Working Group: Bank Regulation - Summary

During this session, the principal topic raised concerns how to restore credibility following the crisis. The regulatory changes mainly covered in the session were: the implications of the SIFIs on crisis management and the need to focus on the end game, which not only has to be predictable, but it also has to be a well tested process. And most importantly it has to work in crisis times.

A higher level of liquidity for banks is needed; however it is linked to complexity and cost questions that will lead to gaming the system and arbitrage. 

The matter of regulatory convergence was another point of discussion that brought together a lot of people in affirming that it is desirable to have a global regulatory structure but fundamentally quite unrealistic.

Concluding, it remains that there is a great need for disclosure in most areas of the banking system and especially more inside information from banks and countries, which would finally help assess the risk levels with greater transparency.