BIS releases Basel II

The Bank of International Settlements released what appears to be the final draft of Basel II on Saturday June 28. The 250-page document will replace the 1999 framework for bank capital adequacy (Basel I). Basel II incorporates changes adopted through several consultative papers released for commentary over the years, and three "quantitative impact studies."

One source pointed out that the Supervisory Formula Approach for internal ratings based (IRB) has been rolled back to the more complicated format. Responding to industry feedback, in January, the BIS considered simplifying the treatment of securitization-related exposures by simplifying the SFA (see coverage).

The committee expects banks to implement the new framework as of year-end 2006. Banks taking the "advanced approach" will be afforded another year (implementation year-end 2007).

Market feedback on the final release will follow throughout the week, and in ASR 7/6/04.