Summary

GAO reviewed the activities of the Basle Committee, a group of banking supervisors who deal with international coordination of bank supervision.

GAO noted that: (1) the Basle Committee has allocated the responsibility for supervising foreign offices between countries where the offices are located and those in which the banks are headquartered; (2) before a foreign bank conducts business within its borders, a country must be satisfied as to the nature of supervision exercised by the parent country; and (3) the Committee has recommended that banking supervisors use the consolidation principle, which is measured against the regulatory standards of its home country, in supervising the international operations of banks. GAO found that: (1) given the constraints of differing regulatory and tax implications in various countries, the Committee has made progress in reaching an agreement on international bank supervision; (2) efforts to bring about a greater similarity in national capital standards have been underway for more than 2 years; (3) the Committee needs to release more information on its activities; and (4) fundamental differences as to what capital is, how it is measured, and what amount is adequate makes agreement and implementation difficult.