South Africa outlines Basel II challenges

South Africa has to amend its banking regulatory framework to accommodate the requirements of the new Basel Capital Accord, Basel II, says Errol Kruger, South Africa's Registrar of Banks and general manager of the supervision department at the country's central bank.

He says there is need for a more flexible statutory framework to accommodate the expansive, complex and ever-developing nature of Basel II.

The supervision department, he says, is considering a possible three-layer process to create a flexible supervisory regime. The first layer would be Acts of Parliament containing the regulatory framework and matters of an enduring nature. This top layer would contain enabling provisions on which the other two layers would be constituted.

The second