Basel Implementation Development
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The Basel Committee - initially named the Committee on Banking Regulations and Supervisory Practices - was established by the central bank Governors of the Group of Ten countries at the end of 1974 in the aftermath of serious disturbances in international currency and banking markets (notably the failure of Bankhaus Herstatt in West Germany).
The Committee, headquartered at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, was established to enhance financial stability by improving the quality of banking supervision worldwide, and to serve as a forum for regular cooperation between its member countries on banking supervisory matters. The Committee's first meeting took place in February 1975, and meetings have been held regularly three or four times a year since.
Since its inception, the Basel Committee has expanded its membership from the G10 to 45 institutions from 28 jurisdictions. Starting with the Basel Concordat, first issued in 1975 and revised several times since, the Committee has established a series of international standards for bank regulation, most notably its landmark publications of the accords on capital adequacy which are commonly known as Basel I, Basel II and, most recently, Basel III.
