers and others are strongly encouraged to comment on all aspects of the delayed and revised plans, due out tomorrow, for implementing the controversial Basel II bank safety rules in the US, a top US banking supervisor said yesterday.

“Your comments and those from others will contribute importantly to the assessment of Basel II objectives and its implementation, and will help us as we develop the framework further,” Federal Reserve Board governor Susan Schmidt Bies told a New York conference on operational risk. The Basel II rules, designed by global banking regulators, seek to improve the safety and soundness of banks by more closely linking capital requirements to risk.

]]> Basel II sturmaine 2006-03-30T08:21:14+00:00 US Treasury urges regulator cooperation on Basel II http://www.prmia.org/Weblogs/Regulation/GRR/2006/03/us_treasury_urg_1.html The US Treasury continues to urge federal banking regulators to work cooperatively in their efforts to implement the international Basel II bank safety rules “and move the process forward in a timely fashion,” a top Treasury official said yesterday.

]]> Basel II sturmaine 2006-03-14T15:04:45+00:00 Roadmap shows way to global rules on insurer solvency http://www.prmia.org/Weblogs/Regulation/GRR/2006/02/roadmap_shows_w.html BASEL, Switzerland, February 16 (Global Risk Regulator) – Insurance supervisors today issued a roadmap for the development of international standards on the assessment of insurer solvency. The plan extends over many years.

]]> sturmaine 2006-02-16T19:25:51+00:00 Bernanke says no big capital reduction wanted with Basel II http://www.prmia.org/Weblogs/Regulation/GRR/2006/02/bernanke_says_n.html WASHINGTON, February 16 – The US Federal Reserve Board “is on the same page” as US lawmakers in not wanting to see a substantial reduction in bank capital as a result of applying the international Basel II bank safety rules, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said today.

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