Basel III has increased the stringency of the calculation of the capital requirements for counterparty risk in connection with derivative transactions. The whole matter is now undergoing a fundamental revision by the Basel Committee in order to eliminate any discrimination of loans with respect to trading assets. The Bank of Italy is working in the technical fora to proceed in this direction with determination.
At the same time (it is worth recalling) the new rules confirm the facilitations, already present in Basel II and invoked by the Italian supervisory authorities, that, other things being equal, allow a lower weighting for loans to small and medium-sized enterprises.