The evolution of the Basel Committee – Keynote address by Stefan Ingves, Chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and Governor of Sveriges Riksbank, at a symposium to mark 25 years of the Basel Capital Accord: 25 years of international financial regulation: Challenges and opportunities, Basel, 26 September 2013

“But times change, the financial sector has evolved, and the Committee has moved with the times. Among the many factors that have influenced the work of the Committee over the years, I thought I would identify five that have shaped what the Committee is today and will continue to guide its activities in the future. The first and most obvious is the evolution from a coordinating and information-sharing group to one that has become a standard setter. Although the 1975 Concordat was the Committee’s first substantive agreement, and its first public document, it was not a standard per se: rather, it was a sensible agreement on how supervisory responsibilities could be divided for banks operating across national boundaries. Its goal was modest: to make sure no bank could escape supervision. It did not try to harmonise supervisory standards. And, of course, it was primarily directed at supervisors, not banks themselves.”