European Union member states with a view on the matter would like to see innovative hybrid securities accepted as regulatory capital available to insurers in troubled times under the Solvency II framework, according to EU insurance supervisors.

Latest proposals on valuing insurance contracts could lead to greater volatility in financial results, but also improve capital

This summer’s financial shocks give a new urgency to the overhaul of liquidity risk regulation. Banks want two-tier approach By Melvyn Westlake

Countdown to new financial markets regime has begun. Yet most countries must still enact laws. Firms face “readiness gap” By Melvyn Westlake

No market failure seen for bond transparency. Industry-led solutions backed to give retail investors better access

>“We’re very, very hawkish when it comes to bank capital,” US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) chief Sheila Bair, referring to her agency, told GRR in late June. That was about a month before the FDIC and its fellow agencies agreed a compromise on implementing the Basel II bank capital rules in the US (see main feature).

LONDON – The idea of a single EU regulator to oversee the largest financial institutions within the 27-country bloc was dismissed as unworkable by John Tiner, the departing chief executive of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), Britain’s financial regulator, in a swansong speech.

OTTAWA – Julie Dickson, the new head of Canada’s Office of Superintendent of Financial Institutions, is well known among her peers from leading industrial countries, having served until 2006 on the Basel Committee, which effectively sets prudential banking standards around the world. Her appointment as Canada’s new superintendent for a seven-year term, announced in early July, had been widely expected. She had been acting superintendent for close to a year, following the sudden departure of her predecessor, Nick Le Pan, who had served only five years of his seven-year term.

NEW YORK – The concerns of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), over the adequacy of investment banks’ capital to cover their trading book risks were spelt out in early July by a senior regulator. Commissioner Annette Nazareth told a risk management conference in New York that there are, today, a variety of products and exposures exhibiting risks that may not be measured well by the widely-used value-at-risk (VaR) models. These include a range of securitised products and certain loan assets.

LONDON – Hector Sants, new chief executive of Britain’s principal financial services watchdog, said he plans to work with the industry to ensure that market solutions deliver the best outcomes for stakeholders, with a particular focus on consumers.