The far-reaching regulatory activity in which the financial sector has been involved in recent years has been attracting increased attention to the expected costs and benefits of such regulation; measures undertaken in response to the financial crisis have made these issues even more topical....

In 2007 the new framework for capital adequacy of banks (Basel 2), defined in 2004 by the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision, will replace the 1988 Accord (Basel 1) in all major countries. In the last years the Committee has carried out several impact studies in order to simulate the...