Principles for effective risk data aggregation and risk reporting - consultative document issued by the Basel Committee

Press release  | 
26 June 2012

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision today issued for consultation Principles for effective risk data aggregation and risk reporting - consultative document .

The financial crisis that started in 2007 revealed that many banks, including global systemically important banks (G-SIBs), were unable to aggregate risk exposures fully and quickly. This meant that banks' ability to take risk decisions in a timely fashion was seriously impaired with wide-ranging consequences for individual banks and the stability of the financial system as a whole.

The proposed principles published today are intended to strengthen banks' risk data aggregation capabilities and risk reporting practices. Implementation of the principles will strengthen risk management at banks - in particular, G-SIBs - thereby enhancing their ability to cope with stress. "These proposals are a significant step towards improving banks' risk management capabilities and they will also help to ensure that G-SIBs are resolvable, hence reducing the potential recourse to tax-payers," said Stefan Ingves, Chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and Governor of the Sveriges Riksbank, Sweden's central bank.

G-SIBs are required to implement the principles in full by the beginning of 2016 at the latest. The Basel Committee also believes that the principles can be applied to a wider range of banks, in a way that is proportionate to their size, nature and complexity.

The Basel Committee welcomes comments on this consultative document. Comments should be submitted by Friday 28 September 2012 by e-mail to: baselcommittee@bis.org. Alternatively, comments may be sent by post to the Secretariat of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, Bank for International Settlements, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland. All comments may be published on the website of the Bank for International Settlements unless a comment contributor specifically requests confidential treatment.