While the 1988 agreement addressed the issue of minimum bank capital, it created a whole new industry in arbitraging between bank and non-bank capital requirements. Widespread securitisation of bank assets is perhaps the best example. Today the case is made that the 1988 Accord promotes regulatory arbitrage of this type, rewarding risk-shifting which may undermine the soundness of financial systems around the world.
•  Decline and fall of urban civilised life: extremist terrorist barbarians at the gates. 13. In case your worry levels are rising, let me hasten to add that this dystopian nightmare is not a fatality. It is certainly not beyond human ingenuity to envisage pre-emptive measures to temper the worst excesses that can push us in that direction.