GENEVA - LEADING central bank governors said on Sunday that they had agreed on a package of measures to strengthen the regulation and supervision of the banking industry in the wake of the financial crisis.
The measures should 'substantially reduce the probability and severity of economic and financial stress,' a statement released by the Basel-based Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said.
The approval sets in motion and enhances revised 'Basel II' measures finalised in July, that require banks to bolster capital and remedy flaws exposed by the collapse in credit and financial markets last year.
'The agreements reached today among 27 major countries of the world are essential as they set the new standards for banking regulation and supervision at the global level,' said European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet, who presided the meeting.
National financial supervisors were also urged to ensure that pay or compensation for commercial bankers was 'properly aligned with long-term performance and prudent risk-taking,' added Nout Wellink, the chairman of the Basel Committee and Dutch central bank chief.
However, the meeting did not set a firm date for implementation of the package, which will be fleshed out over the coming months.
The central bank governors and supervisors who met in Basel form the oversight body of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. A draft of the measures was first unveiled in January.
The principles agreed notably to bolster standards for key 'tier one' capital requirements for commercial banks to raise their 'quality, consistency and transparency", the statement said.
'Banks will be required to move expeditiously to raise the level and quality of capital to the new standards, but in a manner that promotes stability of national banking systems and the broader economy,' it added.
The central bankers endorsed the principle of a minimum global standard to fund liquidity, as well as a framework to oblige banks to build permanent 'countercyclical' capital buffers that can be used during periods of financial turmoil.
The measures will be detailed by the end of the year and tested and refined through to the end of 2010, according to the statement. They will be phased in in a manner 'that does not impede the recovery of the real economy'. -- AFP
