As a general observation, financial conditions around the world have been gradually recovering, though not without some periodic bouts of nervousness. The concerns about Greece came to a head around the middle of this year, and spillovers from that have turned out so far to be quite limited.
22 An important example is the implementation of the Basel III regulatory reforms, which require banks to hold more and higher-quality capital and meet new liquidity and leverage requirements. Consequently, Canadian banks are now in a better position to cope with unexpected downturns in economic activity.