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The Countercyclical Capital Buffer of Basel III: A Critical Assessment

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We provide a critical assessment of the countercyclical capital buffer in the new regulatory framework known as Basel III, which is based on the deviation of the creditto- GDP ratio with respect to its trend. We argue that a mechanical application of the buffer would tend to reduce capital requirements when GDP growth is high and increase them when GDP growth is low, so it may end up exacerbating the inherent pro-cyclicality of risk-sensitive bank capital regulation. We also note that Basel III does not address pro-cyclicality in any other way. We propose a fully rule-based smoothing of minimum capital requirements based on GDP growth.

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  • Rafael Repullo & Jesús Saurina, 2011. "The Countercyclical Capital Buffer of Basel III: A Critical Assessment," Working Papers wp2011_1102, CEMFI, revised Jun 2011.
  • Handle: RePEc:cmf:wpaper:wp2011_1102
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    1. Gabriel Jiménez & Jose A. Lopez & Jesus Saurina, 2009. "Empirical Analysis of Corporate Credit Lines," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(12), pages 5069-5098, December.
    2. Rafael Repullo & Jesús Saurina & Carlos Trucharte, 2010. "Mitigating the pro-cyclicality of Basel II [Bank loan loss provisions: a re-examination of capital management, earnings management and signalling effects]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 25(64), pages 659-702.
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    11. Jesús Saurina & Carlos Trucharte, 2007. "An Assessment of Basel II Procyclicality in Mortgage Portfolios," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 32(1), pages 81-101, October.
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    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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