xi Abstract This thesis aims to provide eclectic legal and economic insight into the history, current principles and possible future development of bank capital adequacy regulation. We have worked with a variety of legal and economic literature and official Basel Committee publications. Our goal was to explore the economic background behind the Basel standards and find its legal ramifications and the incentives they create. In the first chapter, we analyze the economic rationale for banking regulation, explain possible methods of bank capital regulation and juxtapose them with other means of regulatory measures in the field of banking. The first chapter also gives overview of the Basel I framework, its implementation process, describes its utilization of new regulatory techniques, as well as its weaknesses. Second chapter provides overview of Basel II approval process and discusses its transparency and institutionary framework. Problematic issues of CRD directive in the Czech Republic are discussed in contrast with norms of due legislation process. In the next chapter, we describe the mechanics of the Basel II framework. In greater detail, we focus on the issues of securitization, off-balance sheet exposures and methods of "promise-shifting" in the financial system. Examples are used to illustrate the...

This thesis focuses on consequences of the full implementation of Basel III regulations and what impact it will have on the banking sector. The purpose of Basel III is to replace Basel II as a global regulatory standard, because of its predecessor's flaws, such as the amplifying of banks' procyclicality, overreliance on credit rating agencies or the incentive to securitize its assets. The examination of Basel III regulations has shown that the most difficult task for banks would be to raise the capital for increased requirements and implementation of liquidity ratios. This will undoubtedly change the behaviour of banks. Using the panel data model, we will analyze the relationship between the changes in regulatory capital and our dependent variables, which consist of change in interest rates, change in the amount of loans granted and the change of stability of a bank, in countries from the Visegrad Four, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary. Using estimated coefficients from our regression, we examine whether there will be unintended negative effects of Basel III implementation and whether there will be an increase in a stability of banks.

<p>Den första januari 2007 träder nya regler om bankernas kapitaltäckning i kraft, Basel II. Dessa syftar till att stärka det finansiella systemet samt effektivisera bankernas riskhantering. Som en del i regelverket ingår att bankerna skall genomföra en samlad kapitalbedömning och genom denna bedömning öppnas nya möjligheter för bankernas riskhantering.</p><p>Vårt syfte är att med utgångspunkt i portföljvalsteori analysera och diskutera en portföljansats möjlighet som verktyg för att förbättra riskhanteringsprocessen i en banks kreditverksamhet.</p><p>Inledningsvis beskrivs det nya regelverket och fokus läggs sedan vid en av regelverkets delar, kapitalbedömningsprocessen. Som en del av denna process föreslås en portföljansats och vi illustrerar de speciella problem som uppkommer vid portföljoptimering av krediter med hjälp av en exempelportfölj. Tonvikten läggs på behovet av stora mängder rätt data samt korrekta antagande om hur risken i krediter skall mätas. Med utgångspunkt i de resultat som portföljoptimeringen ger, föreslås slutligen en mer individualiserad prissättning och värdepapperisering som möjliga åtgärder i syfte att förbättra riskprofilen i en kreditportfölj.</p>

<p>This study examines the effects of credit risk and information disclosure in the new bank regulating system Basel II on bank and bank customer. The effects are then discussed in a perspective of the economic man and information asymmetric theories. Furthermore is the Basel II effects on the capital adequacy of Andelsbanken för Åland examined.</p><p>The approach of the study is qualitative and several interviews with individuals on different levels of the examined bank, Andelsbanken för Åland, have been carried out during the collecting of empirical facts about the effects of the regulating change from the Basel I system to Basel II.</p><p>The research findings are as follows:</p><ul><li>Andelsbanken för Åland have increased its capital adequacy ratio from 12,7 percent to 14,4 percent, mostly due to lower risk weights on housing mortgages compared to Basel I. </li><li>Andelsbanken för Åland have started to use a completely new credit risk and customer assessment system which classifies every customer and gives them a credit rating. The system cause a much heavier information gathering of the customers profile as well as a much better assessment of risk than the previous system, which the bank finds positive. The new system also cause differentiated pricing on loans. Additionally it has contributed to a renovation of the bank. The bank has also started to publish more information about its risk-taking and management. </li><li>Bank customers have to release much more information about themselves and their life, economically as well as personally during a more extensive interview in the credit process. The differentiated pricing cause interest rates to differ based on the customers rating. As an effect of the higher disclosure of bank information, customers can better compare banks. This effect is of greater importance for the bank customers that have depositions in excess of the government deposit assurance. </li><li>The new credit risk and customer assessment system is a rational development due to the new Basel II-rules. Without these rules the development wouldn’t have been rational due to high costs and the traditional pricing of loans. The higher disclosure on risk taking and management cause incentives for the bank to handle these better. </li><li>Bank customers today have higher incentives to better mange the aspects that are included in their rating due to the differentiated pricing on loans. Furthermore they, especially them with depositions in excess of the government deposit assurance, have greater incentives to compare banks due to the higher disclosure of bank information. </li><li>The more extensive information gathering of the customers profile as well as the higher disclosure of bank information have lowered the level of asymmetric information in the banks process of credit granting and the customers choice of bank, making these two more effective. </li></ul>

Den första januari 2007 träder nya regler om bankernas kapitaltäckning i kraft, Basel II. Dessa syftar till att stärka det finansiella systemet samt effektivisera bankernas riskhantering. Som en del i regelverket ingår att bankerna skall genomföra en samlad kapitalbedömning och genom denna bedömning öppnas nya möjligheter för bankernas riskhantering. Vårt syfte är att med utgångspunkt i portföljvalsteori analysera och diskutera en portföljansats möjlighet som verktyg för att förbättra riskhanteringsprocessen i en banks kreditverksamhet. Inledningsvis beskrivs det nya regelverket och fokus läggs sedan vid en av regelverkets delar, kapitalbedömningsprocessen. Som en del av denna process föreslås en portföljansats och vi illustrerar de speciella problem som uppkommer vid portföljoptimering av krediter med hjälp av en exempelportfölj. Tonvikten läggs på behovet av stora mängder rätt data samt korrekta antagande om hur risken i krediter skall mätas. Med utgångspunkt i de resultat som portföljoptimeringen ger, föreslås slutligen en mer individualiserad prissättning och värdepapperisering som möjliga åtgärder i syfte att förbättra riskprofilen i en kreditportfölj.

This study examines the effects of credit risk and information disclosure in the new bank regulating system Basel II on bank and bank customer. The effects are then discussed in a perspective of the economic man and information asymmetric theories. Furthermore is the Basel II effects on the capital adequacy of Andelsbanken för Åland examined. The approach of the study is qualitative and several interviews with individuals on different levels of the examined bank, Andelsbanken för Åland, have been carried out during the collecting of empirical facts about the effects of the regulating change from the Basel I system to Basel II. The research findings are as follows: Andelsbanken för Åland have increased its capital adequacy ratio from 12,7 percent to 14,4 percent, mostly due to lower risk weights on housing mortgages compared to Basel I. Andelsbanken för Åland have started to use a completely new credit risk and customer assessment system which classifies every customer and gives them a credit rating. The system cause a much heavier information gathering of the customers profile as well as a much better assessment of risk than the previous system, which the bank finds positive. The new system also cause differentiated pricing on loans. Additionally it has contributed to a renovation of the bank. The bank has also started to publish more information about its risk-taking and management. Bank customers have to release much more information about themselves and their life, economically as well as personally during a more extensive interview in the credit process. The differentiated pricing cause interest rates to differ based on the customers rating. As an effect of the higher disclosure of bank information, customers can better compare banks. This effect is of greater importance for the bank customers that have depositions in excess of the government deposit assurance. The new credit risk and customer assessment system is a rational development due to the new Basel II-rules. Without these rules the development wouldn’t have been rational due to high costs and the traditional pricing of loans. The higher disclosure on risk taking and management cause incentives for the bank to handle these better. Bank customers today have higher incentives to better mange the aspects that are included in their rating due to the differentiated pricing on loans. Furthermore they, especially them with depositions in excess of the government deposit assurance, have greater incentives to compare banks due to the higher disclosure of bank information. The more extensive information gathering of the customers profile as well as the higher disclosure of bank information have lowered the level of asymmetric information in the banks process of credit granting and the customers choice of bank, making these two more effective.

Baselregelverket är en samling rekommendationer och riktlinjer som syftar till att skapa global finansiell stabilitet. Det gällande regelverket, Basel II, riktar sig till kreditinstitut och andra värdepappersbolag i de länder som har valt att införliva regelverket i nationell lag. Basel II införlivades i svensk rätt i början av 2007 och därmed har regelverket blivit bindande för svenska banker.   Basel II stipulerar att banker ska använda internt utvecklade modeller för att utvärdera risk och kapitaltäckning samt fastställer att denna utvärdering ska användas för beslutsfattande i den dagliga verksamheten. Regelverkets krav har bland annat resulterat i ökad bolagsstyrning då utvecklandet av strategier och kontrollsystem för sådana typer av riskmodeller är något som sker på hög organisatorisk nivå, vid bankens huvudkontor. Problematiken i detta är att implementeringen av ett regelverk som influerar bankens organisationsstruktur blir en svårhanterlig fråga och får stor inverkan på arbetet för anställda med operativa befattningar.    Denna studie syftar till att genom åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer med anställda på operativ nivå vid fyra svenska banker skapa insikt i vilket inflytande regleringar, som Basel II, har på motivation i arbetet. Fynden indikerar att regleringar som medför förändring i arbete på operativ nivå kan influera motivationen om de anställda inte förstår syftet. Utifrån de anställdas uppfattningar kan vi påvisa att kommunikation och ledarskap spelar en avgörande roll för hur anställdas kommer uppleva sådana regleringars inverkan. Med avseende på detta resultat görs tolkningen att kommunikation och ledarskap bör anpassas utifrån de anställdas tidigare erfarenheter och kunskaper för att inte förändring i arbetet ska ge upphov till otillfredsställelse på grund av bristande förståelse. / The Basel Accords are a collection of recommendations and regulations aimed to establish a global financial stability. Basel II is directed towards credit institution and investment firms in those countries that have chosen to incorporate the regulations in national law. In Sweden the Basel II was incorporated in the Swedish law at the beginning of 2007, and since then the Basel II has became binding for the Swedish banks.   Basel II stipulates that banks must use in-house developed models to evaluate risks and capital requirement, and defines that the evaluations must be used in decision making in the daily work. The requirements defined by the regulations increase the corporate governance since the development of strategies and control systems for such risk models is done on a high organizational level, at the bank’s head office. The dilemma in this is that the implementation of the regulation, which influences the organizational structure of the bank, becomes a difficult question to manage, and it delivers a huge impact on the employees with operative tasks.   Through eight semi-structured interviews with employees with operative tasks at four Swedish banks, it is the purpose of this study to create an insight into what influence regulations, such as Basel II, have on the motivation at work. The findings indicate that regulations, which bring changes to work on operative level, can affect the motivation if the employees do not understand the purpose. Based on the views of the employees we can show that communication and leadership play a decisive role for how the employees will experience the influence of such regulations. Regarding this result the interpretation is that communication and leadership should be based on the employees’ previously experiences and knowledge, to prevent that change in work will cause dissatisfaction because of defective understanding.

This dissertation investigates the implications of using the Advanced Measurement Approaches (AMA) as a method to assess operational risk capital charges for banks and insurance companies within Basel II paradigms and with regard to U.S. regulations. Operational risk has become recognized as a major risk class because of huge operational losses experienced by many financial firms over the last past decade. Unlike market risk, credit risk, and insurance risk, for which firms and scholars have designed efficient methodologies, there are few tools to help analyze and quantify operational risk. The new Basel Revised Framework for International Convergence of Capital Measurement and Capital Standards (Basel II) gives substantial flexibility to internationally active banks to set up their own risk assessment models in the context of the Advanced Measurement Approaches. The AMA developed in this thesis uses actuarial loss models complemented by the extreme value theory to determine the empirical probability distribution function of the overall capital charge in terms of various classes of copulas. Publicly available operational risk loss data set is used for the empirical exercise.

Problem and purpose: The authors were interested in studying how large Swedish banks managed liquidity risks when facing the financial crisis of 2008 and whether the implementation of Basel II framework had an impact on the major Swedish banks' capital adequacy. Furthermore, the authors intend to examine how, based on the analysis of the implementation of Basel II, the introduction of Basel III will affect major Swedish banks' liquidity in the future. Method: The essay is written from a quantitative approach and has a deductive perspective. Data was collected from the annual reports of the selected banks to later use relevant theories to analyze the work. Theory: This part of the essay presents relevant theories, a detailed description of the Basel regulatory framework and its requirements, rules for capital adequacy and to relevant key to achieve the Basel regulatory requirements are considered. Furthermore the authors present criticism of the Basel framework and a summary of the key theoretical points to be used for analyzing empirical data. Empirical: In this chapter the data collected from selected banks is presented and processed. Conclusion: The essay authors present the deficiencies and weaknesses that make the Basel II regulatory framework inadequate for the Swedish financial market. Essay authors also present their opinions regarding how the latest form of the Basel regulations could have a more significant influence on the long-term stability of Swedish banks and how this may increase protection against potential liquidity risks.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka vilken inverkan den senaste finanskrisen och de internationella ramverken har haft på de svenska respektive danska bankernas bolåneräntor. Studien eftersträvade även att undersöka vilka likheter och skillnader som finns mellan olika typer av banker samt mellan de korta respektive de långa bolåneräntorna. Författarna valde att använda sig av en kvalitativ metod med en deduktiv ansats som tillvägagångssätt. Det genomfördes kvalitativa intervjuer med personer vid ett antal noga utvalda banker för att ge en så bra och detaljerad bild som möjligt av problemområdet. Respondenterna fick stort utrymme att föra sina egna diskussioner för att vidare mynna ut i väldefinierade resultat. Resultatet av denna studie visar att svenska och danska banker är positivt inställda till införandet av de nya bestämmelserna och tror att det kommer bidra till en stabilare marknad. Finanskrisen har lett till att bankernas finansieringskostnader har ökat liksom användandet av ränteswappar. Bankerna finansierar även sin verksamhet på längre sikt vilket gör att den blir dyrare att bedriva.