Bank capital remains an important line of defence against bank failures. The second and final phase of the Basel III reforms focus on the calibration of risk-weighted assets (RWAs), the denominator of the bank capital requirements. The reforms are likely to increase the capital requirements for many EU banks. Depending on how banks choose to address the increase in minimum capital requirements, these shortfalls could also affect the real economy at a particularly uncertain moment when it is recovering from the COVID crisis.
CEPS is publishing a study that provides an estimate of the impact of the reforms under different assumptions and circumstances, including the business-as-usual case, the Covid-19 pandemic and continued lending. It finds that the shortfall could range from €0 billion to €550 billion (0% to 4.8% of RWAs), depending on the way the reforms are implemented.
During this CEPS webinar the study will be launched and key stakeholders will discuss the implication of the Basel III finalisation and how they should be implemented in EU legislation to have the intended impact.
