Recommendations to deal with banks’ liquidity risks have been issued by regulators. That’s just the start. More measures are on the way By Melvyn Westlake

Controversy has been ignited by a proposed flat rate 15% capital charge on securitisations, included in new legislation at 11th hour

Switzerland is the latest country to create a single regulator for financial services. It hopes to give its financial centres kudos By Melvyn Westlake

New US rules are proposed for rating agencies, and a revised international Code is issued. EU reveals shock plan to regulate By Melvyn Westlake

A key objective of clearing & settlement Code remains elusive. Could market forces do the job or will regulation be needed? By Oonagh Leighton

Central banks are absorbing the lessons of the credit crunch. Should they have more power? What about moral hazard?

LONDON – Andrea Enria, the first secretary general of the increasingly influential Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS), is quitting at the end of July, to be replaced by his Dutch deputy, Arnoud Vossen. The London-based CEBS, set up just four years ago to promote EU supervisory convergence, and advise the European Commission on regulatory matters concerning banks, has emerged rapidly as a key part of the supervisory landscape.

WASHINGTON – Erik Sirri, director for trading and markets at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), took the opportunity of a Senate sub-committee hearing in mid-June to demonstrate why his agency should be given statutory authority to regulate the large investment banks. He outlined in some detail the array of measures that the SEC has taken to strengthen the investment banks’ defences in the wake of Bear Stearns near collapse in March, and its subsequent sale to JP Morgan Chase.

LONDON – Shortcomings in banks’ disclosure of key information during the early months of the 2007-08 financial crisis is revealed in a survey* undertaken by European supervisors. The survey, published in mid-June, has been undertaken by the London-based Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS), the EU body that advises on bank regulation.

BRUSSELS – A consultation has been launched by the European Commission on a package of proposals for upgrading and strengthening the three committees at the centre of efforts to create a harmonised EU system of financial supervision. The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS), the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS), and the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) were created under the Lamfalussy process, introduced in 2001 to streamline EU financial lawmaking.