A countercyclical capital buffer will come on top as a capital requirement that can be increased in good times and removed in bad times. The countercyclical buffer is to consist of Common Equity Tier 1 capital and will normally be set between 0 and 2.5 percent of a bank’s riskweighted assets. The countercyclical buffer is intended to counteract the procyclical effects of substantial changes in credit and asset prices. The buffer will help contain the risk of deleveraging in bad times. But an increase in the buffer can also dampen rapid credit growth in good times. The effect will depend on banks’ reaction when the buffer is increased. Norges Bank will have primary responsibility for elaborating the basis for decisions on the countercyclical capital buffer. In drawing up the basis, the Bank will collaborate and exchange relevant information with Finanstilsynet (Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway). The buffer will be set by the Ministry of Finance. Once the regulation is in place, most likely in late summer, Norges Bank will issue concrete advice to the Ministry of Finance on the level of the buffer. Thereafter, the Bank will issue  BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  advice on the buffer four times a year. The criteria on which the Bank’s advice is based were presented in the March Monetary Policy Report. Norges Bank will present analyses and issue advice on the size of the countercyclical capital buffer in conjunction with the decision basis for monetary policy.
Zeti Akhtar Aziz: Creating a sustainable pool of talent for Malaysia Speech by Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia), at the Kijang Emas Scholarship Award Ceremony, Kuala Lumpur, 30 April 2015. *  *  *  In preparing for the future, a future that is going to be fundamentally different from the current environment, talent development has become more important than ever before. The environment before us is rapidly changing and is continuously becoming more interconnected, more complex and certainly more competitive. It is also becoming more uncertain and unstable. Malaysia has, however over several decades, demonstrated time and again our ability to face the challenges arising from these transformative changes, supported by our resilience and strong foundations. Human capital makes up a critical component of these foundations. Developing the talent that we have and making greater investments in our talent pipeline will contribute to generating the development of our future leaders that will be able to effectively operate in this new environment. Education and capacity building to generate the new talent with the right skills, mindsets and values, as well as effective talent development strategies and their implementation, have now become key priorities of the nation. The Kijang Emas Scholarship Award is an eminent scholarship award that is part of the Bank’s commitment to creating a sustainable talent pool for the nation.