Baselsopimus

Baselsopimus refers to the Basel Accords, a series of international banking regulations developed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) and hosted by the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland. The accords are designed to strengthen the regulation, supervision, and risk management of banks worldwide by ensuring banks hold sufficient capital and manage risks effectively.

Basel I, issued in 1988, established a minimum capital requirement of 8 percent of risk-weighted assets, focusing on credit risk and providing a common standard for capital adequacy across banks. Basel II, published in 2004, introduced three pillars: minimum capital requirements, supervisory oversight, and market discipline. It aimed for a more risk-sensitive framework that better reflected banks’ actual risk profiles, though its implementation varied by jurisdiction and was criticized after the financial crisis of 2007–2009 for underestimating certain risks.

Basel III emerged in response to the crisis to further strengthen capital standards and risk management. Its key elements include higher quality and quantity of capital (notably common equity tier 1), capital buffers such as the Capital Conservation Buffer and the Countercyclical Buffer, and enhanced liquidity and funding standards, including the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) and the Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR). Basel III also expands risk coverage and supervisory requirements.

Basel standards are implemented domestically by national regulators, leading to a global but uneven framework. They have significantly shaped banking regulation and risk management, contributing to greater resilience while drawing criticism over complexity and compliance costs, particularly for smaller banks.