I will also provide some additional information and context to help people as they think about how to comment on the U.S. proposals that are currently outstanding. But before I begin discussing recent events, I would like to reiterate briefly the Federal Reserve's reasons for why Basel II is important in the United States.
Reasons for Basel II Banking is a business in which banks take and manage risks. Bankers implicitly accept risk when providing financial services to customers and also take explicit risk positions that offer profitable returns relative to their risk appetites.