Basel’s bitter pill – Aaron Woolner column

Asia banks may not like the prospect of the counter-cyclical capital buffer being foisted on them, but it will do them no real harm

People don’t like taking medicine – it doesn’t matter whether a child’s polio drop is disguised on a sugar cube, or if they are given a treat afterwards, the trudge to the medical centre isn’t a happy one. But when the treatment turns out to be a nostrum the pain is even greater.

And there are certain parts of Basel III that are pure quackery for Asian banks, a prime example being the counter-cyclical capital buffer, which in the context of a region well-equipped in microeconomic regulatory