Basel III definition of capital - Frequently asked questions

The Basel Committee periodically reviews frequently asked questions (FAQs) on its standards and publishes answers to these together with technical elaboration of the rules text and interpretative guidance where necessary. These aim to promote consistent global implementation of Basel III.

The FAQs published in this document correspond to the definition of capital sections of the Basel III standards and the 13 January 2011 press release on the loss absorbency of capital at the point of non-viability. These FAQs are in addition to those previously published in July 2011, October 2011 and December 2011. They are grouped according to the relevant paragraphs of the rules text. FAQs that have been added since the publication of the third version of this document are listed at the start of the document and marked in italics.