As we know, the installation of the risk assessment system, the cost of the IT system, hiring of new, technically more competent staff, etc., entails a heavy cost for banks as a pre-requisite for the adoption of Basel II. In Europe, the cost of Basel II implementation was estimated to be over $ 15 million for some large jurisdictions alone.
It is this phenomenal cost which has deterred the United States; it is still deliberating on how to adopt Basel II and has declared that it will adopt a variant of Basel II for its own banks. Finally, my last point is about the cross-border challenges and with this I would like to conclude.