Basel III-An Initial Piece of the Global PuzzleOn

On December 16, 2010, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (the "Basel Committee"), an international committee consisting of representatives of central banks and other agencies, issued its final Basel III framework, along with the results of the quantitative impact study it conducted to ascertain the impact of the new requirements. Then, on January 13, 2011, the Basel Committee expanded on the Basel III capital rules with additional requirements applicable to the non-common Tier 1 or Tier 2 instruments issued by internationally active banks. The Basel III framework is intended to reform the international financial system and improve the banking sector's resiliency in times of financial and economic stress by instituting higher global capital and new liquidity standards on a more or less uniform basis globally.