BASEL – Global insurance regulators in February took another step on the road to developing a consistent approach to assessing insurance company solvency worldwide by detailing the common structure for making such assessments*.

LONDON – The International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) in late January signed a memorandum of understanding to aid joint work in the development of international Islamic financial markets.

FRANKFURT – Nearly 40% of Europe’s insurance industry supervisors are waiting to see the details of the Solvency II framework directive before making the material changes to their supervisory systems that they recognise will be needed, the results of a regulatory survey show.

BRUSSELS, June 16 - The European Commission\'s third consultation paper on the capital adequacy directive that will bring the Basel II minimum capital rules on bank safety into effect in the European Union isn\'t likely to appear before the end of next week, Commission sources said today.

WASHINGTON, June 19 - The US must keep to the option of using public comment and the implementation process to bring about whatever changes are needed to make the complex Basel II capital rules for bank safety work more effectively and efficiently, US Federal Reserve Board vice chairman Roger Ferguson said today.

BASEL, Switzerland, June 30 - 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.

Sydney, June 23 - 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 today.

NEW YORK - William McDonough\'s last message as president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank said the Bank plans \"as a special area of emphasis\" to lead the task of appraising how risks are measured, managed and controlled and how banking, securities and insurance risks can be tackled in a common framework.

NEW YORK – The final version of the US rule on Basel II must ensure federal banking supervisors can grant temporary or permanent exemptions on the traditional criteria of public interest and consistency, Deutsche Bank New York, a unit of the leading German banking group, argues in comments to US banking supervisors.

Differences between Washington regulators over bank capital allocation rules have caused much uncertainty. In Europe, fewer banks are adopting op risk approaches than expected - By Oonagh Leighton.