By Huw Jones and Sinead Cruise
LONDON (Reuters) -The Bank of England said on Thursday it would set out its “near final” interpretation of Basel bank capital reforms aimed at shock-proofing global lenders on September 12 amid mounting speculation it could delay implementation until January 2026.
Regulators began rolling out the Basel III rules after the 2007-2009 global financial crisis forced taxpayers to bail out several undercapitalised banks.
The bulk of the Basel package is already in force across major lenders, with some remaining elements still to be implemented into national rulebooks.
Thursday’s announcement by the BoE comes three months after Wall Street’s biggest banks lobbied for a review of the proposed changes, which would overhaul how banks with more than $100 billion in assets manage their capital, potentially crimping their lending and trading.
Critics of the reforms say extra capital is unnecessary and will hurt the U.S. economy, while Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in July told Congress it was essential to make amendments to the new regime.
The BoE has previously said the new rules would come into effect in Britain on July 1, 2025, but senior banking sources have suggested the timetable could move, particularly as the United States is unlikely to finalise its own version of the rules until after its November presidential election.
There are some doubts over whether the rules will be implemented in the U.S. at all, Reuters reported earlier this month.
The European Union has already delayed a core part of the regulation relating to banks’ trading books until January 2026, but is pressing ahead with introducing the bulk of the remaining rules in January 2025.
EU financial services commissioner Mairead McGuinness said at the time it was becoming clear the United States would not be able to meet its self-imposed deadline of July 2025 for introducing the rules.
The EU’s delay, she said, would ensure a level playing field for big European banks competing with U.S. lenders in trading securities.
A senior banking industry source told Reuters that the BoE was minded to echo the EU, pressing pause on implementation in Britain until January 2026.
The Bank of England did not immediately respond to a request for comment on a delay, which was earlier reported by Bloomberg.
The BoE’s Prudential Regulation Authority also said it would publish a consultation paper on Sept. 12 covering the capital-related aspects of its “Strong and Simple” regime, a lighter version of Basel for smaller lenders that pose fewer risks to the financial system.
(Reporting by Huw Jones and Sinead Cruise, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
