Japan

Balancing belief and science

Japan’s banks are protesting against Basel’s proposed operational risk capital charge. They claim their risk levels are much lower than those of banks from other countries, but there is little hard data available to back this claim up. Anthony Rowley…

Basel inflicts collateral damage

The current Basel proposals could lead to the global spread of the type of systemic loan loss problems Japan is now experiencing, argues John Frye of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Basel reform: why the market should decide

The 1988 Basel Accord made bank capital rules more precise. But this did not save the Japanese banking system or slow the erosion of credit intermediation by US banks. Mark Brickell, managing director at JP Morgan in New York, has been an architect of…