Michael Barr, Vice-Chair for Supervision of the US Federal Reserve Board, has announced that the regulator would be substantially reducing the size of its proposed increase to regulatory capital requirements.
When the new capital requirements regime — referred to as the "Basel Endgame" — was introduced in July 2023, it proposed an increase in the capital big banks are required to hold of up to 19%. Earlier this week, Michael Barr, who has served as the public face of the "Basel Endgame" proposal, announced a revised plan that would scale back the capital increase to 9%. The new rules would also only apply to banks with over $250 billion in assets, a change from the more aggressive $100 billion threshold included in the original proposal.
The revision was viewed as a win for large banks, which had lobbied against the more stringent proposal since its introduction. The so-called "Basel Endgame" has been billed as US regulators' effort to address vulnerabilities in the financial system following the bank failures of 2023 which included Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The proposal followed Basel III reforms, the regulators argued, and would strengthen banks' ability to absorb losses. However, US banks claimed that the regime was stricter than international standards — what is referred to as "gold plating" — and would hamper the competitiveness of the US financial system.
On top of the large reduction in additional capital, the latest plan adjusted requirements for operational risks and eased restrictions on mortgages and tax equity financing. Barr described the changes as an "interim step" before gathering further feedback.
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