In other words, it's either bonus cash for bankers or security for taxpayers who bailed out the banks. Nice job of playing the "remove regulations or we're all going to die" card, again. Why should anyone let the banks gamble again?
Some of the biggest trade finance providers, led by HSBC and Standard Chartered, are lobbying to have tough capital rules toned down, warning that if they are not, world trade could be severely hampered.
HSBC, among the banks that dominate the trade finance market, said last week that it was not prepared to forecast its future capital ratios under the Basel III regime, mainly because of the unfairness of the rules’ treatment of trade finance, one of its core businesses.
Most banks have begun detailing the impact that the rules – which increase assets’ risk weightings and narrow the definition of core capital – will have on capital ratios.
