Fixing the System: Bankers (Enhanced DVD)

Banks unable to pay their risk premium are the most obvious “at risk” category of institution. While many large banks are considered TBTF (Too Big to Fail), risky behavior on the financial markets is a substantial liability; reducing confidence in borrowing. Bank operations are key to capital position, yet not assigned a financial category of risk. When an institution is TBTF, there is likelihood that managers have more incentive to increase risk.

After Basel I Accord was put into force in 1992, the U.S. Federal Reserve System, FDIC, and OCC, have applied uniform standards to the conformance of risk-based capital requirements. All banks must hold common equity at a minimum of 4%m of risk-weighted assets, and total capital cannot fall below 8% of risk-weighted assets. Risk regulators tie capital requirements to default risk of institutional assets and off-balance sheet commitments.

With the enactment of Basel II in 2008, risk-based capital standards have been implemented to make Basel I rules more stringent in risk classifications accorded bank tier capital. Risk-weighted ratios attributed to the different categories of risk have been more precise.  Basel III implementation in the U.S. in 2013, instituted a minimum leverage ratio of 6% to 8% for systemically important financial institutions (SIFI), and 5% for insured bank holding companies, as well as new capital adequacy rules, stress testing, and market liquidity risk. Since the crisis, institutional stress tests of banks once thought to be TBTF show the steps being taken to correct issues of rate fixing accountability.

Fixing the System: Bankers

• DVD
• ISBN 978-0-81609-231-4
• Run Time (53 Minutes)
• Copyright 2013
• Closed Captioned (CC)