Basel III - What is Basel III, why do we need it and what will the consquences be?

Abstract

The magnitude of the financial crisis in 2008 can be compared to the financial downturn and the great depression in the 1930´s. Even though we are currently in a situation where we are recovering from this crisis it is most likely that we will experience a financial crisis again. Basel III is constructed in order to ensure that the impact of future crises not becomes as severe as the previous one. Will the Basel III accord manage to do this? In this paper the Basel III framework will be presented and its impacts be analysed, focusing on the Swedish financial system. We will also provide the reader insights from Länsförsäkringar Bank on how they apprehend on the Basel III accord.

We would like to thank Wlodek Bursztyn, honorary doctor in economics at the School of Business, Economics and Law – University of Gothenburg, for his guidance and thoughts on this paper. A special thank to Göran Zakrisson, credit manager at Länsförsäkringar Bank, for his opinion and insight regarding the Basel III accord.