Global Regulators Agree on Rules to Prevent Financial Crises<br />“At the same time,” he said, “it’s impossible to know what’s in store for the future.”<br />The rules were hashed out by the Group of Central Bank Governors<br />and Heads of Supervision, which comprises representatives from 26 countries, including the United States, plus the European Union and Hong Kong.<br />Steven Mnuchin, the United States Treasury secretary, said in a statement Thursday<br />that the rules “will help level the playing field for U. S. firms and businesses operating internationally.”<br />One of the main lessons of the last financial crisis was<br />that many banks that appeared healthy on paper were acutely vulnerable to disruptions in the flow of money among financial institutions.<br />A group of global central bank governors and bank regulators, meeting in Frankfurt, signed off on the<br />last chapter of a banking rule book they began writing after the financial crisis began in 2008.<br />The rules will make the banking system more resilient, he added, but “nothing is crisis proof.”<br />The negotiators were unable, for example, to reach agreement on a way to address one of the root<br />causes of the government debt crisis that nearly destroyed the eurozone a few years ago.<br />“It makes a big difference for some European banks.” He said, for example,<br />that the rules would require European banks that specialized in mortgage lending to hold more capital.
