Regulators ease liquidity rules

Banks have been given an extra four years to increase the size of the buffer they must hold against future economic crises.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, a global group of central bankers and regulators, has watered down draft rules on liquidity (the amount of cash and easy-to-sell assets banks must have on hand to cope with a fresh crisis).

Banks will be given an extra four years, to 2019, to meet the new requirements. The overall size of the buffer banks must hold has been reduced to 30 days of likely cash withdrawals, while the range of assets that count as liquid has been widened to include virtually all investment-grade corporate bonds and some equities.

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