Dodd opens bipartisan negotiations over Senate reform Bill. ‘Volcker rule’ may be casualty. US and international opposition grows By Nick Paraskeva

IQALUIT, Canada, February 7 (Global Risk Regulator) – US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner insisted over the weekend that major economies are not easing up on their commitment to stiffen the rules for banks just because the global economy is recovering.

DAVOS, Switzerland, January 28 (Global Risk Regulator) – A global consensus exists on the need for tough banking regulation and on a recognition that the world can’t allow banks to “play us off against each other,” according to key US Congressman Barney Frank who is attending this week’s World Economic Forum gathering.

BASEL, Switzerland, January 24 (Global Risk Regulator) – International regulators piloting the Group of Twenty’s (G20’s) regulatory reform package welcomed last week’s US proposals for reducing moral hazard risks in banking, but made clear the US approach is one of a number of ways of tackling the so-called “too-big-to-fail” problem.

BASEL, Switzerland, January 22 – Global banking regulators today issued principles aimed at encouraging pay and reward practices in banks that accord with prudent risk-taking as demanded by leaders of the Group of Twenty (G20) leading economies.

Proposals to beef up bank capital and liquidity regulation are tougher than expected. They could force banks to simplify their businesses By Melvyn Westlake

Panel probing causes of 2008 banking crash is told better regulation could have prevented problems. Bankers show little contrition by Nick Paraskeva

Moves by FDIC to write new rules for securitised products seems to jump the gun. Washington regulators divided By Melvyn Westlake

One of the most controversial, yet least developed parts of the Basel Committee’s December 17 reform proposals concerns measures to reduce the procyclicality of the financial system. As demonstrated by the 2007-09 financial crisis, booms and busts can be amplified both by the actions of market participants and the effect of systemic factors, including accounting standards, margining practices, the build up of leverage and the adoption of the risk-based Basel II capital adequacy framework.

Two new ratios are proposed to strengthen bank liquidity. But questions remain over cost and composition of the buffers