William L Rutledge: Basel II - risk management and financial stability Remarks by Mr William L Rutledge, Executive Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, at the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey’s International Conference on Financial Stability and Implications of Basel II, Istanbul, 17 May 2005. *  *  *  Let me begin by commending the organizers for pulling together such a timely and important conference - Basel II promises to be a watershed event in global financial stability, and giving a full airing of the issues associated with its introduction is particularly important as we draw closer to implementation. I am very pleased to be able to participate in the discussion of those issues - the views I offer will naturally be my own rather than necessarily those of the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve has major roles both as a bank supervisor, and, more broadly as a central bank, for fostering financial stability. Basel II has direct and significant implications for these several roles; it will clearly be an integral part of our supervisory approach going forward, and its emphasis on strong risk management practices also supports our broader financial stability mandate. My comments will set to the side calibration issues and focus particularly on what I believe are two major ways in which the basic structure and operational requirements of Basel II should enhance the stability of the financial system.
I expect that these positive attitudes on the part of all participants in the program will continue until Turkey has achieved the long-sought and much desired goal of durable price stability. BIS Review 9/2000  4