Regulatory treatment of credit rating agencies is being mulled in the US and EU. Agencies hope any onerous regime will be averted, but Basel II requires a recognition process By Melvyn Westlake

Implementing the Basel II capital rules for bank safety will be a high priority area for South Africa\'s banking supervisors over coming years, the head of South Africa\'s central bank said in December.

Banking regulators remain concerned that what\'s crucially lacking in the latest attempts to allay their fears about possible abuse of the so-called fair value option in new international accounting rules is a strong reference to risk management.

Federal Reserve\'s revamped internal rating system now includes risk management factors. Rating rises and falls may follow

Central banks and financial supervisors in the Group of 10 (G-10) leading economies should increasingly focus attention on minimising the liquidity risks faced by banks, a top Swiss central banker said in December.

HONG KONG - The majority of banks in the Asia-Pacific region are only at the earliest stages in their planned implementation of the new Basel capital accord, or have not yet even started.

BASEL - Global banking regulators have suggested that templates of workbooks and instructions used in previous impact studies of the Basel II bank safety rules could be used in separate national studies now underway or planned.

BEIJING - China\'s bank regulator has started the year by issuing two new risk management and internal control regulations aimed at strengthening the defences of the - in many cases - bad-debt-encumbered commercial banks, and introducing international best practices into them.

HONG KONG - Markets may set a more demanding timetable for banks and countries to adopt the Basel II upgrade of international bank safety rules than the \"soft transition\" envisaged by supervisors and institutions, the world\'s top banking supervisor said in early February.

LONDON - Global accounting rule-makers were waiting, as GRR went to press, formal details from Europe\'s top financial regulator of demands he made in February for greater democratic governance and political accountability of rule-setters.