ABA and the state bankers associations yesterday wrote to the federal banking regulators, continuing their pursuit of relief from the complex Basel III capital calculations for banks that are already clearly highly capitalized. The letter complements previous letters and in-person advocacy with regulators on this subject.
“Banks whose existing capital levels are so high as to exceed likely anticipated requirements under Basel III should not have to go through the complex process under the implementing regulations that, in their case, would be superfluous in setting their capital requirements,” the associations said. “We encourage you to proceed expeditiously with creating the proposed exemption regarding Basel III for highly capitalized banks.”