Banking Supervision on Sunday amended

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on Sunday amended the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) proposed two years ago to help banks survive difficult times.,

The changes to the definition of the LCR, a key component of the Basel III framework, include an expansion in the range of assets eligible as high quality liquid assets and some refinements to the assumed inflow and outflow rates to better reflect actual experience in times of stress, the body said in a statement.
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"For the first time in regulatory history, we have a truly global minimum standard for bank liquidity," said Mervyn King, Chairman of the Basel committee's oversight body and Governor of the Bank of England.

The LCR will be introduced as planned on 1 January 2015, but the minimum requirement will begin at 60 percent, rising in equal annual steps of 10 percentage points to reach 100 percent on 1 January 2019, according to the statement.

"Introducing a phased timetable for the introduction of the LCR, and reaffirming that a bank's stock of liquid assets are usable in times of stress, will ensure that the new liquidity standard will in no way hinder the ability of the global banking system to finance a recovery," King said.