WASHINGTON, DC/NEW YORK – Three industry associations have welcomed signs that the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) is looking to make its fundamental review of the trading book less onerous for market participants. The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Global Financial Markets Association and Institute of International Finance wrote to the BCBS secretariat after communication with regulators in March 2014.

BRUSSELS – Members states of the EU have signed an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) on the single resolution mechanism (SRM). This completes the final piece of the puzzle following approval of the SRM regulation by the European Council and Parliament. The IGA covers the transfer and mutualisation of national funds into the single resolution fund (SRF), whereas the functioning and governance of the SRM are in the main regulation.

PARIS – Industry participants have warned that proposals from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to require disclosure of underlying asset performance on privately placed securitisation deals could jeopardise the market. In response to the ESMA consultation on the implementation of the EU credit ratings agency regulation CRAIII, which closed in April 2014, most attention from respondents focused on the agency’s interpretation of article 8b.

Most American states plan to modernise reserve requirements, but New York maintains its dissent. Philip Alexander reports.

Industry warns that key issues are being overlooked as regulators rush to solve the problem of banks deemed too big to fail, writes Charles Piggott.

New regulations are likely to have a deeper impact on commodity markets than on high-frequency trading, despite political pressure, says Philip Alexander.

Much work needs to be done in the area of over-the-counter derivatives regulation before November’s G20 summit, writes David Wigan.

US Federal Reserve governor Daniel Tarullo says adding a risk-based capital surcharge on short-term wholesale funding would lessen the SLR as the binding constraint for “most” large US bank holding companies. Charles Piggott investigates.

The Basel Committee’s use of liquidity coverage ratio definitions for net stable funding ratio sparks confusion, says Philip Alexander.

FASB to consider accounting changes