UK regulators are reviewing hedge funds and alternative retail investments with a view to imposing new restrictions that could curtail growth in the sector, writes Michael Imeson.

Trade in whole mortgage loans is brisk in the UK, while Germany and the Netherlands show potential, but the booming European market’s main player is American. Michael Marray reports.

Although not yet in general use, biometrics are slowly being tested and adopted in the banking sphere as a way of increasing security, Wendy Atkins reports.

The Middle East is enjoying an investment boom but risks leaving the poor further behind. Microfinance can help to improve their prospects but it will take more than loans alone. Rula Dababneh explains.

The European Commission wants to boost efficiency in the mortgage market by creating a single European market for the sector. But care needs to be taken in establishing such a market, which must be free and open.

Proposed by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors, translated from officialese by Michael Imeson.

Ravi Varadachari explains how banks that plan to comply with Basel II’s advanced approaches can use them for strategic decision making, such as capital allocation for individual lines of business.

Market discipline should be used to lower the risk of arbitrary supervisory discretion in the implementation of pillar 2 of the Basel II Accord. Professor Harald Benink addresses the latest global developments on Basel from a European perspective.

As US concerns over minimum regulatory capital requirements come late in the day, the Basel Committee must seriously consider delaying implementation, says John D Hawke Jr.
On September 30 the US bank regulatory agencies announced a revised schedule for the implementation of Basel II, the new capital standards for internationally active banks.

Banks can make their Basel II compliance journey easier if they know which stage they are at, what problems they are likely to face and what solutions they can rely on. Arun Pingaley and Kiran Narsu outline a compliance continuum.