US to complete further quantitative impact studies, says Ferguson

To assess the impact of the Basel II regulatory proposals on US banks that will be adopting that framework, the Federal Reserve and other banking regulators are planning to conduct a series of quantitative impact studies during the implementation period, which ends in 2006. This announcement was made by Roger Ferguson, vice-chairman of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve Bank in Washington DC at Senate hearings today, held by the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, into the implementation of Basel II in the US.

Ferguson said US authorities will be conducting a quantitative impact study (QIS) during 2004, and that he could envision "at least one or two more before final implementation".

Ferguson also noted that the list of banks that will be forced to adopt the Basel II approach is now 10, with a further list of 10 banks that will adopt Basel II voluntarily. The regulators' advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) will be issued before the end of July, according to regulatory sources. It will be