Frankfurt, Dec 7 (AFP) Regulators from around the worldtied off the final round of new regulations for banks inFrankfurt on Thursday, the Basel Committee on BankingSupervision said in a statement, closing a saga begun at theheight of the financial crisis.
Completing the so-called "Basel III" reforms "representsa major milestone that will make the capital framework morerobust and improve confidence in banking systems," EuropeanCentral Bank president Mario Draghi said after the meeting,which brought together regulators and central banks from majoradvanced economies like the United States and the EuropeanUnion as well as emerging nations such as China, India andBrazil.
The committee -- named after its headquarters at the Bankfor International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland -- agreeda final set of rules to complete a new round of bankregulation begun in mid-2010.
They include compromises on how regulators treat therisks banks run from their lending business, from financialmarket activities and from "operational risks" ranging fromhuman error to acts of God.
In particular, the deal puts an end to EU-US wranglingover how should be calculated the amount of capital banksshould keep on hand to weather financial shocks.
And the supervisors and central bankers also pushed backdeadlines, giving lawmakers time to implement the new globalrules and banks time to prepare for their application.
"Now that the Basel III regulatory reform agenda iscomplete, we must focus on the important task of ensuring thestandards are implemented consistently around the world,"Basel Committee chairman and Swedish central bank chief StefanIngves said.
Most of the changes are expected to only take effect from2022. (AFP)NSA.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.