Assessing the Cost of Financial Regulation

This study assesses the overall impact on credit of the financial regulatory reforms in Europe, Japan, and the United States. Long-term cost estimates are provided for Basel III capital and liquidity requirements, derivatives reforms, and higher taxes and fees. Overall, average lending rates in the base case would rise by 18 bps in Europe, 8 bps in Japan, and 28 bps in the United States. These results are similar to the official BIS assessments of Basel III and an OECD analysis, but lower as a result of including expense cuts and reductions in the returns required by investors. As a result, they are markedly lower than those of the IIF. Reforming the regulation of financial institutions and markets is critically important and should provide large benefits to society. The recent financial crisis, from which the world is still recovering, underlined the huge economic cost that comes with recessions associated with severe financial crises. For this reason, policymakers around the world, including the leaders of the Group of 20, placed a high priority over the last few years on reforming the financial system.