On March 16, 2018, the European Commission opened an exploratory consultation on implementing the final aspects of Basel III into EU law, which will require changes to the Capital Requirements Directive and the Capital Requirements Regulation. Basel III was finalized on December 7, 2017. The final package revises the standardized and Internal Ratings-Based approach for credit risk, the Credit Valuation Adjustment risk framework, the leverage ratio framework, including the introduction of a leverage buffer for Global Systemically Important Banks, the operational risk framework and the new output ratio floor. The revised standards are due to take effect from January 1, 2022 and will be phased in over five years.

The European Commission is seeking feedback on the various elements of the Basel III package, including how the revisions will impact the EU banking sector and wider economy, how they compare to the current EU requirements and whether they pose any particular implementation challenges. The Commission's consultation closes on April 12, 2018.

The consultation paper is available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/2018-basel-3-finalisation-consultation-document_en.pdf, the response form is available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/finance-2018-basel-3-finalisation?surveylanguage=en and the final Basel II package is available at: http://finreg.shearman.com/basel-iii-finally-finalized.

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