Australia's chief banking regulator and the new head of the bankers' lobby group clashed once again yesterday over the speed of Australia's implementation of the Basel III capital and liquidity rules.In a speech to a workshop on Basel III, hosted by Finsia and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority in Sydney yesterday, APRA chair John Laker rejected what he called "curious responses" to its Basel III timetable.Laker said that "there is a hint in some reactions that APRA should hedge its bets on the Basel III timetable because of market scepticism about the Basel III process in some other jurisdictions."Laker was referring principally to the remarks of Mike Smith, chief executive of ANZ, who over the past month has queried the rationale for adopting Basel III for Australian banks with what he sees as apparent haste. Smith was yesterday named as the new chairman of industry lobby group the Australian Bankers Association. His first media statement as ABA chairman was a warning that Australian banks could be "placed at an unnecessary disadvantage through the onerous implementation of global reforms in a market that performed strongly during the recent financial crisis."Smith is arguing that few other jurisdictions are making the same effort as APRA to tighten rules on bank capital and other standards.The ABA chairmanship rotates among the CEOs of the Big Four banks. But Smith may prove a more pugnacious chair than the man he is replacing, CBA's Ralph Norris.Laker yesterday said that "nothing… suggests to us any weakening in the resolve of global policymakers, or members of the Basel Committee, to stay the course."He said that Singapore, Canada and New Zealand have announced accelerated implementation timetables too, while political leaders in Europe have also called for a more aggressive timetable."Surely," Laker said, "given the recurring global market turbulence, nothing could be more positive for the competitive standing of ADIs in Australia, or for investor confidence in these institutions, than being early in displaying the Basel III equivalent of the Heart Foundation's Tick of Approval for the health of their capital position."