Over 100 banks and other bodies and individuals responded to the US regulators\' Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking before the November 3 comment deadline. This is the key first step to implementing Basel II in America. Some of the public comments are summarised below

LONDON - Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic are anxiously trying to assess moves by US lawmakers that could pose a serious new threat to the Basel capital accord, which is aimed at boosting the future safety of banks around the world.

TOKYO - The painfully slow rehabilitation of Japan\'s major banks appears to have picked up pace this year. Financial results for the six months to end-September display marked improvements in capital adequacy ratios, declines in non-performing loans and a substantial profits recovery.

NEW YORK - The decision by US regulators to only apply the New Basel Capital Accord to the country\'s largest banks will increase the growing separation between this group and America\'s more numerous small banks, according to a report prepared by Mercer Oliver Wyman, a financial services strategy and consulting firm.

BRUSSELS - Germany\'s top financial regulator wants a rapid legislative passage for the planned risk-based Solvency II rules for the safety of Europe\'s insurance industry.

GENEVA - US Federal Reserve Board vice chairman Roger Ferguson reiterated in early December his optimism that the Basel II update of international rules for bank safety \"will emerge from the Basel Committee in a timely fashion, so that national procedures can go forward.\"

LONDON - Regulatory restrictions will be the main driver of restructuring in the finance industry over the next five years, according to 29% of financial service industry executives recently surveyed.

WASHINGTON - A dispute between US banking regulators broke out as Global Risk Regulator went to press about a report by one of their number that queries the efficacy of the Basel II proposals for upgrading bank safety.

German, US spat ahead of critical Basel Committee meeting in Madrid. Several compromises under scrutiny. By Melvyn Westlake

The expanding liability for health risks is one of the trends behind growing concern about the ever-increasing exposure to emerging risks that\'s proving a challenging task for insurers, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said in October.