WASHINGTON, February 14 (Global Risk Regulator) – Senior lawmakers today reiterated fears that proposals for implementing the controversial Basel II bank safety rules in the US would cause a decline in bank capital and could also threaten the competitiveness and independence of America’s banks.

TOKYO - The Financial Services Agency, Japan\'s bank regulator, is strongly denying that action to deal with the poor quality of its banks\' capital is about to be postponed again.

SYDNEY, Australia - Australia\'s largest banks won\'t gain significant advantages over smaller rivals via the complex Basel II minimum capital rules for bank safety, the country\'s banking supervisors said in late June.

BASEL - Financial systems with alternative channels of funding pose new challenges for financial supervisors because of the greater complexity of financial firms and the intensified relations between firms and markets, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) says.

LONDON - The soundness of the banking system can be better safeguarded by strengthening market discipline, according to new research at the Bank of England.

HONG KONG - Banking in Hong Kong won\'t see any dramatic changes overnight with the adoption of the risk-based Basel II capital rules for bank safety, but there will be some re-focusing of how risks within banks are addressed, both by banks and supervisors, a senior regulator said in early July.

BASEL - The central bank governors of the Group of 10 (G 10) leading economies elected as their chairman at the end of June Bank of France governor Jean-Claude Trichet.

SINGAPORE - Financial regulators don\'t know precisely how much risk has been transferred via credit derivatives, for instance, to insurance companies because some of the world\'s largest insurers are unregulated, a senior Singapore supervisor said in late June.

The European Commission issued in February the working paper: Solvency II - Organisation of work, discussion on pillar I work areas and suggestions for further work on pillar II for CEIOPS *

BASEL, June 19 - The timetable for issuing the final version of the Basel II minimum capital rules for bank safety by the end of this year is under challenge but can still be met, despite problems with the US schedule for getting US bank reaction to the complex rules, banking regulatory sources say