By Ronald D. Orol
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The Federal Reserve is backing a proposal at the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision that would have the largest global systemically significant banks hold a capital surcharge of three percentage points. Bloomberg News, citing a person familiar with the discussions, said regulators meeting in Basel, Switzerland want to have more capital for the largest banks as a buffer against taxpayer-funded bailouts should the institutions fail. Fed governor Daniel Tarullo said Friday that work among international regulators on a Basel committee charged with writing global rules for bank capital has sped up recently and that the Fed is coordinating its introduction of a U.S. proposal for a capital surcharge for big banks with a similar one under consideration by international regulators. The surcharge would be required by some big banks in addition to an already agreed-to requirement that global banks hold top-quality capital totaling 7% of their risk-bearing assets, according to the report.
