They enable banks to shoulder greater losses by themselves, and thus shift the risk back to the owners. The implementation of Basel III – not only in Europe but hopefully in the United States, too – is therefore an important step towards making the financial system safer.
In addition to the implementation of Basel III, I am convinced that it would make the banking sector less vulnerable and, thus, strengthen its liability if banks were required to hold sufficient capital for claims on sovereigns and not be allowed to accumulate them on too large a scale in future.