Global regulators today confirmed a last-minute overhaul to proposed bank safety rules, simplifying the controversial Basel II accord, the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision said in a statement.
The leading global bank regulatory body said it had agreed to eliminate complex calculations in the proposed draft that would have forced banks to set aside capital for expected losses, not just for unexpected losses (UL), as is now required.
The committee pushed back its self-imposed deadline for completing the draft from end-2003 to mid-year 2004.
"It is important in the near term to provide banks with as much certainty as possible while they plan and prepare for the adoption of the new rules," the committee said in a statement issued after a two-day meeting in Madrid.