At the same time, today we have to cope with an exceptional crisis situation and we have to be careful not to aggravate this situation by encouraging a deleveraging process which is adverse from the stand point of the recovery.” Did the Basel Committee and the FSB terms of reference found a balance between the long-term and the short-term consideration? “Yes.
I think we captured this correct balance when we said, after the meeting of the governance body of the Basel Committee, on September 7th that we were requiring banks to move expeditiously to raise the level and quality of their capital to the new standards (which will be calibrated by end 2010) but in a manner that promotes the stability of national banking systems and the broader economy.