UK banks on course for Basel II

London - Most UK banks have already implemented dedicated Basel II programmes, according to a survey commissioned by UK IT consultancy Detica.

The research found that 86 percent of the 55 banks surveyed set up Basel II programmes in the last three years. The remaining 14 percent still do not have programmes in place.

The survey also revealed that two thirds of respondents were prepared to purchase software and consultancy services to ensure compliance with Basel II.

However, David Porter, head of financial services risk at Detica, believes firms need to improve their risk data quality. “Having robust processes for data management is immaterial if the data being managed is inconsistent, incomplete or poor quality,” he said. “As a worse case scenario, this could delay or even jeopardise compliance by the early 2007 deadline.”

“The sheer scale and complexity of the [Basel II] Accord means that getting data collection and management right early on is critical to the overall success of the compliance projects,” Porter added.BaselAlert.com