Basel II is the second set of recommendations from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, an entity that seeks to create an international standard on regulating how much capital financial institutions need to reserve in order to protect against its investment and operational risks. The three basic pillars of the Basel II standards are minimum capital requirements, supervisory review process, and market disclosure. Basel II is designed with requirements that necessitate that the greater the bank´s risk exposure, the more reserve capital the bank must maintain in order to ensure economic stability. The purpose of these standards is to provide a framework to minimize the risk facing the international financial system due to the failure and collapse of a single vital bank or series of banks. |