The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision was established in 1974 by the central bank governors of the ten leading industrialised countries.
Today, it consists of representatives of the central banks or banking supervisory authorities of numerous countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United States. The Committee is named after its permanent headquarters in Basel, which is located at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). The Committee usually meets every three months.
The aim of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is to create uniform standards for banking supervision worldwide and thus promote the stability of the financial system. An important focus is on the regulation of credit risk and capital requirements for banks.
Particularly well known is the Basel II set of rules developed by the Committee, which came into force from 2008 and introduced a new method for determining banks' capital requirements. Due to the global importance of the Committee and its decisions, it has a strong impact on banking regulation and financial markets worldwide.
