The QIS2 test of Solvency II showed up problems for the standard approach that will need to be resolved. Roberto Buzzi considers the implications and provides Swiss Re’s insights

US call for other countries to adopt a bank leverage ratio for capital is sidestepped. Diplomatic footwork postpones consideration - David Keefe reports

There is agreement on all sides of the bond market that mandated regulation is not needed. Market-led solutions are in the offing - By Melvyn Westlake

Radical, and potentially controversial proposals to overhaul US capital market regulation are expected to be made by two separate blue-ribbon panels when they report, in November and February. Neither panel has any official status, being independent private sector initiatives. But they are so packed with prestigious and influential members, some with close connections to the Bush Administration, that their recommendations are likely to get serious consideration from policy makers.

Credit rating agencies are developing hedge fund manager ratings. Could these products prevent future crises and help ease pressure for regulation? By Melvyn Westlake

The Basel II NPR was published in the Federal Register, the US government’s official journal, on September 25, thus formally triggering the extra-long, four-month period for public comment on the plans that will end on January 23.

The possibility that US banks might be allowed the standardised option has opened up a divide between regulatory agencies.

NEW YORK – Despite very considerable progress by the credit derivatives industry in reducing sloppy back-office practices and strengthening operational infrastructure, regulators on both sides of the Atlantic intend to keep the pressure on financial firms to do much more. This has been made clear by three of the most powerful regulators, from Britain and the US, writing in the Financial Times newspaper in late September; and by a surprisingly tough speech from a senior regulator at Britain’s financial watchdog, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), to an International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) conference in London.

WASHINGTON – Credit rating agencies in the US became subject to a new regulatory regime at the end of September with the signing into law of the Credit Ratings Agency Reform Act by President Bush. The effect of this law will be to give the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the leading regulator for the US securities markets, statutory powers to make rules governing the behaviour and standards of credit rating agencies (CRAs).

NEW YORK – A credit model study that suggests regulators should consider an internal models-based approach to the calculation of regulatory capital, similar to VAR models used to measure market risk, has been published by two international trade associations. VAR refers to “value at risk,” and is a mathematical model widely used by banks, investment firms and other traders to track the market risk in their portfolios.