An accounting standards update (ASU) that provides temporary, optional guidance to ease the potential accounting burden of switching interest rate benchmarks has been approved by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision published guidance on the sectoral countercyclical capital buffer (SCCyB), a tool it describes as being useful for targeting specific credit segments such as residential real estate to cool over lending.

Notional amounts of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives hit their highest levels since 2014 at $640tn at the end of June 2019, compared with $544tn at the end of 2018, the Bank for International Settlement (BIS) said in a statement. 

The Basel III reforms have generally had no material or persistent negative impact on bank lending to small businesses, though there are differences between jurisdictions, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) said in a report.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is asking for views on updating the calibration of the credit valuation adjustment (CVA) risk framework and adjusting the scope of portfolios subject to CVA risk capital requirements. 

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) said in a report that the Legal Entity Identifier Regulatory Oversight Committee (LEI ROC) is best positioned to become the international governance body for the Unique Product Identifier (UPI) and Unique Transaction Identifier (UTI) and some other critical elements.

Given the very low interest rate environment, capital buffers may need to become the main monetary policy instrument to counter swings in economic activity, according to the Bank of England.

The internationally highly regarded CEO of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Ashley Alder, will not renew his contract when it ends in September 2020, according to media reports. 

Between the end of November 2018 and the end of September 2019, further progress has been limited on implementing reforms for the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) said. 

The European Commission published a consultation on October 11 asking for views on the implementation of the finalised Basel III rules into EU rules, namely the capital requirements regulation (CRR) and directive (CRD)