Basel III monitoring results published by the Basel Committee

Press release  | 
12 September 2017
  • All banks meet Basel III minimum and target CET1 capital requirements
  • All G-SIBs meet both fully phased-in liquidity requirements

The Basel Committee today published the results of its latest Basel III monitoring exercise based on data as of 31 December 2016. The Committee established a rigorous reporting process to regularly review the implications of the Basel III standards for banks, and it has published the results of previous exercises since 2012. For the first time, the report provides not only global averages but also a regional breakdown for many key metrics.

Data have been provided for a total of 200 banks, comprising 105 large internationally active banks. These "Group 1 banks" are defined as internationally active banks that have Tier 1 capital of more than €3 billion, and include all 30 banks that have been designated as global systemically important banks (G-SIBs). The Basel Committee's sample also includes 95 "Group 2 banks" (ie banks that have Tier 1 capital of less than €3 billion or are not internationally active).

The Basel III minimum capital requirements are expected to be fully phased-in by 1 January 2019 (while certain capital instruments could still be recognised for regulatory capital purposes until end-2021). On a fully phased-in basis, data as of 31 December 2016 show that all banks in the sample meet both the Basel III risk-based capital minimum Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) requirement of 4.5% and the target level CET1 requirement of 7.0% (plus any surcharges for G-SIBs, as applicable). Between 30 June and 31 December 2016, Group 1 banks continued to reduce their capital shortfalls relative to the higher Tier 1 and total capital target levels; in particular, the Tier 2 capital shortfall has decreased from €3.4 billion to €0.3 billion. As a point of reference, the sum of after-tax profits prior to distributions across the same sample of Group 1 banks for the six-month period ending 31 December 2016 was €239.5 billion. In addition, applying the 2022 minimum requirements for Total Loss-Absorbing Capacity (TLAC), 12 of the G-SIBs in the sample have a combined incremental TLAC shortfall of €116.4 billion as at the end of December 2016, compared with €318.2 billion at the end of June 2016.

The monitoring reports also collect bank data on Basel III's liquidity requirements. Basel III's Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) was set at 60% in 2015, increased to 70% in 2016 and will continue to rise in equal annual steps to reach 100% in 2019. The weighted average LCR for the Group 1 bank sample was 131% on 31 December 2016, up from 126% six months earlier. For Group 2 banks, the weighted average LCR was 159%, slightly up from 158% six months earlier. Of the banks in the LCR sample, 91% of the Group 1 banks (including all G-SIBs) and 96% of the Group 2 banks reported an LCR that met or exceeded 100%, while all Group 1 and Group 2 banks reported an LCR at or above the 70% minimum requirement that was in place for 2016.

Basel III also includes a longer-term structural liquidity standard - the Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR). The weighted average NSFR for the Group 1 bank sample was 116%, while for Group 2 banks the average NSFR was 114%. As of December 2016, 94% of the Group 1 banks (including all G-SIBs) and 88% of the Group 2 banks in the NSFR sample reported a ratio that met or exceeded 100%, while 100% of the Group 1 banks and 96% of the Group 2 banks reported an NSFR at or above 90%.

Note to editors

The results of the monitoring exercise assume that the positions as of 31 December 2016 were subject to the fully phased-in Basel III standards as agreed up to end-2015. That is, they do not take account of the transitional arrangements set out in the Basel III framework, such as the gradual phase-in of deductions from regulatory capital. Furthermore, the report does not reflect any standards agreed since the beginning of 2016, such as the revisions to the market risk framework (analysed separately in a special feature). No assumptions were made about bank profitability or behavioural responses, such as changes in bank capital or balance sheet composition. For that reason, the results of the study may not be comparable with industry estimates.