Financial Services Ireland

“Basel IV”: What you need to know

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The Basel Committee of Banking Supervision is attempting to complete all “unfinished  business” in the area of changes in international minimum capital requirements by end-2016. This new set of requirements is labelled by some as “Basel IV”, but it is really too piecemeal to be regarded as a new standard.

The EY Global Regulatory Network has produced an Executive Briefing which takes stock of the changes currently underway or likely to be agreed this year in the areas of:

  • Credit risk, covering the new 24 March 2016 proposals on the internal risk-based (IRB) approach for credit1 and the proposed standardized approach (December 2015)
  • Leverage ratio – proposals released on 6 April 2016
  • Market risk requirements: the final rules following the Fundamental Trading Book Review, published on 14 January 2016
  • Counterparty risk proposals in the March 2016 consultative paper
  • Interest rate risk in the banking book (IRRBB) — June 2015
  • Operational risk proposals — 4 March 2016
  • Total Loss Absorbing Capacity (TLAC) — November 2015

There are many parts to the changes, which all need to be considered. Most notable are the attempts to create a credible standardised approach for credit risk, an examination of whether and how the IRB approach should be adjusted to create greater simplicity and comparability, and a proposal to end the use of internal bank models (AMA) for operational risk capital calculation.

Taken together with the implications of the IFRS 9 impairment requirements, the changes mean two things for banks: more work and, for the larger banks, more capital.

If you wish to discuss any of these changes and their implications, please contact Conor Griffin or Cormac Murphy, our Global Regulatory Network experts in Ireland.

Thought Leaders


Cormac Murphy

International Banking & Capital Markets, Sector Leader

Conor Griffin

FS Executive Director, Prudential Risk Consulting



Global Regulatory Network, Executive Briefing

Proposed changes to the Basel Capital Framework - 2016, rush for the finish line?

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