Internal ratings-based (IRB) approach
Gaining an edge from Basel
The recent recommendations of the Basel Committee are set to usher in a period of upheaval for many participants in the banking sector. Standard & Poor’s Anthony Albert looks at how to gain a competitive advantage in credit risk management in the light…
Dealing with the flak
With the final Basel Accord proposals due to be published later this year, the Bank of International Settlements’ new Asian head, Shinichi Yoshikuni, does not have much time to settle into his new role, writes Nick Sawyer.
Credit model evaluation
With the new Basel Capital Accord scheduled for implementation in 2005, banks are having to evaluate the credit scoring models that will enable them to meet the minimum standards for Basel’s internal ratings-based (IRB) approach. Selecting an appropriate…
Swiss and UK banks set to win as Japanese lose in Basel II
Swiss and UK banks are poised to be the main beneficiaries of the proposed new regulatory capital Accord, Basel II, according to results from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s quantitative impact study 2.5 (QIS2.5).
Stepping up for Basel
South Korea’s banks stand to be the hardest hit by the new Basel recommendations, forcing institutions to focus on improving risk management operations. Vikki Kunz reports from Seoul.
Will Germany scupper Basel II?
How real is Germany’s threat to veto the proposed Basel II bank capital accord if the country fails to get the concessions it wants on the accord’s treatment of bank lending to small to medium-sized companies (SMEs)?
Regulators looking at possible changes to Basel II credit risk plans
Basel - Global banking regulators are studying possible changes to the credit risk proposals of the complex Basel II bank capital accord, after seeing evidence that banks face higher capital charges under Basel II than they do under the current Basel I…
Could the Basel II op risk charge be cut again?
BASEL - Might banking regulators agree again to lower the capital charge for operational risk proposed under the controversial Basel II bank capital accord as part of horse-trading over the credit risk charge?
A spanner in the works
The US and Germany are in a standoff over Basel II’s capital charge calculation for SME lending. Without a compromise this month, the issue threatens to derail implementation of the Accord and the European Directive.
Basel regulators may scrap 90% IRB floor for credit risk
Global banking regulators will soon abandon their controversial 90%, two-year floor on the benefit banks could reap by moving to the advanced internal ratings based (IRB) technique for calculating capital charges against credit risk under the Basel II…
Preparing for the worst
Small and medium-sized banks in the US and Europe are bracing themselves for Basel II. Gallagher Polyn examines how these institutions plan to adapt to the new Accord.
The shifting sands of Basel II
Four months after the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision closed the consultation period on its January 2001 draft for a new international capital Accord, it has already made major amendments to its proposal.
Pro-cyclicality in the new Basel Accord
Could Basel II worsen recessions? By backtesting the proposed capital rules to the last recession, D. Wilson Ervin and Tom Wilde argue that the increased risk sensitivity of loan portfolio regulatory capital in the new Accord could have unwelcome…
Basel acts on private equity losses
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has issued a proposal for determining the capital reserves for bank equity exposures. It promises to be as controversial as the other aspects of the Basel II capital Accord.
Probing granularity
The granularity adjustment, which adjusts risk weightings for credit portfolio diversification, is one of Basel II’s key modelling assumptions. Here, Tom Wilde uncovers a weakness in this assumption arising from the differences in the underlying credit…
Basel II to be re-calibrated for Asian banks
Simon Topping, executive director for banking policy at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), said in July that the proposed Basel II capital accord will be re-calibrated during the current consultation period to make risk weightings for Asia's banks…
Basel bonds Canada
The largest Canadian banks have banded together to share default data, making it much more likely they will all qualify for the most advantageous regulatory capital approach under the Basel II capital Accord.
Basel working group suggests "pragmatic" approach to credit risk expected losses
BASEL - A working group of the Basel Committee of banking supervisors has proposed "a pragmatic approach" to treating expected losses in arriving at a capital charge for credit risk under the internal ratings based (IRB) approach of the proposed Basel II…
The new Accord delayed
Implementation of Basel II has been delayed to 2005, and regulators are revising key elements of their proposals for a new Accord on bank capital.
Reconciling ratings
Basel II
Why Basel must brush-up on credit
Paul Kupiec of the International Monetary Fund argues that unresolved calibration problems remain with the new Basel Accord’s credit risk capital requirements – problems that may lead banks to make damaging risk decisions.
Reconciling ratings
How should internal credit ratings be calibrated to long-term default rates? This multibillion-dollar question is at the heart of the debate over Basel’s IRB approach. In thisarticle, Stefan Blochwitz and Stefan Hohl use simulations to demonstrate wide…
IRBapproach explained
Basel II
IRB approach explained
At the end of this month, the consultation period for the new Basel Accord on bank capital will end. We have prepared a technical section this month devoted to various issues surrounding Basel II. In the first paper, Tom Wilde sheds light on the…