Leverage ratios
RBNZ’s prudential supervision head backs simpler regulation
Toby Fiennes expresses ‘sympathy’ for arguments in favour of simpler banking regulation, but cautions that simplicity can bring problems of its own; gives hints as to future of regulation
Fed’s Raskin warns of shortcomings in leverage ratio
Sarah Bloom Raskin says a leverage ratio can guard against the failings of risk-weighted capital requirements, but cautions that the ratio has issues of its own
Arbitrage threat kept 'fallible' leverage ratio to 4%, says Vickers
Vickers says his 'blue skies thinking' leverage ratio would have been 10%, and adds stress testing avoids banks gaming the system
FDIC vice-chair says Basel III capital requirements provide illusion of safety
Thomas Hoenig says capital ratios allow banks to leverage up while outwardly appearing safe; warns systemically important banks have much worse leverage ratios than smaller institutions
US agencies clamp down on leveraged lending
Fed, FDIC and OCC issue updated standards for leveraged lenders amid concerns standards are again slipping and many institutions have ‘proven less than satisfactory’ in risk management practices
Central bankers split over whether 3% leverage ratio is enough
Majority of participants in CentralBanking.com poll support implementation of Basel III; readers divided over questions of raising leverage ratio
BoE research warns of coming financing problems for private equity firms
Quarterly bulletin article highlights problems on the horizon for private equity firms that over-leveraged before the financial crisis, as their debt comes to maturity under much tighter conditions
UK gears up to new era of prudential regulation
The UK will adopt ‘twin peaks’ supervision in April in a bid to restore integrity to its financial system. Chris Jeffery talks to the Bank of England’s Sarah Breeden about the challenges ahead