Agreement on fair value accounting for insurance contracts is vital to the EU\'s Solvency II project. A lot of work remains to be done.

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued an update in late February on phase I of its project on insurance contracts (see main feature).

Scenario testing will help decide terms on which solvency waivers will be granted

EU expected to sanction use of operational risk insurance products. Big potential market seen for insurance companies

Regulators want US banks to pay risk-based premiums for deposit insurance. It\'s going to be technically difficult - and what\'s more over 90% of banks don\'t pay anything at present.

The Basel II accord is promoting the spread of enterprise-wide risk, and the software behind it, beyond the world of banking, says Tim Leech of CARDdecisions.

LONDON, Feb 26 -- In a sharp reversal of policy that has deeply disappointed capital markets, Britain\'s financial regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has decreed that banks will no longer be able to raise Tier One Notes (TONs) as part of their core regulatory capital.

LONDON, March 12 - The results of the QIS 3 survey on the impact of the Basel II bank capital accord show there will be incentives for banks to use advanced approaches to measuring and assessing their risks under the pact, international regulatory sources say.

WASHINGTON, March 4 - Important issues remain to be resolved in the proposed Basel II bank capital accord and a major concern is the accord\'s complexity, according to US Comptroller of Currency John Hawke.

Concern over American decision to limit scope of Basel II. Will it undercut principle of competitive neutrality? By Melvyn Westlake