New Clause 20 - Annual assessment of developments in respect of risk-weighting

Part of Financial Services (Banking Reform) Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 4:45 pm on 16 April 2013.

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Photo of Greg Clark Greg Clark The Financial Secretary to the Treasury 4:45, 16 April 2013

It is good to reach the final new clause and amendment on a note of relative consensus. Risk-weighting is important, and my hon. Friend the Member for North East Somerset made a notable speech on the subject earlier in our proceedings. The primary capital requirements under Basel III are based on banks’ risk-weighted assets. Those risk weights must therefore be reliable and credible. The Parliamentary Commission correctly noted that some risk weights performed badly  in the last crisis. Extensive work is under way to review risk weights and has, to some extent, already been implemented. For example, the capital requirements directive III, which was implemented in 2011, significantly increased the risk weights that applied to complex securitisations. The Basel Committee and the European Banking Authority have begun separate reviews of risk weights and risk-weighting methods. The EBA expects to report by the end of 2013 and the Basel Committee by the end of 2014. [Interruption.]