After the completion of another Quantitative Impact Study (QIS 3), which (including quality assurance and comments) ran until spring 2003, further progress toward Basel II has resulted in the last planned consultative paper (CP3) published in late April 2003. Banks and supervisory authorities were then able to examine the content of the new proposals and to submit any desired comments until the end of July 2003.
The European Commission’s third consultation paper (EU CP3), which was drawn up almost in parallel to the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s document, was published in early July 2003. This document contained proposals for a new EU directive which will serve as the future basis for national legislation regarding regulatory capital requirements for credit institutions. The consultation stage for the EU’s consultation paper came to an end in the fall of 2003.
Further Development
The new capital adequacy framework was published on schedule in late June 2004, and it is scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2007. After that time, the original accord will no longer be valid, and only the new capital requirements will be used to calculate regulatory capital requirements for international banks. In light of the objectives as well as the endeavors defined in this new framework for all parties involved in its creation, the new accord should certainly be as much a milestone as the previous accord was 20 years ago.
As a Member State of the European Union, Austria will be subject to Basel II requirements in the form of the EU directive currently being developed in a parallel process. This directive will then serve as the basis for national legislation regarding banking supervision in EU Member States and will thus be applied to banks and investment firms throughout the European Union.