Reaction to recent consultation papers on Europe’s Solvency II insurance regime indicates general support – but will the aims of the project ultimately be lost in the detail?

A few software vendors are pulling away from the pack as banks look for external solutions. Despite a wave of consolidation, the industry remains fragmented. Oonagh Leighton reports

Banks are responsible for demonstrating their compliance with the so-called use test for the internal ratings-based (IRB) approach to assessing credit risk under the Basel II capital rules, global banking regulators said in September.

A failure by many countries to implement Europe’s ambitious new financial markets law on time could create considerable legal risks - By Melvyn Westlake

A code that promises to open up clearing and settlement to much greater competition has been signed by the industry - By Oonagh Leighton

A rethink of the US hedge fund supervisory approach is underway, while Germany is planning to put this topic on next summer\'s G8 summit agenda -By Melvyn Westlake

European regulators are seeking information and views on whether retail investment funds should be allowed to purchase derivatives on hedge fund indices. This information is being sought through a questionnaire, or “Issues Paper,” published in late October by the Paris-based Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR), which advises the European Commission on the technical aspects of securities legislation and promotes regulatory convergence in the financial markets.

US banks will feel the impact of new capital requirements for their market trading activities more quickly than any changes arising from the proposed rules for calculating credit and operational risk capital levels. And this will put some US banks at a disadvantage compared with their investment bank competitors, and foreign banks, according to an assessment by Federal Financial Analytics (FedFin), a Washington DC-based firm advising on regulatory matters.

Before issuing their final rule on the Basel II bank safety rules, US regulators intend looking at whether the benefit of rules specific to the US interpretation of Basel II outweigh the costs, Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke said in mid-October. “In particular, we will look carefully at differences in the implementation of Basel II that may adversely affect the international competitiveness of US banks,” Bernanke said in remarks prepared for delivery simultaneously via satellite to two key banking industry conferences.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) chairman Sheila Bair said in early November that she is sympathetic to requests from the banking industry for more time to review the Basel II NPR, beyond the current January-23 deadline.