This thesis focuses on the search for accountability processes related to the standard setting powers of a transnational regulatory network that operates in the highly complex and uncertain environment of global finance: the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS). The thesis draws upon and builds on two main resources: the academic literature from international law, political science, international relations and public administration about the concept of accountability and- as a theoretical framework - Niklas Luhmann's idea of communication which suggests that communication is a selection process rather than a process of transmission. In this selection process the idea of meaning in the sense of a common understanding is paramount. The analysis focuses on the key milestones of the Basel Committee's work: the Concordat, as well as the Basel I, Basel II and Basel III accords. The thesis also draws on a qualitative original data set compiled by the author, made up of extracts of discussions of the Basel Committee's work in the international financial journalistic press. Additionally, official documents and press releases from the BCBS were coded by classifying them into common themes (such as minimum capital standards or the delay on the implementation timetable of Basel III) and the thesis' analysis assessed whether they formed part of an accountability process (i.e., whether they asked for an account, responded to an accountability claim, judged an accountability claim and referred to which consequences should follow the judgement). On the basis of this thematic analysis the thesis identifies five accountability processes in relation to the work of the Basel Committee based on communication. These revolve around the standards for minimum capital requirements in Basel II, the standards for debt exposures of banks lending to small and medium size enterprises, the over complexity of the Basel III accord, the alleged detrimental effects of the Basel accord for US banks, and the delay in the schedule to implement Basel III. Drawing on Luhmann's ideas about communicative events, the thesis develops a novel account of communicative accountability that explains accountability as the decentred and flexible communicative interaction between an accountor and an accountee whose communications have to resonate with an epistemic community. This epistemic community plays the role of a social system in which expectations about the exercise of regulatory powers of the Basel Committee are managed. The thesis argues that this process of communicative accountability can be empirically traced and that it is significantly facilitated by reliance on a shared language and expertise of a common professional community to which both the Basel Committee and a wider professional community belong to. The thesis argues that while the concept of communicative accountability developed through the research can be used to identify processes which seek to render TRNs like the BCBS accountable, these processes may also lack sufficient legitimacy, in the sense of formal power from a recognized source such as a state or an international organization underpinning these accountability processes. Increased legitimacy matters because it would enhance certainty in an accountability process and therefore, help to identify more clearly the legitimate accountor and to uphold his or her authority to ask for the account. Hence, as a whole, this thesis contributes towards the quest for alternative ways of understanding and improving accountability mechanisms in relation to the exercise of regulatory powers by globalized regulatory institutions in a transnational sphere such as the BCBS.

Os Acordos da Basileia são os principais marcos da regulação financeira internacional. Basileia III, um conjunto de modificações do segundo acordo, tem como objetivo aumentar a exigência de capital dos bancos, introduzindo ao arcabouço prudencial a formação de "colchões" de conservação de capital e de capital contracíclico e estabelecendo índices mínimos de liquidez e uma taxa máxima de alavancagem. Para avaliar a efetividade desse acordo, serão revisitados os conceitos fundamentais de intermediação financeira e os riscos mais importantes envolvidos nesse processo. Além disso, serão recuperados os principais tópicos abordados pelos pactos predecessores a Basileia III, para efeitos de comparação e crítica. Integrará esta dissertação uma análise do impacto desse acordo em relação ao sistema financeiro internacional, ressaltando as principais diferenças entre as normas gerais e as particularidades nacionais. / The Basel Accords are the main marks of international financial regulation. Basel III, a set of reforms on the second accord, aims to increase the exigency of the banks' capital, introducing to the prudential outline the development of "buffers" of capital and countercyclical capital conservation, and establishing minimum rates of liquidity and a maximum leverage rate. To estimate the effectiveness of the accord, the fundamental concepts of financial intermediation and the more important risks this process involves will be revisited. Moreover, the main topics approached by the pacts previous to Basel III will be recalled, for the sake of comparison and review. This dissertation will be integrated by an analysis of this accord's impact, in regard to the international financial system, stressing the chief differences between general norms and national particularities.

Os Acordos da Basileia são os principais marcos da regulação financeira internacional. Basileia III, um conjunto de modificações do segundo acordo, tem como objetivo aumentar a exigência de capital dos bancos, introduzindo ao arcabouço prudencial a formação de "colchões" de conservação de capital e de capital contracíclico e estabelecendo índices mínimos de liquidez e uma taxa máxima de alavancagem. Para avaliar a efetividade desse acordo, serão revisitados os conceitos fundamentais de intermediação financeira e os riscos mais importantes envolvidos nesse processo. Além disso, serão recuperados os principais tópicos abordados pelos pactos predecessores a Basileia III, para efeitos de comparação e crítica. Integrará esta dissertação uma análise do impacto desse acordo em relação ao sistema financeiro internacional, ressaltando as principais diferenças entre as normas gerais e as particularidades nacionais. / The Basel Accords are the main marks of international financial regulation. Basel III, a set of reforms on the second accord, aims to increase the exigency of the banks' capital, introducing to the prudential outline the development of "buffers" of capital and countercyclical capital conservation, and establishing minimum rates of liquidity and a maximum leverage rate. To estimate the effectiveness of the accord, the fundamental concepts of financial intermediation and the more important risks this process involves will be revisited. Moreover, the main topics approached by the pacts previous to Basel III will be recalled, for the sake of comparison and review. This dissertation will be integrated by an analysis of this accord's impact, in regard to the international financial system, stressing the chief differences between general norms and national particularities.

Os Acordos da Basileia são os principais marcos da regulação financeira internacional. Basileia III, um conjunto de modificações do segundo acordo, tem como objetivo aumentar a exigência de capital dos bancos, introduzindo ao arcabouço prudencial a formação de "colchões" de conservação de capital e de capital contracíclico e estabelecendo índices mínimos de liquidez e uma taxa máxima de alavancagem. Para avaliar a efetividade desse acordo, serão revisitados os conceitos fundamentais de intermediação financeira e os riscos mais importantes envolvidos nesse processo. Além disso, serão recuperados os principais tópicos abordados pelos pactos predecessores a Basileia III, para efeitos de comparação e crítica. Integrará esta dissertação uma análise do impacto desse acordo em relação ao sistema financeiro internacional, ressaltando as principais diferenças entre as normas gerais e as particularidades nacionais. / The Basel Accords are the main marks of international financial regulation. Basel III, a set of reforms on the second accord, aims to increase the exigency of the banks' capital, introducing to the prudential outline the development of "buffers" of capital and countercyclical capital conservation, and establishing minimum rates of liquidity and a maximum leverage rate. To estimate the effectiveness of the accord, the fundamental concepts of financial intermediation and the more important risks this process involves will be revisited. Moreover, the main topics approached by the pacts previous to Basel III will be recalled, for the sake of comparison and review. This dissertation will be integrated by an analysis of this accord's impact, in regard to the international financial system, stressing the chief differences between general norms and national particularities.

European banking supervision has recently undergone major changes, through mere co-ordination of supervisory instruments, to the full integration of supervisory instruments in one centralized institution; European Central Bank (ECB). This master thesis deals with banking supervision instruments in the European Union while emphasises the instruments entrusted to the ECB under the second pillar of the banking union; the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and aims to analyse and evaluate their role in preventing potential financial crises. The establishment and development of a banking union is closely linked to the monetary union. Therefore, the first chapter deals with the development of monetary integration. The second chapter of this master thesis deals with the institutional arrangements for supervision at the European Union level, with an emphasis on the description of the organization and functioning of the ECB, which is at the forefront of the supervision of the banking sector within SSM. Other institutions, or rather agencies, of the European banking supervision are European Banking Authority (EBA) at the micro-prudential level and European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) at the macro-prudential level. Conclusion of the second chapter is therefore devoted not only to the description of their...

In reaction on the financial crisis 2007-2009 was introduced by the European Union a concept of banking union that should prevent similar destabilization of financial markets and readjust supervisory and regulatory mechanisms to reality of the European banking sector. The aim of the master thesis was to assess the concept of banking union as a suitable reaction on current state of the financial sector. The thesis includes historical discourse on banking regulation with an emphasis on institutional framework and requirements on banks. It introduces individual pillars of banking union -- Single Supervisory Mechanism, Single Resolution Mechanism and Single-rule Book. The comparative analysis of selected indicators of each individual Eurozone banking sector proved significant disparities. Based on the proven heterogeneity of banking sectors and institutional shortcomings of the banking union the conclusion was reached, that operation of single supervision and regulation can lead to adverse effects either on banking markets or on economies of member states and therefore it is rendered as an unsuitable reaction on current developments of the European financial markets.

Cette thèse a pour objectif de prendre part à la réflexion menée sur la mise en place d'une réglementation efficace pour l'industrie bancaire. Pour cela, ce travail contribue à la littérature existante à travers plusieurs aspects. Tout d'abord, nous tenons compte de l'impact des nouvelles contraintes en capital suggérées par les accords dits de Bâle III sur l'offre de crédit des banques en plus de la stabilité bancaire. Par ailleurs, cette thèse prend également en compte la disparité entre régulateurs bancaires concernant leurs capacités à auditer les banques et les sanctionner si besoin est. De manière plus générale, cette hétérogénéité des régulateurs bancaires nous amène également à repenser la réglementation existante, en étudiant sous quelles conditions une régulation centrale devient plus efficace qu'un ensemble de régulations locales. La prise en compte de chacun de ces éléments permet alors d'aborder la régulation bancaire à travers une perspective nouvelle. Dans le premier chapitre de cette thèse, nous construisons un modèle théorique analysant l'impact de l'ajout d'un ratio de levier à la Bâle III en plus d'un ratio de capital pondéré du risque à la Bâle II sur le bien-être du régulateur. Nous mettons en évidence que ce ratio de levier conduit à une baisse de l'offre de crédit des banques. En contrepartie, le ratio de levier peut réduire l'instabilité bancaire mais uniquement si le régulateur souffre d'un faible pouvoir de supervision : pour les régulateurs bénéficiant d'un fort pouvoir de supervision, le ratio de levier entraine une détérioration du bien-être. Le but du second chapitre est de tester empiriquement les résultats de cette approche théorique. Nous utilisons pour cela les données disponibles depuis la mise en place effective du ratio de levier proposé par le Comité de Bâle. Nous mettons en évidence que la mise en place de ce ratio de levier conduit à une baisse significative de l'offre de crédit bancaire, ainsi qu'à une hausse du risque de crédit. Ces deux effets sont amplifiés lorsque le pouvoir de supervision est élevé. Le troisième chapitre se consacre à l'élaboration d'un schéma réglementaire capable d'internaliser les externalités existantes lorsque plusieurs régulateurs locaux avec des objectifs différents doivent cohabiter. Nous montrons que cela est rendu possible par la mise en place d'un régulateur central déléguant les tâches liées à la supervision aux régulateurs locaux. Cette régulation centrale est d'autant plus efficace si les régulateurs locaux souffrent d'une forte capture de la part des banques et si les effets de contagion entre pays sont élevés. / The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the current debate on the implementation of an efficient regulatory framework in the banking industry. To this end, we extend the existing literature in many aspects. First, we consider the impact of capital requirements recently suggested by the Third Basel Accord on credit supply as well as banking stability. Second, we take into account the disparity between the regulators' authority to audit and sanction banks. Besides, we analyze how a central regulation can lead to a more efficient framework compared to a combination of local regulations. Overall, the consideration of this set of dimensions brings a new perspective for the banking regulation approach. In the first chapter, we investigate how the implementation of a leverage ratio in addition to a risk-weighted capital ratio affects the regulator's welfare. We show that such a capital regulation leads to a reduction in credit supply. On the other hand, a leverage ratio restriction can improve the banking stability when the regulator suffers from a low supervisory power. On the contrary, the welfare of regulators enjoying a high supervisory power is decreased by the application of a leverage ratio. The second chapter tests results of this first theoretical approach. In order to do so, this second chapter is based on data available since the effective application of the leverage ratio suggested by the Basel Committee. We find that the implementation of such a capital ratio decreases credit supply while increasing credit risk. Furthermore, we show that a strong supervisory power accentuates these effects. In the third chapter, we analyze how a regulatory scheme could internalize the externalities produced by the presence of several local regulators with different aims. We establish that the optimal framework is the set up of a central regulator delegating supervisory tasks to local regulators. This central regulation is more efficient when spillover effects across countries are important and when local regulators suffer from a high capture from banks.

The aim of the thesis on Supervision in banking industry is to define the nature of banking regulation and banking supervision, including the rationale for their existence and the analysis of their goals. Another task of this work is to explain the ways of functioning of the basic components of banking regulation and supervision encountered in countries with market economies. The work also highlights the different perspectives, as well as some shortcomings of selected issues and outlines possible solutions. Finally, the aim of the thesis is to critically evaluate selected arguments for and against implementation of the European concept of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, including the assessment of the appropriateness of the Banking Union as a whole. The work is divided into three main parts. The first part is theoretical in nature and focuses on fundamental bases of banking regulation and supervision, with emphasis on their nature, reasons, objectives and possibilities of institutional arrangements. The chapter is supplemented with a discussion of selected regulatory and supervisory authorities which operate internationally. The second part deal with the basic components of the system of bank regulation and supervision which are entry into banking sector, basic rules of banking activities,...

Capital Adequacy of Commercial Banks The purpose of the thesis is to analyse particular capital adequacy issues. The thesis is composed of three chapters, each dealing with particular aspects of capital adequacy. The introductory Chapter One clarifies the meaning of capital adequacy. The thesis is based on two main aims. Chapter Two examines Basel Committee of Banking Supervision materials and following relevant EU and Czech legislation. The methodology used in this chapter vests in comparative analysis and legal analysis of current Czech national legislation. The first aim is to tackle the legal issues of implementation and effective enforcement of current capital adequacy rules, with concentration on the key problem of inconsistency of implementation among countries. The Chapter Three describes the reasons for adoption of new regulatory rules of capital adequacy in connection with recent turbulent changes in financial markets. To make a conclusion whether Basel III is a sufficient reaction is the second main aim. It focuses on analyse of the Basel III rules as a set with some practical notes on ongoing implementation in the world or in the Czech Republic in particular. The Basel Committee rules need to be implemented carefully. Whether by partial or incomplete implementation of Basel rules or by...

The overall objective of this study was to determine the effect of Basel ll on the South African banking system through possible changes in the way in which a bank conducts its business. This purpose arose from the publication of the new Basel ll Framework on 26 June 2004, which has been adopted for implementation by the South African Reserve Bank. South Africa has set January 1, 2008 as the implementation date for Basel ll. The South African banks have mainly been focussing their efforts on becoming Basel ll compliant. Business line management and marketers have up until now not paid much attention to the likely impact of Basel ll on their markets and product offerings. A literature study was undertaken which included a review of the Basel ll Framework, impact studies and a review of the relevant literature on the topic. The Framework was analysed in order to determine the major impact themes. Once these impact themes were identified, the literature on those areas of impact was researched. The analysis of the Basel ll Framework identified three important themes that will have a significant impact on banks. There will firstly be an impact on market segments and product offerings. Secondly, there will be an internal impact on the banks in the form of increased costs, decision-making and capital management. The final theme identified was the global impact on the banks, especially regarding procyclicality and mergers and acquisitions. vii The research indicates that there will be both winners and losers. Banks that have large retail and mortgage exposures will benefit the most from Basel ll, whereas banks that have large exposures to sovereigns, banks and specialised lending portfolios will be negatively impacted. A capital charge for operational risk will mean that some areas such as corporate finance and asset management will be allocated capital, which was not the case under Basel l. Studies indicate that this new operational risk capital requirement more than outweighs any reduction in credit risk capital requirements. Customers that have high credit ratings are more likely to benefit from lower credit spreads. Similarly customers that have poor credit ratings can expect an increase in their pricing due to the higher capital requirements for these customers, unless they can provide a bank with ancillary revenues. Competition in the retail and mortgage markets will intensify due to the favourable capital requirements for these portfolios. The large South African banks will become takeover targets because of their large exposures to these markets. Basel ll will have a major impact on the way in which banks will do business in the future and as a result banks should view the implementation of the Framework as an opportunity to gain strategic advantages rather than just a compliance obligation. / Prof. A. Boessenkool