However, the level of rating penetration is not very significant as, so far, ratings are restricted to issues and not issuers. While Basel II gives some scope to extend the rating of issues to issuers, this would only be an approximation and it would be necessary for the system to move to ratings of issuers. Encouraging ratings of issuers would be a challenge.
•  Basel II provides scope for the supervisor to prescribe higher than the minimum capital levels for banks for, among others, interest rate risk in the banking book and concentration of risks / risk exposures.