Revised Basel III liquidity rules force Asia into uncharted territory

New Basel III liquidity regulations look set to force many Asia-Pacific banks and regulators into uncharted territory as they try to comply with the rules and meet their own requirements through innovation.

Asia-Pacific banks might view the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s proposals on liquidity as an unwelcome and onerous intrusion. After all, the global financial crisis originated in the US and unleashed its most severe repercussions in North America and Europe while Asia Pacific banks emerged relatively unscathed. Nonetheless, with the hard-learnt lessons from the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s not yet a distant memory, Asian regulators and bank executives are also keen to