Europe will not implement stricter bank regulation, known as Basel III, unless the United States also signs up to the deal, Bundesbank board member Andreas Dombret said on Wednesday, arguing that the recent debate about deregulation was worrisome. "If the US does not launch Basel III, we certainly will not unilaterally introduce the new rules in Europe," Dombret, the German central bank's top regulation expert, told a conference in Frankfurt, adding that real progress on Basel III talks has been made.
US President Donald Trump has ordered a review of banking regulation, arguing that current rules, some based on existing Basel standards, are holding back lending and weighing on growth.
The review has raised fears that talks over Basel III are at risk of collapse, possibly kicking off a new wave of deregulation, less than a decade after a financial crisis plunged much of the Western world into recession.
The new Basel rules aim to ensure banks are consistent in the way they assess risks from loans and determine the size of their capital reserves.