Lebanese Banks To Meet Basel III Regulations

Lebanese Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh said Wednesday that Lebanese banks will fully comply with Basel III recommendations three years before the deadline set by the committee. Salameh, who made these remarks during a symposium, entitled “Risk Strategies for Basel III Compliance and Beyond,” said the implementation timetable of Basel III capital adequacy requirements starts on December 31, 2012 and concludes on December 31, 2015: three years ahead of the Basel recommendations.

The event was organized by Moody’s and the Banking Control Commission.

“At the end of this year, banks operating in Lebanon should have formed a 5 percent common equity ratio, an 8 percent tier 1 ratio, and a 10 percent total capital ratio. By the end of 2015, these ratios should reach a minimum of 8 percent, 10 percent and 12 percent, respectively. This directive came after several consultative papers and impact studies performed to ensure its smooth implementation in our banks,” the governor explained.

He said these requirements follow the banks’ earlier successful implementation of Basel II back in January 2008, in which they restricted the banks to adopt the “standardized approach for risks,” instead of more recent approaches which have later been proven not to have been well-tested, the Daily Star reported.