Basel II may not suit emerging economies, says US central banker

Washington - Rules embodied in the Basel II banking accord may be inappropriate for banks in emerging-market economies because a country may have unique circumstances, a senior US central banker said in December.

Laurence Meyer, a member of the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve System, noted that the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s prompted an international effort to create standards and codes to improve practices in the economic and financial policies of emerging-market countries.

The complex, risk-based Basel II capital adequacy rules will apply from 2005, in the first instance to large international banks of the Group of 10 (G-10) leading economies.

But the Basel Committee on