The Basel III accord's reversion to use of a leverage ratio has won the approval of regulators and top bankers alike, who have lauded the safety net it provides.

Speaking at a forum in Brussels on Wednesday, Lloyd Blankfein, the chairman of Goldman Sachs, a bank, said he could see definite advantages to an absolute leverage cap, despite his attachment to the relative risk approach in Basel II. "If you are going to decide that a portfolio has zero risk, it doesn't matter whether you have five, 50