1988 / BASEL I
Common denominator.
International minimum total capital relative to risk-weighted assets. Broad credit-risk buckets create comparability but limited sensitivity.
Core anchor → 8% total capital / RWARegulatory intelligence / Interactive research instrument / 01
BASEL
EVOLUTION
MACHINE.
From Basel I to the final Basel III reforms: explore the rules that reshaped banking. Follow the architecture of capital, liquidity and leverage — then put a hypothetical bank through the machine.
Regulatory evolution
1988→26
Not a static chronology. A navigable model of what changed, why it changed and how regulatory constraints interact.
01 / Timeline
8 pivotal milestones02 / Architecture
6 connected constraints03 / Impact lab
Transparent scenario mathematics04 / Evidence
Primary regulatory sources01 / Regulatory lineage
Rules are a sequence of responses.
Select a milestone. Trace the regulatory problem, the policy response and the transmission into bank behaviour.
01 / 1988
Basel I
02 / Regulatory architecture
One bank. Six constraints.
Inspect a regulatory mechanism to reveal what it measures, where it enters the bank balance sheet and what it connects to.
03 / Quantitative impact laboratory
Change the balance sheet.
Watch the constraints move.
All figures are hypothetical and user-adjustable. The calculations are deliberately transparent; they are not a jurisdiction-specific regulatory capital assessment.
Hypothetical bank / USD billions
Use of the output floor assumes a bank eligible to use internal models. Local implementation dates and transitional provisions may differ.
Live calculations / simplified Basel III reference
CET1 ratio
—
4.5% minimum / 7.0% incl. CCB
Leverage ratio*
—
3.0% reference minimum
Liquidity coverage
—
100% reference minimum
Stable funding
—
100% reference minimum
Output floor—
Effective RWA—
Floor uplift to model RWA—
CET1 headroom over 7.0% reference—
Calculation logic.
Effective RWA = max(model RWA, standardised RWA × phase-in floor). CET1 ratio = CET1 / effective RWA. LCR = HQLA / net 30-day outflows. NSFR = ASF / RSF. *Leverage ratio uses CET1 as a conservative proxy for Tier 1 capital because additional Tier 1 capital is not modelled.Educational sensitivity model, not a bank-specific capital requirement or legal compliance test. Excludes deductions, RWA composition, capital instruments, supervisory overlays, systemic and countercyclical buffers, detailed liquidity haircuts, and jurisdictional adjustments.
04 / Structural transformation
What the Basel generations changed.
Basel “IV” is an informal market label, not the Basel Committee’s formal name for the final Basel III reforms.
2004 / BASEL II
Risk measurement.
Three pillars: minimum capital requirements, supervisory review and market discipline. Greater model sensitivity and operational-risk coverage.
Core anchor → three-pillar framework2010–11 / BASEL III
Resilience architecture.
Stronger CET1 requirements, buffers, leverage backstop and internationally agreed liquidity standards after the global financial crisis.
Core anchor → CET1 / leverage / LCR / NSFR2017–19 / FINAL REFORMS
Limit model variability.
Revised standardised approaches, constraints on internal models, an aggregate output floor and trading-book reforms.
Core anchor → 72.5% fully phased output floor05 / Primary evidence
Source-led by design.
All visual elements and explanations on this page are original. External references are links to primary documents, not reproduced third-party graphics.
BCBS / HISTORYBasel Committee — historical development ↗Origins, regulatory milestones and the evolution of the Committee’s work.BCBS / FRAMEWORKBasel III — international regulatory framework ↗Capital, liquidity, leverage and the post-crisis reforms.BCBS / DECEMBER 2017Basel III: Finalising post-crisis reforms ↗Revised risk approaches and the aggregate output floor.BCBS / JANUARY 2019Minimum capital requirements for market risk ↗Revised trading-book capital framework.BCBS / IMPLEMENTATIONImplementation monitoring and RCAP ↗Distinguish international standards from the legal rules adopted in each jurisdiction.BCBS / CONSOLIDATEDBasel Framework — official consolidated standards ↗The primary reference for detailed requirements and definitions.
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