Basel III impacts, banking regulation, sustainable finance, capital requirements, CRDIV

The global financial crisis that began in 2007 exposed material weaknesses in the overall design and framework for the capitalization of trading activities, and the level of capital requirements proved insufficient to absorb losses.

In response to the crisis, the Bank for International Settlements released the Basel III banking regulatory reform measures beginning in 2011. These guidelines aimed to reduce the cyclicality of the market risk framework and increase the overall level of capital.

Basel III redefines the quality, consistency, and transparency of required capital bases. The measures promote the buildup of capital in good times that can be drawn upon in periods of stress, thus reducing procyclicality and promoting countercyclical buffers.

During the 2007-08 banking crisis, several banks (such as Northern Rock in the UK or Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers in the U.S.) suffered liquidity crunches due to their over-reliance on short-term wholesale funding from the interbank lending market. Basel III also contains entirely new liquidity requirements: the proposed net stable funding ratio (NSFR) and the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) are both intended to increase the liquidity of banks so that they are able to survive credit crunches such as the one experienced during 2008.

In line with Basel III reform measures, the European Commission created the CRD IV Package to implement capital requirements. This presentation explores the main challenges of Basel III implementation in contrasting economies.