Basel capital framework national discretions

The Basel standards include a number of national discretions that allow countries to adapt the international standards to reflect differences in the structure and development of financial systems. However, the use of national discretions can also impair comparability across jurisdictions and has been found to be a driver of variability in risk-weighted assets. The Committee is therefore reviewing the use of national discretions with a view to removing a number of them from the framework.

As a first step, the Committee is publishing a list showing the use of each national discretion by each Basel Committee member. It covers national discretions in the Basel capital framework and thereby provides greater transparency to market participants to aid comparability.