In practical terms, the asymmetry is most significant for the two banks that are dominantly custodial and transactional in nature, rather than lending and trading firms. These banks have had the lowest risk-based surcharges of the eight G-SIBs--currently 1-½ percent--but their leverage surcharge is 2 percent.
This is especially problematic for their operations, since they prudently reinvest custody customer deposits into safe and liquid assets. 7  Some market observers and participants believe that current capital requirements have impinged somewhat on market liquidity for Treasuries.