May 21, 2010

Are capital and liquidity rules for the banks out of the domain of the US Congress?

Sir in “Tsunami of regulation batters banks”, May 21, Brooke Masters reports “The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is aiming to adopt new capital and liquidity rules by the end of the year.”

Given that the current capital rules, which unjustifiably favors the good credit risk ratings already favored by the markets, created the stampede after triple-A rated securities that detonated the current financial crisis, this must surely be one of the most important part of the financial regulatory reform.

Can then anyone explain to me why the Basel Committee is not mentioned even once in the 1336 pages long reform bill presented to the US Senate or in the 1776 pages long H.R. 4173 financial regulatory Act approved by the House of Representatives?