*  *  *  Chairman Bachus, Chairman Pryce, and members of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit and the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology: It is a pleasure to join my colleagues from the other banking agencies to discuss the current status of Basel II in this country, as well as the Federal Reserve's views on H.R.
1226. The continued discussion among the Congress and the regulators - and, of course, the banking industry and other members of the public - is critical to the final implementation of the new capital accord. The focus of recent attention has been the agencies' announcement that they will delay the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) for Basel II, originally scheduled for midyear 2005.