KARACHI - Pakistan\'s banking supervisors remain very worried about the lack of readiness of domestic banks - large, medium and small - for the risk-based Basel II upgrade of bank safety rules, the country\'s central bank governor said in October.

LONDON - Brussels-based bank Fortis, and Frankfurt\'s DZ Bank, Germany\'s sixth largest, have become the first banks to raise hybrid capital that qualifies as Tier 1 for regulatory purposes and is designated either Basket C or Basket D on the scale created by Moody\'s rating agency to grade hybrid securities.

WELLINGTON - New Zealand will take account of Australia\'s decision to go for a single end-2007 start-date for implementing Basel II, but there are other factors involved in New Zealand\'s own decision on timing.

LONDON - Banks and investment firms, already facing a tide of new regulation and accounting standard changes, must now start paying attention to yet another area of potential reputation risk - human rights.

SINGAPORE - Greater convergence on several fronts of financial supervision will follow the Basel II upgrade of international rules for bank safety, a top Singapore regulator said in late October.

BASEL, Switzerland - Financial supervisors need to improve their understanding of credit risk transfer (CRT) techniques and continue their efforts to share information on CRT activities, a report by the Joint Forum of banking, insurance and securities market regulators says.

KRIs sound fine in principle, but do they work in practice? An expanded indicators library, with fifty participating banks, will provide the test. A similar project for insurers is likely soon.

European insurers are using computer systems dating back to the 1970s. Some are using a variety of different systems. The risk-focused Solvency II capital regime and the new accounting rules demand something better, says SunGard Sherwood\'s Gavin Lavelle

The introduction of IFRS in the European Union from January 1 will have a major impact on insurers.

AMMAN, Jordan - There\'s clearly scope for insurance supervisors to intensify and broaden their cross-border co-operation with key policymakers, particularly with banking supervisors and accounting rule-makers, a top international banking regulator said in October.