Swiss Finish Sets New Standard for Global Bank Regulation

INCIDENT: The traditional Swiss finishing school taught young women etiquette and social graces, but international bank regulators are talking about something much tougher when they refer to a “Swiss finish” for global banks. Just how tough became clear last week, 4 October, when a Swiss commission proposed that its two giant banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, be subjected to capital requirements of up to 19%, nearly three times as tough as the 7% capital-to-assets ratio recently suggested by the Basel Banking Committee as a minimum global standard. SIGNIFICANCE: The ambitious Swiss plan, designed to solve the “too big to fail” problem, will set the standard for megabank regulation as Group of 20 heads prepare… . . . → Full Story: Swiss Finish Sets New Standard for Global Bank Regulation