Banking standards: treacherous political waters lie ahead

The system has been safer since the Basel III regulations, but tensions are high between the US and the eurozone - which both have their own preoccupations

The financial crisis of 2008 gave a big boost to the global standard-setters. Suddenly the Basel committee, which sets the standards for international banking supervision) was leading the financial news.

Dinner parties in Manhattan and Kensington were consumed with the finer points of Basel II and the evils of procyclical capital requirements. Governments that had been suspicious of international interference were eager for tougher rules to prevent banking crises from spilling across borders and infecting others.