G-20 Nations Calls for `Significantly' Higher Bank Capital to Avert Crisis
By Doug Alexander - Jun 27, 2010
The Group of 20 countries said banks need to raise capital “significantly higher” in order to avoid a repeat of the global financial crisis, while giving lenders more flexibility to implement the changes.
Countries should adopt the new standards by the end of 2012, and banks will be allowed to phase in capital increases during a transition period, according to a draft of the G-20 statement sent to reporters today in Toronto.
Banks will have to increase common equity as a percentage of their so-called Tier 1 capital to allow them to withstand another crisis without significant government support, the statement said. The capital increases can be phased in over a timeframe that respects each country’s circumstances, and is “consistent with sustained recovery and limits market disruption.”
“The financial crisis has imposed huge costs,” the G-20 statement said. “This must not be allowed to happen again.”
Leaders said they will seek final agreement at a summit in Seoul in November when the
Basel Committee of Banking and Supervision, made up of international central bankers, will propose a road map.
Global leaders supported the Basel committee’s work to consider the role of contingent capital to help banks shore up their finances. Contingent capital, which has the backing of Canada, is subordinated debt and preferred shares sold by lenders that may be converted to capital in the event of a crisis.
December Deadline
The Basel committee is racing against a December deadline set by G-20 nations, and banks faced with raising what UBS AG estimates may be $375 billion of fresh capital are appealing to nationalist sentiments to ease the pain.
Within the G-20, the U.S. was pushing for stricter new capital rules while European governments sought a phasing-in period. Banks provide about 75 percent of financing to the economy in Europe, while 70 percent of lending in the U.S. comes from markets rather than from banks.
The current round of changes, informally known as Basel III, was spurred by G-20 leaders who urged the committee to improve the quantity and quality of bank capital, strengthen liquidity requirements and discourage excessive leverage.
The 36-year-old Basel committee, which sets international capital standards for banks, is rewriting those rules after the worst financial crisis in more than 70 years. An earlier revision, known as Basel II and initiated by lenders in the late 1990s during an era of deregulation, failed to prevent the collapse of European banks that adopted it.
Higher Capital
U.S. President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner urged their counterparts to join the push for higher capital requirements. This effort gained momentum after American lawmakers agreed last week on legislation to overhaul the U.S. financial system.
G-20 didn’t support the implantation of a bank tax, which has the backing of countries including the U.K.
“We recognized that there are a range of policy approaches” to ensure the financial sector pays for any government bailouts, the statement said. “Some countries are pursuing a financial levy. Other countries are pursuing different approaches.”
G-20 Nations Calls for `Significantly' Higher Bank Capital to Avert Crisis - Bloomberg